Saturday, August 1, 2009

Animal Kingdom

I have to admit. My memory is fading a bit on this day of our trip. I think it's because there wasn't a whole lot that Ana and I could do; in fact there wasn't a whole lot any of us REALLY enjoyed compared to the other parks. Animal Kingdom hit me as a glorified zoo, actually; which has never interested Ian, and Ana was just not old enough to care. I did enjoy the Harambe village where we had lunch at the Tusker House Restaurant and were able to sample African style cuisine. Ian was still able to snag a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so that made it even better! There were some drummers outside the restaurant which we all seemed to enjoy and an area with traditional African drums that the kids could try. Other than that, the highlights were few for us. Ian and Greg rode Expedition Everest and seemed to really enjoy it. Greg took both kids on the Safari ride as it was too bumpy for expectant mothers. He said they didn't see a whole lot animal wise, but the kids (well, Ian at least) thought it was fun to be jarred around a bit. I think the part the kids enjoyed the most was DinoLand, the cheesy amusement park games area; which was slightly annoying because it was like anything you can experience at any number of fairs or even at the beach! Even more annoying was the fact that you had to buy tickets to play these games! At any rate, the kids had a good time and walked away with several cheesey stuffed dino toys. Ian was thrilled, so it was worth it. Oh, I almost forgot about the Finding Nemo the Musical! The whole family enjoyed this one, even finicky Ian! The way they animated the characters was amazing, you really felt like they were in the water, and at the end billions of bubbles poured from the ceiling and was lit so you got the feeling we were under water as well. It was very cool, very worth the wait! On the way out of the park we stopped to get the kids caricatures done. Greg remembered seeing caricatures of my brother, sister and I hanging in my parents house and really wanted to get the kids done. I balked at the price when he informed me that he wanted color face and body ones at $30.00 each; but you know what? It was the best $60.00 we spent, they turned out great and of all the souveniers we returned home with, they are what I will treasure in the years to come. Anyways, on to the pictures which are again far and few between unfortunately.

Gotta love the Disney Photo Pass. The only way we got pictures of the entire family!



The drummers outside the Tusker House Restaurant:



Posing with elephant statues after getting off the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch:



The kids playing "Whack a"...some long dino name I can't recall:



A few shots of Finding Nemo the Musical...it was amazing!



Getting the Caricatures done, they were so patient!



The finished products!

2 comments:

Indigo Potter said...

Great photos!

beanhead said...

Animal Kingdom was Ella's least favorite park also. However it looks like you made the most of it.