Disney World - Day 2

We got another early start and headed out at about 8:30. We started the day at Animal Kingdom. We had fast passes for the best rides: Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest. I have realized that the best thing to do is to book the fast passes for early in the morning because then you can use them and still have time to book more. I have also learned that Disney World is much more compact than Disneyland and it is easy to get from ride to ride, so it really doesn't matter if the fast passes are close together or not.

We decided to take a picture with the Tree of Life behind us just as we walked in the park. Another family was taking a picture so I offered to take one of them if they took one of us. I asked if they were LDS (Mormon) because I just knew they were - and I was right! Sometimes I think the Mormons keep Disney in business.

This man makes canes and then sells them right there. My dad also makes canes so he was impressed with this.

We started with the safari, which I absolutely love. I think it's amazing that the animals have so much room to roam. Our tour guide's voice was a little annoying - okay VERY annoying - but it was a great ride. Jalen wasn't too wild about it because he wanted to ride a roller coaster.

Hippo ears.

The rest of the hippo.

Giraffes.

Male gorilla. There was also a female with the cutest baby, but they were too far away for good pictures.

I love the atmosphere and buildings in Animal Kingdom.

Another angle of the Tree of Life. Check out Jalen's face. He was told that he couldn't have any food if he didn't smile. Gotta love his sincerity.

Later in the day, this building was covered with monkeys.

We got SOAKED on the river rafting ride. My shirt and pants did not have a dry spot on them. Baylie also got it pretty badly. I was still damp when we got home that night.

The tiger takes a bath.

My mom didn't go on the Everest ride, but the rest of us did. Oh my heavens! That was a CRAZY ride. I probably should have bought this picture. Baylie was screaming her head off and Jalen's eyes were huge. My head was getting banged around until I physically grabbed it with my hands and put it in front of the seat back. Baylie screamed at the top of her lungs the whole time. It was hilarious.

At one point, I looked up and saw this. This is what it's all about. I hope they'll remember this trip forever.

We were going to do the dinosaur ride, but the line was way too long so we headed over to Hollywood Studios. 

Once again we wore our matching shirts - today was Olaf, which ended up being a cool coincidence because the theme at Hollywood Studios was Frozen. We have received a lot of comments about our shirts. The funniest came as we entered Hollywood Studios and a man with a megaphone announced, "It was a story about family - forced to wear matching shirts because they couldn't recognize each other's faces." It was funny.

I did not take this picture, but this is the same cast we saw do the show and they were AWESOME!

We waited for what we thought was the sing along show, but it was just a short program with Olaf. It was cute, but really hot and not what we were expecting. We figured out our mistake and then waited for about 30 minutes and saw the For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration. Oh my heavens! It was the best and definitely worth the wait. It was a highlight of our day. We sang at the top of our lungs, the cast was fantastic and it even snowed. My mom and I cried, Christoff was a hottie and my dad even got a much needed nap. Perfect for everyone.

After that we split up for a bit. David and Jalen headed to the  Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show. David loved it. Jalen not so much. They left early. Jalen wanted to see the Jedi Training Academy, but we didn't know that you had to reserve it in advance. 

Baylie and I to the Tower of Terror. We scored because there was no line at all so we got to ride it twice in a row. She LOVED it. She wanted to go again, but by then there was a 30 minute wait. We really got lucky.

We were going to do the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster because there was a short wait, but by the time we got a hold of everyone else, the line was long. We decided to head over to Epcot.

When we got to Epcot, it started pouring and the kids were tired. It was almost 7:00 p.m. We headed back to the villa and got Chick-fil-A for dinner. The kids took another bath in the jetted tub and then turned in for Disney movies in bed. I always loved staying in a hotel because we could watch t.v. in bed and my kids seem to love it too. David and I had planned on going back to Epcot for the firework show, but it closed early tonight. We thought about going to Magic Kingdom, but we were both too tired.

I decided to take a bubble bath of my own!

Tomorrow we will spend the entire day in Magic Kingdom again. We have fast passes for Peter Pan's Flight, Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. We're going to try and hit the Seven Dwarf's Mine Train early before the line gets too long. Other than that, we have no plans. We can do whatever and just take our time. It's supposed to rain, so we'll see what happens. It was supposed to rain most of the time we were here, but we've been lucky with just a few showers in the afternoon. Thursday there's 100% chance, so we timed it just right.

This has been so much fun in every way. I'm so grateful that we are having this experience. I couldn't be happier. I love my family.

Note: We have saved a bundle on food. We have only eaten one meal in the park - dinner last night. We have had our breakfasts in the villa and have packed in lunch and snacks. Both days we had an ice cream - for me that means a frozen banana. The past few times I was at Disneyland they were too hard, but the ones here have been perfect. Tomorrow I must have a churro and a bite of a Mickey Mouse pretzel. Some things just must be done.