Disney World 2013: Animal Kingdom (Day 1)

We spent Monday at Animal Kingdom.  Dad was flying in to Orlando, and we wanted to choose one of the shorter parks, so we would be free to go meet him.  Disney's Animal Kingdom is probably Mom's favorite park, so she was psyched and ready to go Monday morning.



I took an obligatory photo of the entrance sign.  I did this everyday even if we were going back to the same park because I wanted to use them as dividers in my photo album.  I know.  I know.  I am super cool nerdy.

While Brad, Mom and Emmy ran off to Dinoland, I went to Asia to pick up fast passes for Expedition Everest.  It was a bit of a trek, but because it was on the touring plan, I knew it had to be done.



After getting  slightly lost, I made my way over to Dinoland.  It was exactly as I remembered it from the last time I was there, and it was wonderfully empty at this time of day.




The first ride that they got on was Tricer A Top Spin.  This ride has a similar feel to Dumbo, but there are a couple of variations.



Emmy really enjoyed it.  Since we knew this would be one of the only "rides" that she would get to ride all day, we took her four or five times before we moved on to the next ride.  The cast member even let her stay on a couple of times since there were only a couple of other people there wanting to ride.



She really loved it!



"Some" of us adults didn't think it was too bad either!





Of course, we had to stop and take a photo with the Dino-Rama sign.  Next time I go to Mom's house, I will have to find the photo of Britt, Kari, and I in front of this sign the last time we were at Disney.



Daddy throws her so high.  It makes me pretty nervous, but she LOVES it.



When you are a little person, it's never too early in the day to stop for a chip break.  Notice that her chips are HEB brand.  We had to bring a little bit of Texas with us to Florida!



Emmy and her Nana posing in front of the other sign.



Mom and Bradley rode Dinosaur first while Emmy and I waited outside.  She provided the entertainment for the other people sitting on the benches waiting for family.  Her peek-a-boo skills will be retold in countless letters home I'm sure.



All too soon, it was time to head to Asia to use our FastPasses.  We paused in Africa on the way over to let Emmy play the drums.





Afterwards, we rode the train over to Rafiki's Planet Watch.  This "may" have been one of her favorite rides.  Our train car was empty, and she climbed all over the seats burning off excess steam.





Next it was time to walk through one of the trails.  They are really fun and you get to see so many different animals.







Finally, it was time for MY favorite ride at Animal Kingdom, Kilimanjaro Safari!  If you have never been on this ride, I wholeheartedly recommend it.  You board a safari bus and take a two week safari through the African plains.  You get to see all of my favorite animals: giraffes, ELEPHANTS, and even hippos.













Emmy woke up from her nap when they emergency evacuated us from the Finding Nemo show.  We did not realize that it was a full length production, so we weren't especially sad to leave.  You can't really take a two-year-old into a two hour show and expect her to behave.  I was pretty proud that she made it for almost an hour.    Before we left the park, Nana bought her a Mickey Mouse ice cream.  I know that was probably the best ice cream sandwich she's ever had (possibly the only one as well).



Since Papa was already back at the hotel waiting on us, we left the park at 2:00 for the day.  It was nice to leave early and go out for a good lunch.