6th Day @ Disney - BRRRRRRR!! Rope Drop @ Animal Kingdom

We went to Animal Kingdom on the 6th day of our trip. It was COLD out! The low was 34 degrees and there was a wind of about 10 mph, so it felt like 24 degrees! We had no winter coats, so we piled on the layers of what we had. Ex: Alden wore 1 long sleeve undershirt, then a T-shirt, then a sweatshirt, then a fleece top layer (that we had to buy at Target that morning), mittens, & hat! We spent A LOT of money at Target on our trip just on buying things that we could have brought with us!

When we got to Animal Kingdom, it was right as the rope dropped! I know that you are all shocked because we weren't there early and waiting! Doug walked with the rope to Kilimanjaro Safari and got fast passes for all of us to ride it later. I took all 3 kids with me to Tricera-top-spin. (A ride a lot like Dumbo & Aladdin's Magic Carpets). It was SO cold in the air! We usually ride it over and over again, but on this day, one time was enough for all of us!

Alden on Tricera-Top-Spin.

We walked around in Dinoland USA, and then Doug met us as we were leaving.

We saw some characters on the way out of Dinoland.

We walked over and the rode the safari ride and FROZE! We even took a blanket on the ride and huddled under it for warmth!

After the ride, we walked to Camp Mickey-Minnie and met some more characters. There were no lines because it was so cold out!

Windel from the Country Bears

Baloo from Jungle Book

Briar Bear

Briar Rabbit - a rare Character find!

Chip & Dale are always one of the kids' favorite characters to meet!

Classic Pluto!

Santa Goofy was a hit with the kids! You can't see Santa Goofy any other time of year!

Brother Bear

Thumper & His girlfriend "miss bunny" or "bixbi"

Doug sat on this bench for an hour while we met the characters. Clair was asleep and I didn't want to unbundle her, so we draped a blanket over the stroller and she was warm!

The Animal Kingdom Christmas tree was decorated with all kinds of cultural ornaments!

After seeing the characters, we left for the day. It was way to cold. We grabbed lunch at Chick-fil-a outside of the park and called Doug's uncle Tom for some advice because Alden was sicker. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for supper and went to bed early!

Animal Kingdom - Camp Minnie & Mickey

We went to Camp Minnie - Mickey on our way out of the park. We saw a lot of characters with very little lines. We saw Pocahontas first, I think Samantha was very confused as to who she was, but she still gladly took a picture with her! Next we saw Donald Duck. Chip and Dale were also greeting people, so Samantha was excited to see them. She ran up and gave one of them a hug and the other one got jealous. It was very cute, even though I don't think Sam understood that they were playing a game with her! Next we saw Goofy and finally we saw Minnie. Minnie was extra exciting, because Disney Cast Members were handing out special Mickey Ear Hats to everyone in line as part of the "Year of A Million Dreams" campaign. It was so neat, because at Epcot, we had got free Trading Pin sets as were getting off a boat! (We were excited to get anything from Disney for free! ;)

After seeing Minnie, we walked toward the exit of the park and I went in one store and got a bunch of scrapbook stuff for our trip. Then, we went home because it was time for naps! We grabbed dinner on the way home and then we went back to the resort and changed and we decided we wanted to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios (it used to be known at MGM studios) that night because it was open until 8pm. We got to preview what we would be doing the next day and we got to see a showing of Playhouse Disney Live on Stage and it was the highlight of the trip for me to see Sam & Alden's faces during the show! It rained A LOT the rest of the evening, so we just stayed for a few hours and then we got soaked on the way to our car!

Animal Kingdom - Rides and More Fun

After the Safari Breakfast, we grabbed fast passes for the Kilamanjaro Safari ride and then went to Dinoland USA, which is the kid's area of the park. We all rode TriceraTop Spin, which is like the Dumbo ride. Then, there was still no line, so ran around to the entrance of the ride and rode again. From the air, I spotted Pluto & Goofy signing autographs and posing for pictures not far away, so I told Doug & we grabbed the kids and ran to them. We hadn't met Pluto yet, so it was very exciting for Sam, Alden, & I. (I used to collect Pluto's everytime I went to Disney as a kid.) After getting picture with them, we went to the play area called the Bone yard and the kids had a lot of fun. Alden crawled all over the place and Samantha went down the slides and climbed on stuff. (One of the pictures above shows how she landed one time coming down the slide...doesn't she look like a future Gymnast! :)

We headed back to the Safari ride and got a fast pass on the way for myself for the new roller coaster -Expedition Everest. Samantha thought it was pretty cool to see the animals out on the ride. We saw a mommy giraffe and her baby and it was so neat because the baby was running after her. We also saw a baby elephant and his mom. We saw lots of birds and hippos and other animals too. When we were done with that ride, we took a train ride to the conservation station, which turned out not to be much fun for a 2 yr old and a 1 yr old. We rode the train back and walked to Expedition Everest so I could ride it. It was a good roller coaster, but it went backward in the dark, which meant Doug couldn't try it. Then Doug & Sam went to the 3D movie "It's tough to be a Bug" and Samantha giggled through the whole thing. I can't stand bugs, so I knew Alden & I would have a good time waiting outside for them. Next it was time for lunch. We ate at Pizzafari, which was packed. It took forever to get a table and then it took forever to get food. After lunch, we headed toward Camp Minnie and Mickey (a character meet and greet spot)..........

Animal Kingdom - Donald's Safari Breakfast

We got up EARLY on Friday morning to go to Donald's Safari Breakfast at the Animal Kingdom. We had reservations at 8:15am (the park didn't open until 9:00am), so we showed up to the gate of Animal Kingdom to park at 7:45am and they weren't even open yet. So, naturally, I called to check on it and they told me I was early for my reservation, but not to worry, the gates should open soon. Not 1 minute after I called, the gates opened and we were the 2nd car in the park! It was so exciting! We got to park in a great spot so we could walk to the entrance of the park (we realized that our double stroller didn't fit nicely on the trams, so we got excited when we got to park close). We stopped to have a Disney photographer take our picture in front of the entrance to the park (you'll have to see the CD when we get it). Next we walked across the park to get to the breakfast. We got seated almost right away. Then, we realized that the dining hall was HUGE. And that masses of people would soon fill up the restaurant! We got to see Donald, Goofy, Daisy, and Mickey. They all came to our table while we were eating and took pictures with us. (Just so you know...Doug refused to be in the pictures at the character breakfasts!) We discovered that Alden could say "DUCK," when we saw Donald walk into the room. He continued to say, Duck, Duck, Duck.... for the rest of the breakfast. The food was good, although the lines we so long from the masses of people, that we couldn't go back very much. Once we saw the last character come to our table, we ran to the Safari ride to get fast passes because the park had already opened by now...