We arrived at Animal Kingdom around 8:45 and were able to use our awesome Magic Bands to get into the park! So cool!
We walked to the back of the park and did the Kilimanjaro Safari first. It was incredible! The girls really seemed to enjoy themselves and liked seeing all the exotic animals.
Then we saw the Lion King show. It was incredible! The dancing, acrobatics, and singing were just stunning!
Ashleigh was ready for a "real" ride so Matt and I took her on the Kali River Rapids. She was super excited!
We, of course, got soaked. We had prepared Ashleigh that she might get wet. She did really well on the hills and valleys that the raft went on, but as soon as she got soaking wet, she yelled out, "I'm all done!!" She still enjoyed the rest of the ride, though. Poor Matt won the award for getting the wettest! It took all day for his clothes to finally dry out.
When we met back up with the grandparents and Miriam, we found that M had passed out in the stroller! Yeah!
Grandparents were happily eating some Asian food, so we took Ashleigh to DinoLand to find some food that she would like. We ate at a restaurant called Restaurantosaurus. It was cute! Ashleigh's kids meal was served in a sand bucket so she could later use that to help "excavate dinosaur bones."
Then we headed over to ride a few more rides. Ashleigh loved the Tricera Top Spin. We rode that several times! This was also Miriam's first ride. We weren't sure what she would think but she had a blast! She smiled the whole time!
When we were leaving DinoLand, we saw Goofy and Pluto, so we got in line to meet our first two characters! Ashleigh and Miriam were so excited the whole time we were in line! Miriam kept pulling my hand and pointing at Pluto and Goofy, and Ashleigh was waving to them and had the biggest smile on her face. Then it was our turn. I was holding Miriam as we walked up to Goofy and Pluto, and when we got about 3 feet away from them, Miriam turned around and put her head on my shoulder and clung on to me tightly! Ashleigh was in Matt's arms and basically collapsed into his chest! Haha! So they didn't do so well meeting their first characters, but that's okay!
Then we headed to see the Finding Nemo show. We all ate some snacks while we were in line.
Miriam showing us her peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and Ashleigh is avoiding the camera at all costs. (She was tiiiiiiiired.)
We had great seats... right up front near the stage! We were in the "bubble zone."
The show was stunning. We loved the actors and how entertaining it was.
Before we left Animal Kingdom, Matt and I really wanted to ride Expedition Everest. So the rest of the gang watched the girls for us so we could ride it. Awesome!!
Before we left Animal Kingdom, we decided to try and meet one more character: Daisy! We had to wait a few minutes for her to return from "break", so Miriam kept us entertained.
I think that allowed the girls to get comfortable with the setting, so they were ready when Daisy appeared!
Ashleigh excitedly handed her the autograph book! Miriam still wanted to be held, but she smiled several times at Daisy.
We decided we were done with Animal Kingdom and that we should head to Epcot for a bit. We arrived and immediately went on Spaceship Earth. Miriam did fine but Ashleigh was not impressed! She didn't like that ride one bit!
When we got off the ride, we discovered that it was POURING outside. This was not some little rain shower making its way through the area, no sir! This storm was complete with downpouring rains, gusting winds, and thunder and lightning. We ran to get our stroller (which fortunately was protected from the elements by Epcot's big ole golf ball (Spaceship Earth), and we all went inside the gift shops to look around and stay dry. The girls, of course, loved this! They each picked out one gift. Miriam got a Minnie Mouse doll (Although I did help her with this... the first Minnie she wanted had leopard print pants and go-go boots... um, no thank you! It took some convincing but I switched it out with a "classic" Minnie doll.) Ashleigh decided on a set of Sleeping Beauty characters. After about an hour of waiting out the storm and checking the radar on our phones several times, we decided to leave Epcot and head on back to the resort. It was still pouring as we ran to the exit and then to the resort bus stops. Matt and I had packed the girls' rain jackets so they were fairly dry, but we had forgotten to pack ours. We. were.drenched. But at least he temperature was warm enough so we didn't feel too cold.
We arrived back at the hotel around dinner time and relaxed. It continued pouring outside, so we were glad we made the right decision. According to the weather station, Orlando received 3.5 inches of rain in just a few hours. Crazy! The girls (and us, too!) went to bed early so we would be ready for our day spent at Magic Kingdom!!!
When we got off the ride, we discovered that it was POURING outside. This was not some little rain shower making its way through the area, no sir! This storm was complete with downpouring rains, gusting winds, and thunder and lightning. We ran to get our stroller (which fortunately was protected from the elements by Epcot's big ole golf ball (Spaceship Earth), and we all went inside the gift shops to look around and stay dry. The girls, of course, loved this! They each picked out one gift. Miriam got a Minnie Mouse doll (Although I did help her with this... the first Minnie she wanted had leopard print pants and go-go boots... um, no thank you! It took some convincing but I switched it out with a "classic" Minnie doll.) Ashleigh decided on a set of Sleeping Beauty characters. After about an hour of waiting out the storm and checking the radar on our phones several times, we decided to leave Epcot and head on back to the resort. It was still pouring as we ran to the exit and then to the resort bus stops. Matt and I had packed the girls' rain jackets so they were fairly dry, but we had forgotten to pack ours. We. were.drenched. But at least he temperature was warm enough so we didn't feel too cold.
We arrived back at the hotel around dinner time and relaxed. It continued pouring outside, so we were glad we made the right decision. According to the weather station, Orlando received 3.5 inches of rain in just a few hours. Crazy! The girls (and us, too!) went to bed early so we would be ready for our day spent at Magic Kingdom!!!
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