Animal Kingdom

I think Animal Kingdom is my favorite Disney Park.  There is something really fantastic about the vibe.  It's super laid back.  There are not a gazillion things to do, so you don't feel quite as rushed.  There is so much beautiful greenery and a flavor of Africa and Asia that really transports you to a different place.  All of us really enjoyed the different shows they had and we had a delicious lunch with ribs and curry and kabobs.  Yummy!

As we first walked into the park, we were kind of in awe of this walking tree:

Fun and thrills on Expedition Everest Roller Coaster:

Sophi LOVED browsing the gift shops!

One of our favorite parts of the day here was the couple of hours we spent in the Africa section.  We had a fantastic meal, listened and danced to a beautiful and fascinating performance on a unique musical instrument and were entertained by some phenomenal acrobats.  We hung out with the musician for a long time, and he interacted very sweetly with our kids.  I love Sophi's moves as she dances.  It's also endearing to me to watch Lexi and Conner come up with their ideas of what dancing is like.  So cute!

With the acrobats:

The kids loved the animals we saw on the safari.  So much different than seeing them in a zoo!

Perhaps our favorite ride of the day was the Kali River Rapids.  We went on it at least three times.  The first time through, we just took the kids who really wanted to go, but we had so much fun that Christi and I insisted that we go as a whole family.  Lots of water and lots of squeals!

We wound up the day with a dance party.  The performers were full of energy and dressed in brightly colored clothing that glowed in the black lights.  Conner was picked out of the crowd by a beautiful girl and spent the next ten minutes or so in heaven as she danced with him.  We all had a great time.  It was a perfect way to end the day.

After the dance was over, we checked our watches and saw that we had a few more minutes in the Park.  Taylor, Parker, Cali and Xander rushed back to Expedition Everest and rode it twice more.  Christi took a few of the kids on a dinosaur ride and Sophi and I caught a couple rides in the dinosaur-themed kiddie land.

Each night we caught two Ubers back to the hotel, where the staff was kind enough to load up the lobby with extra hot chocolate just for our family.  Yay Hampton Inn!  We had three hotel rooms, the boys in one, Jesi, Cali, and Graci in the second, and Sophi and Lexi with Christi and me.  It really was an amazing trip!