Our fourth day at the parks started us out at the Wild Kingdom. Our first act of the morning was to ride on the Safari, where we’d see some of the local wildlife:
Oh, um, sorry…that was waiting in line to see the wildlife…
That’s more like it!
The main thrill ride of Animal Kingdom was “Expedition Everest,” which involved a hunt for the elusive Yeti on a mine train up in the mountains. Most of us rode it once, then Dustin and Cayden went again…they both swore these were their “we’re having a great time!” faces:
Most of the crew then rode the River Rapids:
Avery took this one on the raft:
A couple of shots from the Lion King musical production:
Waiting in line for one of the rides:
The “Tree of Life” was at the center of Wild Kingdom. It was huge, and had carvings of various animals up and down its trunk. No word in the Disney literature on if this was an authentic replica of the one from the Garden of Eden:
When we got back to the resort, Cayden went on a real wildlife hunt, starting with the lizard on the trunk of this tree…moving in slowly…hands behind his back so there’s clearly no intention of anything but looking at the creature…
As Papaw and Dustin golfed, and Erin and Nana rested in their rooms, D’Lynn and I took the kids to the pool:
Finally, we finished the day waiting for a bus…
…that would take us to Chef Mickey’s, an all-you-can-eat buffet of all things greasy, fatty, and kid-approved. Where the only vegetables are yellow or dipped in ranch, and the ice cream flows freely! The kids met several characters:
Goofy really liked Avery, and hugged her for a looooong time. We weren’t sure what her response would be, but from that point on her Disney souvenir of choice had to be something that featured Goofy!
And, in the way of a goodbye, I leave you with this, a Mickey Mouse-eared Oreo concoction. It looks a lot better now than it did after three slices of pizza, a plate of chicken strips, a pile of shrimp, a bowl of macaroni, and a vat of ranch dressing…
