Disney - Day One

Traveling with two (almost) three year olds can be taxing. But, the good news is that all of us and all of our luggage made it to the hotel. What more can you ask for?

Tanner absolutely LOVED the airplane flight. Morgan was a tad bit more anxious, and held onto Mommy's hand during the landing. She doesn't like it when the plane "squishes" her into the seat. We tried to convince the kids to take a nap on the plane, but that wasn't happening.

During the bus ride from the airport to the Magical Kingdom, they did decide to nap - even though they probably only got about 20 minute nap in.



We're staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge this week - and it's truly gorgeous. We booked a "standard" view room, which means that we would overlook the parking lot. However, we agreed to overlook construction of the new Disney Vacation Club villas... Sounds bad? Not if you consider that it is still a Savannah view room. So, even though we do see a new building be constructed, we've spotted an impala, some kind of oxen, ostrich, and a giraffe from our room already. It was a good way to start the trip out. The rooms are a bit small, but we probably won't be spending much time here anyways.

We ate a quick lunch of fried shrimp (for Randy) and pizza for the kids & I. Since Tanner & Morgan are under 3, we did not have to buy a meal plan for them. So, they eat off of our plates. And, for desert, these marvelous little things called Zebra Domes. Oh my goodness - so good with some kind of liquor in them. I think I've found my dessert of choice.

Then we hit the Animal Kingdom. We got there at the tail end of the parade - so we had to fight the masses of people that were leaving the park. The good news is that the park was probably much less crowded than what it was earlier in the day.

We also hit the Lion King Stage Show right as it was getting to start. We got great seats - second row. We hadn't heard much about this show, but it was really incredible. About 1/2 way through, Tanner turned to me and said "do it again!". He loved the singing & dancing that was performed.

The show starts with four people coming out and introducing the show...they were quite funny.



And then these large garage doors open on 2 sides of the show, and they roll out these huge stages. It was incredible. Four of them were safari animals that sat between the four sections of people. Then they also rolled out a stage that was in the middle of the arena. When it came out, it was a trampoline and the "monkeys" preformed amazing acrobatics.

Then, there was a bird who came out and "flew" threw the air. It was beautiful and Morgan was really in awe of that one.

Finally, they performed The Lion Sleeps Tonight...which you'll remember is one of Tanner's favorite songs. In the middle of the song, one of the monkeys stopped by & posed for a picture. It was tough to get a clear picture with the stage lighting.



We then went to see Mickey Mouse. This would have been a great photo opportunity, except the kids freaked out on us and wouldn't go anywhere near him. The Disneyphotopass people got a picture of all of us with him - we'll have to settle for that. We headed back to leave, and ended up seeing Mickey, Minnie, Donald, & Goofy on our way out. Tanner specifically asked to see each one of them, but wouldn't go close to them after we got to the front of the line. He did blow them each a kiss. Hopefully they'll warm up before it's too late!

Finally, we came back to find our luggage had been delivered. We then headed down to dinner at the Boma restaraunt which is an all-you-can eat buffet (worked well for sharing meals with the kids). We learned that Tanner & Morgan loved Prime Rib. They also got to enjoy a special Soy Cream ice cream since all of the desserts have egg in them.

We've only been to two restaraunts here in the hotel so far, but have been impressed with both. This afternoon, they offered to make us Chicken Strips without egg... and tonight the head chef showed me around to point out "safe" foods. He checked in with us 3 times, and personally delivered the special ice cream topped with whipped cream and cherries. If our other dining experiences go this well, it will be a huge relief for us!

The kids (and Randy) are all sacked out now. We're hoping for an early start at Epcot tomorrow. There aren't a lot of things for little kids to see in Epcot, but we have a lunch with Princesses scheduled. Then in the afternoon, our friends Lisa, Joey, Aiden, and Mason will swing by - or we'll head out to another park (maybe MGM?).