A week at Disney: Day 4

On our fourth day of fun-filled adventures we visited Animal Kingdom. This was everyone's first trip there and I have to say it is one of my favorites. It's a zoo and a theme park all rolled into one. My dad's back was hurting so he decided to stay at the room this day and we sure did miss PawPaw's.

As soon as you come into the park you are surrounded by vegeitation and wildlife. There are trees, flowers, plants, ducks, and birds.

Orchids blooming out of a tree.

Some of the duck in the pond

As you come further into the park you see the tree of life. It is huge!!

We just started walking not really sure what our plan was but headed towards the safari. We didn't get too far when we saw an African drum band. My boys LOVE drums and Wes loves dancing so we stopped to watch. Max wouldn't talk to them afterwards but of course Wes did!

Then they found more drums!

Max decided he wanted to meet Flick! I tried to get him to meet Ballew and King Louie from Jungle Book but he changed his mind after waiting in line a few minutes.

We found a great picture spot in front of the tree of life on our way to ride Expidition Everest!

Mommy, Wes, and Jessi

Close up of the tree

Max posing because he DID want his picture made.

Around this time we also discovered Wesley's love for rock candy. We bought a couple more packages of it for the rest of the trip but it didn't work as well as this day. He would ride in his stroller only if he had the rock candy to eat. After a couple of rough days I didn't care how much rock candy he ate!

Jessica, Rex, and I road Expidition Everest. It was super fun and exciting! You never knew if you what was going to happen. t went forwrds, backwards, and sideways. It made Rex a little sick but thank goodness for Dramamine!! Again, the attention to detail at Disney is amazing. The entire ride looked like a backpacking store with all kinds of tea, gear, and supplies. There was even an Everest museum to walk through.

The outside of the roller coaster

After this we decided to go ahead and ride the safari. It was awesome. It was in the middle of the day so we weren't sure how many of the animals would be out but we really got to see everything. Max LOVED it and Wesley actually took a pretty good nap during it! I won't show every animal becuase we saw so many but here a few of my favorites.

They called these upside down trees.

Some of the landscape

Max loved these cows with big horns!

Momma and baby elephant

Giraffes

Rhinos

Alligators, Not that I necessary like these but just look at how

many of them there are!

Once off of the safari, we did one of the walking tours that took you to see birds, plants, and the apes. We got to talk to a lady that words there just observing the behavior of the apes. The males and females were seprated and two of he males were having some kind of confrontation. It was very interesting to watch.

We were going to wait around the same area and for the parade to circle back but decided to keep walking and I am so glad we did. We got a perfect spot and the parade was one of my favorites. Wesley enjoyed every single parade we saw but Mickey played peek-a-boo with him in this one so he really loved!!

All the animals in the parade where gorgeous!

Miss Minnie

One of floats blew bubble and of course the boys loved that.

This is one of my favorite shots becuase I actually got a bubble

right close to my lense as the boys are catching bubbles.

Max got a fist pump from one of the cast members.

Timone!

Pluto!

Here is Micky playing Peek-a-boo with Wesley!

He is waving at him here.

We didn't have a whole lot of time left since this park closes earlier than the other parks. Max wanted to go see the characters so that is what we did instead of doing another attaraction.

Wesley and Turk

Nana's and Turk!

It's Mickey!!

Getting a high five from "Doofy" as Wes calls him!

Max and Turk

Had to hug Donald

Silly Max made Aunt Jessi do phots with him!

We had to leave the park since it was closing. I would have loved to been able to do more of the attractions plus we never even made it to the dino part. We went back to the room for a little rest. That night we went back to Magic Kingdom for the lighted night parade and for the fireworks. My camera didn't take any really good pictures of the night parade but it was great! The boys loved it!! The fireworks were fantastic!!! Max was so excited to see Tinker Bell fly off the top of the castle. It was an amazing day and we were all exhausted!!

A week at Disney: Day 3

For our 3rd fun filled day we went to Hollywood Studios. The last time I went, it was back in the MGM Studio days! We actually got there around 10:00, suprise, suprise! It was so hot already that morning! Welcome back Florida heat, we really did not miss you Monday and Tuesday!

