Disney 2017 (Animal Kingdom)

We spent our first park day at Animal Kingdom.  Here is how our day there went.

riding the tram to the park entrance

My friend Malinda had us matching shirts made for the trip.  I know there are differing opinions on wearing matching shirts but I personally loved it.  For one thing it made packing much easier.  I didn't have to stress over what we were going to wear each day.  My favorite thing of all about wearing them was how easy it made keeping up with each other in the parks.  Moving around with a group of seven was not always easy.  I especially loved wearing red at Animal Kingdom because it just popped out against the brown and green scenery around us.  It was hard to keep up with our fast moving kids so having the matching shirts helped us spot them more easily.  They also made our photos cute.  I would do it again every time.

The guys were great sports about wearing their shirts.  They didn't complain (too much, ha).

ready for our first day in the park

our family at Animal Kingdom

Waiting in line for the park to open.  We would arrive at the park each day about an hour before opening time in order to get a good spot in line. 

Our first ride of the day was Kilimanjaro Safaris.  We were able to see lots of animals moving around.  The boys loved it! (their mother loved it too!)

playing the African drums

snack break

the kids got their faces painted

Ben chose a snake

Cruz chose a tiger.  It has always been one of his favorite animals.

We stopped to watch an African dance show.

Sara Madalin was chosen to participate.

Several of the mothers were also chosen.  Malinda was a great sport and participated.  I took a video but she would kill me if I shared it.

The thing I was most looking forward to about Animal Kingdom was seeing the Festival of the Lion King show.  I was not disappointed.  It was amazing!  I loved the music, the costumes, the performances, and just everything about it.  It was one of the highlights of my week.

The boys waiting to see the Lion King.

I love this photo of them watching the show.

The kids were all chosen to participate.  We loved seeing them be a part of the show.  I am sure they were nervous but they did great.

What a beautiful show it was!

The boys had a great time in Dinoland U.S.A.  I liked it too but thought it seemed a little out of place.  It had more of a carnival feel than the rest of the park.  It had a lot of fun things to offer the kids though so we spent a good amount of time there.

our group in Dinoland U.S.A

Cruz's face here just makes me laugh.  That boy is a mess!

We had our first picnic lunch there.  To save money we packed our lunch each day and carried it into the parks with us.  I enjoyed doing this.  I would definitely recommend it and do it again.  When we got hungry we would just find a place to sit down and we would eat.  No deciding what everyone wanted to eat.  No waiting in long lines.  It just made meal times easier.  With young kids I am all about doing what is quicker and easier.  Staying in a condo we had our own full kitchen.  We cooked our own breakfast each morning and made our lunches to take with us.  We saved a lot of money by doing that.

Ready to ride Primeval Whirl.

David and Reagan inside The Boneyard.  This is a huge play area for kids in Dinoland U.S.A.  My boys loved it and could have spent the whole day there playing and exploring. 

What kid wouldn't love a dig-site playground?  We had to pry them away!

Taking a rest break while watching the kids play in The Boneyard.

a fun parade we caught as we walked back across the park to Asia

Next up we watched the Flights of Wonder show.  It was fun and educational.

this bird was singing Old MacDonald

Cruz loved the Mickey Mouse bars.  This was his first of many.  This ended up being his signature pose as he enjoyed this fun treat every day.

The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom.  It was so beautiful in person!

I took several photos of the carvings on our way to see It's Tough to be a Bug! show.  The boys did not like this show.  They thought it was too scary and was definitely their least favorite thing of the whole week.  I thought they would love it but neither one of them did.

carvings from the Tree of Life

Of all the shows we saw at Disney, Finding Nemo- The Musical was my very favorite.  I loved this show!  It was cute, funny, sweet, and just all around great.  I would see it again many times. 

It was such a great show!

The kids riding the Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. There we enjoyed visiting the Conservation Station and Affection Section.  It was a fun place for the kids to explore and learn.  They offer a behind the scenes look at the animal care center and they learn about conservation.  The boys really liked it there.

The kids at Rafiki's Planet Watch

Ready to explore the Conservation Station

They got to pet a snake.  That thrilled them greatly.

meeting Rafiki

They especially enjoyed the petting yard.

While there these two mischievous ones escaped and put on quite a show for everyone.  It fascinated my boys to see them fight each other.  It was entertaining for the guests but quite stressful for the cast members.

riding TriceraTop Spin back in Dinoland U.S.A

We saved the best for last.  We had a fast pass for Expedition Everest- Legend of the Forbidden Mountain.  Here is our group with Everest in the background.

One of my favorite purchases for the trip was the Memory Maker photo package.  We were able to split the cost and share it with the Browns.  I love pictures so to me it was well worth the money.  Disney photographers are stationed all throughout the parks to take your pictures.  You also get access to all the photos and videos from your rides.  If you have Memory Maker you just scan your magicband and the pictures load almost immediately.   They are great quality and a wonderful keepsake from your trip.  If you like having souvenir photos like me I would definitely recommend purchasing the photo package.  Between the two families we ended up with a little over 900 photos from the week.  That is a lot of great pictures we have to treasure.

Many of the larger rides like Everest had a height requirement of 44 inches to ride.  Ben was just a tad bit over 44 inches.  I was so glad he met the requirement.  He loves riding and was able to ride all but just a few rides throughout the week.  Some had a 48 inch height requirement.   I just could not imagine my baby on some of the roller coasters but he did great and loved it!  He would get off and immediately beg to ride again.  He was so fun to watch.

Ready for Everest.  This was our first big ride of the week and by far our family's favorite ride of all.  It was so fun and if we had had park hopper tickets I am certain we would have returned to Animal Kingdom later in the week to ride it again.

We loved Expedition Everest!!!

We ended our Animal Kingdom visit with supper reservations at Rainforest Cafe.  We loved the atmosphere of the restaurant and would definitely want to eat there again.  It was one of the boys favorite meals.

Rainforest Cafe in Animal Kingdom

In all we had spent 12 hours at the park that day.  It was a lot of walking and we were very tired by the time we returned to our condo that night.   We had a very big day ahead of us though so we needed a good nights rest.  Next up- Magic Kingdom.  That was a 14 hour day and I'll share about it next.