Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom was great, but unfortunately by this time in our trip we were too tired to enjoy it to the fullest extent. I would love to go again someday when I'm well rested.

In the background of this picture you see the site of the best Disney coaster I have ever been on: Expedition Everest.

This guy was hanging out and grazing while we waited in line for our African Safari Tour.

So was this guy.

The first animal sighting our our tour: Big ol' rhinoceros.

Happy hippo.

Storks not intimidated by their proximity to the hippos.

Underwater hippo.

Momma duck and ducklings.

Cackling Nile crocodiles. Something was REALLY funny.

Ah, we come to the start of the safari part of our safari.

This fellow was huge, and he was walking right toward our vehicle.

I'm not sure this girl was cool with how close his horns came to her.

"Wild" zebras and a giraffe.

Rafiki.

No, I didn't get a picture of his colorful butt.

This guy came and said hi. He got VERY close to our car.

VERY hard worker.

Poor fellow. I wonder if that nose of his hurts?

Ballerina move. I giggled a lot at this.

So cozy.

I'm looking at something very interesting, apparently.

Oh, ew. Shudder shudder shudder.

I need to warn you...if you scroll down any farther it is quite possible that you will suffer from nightmares for the next fifty years and feel the urge to cover your head any time you walk out of doors.

I warned you.

There were dozens of them, and they were hideous. Amazing creatures, but hideous. And get this, there was no plexi-glass, no mesh, no NOTHING separating them from their human visitors. They could have flown at us at any time. SO freaky.

Gearing up for a big cat fight?

This could be good.

Oh, she's standing up...ready to strike.

And - the moment's over.

You really handled that well.

On to the bird showcase:

Curious thing.

When left for our resort in the mid-afternoon so that we could rest up for the next day's adventure: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

Blizzard Beach

This was the most fun day of our trip. Both of us readily agree. Blizzard Beach waterpark is the best waterpark I have ever been to, and in Brent's opinion it is only topped by some waterpark he's been to in Wisconsin.

The theming was in true Disney fashion, right down to the minutest detail. The "history" of the park is that long ago there was a freak snowstorm in Florida, so Disney started building a ski resort. But before the resort was finished the sun came out again and melted most of the snow, making skiing impossible. But the ski resort was there, nonetheless, so they made a waterpark out of it.

The rides were great. We went on them over and over again. The two of us became very competitive at the racing rides, but try as I might I never beat Brent. >:( Jerk. Punk.

I loved that the bathrooms looked just like rustic skiing lodges and that the men's were labeled "Snowmen" while the women's were labeled "Sleigh Bells." I loved that if you ordered an icy cold drink, such a a frozen mocha, they served it to you in a hot coffee cup and lid...no straw. I loved you could purchase a sand bucket and have it filled with the ice cream of your choice to share with your family. I love that they served hot and fresh mini donuts sprinkled with sugar. I loved that their wave pool was constantly waving, and that the lifeguards were always friendly and ready to start waterfights with you. I loved that the main restaurant in the park was called "Lottawatta Lodge," because it was fun to say.

I only have four pictures because we didn't bring a camera, only our camera phones. All of the pictures were taken with the motive of sending them to Hunter to make him jealous, because he has long dreamt of going to Blizzard Beach. And the first two photos are of the cleverly themed mini-golf course right next to the waterpark that I got a kick out of.

Magic Kingdom

It was like being in a parallel universe. It truly was. It was exactly the same as Disneyland -- just...different. I told Brent I was sure that our ferry boat ride to the Magic Kingdom had somehow transferred us through a wormhole and that it was imminent that we would run into a parallel version of ourselves, the same -- just...different. By the end of the day we admitted to ourselves that we were homesick for Disneyland.

Although, Disneyland isn't just a boat ride away from the Grand Floridian, Disney's version of the Hotel Del Coronado.

Ugh. See all those people? They were everywhere. The whole day. You could not escape from them. I guess perhaps a Friday on the advent of spring break season was not the best day to attempt the Magic Kingdom.

