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Day Two 04/23/05: Animal Kingdom
This was EMH so we got up and were out the door by 7:15am. We drove to AK, and were there in less than 5 minutes. The toll booths
weren't opened yet, so we sat and talked about things we were going to do that day. At about 7:45am they opened the booths and we
were through. We went through the bag check line and turnstiles before heading straight for Kilimanjaro Safari. We waited for about
2 minutes and then were off. Actually, we had to sit for several minutes because a Bongo was in the road. We saw lots of animals,
including a lion and the baby elephants. After that we headed to Kali River Rapids. This ride was suppose to be open for EMH but was
not. I stood in line while DH went to find socks. Before our trip we each got Land and Water shoes from Land's End and in my
infinite wisdom decided that we should not wear socks (or even bring them to AK for that matter.) Well, after only a short time of
walking, our feet were killing us. He returned with two pair of Mickey socks (for $14.00 that I would hear about several times during the trip.) Kali
River Rapids then opened and we were off. Our boat (or whatever that thing is called) only had two other people on it, so we each got our
own seat. I began to tell DH that I read if you go backwards down the hill you get soaked, and guess what, we went down backwards! We
were soaked! After the ride we sat to put on our new Mickey socks (again I was told that they cost $14.00). We then rode Primeval
Whirl, Dinosaur (loved it) and It's Tough to Be a Bug. We finished the rides by noon and decided to try Rainforest Café. The
line to check in was very long and we had to wait 20 minutes for a seat. The food was great and the server excellent.
After our meal we ran to catch the next showing of The Festival of the Lion King. All I can say about that is WOW. DH loved it and he isn't a big show
person. After that we rode Dinosaur and It's Tough to be a Bug again. It started to rain and they cancelled the parade so we left.
On our way home we stopped by Animal Kingdom Lodge. This place was beautiful, but I don't think it is my dream place to stay.
We walked around the grounds, took some pictures, and then went to our resort.
When we opened the door to the room, we saw two balloons and a card sitting on the bed. They said Happy Anniversary and the card
was signed by Mickey and Minnie! We have no idea how they knew it was our anniversary (especially since I didn't tell them at check
in.) This was the start of the most magical vacation ever.
We then changed and went to meet DH's family. His mom, dad, and older sister live just outside of Tampa and were going to be
staying at ASMo beginning the following day, but they decided to stay at Nikki Bird for the night so they wouldn't have to get up early
and drive to Disney. We had a horrible time trying to find their room. They told us they were staying in room 823, so we went to
building 8. Well, at Nikki Bird their room numbers do not coincide with the building numbers, so we had to keep driving around until we
saw rooms in the 800's. We finally found them and went in to their room. The room was bigger than ours, but didn't have any theming at
all. DH began saying that we should have stayed there instead (it cost the same as our room). His family started pointing out the
problems with the room, but DH insisted that it was a better value. Later, he would come to his senses and realized how great a Disney
hotel really is. We went to the restaurant in the hotel (I don't remember the name). It was a buffet and had lobster and crab legs.
The food was just OK, as the seafood was really salty. We finished and decided to meet at 6:45am in the lobby of ASMo.
DH and I then began our drive back to the resort. There was a bit of traffic and I started asking him to imagine driving in the same
route to get from hotel to parks and back. He agreed that it was much nicer to drive around Disney property than off (not as much
traffic and everything is clearly labeled.) This was the beginning of DH love of ASMo.
Best Thing: The surprise card and balloons (still no idea how they knew)
Worst Thing: Hearing about the $14.00 socks and that we should have stayed off-property
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