Our 2nd Day at Disney began with a breakfast of cold cereal and powdered milk, all smuggled in our luggage from home. Along with fruit snacks and Teddy Grahams, they formed a solid backbone for the kids snacks for the duration of our time in Florida.
Our theme park of choice for the day was Animal Kingdom
a park just under construction during our honeymoon. We got there just around the time the park opened, and as such had a pretty short wait for the Kilanjaro Safari.
I had heard someone at the bus stop say they were bypassing the entire park because the "Bronx Zoo was the best". Well, Milwaukee's zoo rocks too, but the park's more than just a zoo exhibit. The only section that fits that bill is the Safari itself.
I'm told that we only saw a portion of the animals that are usually out and about. Still, there were some great views:
The part where the safari goes after some 'poachers' is both anti-climactic and unnecessary, but provided a cheap thrill.
After that we landed our first autograph of the day; Baloo of the Jungle Book!
From there we slid into a performance of Pochantas.
This was really rather ho-hum and not at all entertaining for adults, but the kids thought it held their own. She sings some songs from the movie while trying to unlock the secret to protecting our forests, and at various parts of the show real-life animals pay a visit.
At one point she throws some paper leaves into the air; our girls grabbed some and hold on to them even now.
We then waited in line for autographs from Mickey and Minnie, with the girls wearing Mickey Mouse ear hats for some of the shots.
Sorry about the loafers with the shorts - day One's 24,000 steps had given me some blisters.
Lisa then got in line for a performance of the Festival of the Lion King while I took the girls to get an autograph from Donald Duck.
Donald was not happy - not happy at all - to see YaYa wearing a Mickey hat with a Pal Mickey around her neck. He gave several LOUD raspberries to the girls and made a motion to cross off Mickey's pic from their autograph book. What a jealous duck!
We quickly rejoined Lisa and sat in on the Lion King, in the lion section of the crowd. It was a great show - one of many musicals we enjoyed over the course of the week - and both the visuals and the performances were top notch. The stilt-walkers rocked.
Easily the best part of Animal Kingdom for us.
After lunching on Pizza, we bought the girls a pair of Mickey and Minnie themed ears - making it clear it was to be some of their only souvenirs. Nevermind the guy who sold it to us, who said 'those girls will get anything they want from their Daddy"
When we got back to the hotel it was time for a nap, but we kept our promise to the girls and took them swimming in the hotel pool. At their request we skipped their Body Glove floating swimsuits and went with their standard suits - something that would bit us in the a** soon enough.
There's a waterslide in the pool featuring Tritan, Ariel's Dad. ('Hi, Ariel's Dad', LuLu kept saying).
The girls went down it a few times before Lisa headed up the slide with Lu. I assumed they would be going down together so I didn't pay much attention.
Next thing I knew I saw Lisa screaming to me atop the slide, and whirled around to see LuLu behind me at the base of the slide, already underwater and struggling. The lifeguard blew her whistle and dove in, but I got to Lu first.
It was terryfing - especially since I have bitter memories of seeing a drowning in the past - but really, she was in little danger. It was scary, but nothing more than a lesson in caution.
Still, the pool made us put a life-vest on LuLu. She did go down the slide again tho - even if she was a little reluctant J
After the nap
we headed off to the Magic Kingdom again. The girls were dressed in full Princess regale for their reserved Dinner with Cinderella - YaYa as Cinderella herself, LuLu as Snow White.
Nevermind that the Snow White outfit was much too long for Lu, and the Cinderella dress too short for YaYa. What does logic matter when you're about to meet a movie star?
Inside her magic castle
(heck of a shot huh?)
Cinderella herself waited for my girls. They were in awe as the Princess posed for photographs with them and signed autographs.
Then it was up a spiral staircase to an elaborate dinner, with spring roll appetizers, soft pretzel knots, and grilled salmon and prime rib, and more fancy table manners than any 3 and 5 year old have any right to expect.
It certainly helped when the mice from the movie and the Fairy Godmother came out to say hello and perform a song or two.
The girls received an 8x10 photo of them with Cinderella, a pair of magic wands, a boatful of memories, and Lisa and I received a pair of Disney wine goblets in honor of our anniversary.
[to be honest Lis and I were a little let down by the dinner because we had assumed all the Princesses would be there; even so it was a great time]
After dinner we again explored the park. This time Pirates was open for business
and we waited through the line with glee - well, I did.
They've added Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow to the ride in several spots since I last saw it, but otherwise it was the old familiar ride of 10 years past. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it. And talk about anti-PC, especially for Disney - 'wenches for sale' indeed.
We took a ride on The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, which I didn't adore (hey, for some reason it spooked me)
but the kids and Lis thought was a mid-level blast.
Then it was on to The Enchanted Tiki Room - Under New Management. I know this attraction has historical significance, given the 'stars' were the first audio-animatronic characters ever, but let me be honest: it made Pocahontas's show seem mind-boggling. It was the first and last true dud I saw at Disney.
The biggest part of the show: Lu dropped my camera and it began acting up as it had on Halloween. I was NOT in a great mood when I left the show. Two days into the vacation and I didn't have a camera? Grreeaat.
Then to top off the evening Lisa and I got separated in the human tidal wave of the park closing. Within seconds we were lost to one another, and there was no chance, no chance at all, of finding one another again or of turning around and walking against the crowd.
I knew she'd find her way back to the hotel, but I had her key on me and I envisioned lots of dire scenarios . . and then we met up on the bus stop and all was well.
Here's YaYa's take on the 10 minute separation: bawling she said "I don't care about Disney or about the trip, I just want my Momma back". This from the girl who's often at odds with my better half.
Meanwhile LuLu just kept happily bouncing along, oblivious to all, irritating YaYa and myself in our gloomy moods J
On the way home YaYa chatted non-stop with other bus passengers, describing her day to them in detail.
Day two was done, and we had one more full day left in Orlando.
