Disney Animal Kingdom 2006
Posted By Kathleen David on July 29, 2006
We went to the Animal Kingdom this first year because I feel we always get to it last and don’t give it enough time. I also wanted to show Caroline some of the animals that are there since she is so into critters. First however we had to deal with Pinky Pie. Pinky Pie is her very large (think size of a small pillow) stuffed “My Little Pony” that she has been inseparable from since Ariel presented it to her. It was Caroline’s present from San Diego Comic-Con. This gave us a small (well almost Caroline sized) problem, how to get Pink Pie around Disney without destroying it. Our solution was to stuff the pony into her small backpack and have her wear it around the park. Of course shortly after we got to Animal Kingdom she had us carry the pony for her. The Pony road very nicely on her stroller most of the day.
We started in camp Minnie/Mickey and saw the “Festival of the Lion King.” I described this show to Peter as Julie Taymore meets Cirque du Soleil. Lots of colors and lots of movement. The large animatronic animals were very good. Caroline kept waving to Simba up on his rock. She totally bought into the illusion and had a great time after she got over her little temper tantrum of her seat. After that she was in a great mood.
We bought lunch and sat down as a small thunderstorm passed over our heads. The timing was perfect. While I was getting lunch, Peter obtained Fasspasses for us to ride the Kali River Rapids ride. We headed to Asia from Africa. Once in Asia, I took Caroline to see the animals on the “Maharajah Jungle Trek”. I spoke to one of the Disney Employees who was from Indonesia about puppets from her country while Caroline watched a large Kimono Dragon who was watching her. From there we went and saw Bats and snakes and a few antelope like animals. Then we found the tigers. They fascinated Caroline. Even though one was sleeping and the other one after taking a short swim hid in the undergrowth, she watched them.
Then it was off to her first “big girl” ride. She had to be at least 38 inches to ride and she almost hit the 40 mark. So she just needed a special lap bar they had for smaller children. She had lots of fun for the most part. She got a little scared once or twice but over all she was fine. Towards the end she was all smiles and “Wheee” as we slide down the rapids. We did get soaked to the bone. I think our side of the boat was the wet side. So with shoes full of water and clothes sticking to our bodies, we decided to make it a day and journey back to our hotel.
Ariel and I went over to Epcot for dinner at her favorite restaurant there in one of her favorite places which is Japan. We meandered our way back and took the bus to our hotel. Then Peter and I caught up with some old friends and made a couple of new ones at the Adventures club. Of course we closed the place down and got back to the room at about 1:30 AM. I got up at 7 and we are heading to Epcot and Disney MGM today.
I am grateful for all the looks of Wonder on my child’s face yesterday.
Sounds like you guys are having a wonderful time. Enjoy your vacation.
Sounds like a perfect day to me! I’m going down there in about 2 weeks, and was just thinking that I should go to the AK first. Granted, I’ll be watching the tigers for a while also – they are my favorites. 🙂
If you ever have a chance, you might want to check out the “behind the scene” tours that Disney offers. Most require participants to be over a certain age (to preserve the magic), but there is one called “The Family Magic Tour” that Caroline might like. It’s an two-hour interactive tour (similar to a treasure hunt) through the Magic Kingdom.
I went on the “Keys to the Kingdom” tour two years ago and had alot of fun. Not for the faint of feet though – it’s a 6 hour tour.
Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
I can’t wait until Katherine is old/large enough to go on some “big kid” rides. (She might be close — I’m betting she’s just about at the 36-inch mark now, and she’s only just about to turn 2. Yikes!) I’m not sure yet which things she’ll go for and which things she won’t — she’s had some weird fears creep up on occasion. Still, them’s what makes horse races!
TWL
jonny