Animal Kingdom

We arried in AK about 20 minutes before the park opened. Thanks to RideMax, we had the tip of entering through the Rain Forest cafe girft shop. Great tip as we got to see Minnie & Mickey on the truck as they "opened" the park. We were the only ones at that gate so it was like a private show.

We immediatly set off to get Fast Passes for Expedition Everest. After seeing the mountain, Colby was a little afraid about the ride. More on how that turned out later....

We head to DinoLand and made our way through a cool mid-way carnival center. Then we entered the ride for Dinosauer, a ride that takes you back in time to the dinosauer age. OK, so this was a little bit scary. Sorry kids. You never really know how scary a ride is until you are on it with a freaked little boy. Grady was OK, but Colby hid his eyes the entire time. I admit it, even I was a little scared.

After trading some pins with workers in the mid-way and "winning" some toys, we headed off to Africa and on to Asia. Our favorite ride by far was Expedition Everest, a thrilling roller coaster set in the Himalayas, complete with a Yetti experience. The boys LOVED it and wanted to go back (but we didn't get the chance).

The Safari was another hit, featuring the live version of animals, instead of animatronics. We saw hippos, girraffs, lions, flamingos, elephants, monkeys, gazelles, ostrich, and rhinosaurus. The view from the back of the giant jeep was pretty decent and the ride well worth the wait.

The Lion King was another highlight, more for me than the boys. Talk about a great Disney show! Impressive and colorful. After that, we spent some time waiting to meet characters. Our patience paid off in the terms of autographs from Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Chip & Dale. The boys were so excited and even Grady ceased to be shy after the first one.

All in all, Animal Kingdom was fun but not the best of all the parks. You really have to be into spending time with the animals and the lines were all pretty long, even with RideMax. Of course, it was a Saturday on Presidents weekend.