Look at this bird just hangin' out on top of a churro stand. What a handsomely arrogant fellow. See his tail feathers swooshing in the breeze? Oh, you don't? This picture didn't capture that? Well I saw them. They were handsome tail feathers, and they were swooshing in the breeze.

We were just about to take a raft over to Tom Sawyer Island when we found out that the reason we were heading over there was nonexistant. I had read about Aunt Polly's Inn, an establishment on the island that served sandwiches and fantastic lemonade that you could sip while sitting on a rocking chair on the front porch that gazed out onto the river. But the river boat driver broke the news to us that the Inn had been closed for years. :(

Ok, I will give the Magic Kingdom this: the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse is still the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. Not the Tarzan treehouse. It even featured the pulley system that constantly brought up fresh cups of water from the creek below.

The Treehouse was tied for first as my favorite attraction of the day. The other winner was the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club. It was a hilarious audience-interactive stand-up comedy show featuring Mike Wasowski.

And here we are with Space Mountain in the background, taken from the nearby Contemporary Resort.

Fun day, but in the end, we're happy Disneyland is our home...not the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World.

Epcot

Our second full day in Orlando was, thank the Lord, the only one that it thunder-stormed the ENTIRE day. Brent and I weighed our options and determined that Epcot would be the best theme park to tackle in such weather, as it features many indoor attractions. We armed ourselves with ponchos and marched out into the fury, obstinately refusing to have anything but a wonderful day on vacation.

BTW, Epcot stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Walt Disney's dream was that it would be a real community where people lived and worked. It was to be the showpiece of American advances in technology put on display in the citizens' homes, methods of transportation, the community's energy efficiency, etc. Walt's dream never came true, and instead, Epcot opened as a theme park hosting many scientific exhibits that are still updated on a regular basis. Today, half of the park is devoted to science and half of it is devoted to the nations of the world, featuring the highlights of many different nations in Epcot's World Showcase Pavilions.

Right outside the entrance to Epcot, just minutes before the park opened.

After exhausting all of the interesting-looking rides and exhibits in the science part, we sat down for lunch in England's Rose & Crown Pub for fish and chips. Oh my...I just remembered. The Rose & Crown was where we ordered a trio of breads and cheeses that came with complementary spreads and such. We could not figure out what one of the spreads was made of...our best guess was apricot and horseradish. We finally asked a waitress what it was and she informed us it was onion jam. *GAG*

In France, I introduced myself to Belle and the Beast. In truly starstruck fashion I told Beast that he was very intimidating as he took my hand. Belle told me not to say that, for it wounded him to think he still appeared to be a menace.

When Belle and the Beast didn't have anyone wanting their picture taken with them, their focus was centered on each other. I announce to you, ladies and gentlemen, after all these years, they are still very much in love. Extremely mushy and gushy with each other.

I had read in my guidebook that there was a fantastic pastry shop in France, so we made sure to stop for some dessert after lunch. It was embarrassing how long Brent and I took to decide what we wanted...there were SO many options and all of them looked like the best! Even more embarrassing was that we ordered four pastries for the two of us! My choices were this AMAZING almond cake and a gigantic cream puff. Brent chose chocolate mousse (incredible) and a chocolate eclaire. He scarfed the eclaire down in the amount of time it took me to say "yum," but the chocolate mousse we saved and savored over the next few mornings before breakfast.

Hey, relax. Chill. We were on vacation. Don't judge.

*sniff* After my almond cake, I was too full to try the cream puff. It didn't save well in our hotel room fridge, and by the time I tried a bite of it a few days later it was unquestionably stale. *tear*

We ate dinner in Mexico that night, at the closest thing that WDW has to the Blue Bayou. We stepped inside a Mayan pyramid to find a beautiful twilight restaurant situated at the base of another pyramid, with a glowing and rumbling volcano in the background. It was the most romantic restaurant that perhaps we have ever eaten at together. These camera phone pictures truly do not do it justice.

And so concluded our day at Epcot.