Animal Kingdom

We surprised the kids with a scavenger hunt to tell them that we were going to Disney World.  Neither one of them cried this time, so that was a huge relief!  Phoenix was somewhat traumatized when we went to Disney World last year, and he didn't do much better at Disneyland.  But something happened and he decided to not be scared anymore.  Disney is a lot more fun when you don't have a crying kid, and this was our first time experiencing that!

Phoenix got to take the class pet on our trip with us.  It was quite a coincidence, and Phoenix was so happy. 

We went to Animal Kingdom a few years ago, and we didn't feel like we got the full idea of what the park was that day.  So we have wanted to go back ever since. We got there at park open and stayed till park close (as we do with every amusement park that we go to).  We got to do everything that they had, and I definitely feel like we got the full Animal Kingdom experience.  

Phoenix really likes to look cool, hence his backwards hat.  He totally reminds me of my younger self.  Side pony tails and spandex shorts with a mini skirt on top were my thing.  

We all loved the safari ride, the animals were so active in the morning!  We went on it again towards the end of the day and the animals were not nearly as interesting.

Not only did we get to see the male lion standing in all of his glory, but we got to hear him roar!  It was SO awesome!  Definitely a highlight for Audrey.  

Audrey was scared to go on this ride, but she ended up loving it and I went on it with her. 

They have a great playground area, complete with a fossil digging site.  The kids loved it.

One of my favorite parts of the day was the petting zoo.  Without a doubt, the best one we have been to!  The kids could use brushes to brush the goats and the sheep.  Phoenix made it his personal mission to brush as many goats and sheep as he could.  

Towards the end, a few goats got rambunctious and were running around and getting up on their hind legs.  It was so fun to watch, but kind of scary to (I didn't want to get trampled!).

Animal Kingdom was fun, but I am not sure that we would go more than every few years...at least until they get the Avatar part done.  There are a lot of interesting things there, but they are really lacking in the ride department.