Disney #5 - Animal Kingdom

Ahh Animal Kingdom, the last park we visited at Disney. We were excited to go since our kids love animals. But...that morning when we woke up Mondo looked TERRIBLE. He said he wasn't going to make it to the park but might to try and come out later. So I sucked it up and dressed the kids and we were out the door to visit Animal Kingdom by ourselves. (This would be the good time to say that while we both wear one pant leg in the family, I fully give my pant leg to Mondo on trips. He maps things out and puts together the best plans for how to run the day.) I was literally so lost without him. I looked at the map a hundred times and still couldn't figure out where to go. I was almost an hour late for our lunch reservation because I had the wrong time in my head. It just sucked without him. He did completely suprise me when he showed up at lunch. He looked even worse than he did in the morning. But super-dad showed up just so Ethan could ride a roller coaster since Caleb was too little to ride. Mondo waited at the bottom with Caleb while I sucked it up. More about that later.

So...to sum up Animal Kingdom, it was my least favorite park but it really didn't have much of a chance since I was doing it alone with two exhausted kids who refused to walk 30 minutes into the day. It didn't have many rides and had a few shows. Unless Mondo wants to go, we won't go to that park on our next Disney vacation.

There were lots of areas like this. Kind of felt like we were in the Ft. Worth Zoo. There were flamingos and ducks hanging around some areas.

Our first "ride" was the safari. It was my favorite part of the day. We loaded into these trucks and drove through different terrain and saw lots of different animals (real animals, not robotic ones). It really felt like we were on a safari because someone was actually driving and telling us about the animals and their habitats. It probably lasted 20 minutes or so. The kids really enjoyed it.

Playing some African drums.

There was much cuter scenery behind this rock but of course they didn't want to sit on the bench, they wanted to scale the rock...that had a sign on it saying not to climb it. Boys.

We ate lunch at Tusker House. It was an African buffet with characters. I was a little worried about the food. Silly me, we are at Disney! Of course they cater to the kids. There were chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, PB&J, etc. We really enjoyed it and met lots of characters and got more autographs. Mondo showed up right when we walked in. He looked like he was going to pass out at any moment. He was burning up with fever, nauseated, and had a pounding headache. Needless to say, he didn't eat anything.

See that giant mountain in the background? That's the ROLLER COASTER that I rode with Ethan!

It is called Expedition Everest. Mondo rides all of the roller coasters with the kids, not me. I get motion sickness super easy. But, since my poor sickly husband got on a shuttle and traveled 20 minutes to the park and sat through a nauseating lunch all so that Ethan could ride ONE ride....I decided I better be a good mom and suck it up. The line took 30 minutes which was bad news for Mondo. Luckily there weren't any loops but it did go backwards in the dark for a while. Almost did me in. Poor Mondo took off the second we got off the ride. He said he passed out as soon as he got in the shuttle to take him back to the hotel. Poor thing. He wins Dad of the Year for sure!!

There was a giant dinosaur playing area that the kids LOVED. It was like the Honey I Shrunk the Kids area from Hollywood Studios.

They jumped on these tracks and it made dino noises.

Lots to climb and explore.

Then there was this giant climby area. We probably stayed in the dino area for an hour. It was a nice break for mommy to sit and watch them play. :-)

We saw a Nemo show that was amazing. Then we saw this show called It's Tough to be a Bug. It was led by the Bug's Life bugs.

It's hard to see since it was dark, but this is the waiting area "underground".

Of course it was in 3D like most shows. The kids didn't like it. I thought it was cute. It had a few scary parts. Like when they turned off the lights and it was pitch black and we got poked in the back with a wasp stinger. (It was more like a nudge with a blunt stick). Perhaps I would have been a bit scared too if I was little. And then there was a part where it felt like bugs were crawling under the padding of the seat. Ethan didn't care for that.

We were all exhausted and called it a day around 4pm. I made it at the park alone! But it most definitely wasn't the same without Mondo. We went back to the hotel to check on him. He had been asleep most of the day. I took the kids to dinner in the hotel then brought them back and packed and put them to bed.

The next day we had to be at the front of the hotel at 0730. Yuck! Our flight wasn't until 1030 I think. There was a lot of waiting around. By this point, Mondo still looked aweful, I was starting to cough and feel crummy, Ethan was coughing, and Caleb was coughing. In the middle of the plane ride Caleb looked zoned out and his cheeks were bright red. He had fever. And as we landed he was puking in a barf bag. It never felt so good to be home!! All weekend we were sick. Caleb's temp got up to 105!! What a terrible way to end a fabulous vacation. But now that we are all well.....we're ready to go back (with LOTS of hand sanitizer this time!).

Want to know how sick we were? Just take a look at that poor baby. Pretty much sums it up.