Day 3: Animal Kingdom and Swimming

On Wednesday, we headed to Animal Kingdom.  Rob and I were so excited about going here.  Neither of us had been there before and we heard great things. 

I have to be honest, we were pretty disappointed with Animal Kingdom.  I guess we just had never been there and didn't know what to expect.  It seemed really crowded there...I think it's because there isn't a lot to "do" there so everyone is just walking around.  The rapids which was the main thing we wanted to do was closed...bummer. We still had a great time cause we were in Disney, but we probably won't go back to Animal Kingdom, or we'll only do it for a half day next time.

We went on the dinosaur ride LOTS cause it was the only ride for the kids to do:

The safari was really awesome!  There were tons of animals out there and it was so cool to be so close to them.  (We forgot to take pictures...I guess we were busy watching or keeping our kids in the tram).  The kids also played in this really fun dinosaur area that had tons of slides, etc that was really fun.  And we saw the Nemo musical.  It was an actual musical (as opposed to ones with characters) with people singing.  I loved watching how they did all the effect.  The kids liked it, but it was really LONG for a kid's show and by the end, all the kids were DONE.  I spent the final 20 minutes trying to keep the kids quiet.  Again, fun but much more for older kids.

Our favorite part of the day was our lunch.  We ate at Tusker House and it was great.  The Curry Chicken was amazing...I think we each had 3 helpings.  The food was from Africa and it was great!  It was a buffet so Rob and I got to try a lot of new food.  And of course, the characters made the meal so fun (for most).

Donald is waiting for you when you get there.  At this point, both the kids were not so sure... 

and Rob and I really regretted our choice for lunch!  :)

However, never underestimage the power of "bribe" (Come on...all parents do it). We knew Abigail would love the characters once she she got close to one..and we knew it would make her trip...so we may or may not have promised her any stuffed animal of her choice if she gave one character a hug.

Goofy came first.  Caitlin SCREAMED.  But low and behold... 

Abigail LOVED Goofy.  And never looked back!!!!  She was so proud of herself!

She loved everyoen so much that we actually had to wait about 15 minutes after we finished our dinner for Daisy to come back, but Abigail insisted.  I was not into characters and didn't think I'd care...but both Rob and I saw how excited she was and we were "those parents" asking where Daisy was.

And this is how our Caitlin bug ate her meal.  She couldn't focus on eating because she had to keep her eyes peeled for the next attack!!!!!   I felt bad...but loved the cuddles...and she really mastered her scream.

And after our meal was over, Abigial requested another meeting with Donald.  Much different this time...

We LOVED Tusker House and are so happy we ate there.  It was the highlight of our day for sure!

We headed back for naps and swimming.  The girls were so excited to swim.  However, clouds rolled in during nap (it was our hottest day of the week) so the swimming was a little cool.  But we promised they could swim!

That night, we were planning on headed to Boardwalk for dinner.  However, Abigail had been sick all week (she had a fever the day before and today) and we were all tired.  So we decided to just hang out at our resort and freshen up for the rest of the week.  Our resort had a ton going on.  There was a movie playing on a big screen by the pool.  We went to the arcade and played some games.  We ate at the resort which was actually really great.  I'm glad we took advantage of all our resort had to offer.  I think it's well worth it to stay on property because even hanging out at your resort is a Disney experience.

Next up:  Epcot :)