Animal Kingdom

The next stop of our "magical tour" was the Animal Kingdom. Once again, we arrived before the gates opened and were able to see the opening show featuring Mickey and friends performing at The Tree of Life. We headed straight for the Kilimanjaro Safaris, and enjoyed seeing all of the awesome African wildlife. At one point, our vehicle had to stop and wait for several minutes until a giraffe moved out of our path! After the ride, we checked out the Maharaja Jungle Trek (more African animals) and the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail (Asian animals). I usually find zoos a little depressing, but Disney has certainly done a gorgeous job creating Animal Kingdom - the exhibits are breathtakingly beautiful. The highlight of our visit was Festival of the Lion King, a stage show production featuring the songs and characters from the movie - Caroline absolutely loved it, even though she isn't familiar with the movie. After the show, Caroline wanted to "go see those squirrels" (Chip and Dale) so we visited with the characters.

After lunch and naps, the four of us headed for a swim at the hotel pool. Caroline is usually a little timid in the water, so it was great to see her really warm up to the gradual depth area. She also loved the splash park. William loved playing in the water, too.

Steve and I snuck off to Epcot to check out the World Showcase and to see the nighttime fireworks performance, IllumiNations after the kids went to sleep. My advice for going to Disney with young children: bring along the grandparents for free babysitting!