Animal Kingdom

Okay... I gotta get this finished up and have to talk about Animal Kingdom since we spent the most time there of any of the parks.   We really liked it.  The kids loved the animals of course!    It was very lush and overgrown,  more shade to walk in.   Lots of fun animal trails to trek on and see the different animals.   Dino Land which the boys loved and some good rides and shows.    In no particular order ....

Hunter watching the Lion King show.  This was a really good show and kept his attention.

He loved the tumble/jungle monkeys, they were a big hit.   He came home and was a "tumble monkey" for awhile : )

Triceratops ride in Dino Land.  The kids were and still are on a big dinosaur kick.  They loved Dino Land!

We got stuck midair on this ride for a minute because some kid jumped the fence and they shut the ride down while we were on it!

Trail in "Asia."    These trails were all really beautiful and overgrown.  Such a fun way to see all the animals and Hunter really wanted to see the Tigers in Asia!

He loved these "maps" with the animals on it to find.   These trails were a nice place to let the kids run free instead of being hulled up waiting in a long line somewhere.

Lots of bird maps and beautiful birds to find.

We took a train ride to part of the park only accessible by train.   It had a conservatory (a nice big air conditioned building!!), petting zoo and more animal trails.

The Bone Yard play area.  Hunter LOVED this but it was so darn hot and he would about overheat running around it.    It was pretty big and there was so much to climb on and into.   You had to go up to the second level and across a bridge and could find the dig site.   A big sandbox with dinosaur bones to dig in it.   He was so excited to find the dig site!

The kids were wet and sweaty.   We kept pouring water on them and in them every chance we could because it was so hot.  The play area also had some sprinklers in it too.

We watched the 3-D Bug Show that's in the center of the big tree.  It was a little scary.  Especially since we were sitting really close to the front and the giant scary grasshopper that popped up, Aidan about jumped out of my lap.   It was also dark and a little creepy, crawly for parts of it but the kids did okay.

Aidan did not keep the bug glasses on during the show.

He wouldn't for any of the 3-D shows, I wondered what he thought watching all these blurring shows : )

We did the Safari Ride twice.  The first ride of the first day we were there and the last ride of the last day we were there.   It was a good ride, so many animals and you just drive right thru all of them.   The elephants, giraffes, rhinos... all just right by the Safari bus.   So fun and close.  The kids just loved it.

Other hi-lights were taking Hunter on his first water ride.   He was just tall enough and I felt a little nervous but he was in a seat with an extra bar to keep him in.   It was one of those circle raft rides, Hunter and I in seats by each other.   We went down the water fall part at the bottom end and a wave of water went up and over Hunter and soaked him!   He could not have been more wet if we threw him in the water.   Everyone else on the ride was laughing so hard because he got so wet and he had no idea what happened or why everyone was laughing at him.   He was fine and thought it was funny and he was really, really wet!!   

If anyone is still reading this super long post, I'll finish up by saying it was a great, although super hot, trip!   Lots of memories and things learned.   There's definitely a learning curve to doing Disney.    

Our trip ended with our flight being canceled back to Milwaukee thanks to the heavy rain/flood.   Not before we woke up at 5 a.m. went thru check-in and security and then realized we had no hopes of flying out that day.   Not something you want to have happen at all but especially when traveling with a 3 and 1 year old.   Yikes!!   I will not be flying with little ones again for awhile if I can help it at all!!

I also realized that roller coasters are not for me.  Never really have been.  I'll stick to the kiddy coasters with the boys.

18 months is a tad young to do all of this.   Especially if the 18 month old is a super squirrelly,wiry little boy who fights to get out of your arms anytime you try to contain him.

My kids don't fall asleep anywhere no matter how tired they are, they can hold out a long, long time!

And Orlando is hot, super, super hot in July!!