animal kingdom – Looking on the Bright Side

I just don’t have it in me to do several blog posts for our Disney World trip last month like I normally do. But I would like to share a few of my pictures. This trip was a lot of firsts for me. First of all, we were there at the very start of the 50th anniversary celebration.

There were special decorations, treats, shows, and more. One of my favorite things to find were the 50 golden statues spread around the parks.

It was also my first time to ever attend Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival. I love trying new foods and you can try so much more when they come in small portions!

This was also my first time to Disney World during the Halloween season. We attended the Boo Bash, which is a special after hours event in Magic Kingdom. Not only were their fun character calvacades and spooky decorations, but it was an excellent way to go on rides without waiting in line.

Included in the ticket price is unlimited drinks, popcorn, and ice cream.

Halloween parties are also the only time that adults are allowed to wear costumes, and we saw some really great ones. We did not go all out, however. Just wore some dalmatian accessories to match our little Cruella.

I also rode several rides for the first time ever on this trip, some new and some old.

This trip was the first time that I ever got to ride the Avatar ride, Flight of Passage, even though we have been to Disney World a few times since it has opened. I never got a fast pass for it, however, and this was the first time it didn’t have a 3 hour wait for us. It is truly an amazing ride.

I also rode Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the first time ever. I know, I know. Why? Because I’m scared of roller coasters, even the smaller ones. But I decided that I had better visit Splash Mountain before it was re-imagined into a Princess and the Frog ride, since it is such an iconic Disney attraction. It wasn’t even bad. I had just built it up in my head. Here is me with my eyes closed on the drop.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure had just opened when we arrived.

I’ll share some pictures from each park. We spent two days in Hollywood Studios. We accomplished a lot in the first day of our trip. By the last day (our 2nd HS day), it was too crowded to do much, as it was the start of the Columbus day weekend.

Walt Disney Presents is an interesting museum all about Walt himself.

We went to the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater for the first time. It is a truly unique dining experience, eating in the cars and watching the movies. Food is good too!

Some pictures from our day in Animal Kingdom

We did the Animation Experience at Conservation Station. We drew Ed the hyena from Lion King.

We spent two half days in Epcot.

We visited Magic Kingdom twice. Once during the Boo Bash and one other day. It was more crowded on our full day in the park, so I was glad that we had the opportunity to ride a bunch during the party.

We had a great trip. We even had a bit of swim time at our off-property resort.

Our third day at Walt Disney World took us to the Animal Kingdom park and to the luau at the Polynesian resort. On our last trip to Disney World, we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and spent a lot of time at this park, so we did a shorter day there on this trip.

Dinoland is a great area of the park for young kids.

My daughter especially loves playing in the Boneyard play area.

I was super excited to catch sight of Kevin from Up more than once throughout the day!

The safari is always interesting and fun. Thankfully, we had a Fastpass, so we could fit it in on this busy park day.

I’ve still never been on Flight of Passage in Avatar since I don’t wait in 3 hour lines. Maybe one day we’ll get a fast pass. We did ride Na’vi River Journey again.

My daughter’s favorite ride is Kali River Rapids. We wore our ponchos, which we needed for the next day, anyway.

My daughter also got her face painted and a caricature drawn in the afternoon.

After we left the Animal Kingdom, we drove to the Polynesian Resort to attend the Spirit of Aloha luau. The luau is always a fun time. We didn’t make it to the end, because my daughter was falling asleep. It was a long day.