Disney Trip, Day 5

Day 5 of our trip to Disney was designated for the Animal Kingdom. Last time Liz and I visited Disney was just a few months before the AK opened so this was the first chance we had to visit the park. Honestly, I don't think any of us were that excited about it as once you take out the thrill rides (which Molly was too short for), you've basically got a zoo...and we have a very good one of those in NC we can visit anytime. But we felt obligated to do it since we never had...and we had 7 days to spend among the parks.

When we arrived just a few minutes before the gates opened, we headed straight for the "Africa" area and took the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride. It's basically a truck ride through the natural wildlife habitat. Although it was a neat setting, most of the animals were obscured behind rocks or in the grasses and the ride was soooo bumpy that I couldn't get too many pictures.



After the safari, we walked down the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail which was more like a traditional zoo, with us walking along and looking at animals in their habitats. After that, Molly decided she wanted to have her face painted and chose a pretty butterfly/flower combo from the options. She was so proud of her face paint the rest of the day.



Before leaving "Africa", we rode the Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki's Planet Watch and visited the Affection Section (aka, the petting zoo). After that, we got some pictures with Rafiki and Pocahontas.



After the train ride back, we crossed over to DinoLand U.S.A. and took in Finding Nemo - The Musical, which is a broadway-style musical and massive production with actors, puppets, and lots of effects. It was by far the most elaborate production number we've seen this week involving characters (i.e., not counting the stunt show).

After the musical, we ate lunch at yet another McDonald's-hosted restaurant, we rode the TriceraTop Spin, which is basically a Dumbo ride, but with dinosaurs, and the kids played for a while in The Boneyard, a big playground.

By that time, we were all exhausted and not too enthusiastic about plowing on into "Asia" and "Camp Minnie-Mickey" just seemed like yet another chance to Mickey (which we'd already done twice). Plus the Honey I Shrunk the Audience 3-D movie at Epcot the day before had traumatized Max to the point we didn't dare go see the Bug's Life-themed 3-D movie at the Animal Kingdom. So we headed home for a swim and to rest up for Day 6, a return to Epcot.

Although I didn't take nearly as many photos as on the earlier days, I did post some pictures from Day 5 of our trip on Flickr.