Disney World 2013: Animal Kingdom (Day 2)

Since we had already been to Animal Kingdom once this trip, we were feeling pretty chill when we arrived before rope drop Thursday morning.  It was Dad's first visit though, so we were determined to make sure we hit all of the good rides.






We got separated from Mom and Dad when we got to the park, so I texted them that they should go ride Dinosaur without us, and we would go visit Mickey and Minnie at Adventurer's Outpost.





We did not know that Mickey and Minnie would be in their Christmas clothes, so we took a couple of photos with them and immediately walked out and changed her outfit.  She walked back in in a much more magical state of mind and dress.









Next up, we went to watch the It's Tough to be a Bug show.  She was a little leery of the bad bug, but she thought all of the effects we pretty cool.



Next we rode the Kilimanjaro Safari.  I am so glad that we rode it earlier in the morning this time.  More of the animals were out and feeding, and we got to see a lot more stuff.












Next we went to Camp Minnie Mickey to visit some of our other character friends.

First up were Chip and Dale.  I wasn't sure which was which, but the nice lady told me a trick that I will remember forever.  Chip is the one with the chocolate chip nose! (Dale is just the other one)



Then we went to chill with Baloo and Louie.  It was a wild time.  (See what I did there...I'm pretty punny)



Lastly, we made our way to Pocahontas's hut for a few photos.  She was so kind and sweet to Emmy, and the Disney PhotoPass photographer went out of her way to try to get some great shots.  I will have to pick some of my favorites of theirs to upload in a different post.





We left Animal Kingdom after lunchtime, so we could go back to the hotel and eat.  Our plan was to head over to Epcot and see a few attractions there.  I will go on record saying Epcot is my least favorite park, so I wasn't too worried about hurrying over there.





Unfortunately, issues from when we bought our tickets prohibited us from actually entering Epcot without upgrading our tickets which would have cost about $400.  I laughed outright in the person's face and told him there was no way I paying that much to enter that crappy park, and we walked away.  There may have been some frustration tears as I exited, but I think I still left proud.

Mom, Brad, Emmarie, and I went back to Animal Kingdom.  Dad went back to the hotel to go sit in the hot tub. His foot was hurting, and he didn't want to slow us down.

We got to stop by and visit with a couple of our favorite friends.



Tigger offered to keep Emmy forever.

I told him not to tempt me or I might go ride Everest and come back for her later.



Santa Goofy and helper Pluto were taking photos as well in Dinoland.



We decided to take a few photos since she was 29 months.  Since this post is already WAY too long, we can put those in later.





Then because it seemed like a great way to start and end our day, we went back to Adventurer's Outpost to see Mickey and Minnie.




It was an amazing day, and although we had a few set-backs, it still turned out in the best way.

Come back for our last day at Disney...Magic Kingdom Day 3.