April 20, 2011

• Disney Continues

  Someone keeps nagging me to blog, so I must. 

  We slept rather poorly in our hotel, which is a common problem when one is afraid that the wake up call will be missed, the rescheduled flight will be missed, and Disney will never be reached. But, we did wake up to the 4:30 am phone call and alarm and cell phone alarm and made it to the airport in plenty of time.  We got to the airport about 5:30, and both decided that only a McDonald’s egg and sausage biscuit would do. After walking through two concourses, we found the McD’s and had the biscuits. Of course, eating fatty, greasy sausage biscuits at 5:45 am might not have been the best plan…

   

  

   

  Finally, FINALLY we were in Florida! We took the Magic Express (okay, it’s just a bus) to our hotel, Disney’s All-Star Music. When we checked in, the worker said, “Oh, I see that you are here to celebrate a birthday. Happy birthday, Debra!” She took out a badge, wrote Mom’s name on it, and gave it to her. So, for the rest of the day, almost every Disney worker we saw said, “Happy birthday!” to her. It was pretty fun, actually.

  

   

  All-Star Music has several sections. We were in the Broadway section in a building advertising Beauty and the Beast. And if you stood just right, the giant top hat on the side of the building looked like it was made just for a head.

  

   

   We put our carry-ons in our room, prayed that our suitcase (delivered via even MORE MAGICAL express) would show up and be delivered to our room while we were out, and headed out to hit the parks.  Guess where we went first?

  

   

  Clever you. It WAS Animal Kingdom! I had never been there, as the last time I was at Disney was 25 years ago (!!!), and Animal Kingdom did not exist. After all the trouble and delay we had in getting there, we were ready to explore!

  

   

  We wasted no time hopping on the safari ride. Perhaps you’ve never been on a safari ride? I shall explain. You board a bus and ride around for 20 minutes or so looking at animals while the bus driver/tour guide pretends that you are about to be shot by poachers or fall of a washed-out bridge. Mom and I played along very well, which was appreciated by the bus driver.

  

   

   

  I am not sure which animal I enjoyed more, the rhino

  

   

  or the lion.  They were both so feisty!

  

   

  I’m just teasing. There were lots and lots of animals up and about.  Like the okapi

  

   

  And the elephant.

  

   

  I’d show you more pictures, butt…

   

   After the tour, we were just climbing the walls to see more animals!

  

   

  So we headed on the walking tour of the zoo. We found a family reunion! (I won’t mention which family…) 

  
  

   

  One adorable thing we saw was a baby gorilla. The worker told us she was a year old. We were all ooh-ing and aah-ing when she started to chase a bunny. Now, this was one mammoth rabbit; it was almost as big as the baby gorilla! Now, before you get all squeamish and say, “Ick! Did she kill it?” remember, gorillas are vegetarians!  She was only playing with her friend. And oddly, the bunny seemed to enjoy it, hiding and waiting for her to come closer before he’d run.  I didn’t get a good shot of her. She was fast and little!

  After our time in the wilds of Africa, I needed to be fed. So, we headed to The Rainforest Cafe. It was really neat! The whole ceiling was covered in vines and fake monkeys and snakes. We were seated by a big aquarium, so we had live critters to look at. And it was at this time we decided that we should take a picture of everything we ate on the trip. Prepare to be assaulted (salted? snicker) by many photos of food.

  

   

  Even though it was 90 degrees outside (literally) and I left halfway through the meal to stand outside in the sun (and did a few jumps up and down to make myself even more warm), I was shiveringly freezing in the restaurant. So, much to my mom’s dismay and feigned embarrassment, I wrapped up in one of the rain ponchos she had packed to protect us during the water rapids ride. I felt better. I looked ridiculous.

  
  

   

  We were both very surprised when our waitress asked Mom if she was ready for her FREE birthday sundae! Wow. They brought it out, complete with a song and two spoons. I wasn’t too cold to eat ice cream!

   

  

   

   

  Next up…more of our day!

   

  • 10:04 pm
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