Animal Kingdom- Part 3

Let's just dive right in this morning, shall we?

As we were finishing our drinks (Pina Colava's) the baby woke up and was ready to go. We make a a quick bathroom break...

...and came out to this awesome dance party!

It was a lot of fun watching everyone!

I've never seen the vultures this close. There were dozens "frozen" like this with their wings spread!

Many of you are aware of the changes being made to the Safari. I was quite disappointed. No longer is there an interesting story line. I miss the music and the interaction. As we neared the end of the ride I was curious to see what happened to the Poacher Camp...it's gone :(

And little Red? Gone!

The Safari is still unique and a lot of fun but I hope they develop a new story line once the Zebra's are added.

After our Safari we took the train out to Conservation Station.

I was too scared to check out the Snake, but not Kennedy...

Ok maybe not...

Conservation Station is full of small animals like frogs and snakes!

If you haven't been out there, be sure to check it out! There is lots of interactive activities for the kids, characters to meet and live demonstrations. They also have camera's that look right into the Animal Barns. Plus you get a cool backstage glimpse on your way out there!

Back to Harambe!

It was getting late, and we wanted to take the baby swimming before dinner so it was time to go!

Animal Kingdom- Part 2

Good Morning!!  Today we are going to continue our photo tour Animal Kingdom. If you remember we left off here...

She had fallen asleep and we hadn't gotten anywhere yet!!  Since she's such a growing girl, I had underestimated how much formula she'd drink and we needed to make a pitstop at the Baby Care Center. I'm going to do a complete post on the Baby Care Center's later so we'll skip ahead for now. We thought we'd do a bit of shopping, grab fast passes for the Safari and wait for her to wake up.

Harambe can often look busy but the Safari only had a 20 minute wait! Be sure to walk all the way back and check it out!

It's important to have Dining Reservations! Tusker House had over an hour wait without one!

Tamu Tamu is a great quick service location that's not often busy!

I love the Art they sell in Harambe!

We grabbed some grapes and a few drinks...but don't these pretzels look yummy?

 Someone is still sleeping!

We decided to take a quick walk on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail while the baby slept

 We decided to grab drink since it was now after noon (lol) and someone was still sleeping!

We happened across this guy who was carving some animals!

Next up...the baby finally wakes up and Kilimanjaro Safari!

Disney's Animal Kingdom- Part 1

Karibuni!!! That means WELCOME!! Today we are going to take a virtual of one of my family's favorite parks! Disney's Animal Kingdom.

One of the most common things that I hear when helping clients with their touring plans is, "We won't spend much time at Animal Kingdom...we have a Zoo at home".  While today's post will focus on a section of Animal Kingdom that is abundant with animals, Animal Kingdom is....nahtazu!!


They have so much more to offer!  There are exploration trails and ample opportunities for learning about conservation.  You can travel back in time, or be shrunk to the size of  bug.  We could easily spend 2-3 days of our trip here!

Typically I'm among the Earl Extra Magic Hours belief...we've been numerous and we get so much done in that hour, leaving the rest of our day to explore the park.  On my last trip however, I was traveling with my Mom and the baby, neither of whom were interested in getting up a the crack of dawn. Knowing that I wouldn't see everything anyway, I let them sleep in. We grabbed a quick bite to eat before grabbing a bus.

One of the great things about Animal Kingdom is there are trails to explore everywhere! As you make your way over to Discovery Island, don't miss all the great animals!!

While it's certainly not as grand as walking through the Train Station at Magic Kingdom and seeing the castle, I do love crossing the bridge to Discovery Island and seeing the Tree of Life!

At the base of the Tree of Life is the Tree of Life Garden...watch for Photopass photographers here! They take some great shots!

Also located at the base is some more opportunities to see animals. Normally we see Kangaroo's here but today it was just Flamingos and Vultures.

Uh oh....look who fell asleep! We just got here!

That's Part 1 for today!! Next up, Animal Kingdom's Baby Care Center, shopping and the village of Harambe!

EPCOT Continued

I hope you enjoyed my little photo tour of EPCOT's Flower and Garden Festival yesterday. There is SO much more...those picture were just from an hour of exploring. Imagine if you had the WHOLE day?

I want to share some more of my EPCOT day with you today. One thing I checked out while the baby was sleeping was the Test Track Area. I have special memories of this attraction so I really hope they don't disappoint when it reopens!

Not much to see, and no definite date yet!! This sign kind of made me laugh...we didn't stick around to see what kind of show they had put together but I'm guessing it was car related lol?

After that we went into MouseGears for a bit of shopping!

I love their selection of covers for IPhones, IPads, Tablets...and now Droids!! Too bad I'm giving up my Droid next month because I have been waiting for these!!

These made me giggle too...USB cords!!

I mentioned on Facebook that one of my favorite gifts was a few books for the baby.  I really love these little Souvenirs!!

This was one of the books...the other is for when she's much older. It had paper pages and a CD to go with it (Small World of course)

One of my favorite things about EPCOT is the splash areas. I can't wait to take Kennedy back and let her play. This one is located between Test Track and Mission Space.

 After we purchased our Top Secret Father's Day Gift it was time to head back to the hotel for swimming.  We walked through Canada and the UK on our way to the International Gateway Exit.

It was still early and were lucky enough to see one of the Segway Tours!

I debated stopping France for some pastries but decided to snap a few pictures instead :)

The Friendship Boats will take you to Disney's Boardwalk, Yach and Beach Club, Swan and Dolphin and finally to Disney's Hollywood Studios. It's a nice ride!

After we exited we came across the most beautiful garden! EPCOT had planted some trial breeds to see how they did.

As we walked back to the Beach Club people kept giggling at my stroller...goofy girl!!

EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival

I'm inspired today by some EPCOT music I'm listening to on Live365.   I love EPCOT and I often fight hard to show other's what a wonderful (and NOT at all boring) place it can be...even the hubs some times! 

After Kennedy and I had breakfast we decided to head back to the Beach Club via EPCOT. I had a special gift for the Mr. in mind.  After picking up our passes at Will Call we immediately headed for the Art of Animation Store (not to be confused with the Art of Animation Resort) to see Eddie. You remember Eddie right?

Someday I'll get a good picture of him. His smile is contagious! Anyway, I decided for my hubby's birthday I would surprise him with an Eddie drawing. Even though this was a girls only trip I wanted to continue our tradition. Unfortunately Eddie didn't get in until 11 a.m. so the baby and I spent some time exploring Future World. Also unfortunately, she fell asleep! That kind of limited what I could do but I had fun taking lots of pictures of the amazing topiary!

We ended up back at the Art of Animation and got the chance to talk to Eddie. He was great as always and we are excited to see him in September. I decided to make the gift a Father's Day present instead of a birthday present. It turned out GREAT!!

A bit of photo overload so I'll end there today...my next post will include some photos of the Test Track area plus some bits and peices from around EPCOT.