Animal Kingdom (Day 3)

This was definitely our favorite Disney park.   It is like being on an incredible Safari, with rollercoasters in the backyard.  We were told to visit the animals first while they are active, so when we got there in the morning we strolled thru the park at a leisurely pace, looking at all the animals in their gorgeous habitats.  

We got our fast passes for the jeep safari ride, and then walked thru the gorilla habitat.  

Usually when we see gorillas or other apes in captivity, they are eating their poo.  (Did I ever tell ya'll about the time we witnessed this at the Seattle zoo and Amelia said, "Uh, mom?  I don't think that's a banana.")

Well this gorilla habitat was AMAZING, and there were no poop eating gorillas to be found.  We could have stood there all day watching the silver backed gorillas lumbering through the vegetation and climbing the rocky banks of their river.  They were just so regal.  This might be my favorite part of the day:

Then we went on our Kilimanjaro Safari.  Maybe this was my favorite part of the day.  It was like we were driving through Africa.  
The trees and grasses looked authentic, and the animals were not in cages.  They were just roaming happily through the savannah, unaware that the were living in a faux savannah.   The funniest part of the ride, was that we were supposedly chasing down poachers--and it took until the end of the ride for Kolby to realize there weren't really animal poachers in Disney World.  

After seeing all the animals, and eating several popsicles, we headed over to the area with the rides.  And there we experienced The Best Roller Coaster Ever:  Expedition Everest.   We figured the girls were roller coaster pros at this point, so Kolby and I rode together, with the kids in back.  Very quickly we questioned that decision.  


Kolby and I were laughing hysterically through the whole ride--mostly because it was laugh or cry.  It was TERRIFYING.  The whole time I was worried about my delicate little daughters behind me.  I shouldn't have.  Immediately upon exiting the ride, they wanted to get back on.  And they rode it a few more times throughout the day.  (If you are a roller coaster junkie, check it out here.  What you can't see is that every time the roller coaster stops, the track changes so you have no idea what is coming next.)

The other favorite ride of the day was Dinosaur.  I was disappointed that Magic Kingdom didn't have the Indiana Jones ride that Disneyland has, but the Dinosaur ride at AK was very similar--basically Jurassic Park.  A roller coaster with big scary dinosaurs.  And there was absolutely no line for that ride, so they rode it over and over again.  

You notice I said "they" many times during this account of our day?  I tried to give the otoliths in my vestibule a chance to calm down.   (I was motion sick.)  So I rode Everest once, and the Dinosaur ride once, and pretty much held down various park benches for the rest of the day.  And I didn't mind at all.