February 18th

Tara and I had planned to spend the day at Disney with the kids, but most of them had other plans. Samantha preferred to spend the day with her boyfriend. Drew wanted to sleep in after a long weekend of hockey and early mornings. Jayden was the only one who was interested in hanging out with us, so it was just the three of us today.

Our first stop was Disney's Animal Kingdom, with the sole purpose of going on the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride. We wanted to take this ride during our previous visit, but the wait was just too long. Today, we got to the park (relatively) early with just this ride in mind. It took a while, but once we got on our vehicle we saw lots of cool animals and Jay really enjoyed herself, especially when we got to see the giraffes!

Animal Kingdom
	The entrance to the Animal Kingdom park.
	A black rhinoceros that we were able to see on the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride.
	This is a saddle-billed stork, which sits in a very weird way.
	A couple of hippos staying cool in the water.
	A bunch of pelicans hanging out with the hippos.
	A bunch of crocodiles warming themselves along the waters edge.
	A group of Ankole cattle walking along the roadway.
	A closer look at one of the Ankole cattle on the safari.
	A group of animals resting in the grass...
	...while another group grazes.
	A giraffe hanging out in the trees.
	A couple more giraffes spotted during our ride.
	An African elephant on the safari.
	Another shot of the elephant.
	Another elephant on the safari.
	A group of greater flamingos hanging out on an island - a hidden Mickey island!
	A cheetah relaxing in its enclosure.
	A lioness relaxing on the rocks.
	A lion and lioness laying on the rocks.
	Another view of the lioness.
	A closer look at the lioness.
	A view of Expedition Everest - Legend of Forbidden Mountain from across the Discovery River.
	Kevin from the movie "Up" was exploring the park!

After riding the Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom to take advantage of our FastPasses. While we waited for the first time slot, we stopped in Tomorrowland to see what happens on the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor show, which none of us had ever seen. After that we went back to Fantasyland to take advantage of our first FastPass, riding on The Barnstormer roller coaster. Although it is a fun ride, it is extremely short, and most definitely geared towards younger kids (which makes sense, as it is in the part of the park that used to be called Mickey's Toontown Fair).

We had some more time to kill before our next FastPass time slot, so we did our best to find some short lines to wait in. We settled on a couple of classics - the Country Bear Jamboree show, and Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room show. Once we watched those shows, we boarded our boat for the Jungle Cruise boat ride which is always an amusing way to spend some time in the park. We knew we were going to have to leave the park soon, as reality - work and school - kicked back in tomorrow, so we opted to what else was available on the FastPass list. There was one available that none of us had been on before, and that was the Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid ride. Once again, we had some time to kill before our time slot, so we took in the Mickey's PhilharMagic show. I don't know if this show has changed since my last time seeing, but it seemed more enjoyable today. The only things I would do differently is NOT sit so close to the screen, as this seemed to distort some of the 3D effects. We finally headed over to the Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid ride, which is another slow moving storytelling type of ride, but it is visually interesting, and a good way to end our day.

As always, a day at Disney is a great way to spend a day, and this one was no different!

Magic Kingdom
	A look at Cinderella's Castle.
	Rodney, Jayden, and Tara posing for a selfie in front of the castle.
	The Main Street Philharmonic playing in the circle in front of Cinderella's Castle.
	This mallard was hanging around one of the popcorn stands, helping himself to whatever was dropped.
	Jayden overlooking Monstropolis in the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor queue.
	You can apparently rent these Cinderella strollers from an outside company...
	We took a quick ride on The Barnstormer roller coaster.
	Another look at Cinderella's Castle.
	The bottom of Rapunzel's tower is a restroom, themed to the movie "Tangled".
	Some of the bears from the Country Bear Jamboree show.
	A view of the pre-show of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.
	A few photos from inside of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room...


	Jayden playing in the fountains across from Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.
	A bunch of pictures from the Jungle Cruise boat ride follows...











	The Beast's castle is visible high atop the Be Our Guest Restaurant.
	Tara and Jay decided to play some tic-tac-toe while waiting for our time to use our Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid FastPasses...

	...which ended in a draw.
	Jay peeking back from her seat on the Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid ride.
	Some of the scenes from the Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid ride...








	And now a couple more shots of Cinderella's Castle before we leave the park...

Animal Kingdom

The entrance to the Animal Kingdom park.

A black rhinoceros that we were able to see on the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride.

This is a saddle-billed stork, which sits in a very weird way.

A couple of hippos staying cool in the water.

A bunch of pelicans hanging out with the hippos.

A bunch of crocodiles warming themselves along the waters edge.

A group of Ankole cattle walking along the roadway.

A closer look at one of the Ankole cattle on the safari.

A group of animals resting in the grass...

...while another group grazes.

A giraffe hanging out in the trees.

A couple more giraffes spotted during our ride.

An African elephant on the safari.

Another shot of the elephant.

Another elephant on the safari.

A group of greater flamingos hanging out on an island - a hidden Mickey island!

A cheetah relaxing in its enclosure.

A lioness relaxing on the rocks.

A lion and lioness laying on the rocks.

Another view of the lioness.

A closer look at the lioness.

A view of Expedition Everest - Legend of Forbidden Mountain from across the Discovery River.

Kevin from the movie "Up" was exploring the park!

Magic Kingdom

A look at Cinderella's Castle.

Rodney, Jayden, and Tara posing for a selfie in front of the castle.

The Main Street Philharmonic playing in the circle in front of Cinderella's Castle.

This mallard was hanging around one of the popcorn stands, helping himself to whatever was dropped.

Jayden overlooking Monstropolis in the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor queue.

You can apparently rent these Cinderella strollers from an outside company...

We took a quick ride on The Barnstormer roller coaster.

Another look at Cinderella's Castle.

The bottom of Rapunzel's tower is a restroom, themed to the movie "Tangled".

Some of the bears from the Country Bear Jamboree show.

A view of the pre-show of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.

A few photos from inside of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room...

Jayden playing in the fountains across from Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.

A bunch of pictures from the Jungle Cruise boat ride follows...

The Beast's castle is visible high atop the Be Our Guest Restaurant.

Tara and Jay decided to play some tic-tac-toe while waiting for our time to use our Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid FastPasses...

...which ended in a draw.

Jay peeking back from her seat on the Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid ride.

Some of the scenes from the Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid ride...

And now a couple more shots of Cinderella's Castle before we leave the park...