I'm sure you're dying to know what the kiddos presents were this morning, right. Well, H got a Cars Dinaco helicopter and E got a pair of Minnie ears that I had picked up a a garage sale for $1!!!! Again, go me!!!
The kids LOVED their presents, but H loved his the most. He carried around that little blue helicopter for the rest of the vacation. It became clear that it was now our duty, every 10 minutes, to make sure the "hwel-wo-cop-er's" blades were always perfectly spaced (had I realized this would happen, you can be sure I would not have chosen this particular toy as his gift!). Anyway, he was happy and entertained, so I really can't complain too much!
First order of busines:, get out picture taken in front of a big fake tree! I don't think I mentioned it yet, but before our trip I got us in on a Photopass share. A what? Photopass is Disney's photography service that will snap pictures of you at varies point of interest in the parks. You can purchase the pics while you're still in the parks or can also view your pics on-line when you get home. Normally, you'd have to spend a ton to order pictures individually, but there's an offer where you can get them all on a CD for $100. Here's the best part, there is no limit to the number of pictures you can have loaded on to the CD(s) you order. So, the Lizar family and 9 families (we met on the Internet) all pitched in and ordered a CD together, whoo hoo! For only $12.50 I got pictures of me with my family!!!
After our group shot, I asked if we could do a few special pictures:
Today we knew we wanted to hit just some of the high points of the park, which included the Lion King show and the Nemo show, so we had to work our schedule around them both. It was a little after 10 and the Lion King show started at 10:30 so C took the kids and started down towards it. I drew the short straw (really I volunteered to be sweet to my husband) and hoofed it across the park to get fast passes for Expedition Everest. It was going to be the first time E could ride since she has never been tall enough before!
When I got back to the theater, I realized C had picked great seats, right near the floor. I knew E had a good chance of being selected to participate in the show, so we made sure to situate her on the end of the row. Sure enough, towards the end of the show, a "zebra" came up to her and asked if she'd like to join all the animals on the floor. She was given a noise maker and marched/danced around the floor. She was a brave girl and did an amazing job!
After the show, our Fast Pass window was open, so we started off towards Asia. On our way, we stumbled upon Devine. Devine is truly amazing. H kept asking what is it? E was a bit creeped out, but calmed a little when we explained it was really just a person inside there. Really, it was just incredible how gracefully she moved and virtually disappeared into the real foliage. Can you see her:
When we arrived at Expedition Everest, we double checked E's height and she was good to go! She decided that she wanted her first ride to be with me, so off we went. The boys camped out at the usual waiting spot and C managed to capture this shot of us coming down the big hill:
Did you see us in the middle? E is very tiny on the left and I'm on the right in green. After riding, E was a bit shaken and announced, "it was VERY intense." Yes, she said intense. Poor baby did not want to ride again with her daddy. I can't say as I blame her, it is one wallop of a coaster!
It was getting close to our lunch reservation time, so we swung back over to Africa to dine at the Tusker House. We put our names in at the front desk and waited at the outside bar, tried to keep cool, and listened to an African drum band play.
We were all starving at this point, so it was nice when we were quickly seated. Tusker House is an African inspired buffet. I had read that it was much like the Animal Kingdom Lodge's Boma, which we had all really enjoyed last year and this restaurant did not disappoint. Everyone was very adventuous in their dining and as a reward, I made up a plate of two of every dessert they had on the dessert table. I think my final count was 15 different items to try! Though, C didn't have much room for dessert, as he had had at least two plates full of pita chips and hummus!
After lunch, we knew we needed to get over to Dinoland USA for the 1 o'clock performace of Nemo: the Musical. C wasn't with us the last time we were at AK, so he had never seen it and we knew he would love it. When we arrive at the entrance, they hadn't begun to let anyone in, so I left C in line and the kids and I went over to ride the flying Dinosaurs. We rode it once and the line wasn't too bad, so we got back in line to ride it again. While waiting, C called to let us know they had begun seating for the show and we needed to get back to Nemo ASAP. H wasn't about to let me drag him out of the line, so I told C we'd be there as soon as we could.
By the time we got back to Nemo, the theater was filling fast. C was a bit irritated that he had to change his seat twice and now there wasn't room for all of us to sit together (there was in the back of the theater, but he didn"t want to move again). Anyway, C took H and I took E and we sat across the aisle fromeach other. This probably worked out for the best, as the kids couldn't poke at each other during the show. C loved the performance, as I knew he would, and quickly got over his annoyance at me for being late :)
We had one last Fast Pass for Expedition Everest so I wanted to make sure C got to ride his favorite attaction in all of WDW one more time. E decided that she was up for the challenge of it again, so off they went! H and I went off in serch of something cold. We ended up buying a meal just to get a frozen lemonade and a root beer (due to free dining, we had more food credits than we knew what to do with).
Our next stop was the Kilimanjaro Safari to see the animals. C likes to take random pics of animals, so I let him!
It was getting late in the day and we had exciting plans for the evening, so we need to start towards the park exit.
We checked the time, and we had just enough, so we cooled off "under" the Tree of Life and saw "It's Tough to be a Bug." Here we were told by a cast member with a very funny accent to not put on our "boo-guy glasses" until we were in the theater. We'll be giggling about the 'boo-guys' for a while! The movie was cute as always, but the best part was the place was super air conditioned!!!
Time was running short, but we manged to see a 'friend' on our way out of the park.
It was about 4:15 when we left the park and we needed to be at Downtown Disney by 5:30 for Cirque du Soleil! I was feeling especially disgusting from all the heat and humidity and begged for a quick stop at the hotel. C obliged and E and I quickly ran up to the room where I changed, grabbed a brush, deodorant (shh), and flip flops for C. When we opened the door, we discoved a surprise waiting for us. E wanted to keep it a secret for the boys when we returned later, so you'll see what it was in a minute. We hurried back down to the car, stopped at the hotel lobby for some drinks, and we were off.
We arrived at the Cirque du Soleil theater in record time. I grabbed our tickets from will call and we still had about 20 minutes to walk around Downtown Disney.
The show was amazing and everyone ejoyed it thouroughly. I worried about H sitting through two hours, but he was literally on the edge of his seat the entire time. C declared it one of his favorite things at WDW ever.
It was getting late and tomorrow was going to be another one of the mandatory early mornings, so we went back to Pop Century and grabbed a quick bite to eat in the food court. For dessert, we had a straberry sundae made, which we took back to the room to eat.
Arriving back at the room, E was super excited to finally get to show the boys the surprise waiting: cards and balloons to celebrate C and E's birthdays! E was so excited, she didn't realize her card was mistakenly filled out with my name, shhh!
After all the excitement of a circus, balloons and ice cream, we managed to get the kids in bed and asleep. We were going to need all the energy we could get in order to brave the opening crowds for Toy Story Mania in the morning!
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