Sunday - Animal Kingdom

Not only was this the girls' first trip to Animal Kingdom, it was ours. It hadn't opened yet when we visited in 1997. The first thing the girls wanted to do was buy stuffed animals. As we passed every gift shop and/or stand, we had to promise them we would visit them again before we left the park.

Our first "ride" was the bug presentation in the Tree of Life. This is where we learned that Lily HATES 3D Interactive movies. She does not like anything that jumps out at her or sprays her with water. She spent the entire show screaming "I want to go home."

Africa was better. On our way to the safari, we stopped to listen to a band of musicians. Madeleine learned the magic of the birthday button when they stopped to sing just to her and told her she was from "heaven."The petting zoo over at Rafiki's was another big hit. The girls could have spent all day brushing the goats.We skipped the walk through "Asia" to head to Dinoland USA. The girls did not want to ride the Dinosaur ride, but loved the play area and the excavation of the mammoth bones. Again, they would have spent all day there if we'd let them. We left the park around 3 and went back to the hotel for a late nap.

Dinner Sunday evening was at Bongos Cuban Cafe in Downtown Disney. Eric and I had eaten there in 1997 and had fond memories. The dinner was just as good this time around, but neither girl was particularly interested in their hamburger or nuggets. We learned that to go to Bongos we should have gotten off at the SECOND Downtown Disney Bus Stop rather than walking all the way in the cold. We also learned that there is no direct bus from Downtown Disney to the parks.

We tried to get from Downtown Disney to watch the Epcot fireworks at 9pm. Their best advice was to take a bus to a resort close to Epcot and then try and catch an Epcot bus there. They suggested Old Key West or Port Orleans. We picked Port Orleans and sat there in the dark FOREVER before a bus picked us up and drove through the whole resort.

We made it to Epcot around 8:45 but couldn't find the one way in that was still open. We found it about 5 minutes til 9 and ran with the girls on our shoulders in the park. We caught the show but couldn't see any of the fountains or lights on the lake. Lesson learned later in the week - we could have seen just as much from the parking lot at the Carribean Beach.