On Thursday May 2nd, we loaded up the car and headed south to Orlando. We made a bit of a last minute decision to head to Disney for a week with just the four of us. The boys found out we were going on Payton's birthday back in March. We had started a countdown and they were eagerly awaiting the "We leave for Disney" day, it came much faster than expected!
We headed out mid-afternoon for what should have been a six hour journey. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. We drove in the most horrific rain for hours and hours. I thought my clearly planned out week was going to be a bust because it looked like it would rain for several days of our trip.
We had originally planned to start with the Magic Kingdom on Friday but due to our extra late arrival and forecast of rain, we had decided we would skip the parks on Friday.
We were settled in our hotel and asleep by about 1 o'clock in the morning....sheesh!
The kids still wake up by 7:00 no matter what time they go to bed.
Around 8:00, the sunshine looked like it was planning to stick around for the day....so, being the go with the flow type, we picked the park we thought we would spend the least amount of time at...Animal Kingdom....quickly got ready and headed out for the day.
While planning our trip, I tried and tried to limit us to only two Disney parks....unfortunately, the kids would definitely have to go to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios and we all love Epcot and I really wanted them to be able to do the safari ride at Animal Kingdom. So....four parks it would be...and Animal Kingdom was up first!
After our late start, we arrived at Animal Kingdom around 10:00...and it wasn't too hard to see that it was packed...not exactly what we were expecting with our early May vacation.
The first sights of Mickey and Minnie were enough to get Owen excited!
We had a great day touring around the different "continents" and checking out lots of animals on the walking tours and on the safari ride. Payton rode his first roller coaster - Mount Everest - and Owen has his first huge Disney meltdown because Daddy and Payton were away from us. Payton was also able to ride the scary Dinosaur ride. Both the boys were able to ride a few smaller rides.
Africa and the Safari:
We started with our walk though Africa and the boys were quickly amazed with some of the animals they were able to see.
I can't remember the animal's name...but, its a cross between a zebra and a giraffe.
HUGE toad
There is a hippo hiding in among these fish!
Brotherly love :)
One of the favorites of the day were these gorillas...a baby gorilla and her mommy
Payton checks out the size of a 6 year old gorilla hand vs his own hand size.
Our safari ride...one of Mommy's favorites! Where else can you get a chance to see all of these amazing animals in this type setting???
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| Check this crocodile...looking to eat us I believe! |
The giraffe's are simply amazing!
....and the elephants are pretty awesome too!
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| Flamingos |
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| An ostrich (which may be seen on an African Safari or in SF, NC) |
We checked out a petting zoo type area...and found goats...which can also be found in SF, NC
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| Enjoying a flying triceratops ride |
We took time to see Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, saw Goofy and Pluto from afar and stuck aroud for the parade.
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| Owen had just gotten up from a nap..but, one of his favorite parts of the day was meeting Donald! |
We were all excited to see Mickey...but, I would not have expected Owen's reaction...he was so excited and hugged Mickey for a long time!
We decided to stick around from the parade that started at 3:45 and the boys loved it!
After the parade, we decided to head for the exit. The skies were looking a little dark in the distance and we had been lucky that the rain had held off all day. We headed back to the hotel to enjoy a little time playing basketball - the resort had a perfect kid sized basketball court - and a little time at the pool. The rain held off for most of our day....and luckily we made it in from the pool just in time! The rain started around 6:30 and it was a downpour!
I was very budget minded for our trip....Disney is certainly no cheap vacation but we wanted it to be a reasonable as possible once we got there. Day #1 was a pretty good success. My goal was to limit our spending to $100 per day....including parking, park expenses, meals, snacks, etc.
Day #1 totals included:
Parking - $14
Lunch - $20 (I had packed the boys lunch, this was only lunch for Chad and myself)
Snack (popsicles before parade) - $7
Pizza for dinner - $30
Total: $71
Lesson learned, lunch would be packed for everyone for the remaining days!!
Our favorite parts of the day were:
Payton: Getting to ride two roller coasters - Expedition Everest and the Dinosaur ride was his first two big, fast, scary rides and he was so excited and so proud!!
Owen: Meeting Donald and Mickey
Mommy: The Safari ride - I just love seeing those animals and letting the kids see things they have never seen before
Daddy: Seeing Owen with Mickey - especially Owen hugging Mickey and riding Payton's first roller coaster with him.
The Webb's certainly had a wonderful day at Animal Kingdmon....it was a great day for all!
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