Whitley's Week: Disney Day 3: Animal Kingdom

Taking a Triceratops for a whirl.

I truly feel like our trip just got better and better each day, because our third day was one of the most full and fun. We met Grammy, Papa, Hayden, and Glenis at Animal Kingdom just before it opened, and stayed until dark! When we entered the park, Tom ran to get fast-passes for the Safari, while Whitley and I raced for Dinoland U.S.A. where we promptly rode the Primeval Whirl. It ended up being Whitley's favorite ride of the day- she rode it four times! We also rode Triceratops Spin and one of the most popular rides of the park, Dinosaur! This was the only ride of the trip that truly frightened Whitley. She hid her face in my lap nearly the entire time. But what a trooper! It didn't stop her from trusting Mommy and Daddy, and she rode everything we asked her to the rest of the vacation. The Safari was a really cool experience. We had excellent views of many animals, and Disney did a great job of transforming the Florida swamp in to an African savanna. We rode the Safari twice, once in the morning and again in the afternoon, and saw different things each time. Fun! For lunch, we had a character buffet with Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Daisy. Wish Aunt Kim had been there, though, because it was a story perfect for her! As soon as I got up to make plates for Whitley and me, all of the characters came to our table, one after the other. Tom was forced to juggle both the video camera and the digital one, and I missed the whole thing. This was my only significant complaint of the trip. Why didn't the hostess warn they were coming soon instead of encouraging me to go eat? The food was in a whole other room, so I had no idea. Geez. But the characters mingled around the dining area, and I was able to snag a hug and photo with Mickey and Goofy later. Also, Tom did a fine job as photographer, so no real harm done. :) Besides, some of the most entertaining parts of the day were yet to come! Animal Kingdom is home to two really wonderful shows, "Finding Nemo- the Musical" and "Festival of the Lion King," and we watched them both that afternoon. The Lion King was our hands-down favorite of the vacation, though, with circus performances and all the good tunes from the movie! We also enjoyed the 3-D "It's Tough to be a Bug" show. Hornets "sting" you and roaches "crawl" beneath your bottom, among other things. Tom and I both shrieked with shock and then died laughing, along with everyone else in the audience. Thankfully, Whitley was sitting on my lap and missed some of these scary surprises! Before we left, we took the opportunity to meet a few more of Mickey's buddies. We waited in line to see Minnie, and it was worth it. Whitley kept giggling and saying, "Aw, Minnie is so cute!" The workers all smiled in return, and told me how cute Whitley was herself. She sure was cute as I was pushing her around in the stroller during our last hour in the park. I told my parents- Whitley would get so punch-drunk as our days wound to a close. That particular evening she was singing (at the top of her lungs, mind you) made up songs to honor our time there. "A dinosaur ride, a dinosaur ride, I'm gonna ride, a dinosaur ride... with TWO drops!" I can hear the tune now. :)