The gangs all here! Some a little

begrudgingly!

The area as you come into

Hollywood Studios.

The gang a little closer in!

We headed into the Playhouse Disney area first and went to see The Little Mermaid show. Max was not excited about this at all! He will not watch any princess movie, except Princess and the Frog, so he really didn't want to watch the show. My sister and I on the other hand really wanted to. It was one of our favorites growing up. It was so good! We loved it and Max really liked it after we watched it.


The one and only thing Max was concerned with was riding Toy Story. So, we went straight over to it next. It was a 50 minute wait but the Fast Pass time was already for 8:00 that night and it was only 11:00 am. The line for the ride looked just like Andy's room. The attention to detail at Disney is astonishing. The pictures that were on Andy's wall, the giant ViewMaster slides of Peter Pan and Disney World, the card board box western town with Mr. Potato Head wanted posters, and the giant talking, joke telling Mr. Potato Head himself were beyond belief! My mom had rented a motorized scooter and we had to take the handicap side and ended up having to wait an additional 35 to 40 minutes! It was the worst part of our trip. The ride was awesome, though! It was 3-D, you spun around and got to shoot at all kinds of targets. Max LOVED it and Wesley enjoyed it, too!

Giant view master slide

How Wesley passed some of the

time during our long wait!

The ceiling was coverd with all different types

of board games.

Andy's drawings on the walls.

The cardboard box Sheriff's office

We headed back to the Playhouse Disney area so we could take Wes to see the show there. My dad and sis rode the Tower of Terror while we did the show. I am not a fan of anything that falls!!!! The show for the Playhouse Disney characters was great and Wesley LOVED it, after the melt down he had before it started. It had all his favorites: the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gang, Handy Manny, The Little Einstein gang, and My Friends Tigger and Pooh. When it was finished we got in line to see Handy Manny. Wesley was having a fit, screaming "See Manny! See Manny!" I kept telling him we had to wait and he was wiggling in my arms so I put him down. He took off like lightning, like he always does when he wants something, weaving in and around people, going under the ropes, until he got to Manny. He ran up, gave him a high five and hug, and was done. I have no photos since he broke line, I had to chase after him, and my camera was in the stroller. Of course, since he already saw him he definitely wasn't going to wait to see him now!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Gang

Handy Manny

My Friends Tigger and Pooh

Little Einsteins

After the show we decided to head to the main road to watch the parade.  It was cute and the boys got to see a lot of their favorite characters. It was super hot and the boys were tired and cranky and didn't enjoy it as much as some of the other parades. Rex did catch a ball that Woody threw out at the end of the parade, though. Max was super excited about that!

From there we went to ride The Rockin' Roller Coaster. We had fast passed it and had some time to spear and I finally got Wesley to go to sleep so we just had a little down time in the shade while Dad, Jess, and Rex road the Tower of Terror again. The Rockin' Roller Coaster was AWESOME! It took off so fast I couldn't even breathe for several seconds. It was in the dark with black lights. It was so good Jess and I road it again a second time as soon as we had finished.

Max was wanting to see the Cars characters so went to the backlot studios area. There was a really good band playing that the boys liked. We stopped and listened for a while. The back lot area is so cool! The main street looks like New York City. We found Lighting McQueen and Mater but Max just wanted to look at them and not have his picture made with them. Wesley has a new found love of tatoos and there was a tatoo station in the same area. He, of course, had to have a Mickey tatoo. It unfortunatley came off by the next day. We were bummed that the Muppets was closed for restoration. It was one of my favorites from when I was a kid and I was really looking forward to it.

My favorite name for the store on the New York street.

I turned around the discover the view from behind.

On of the side streets was San Fransisco

It's Mater!

Lightning McQueen!

Wesley found anoter fountain he loved!

The Muppets Fountain!

Patiently getting his tatto.

All done!

Showing off his tattoo

On the way out, Max, Mom, Jess, and I did the Star Wars ride which Max loved! It was so hot and we were all so tired, we decided to call it a day. We had some dinner and then some down time at the pool. Next installment Animal Kingdom!!