Disney's Animal Kingdom

We might just be addicted, folks. Another Friday came another great trip to Disney. We are grateful to create these family memories and take advantage of this fun so close. Watching Gavin (and a little bit of Logan too) beam with excitement to meet Mickey, ride Dumbo again, or sing 'It's a Small World' makes it all worth it. By the way, I think we are approaching quadruple digits when singing 'It's a Small World' in this family. Yes, we sing it that much. Much to Sean's dismay, he almost knows the two verses.

On Friday, we had the opportunity to visit Disney's Animal Kingdom with Grandpa Forbes and Marilyn. Opening in the late 1990's, Animal Kingdom is the newest of the four major Disney theme parks. It was fun to experience something and yet familiar at the same time. And it's always fun to see papa and Marilyn.

Walking over the welcome bridge with the giant Tree of Life in the background middle. I made Sean hold everyone up so no one else was walking on the bridge while I took the picture. Okay, that's a total lie but it sure looks kind of eerie without people running about.

Inside Dinoland, they had a couple attractions great for Gavin. View the ride below as basically Dumbo with two rows instead of one and as a dinosaur instead.

One of the most impressive parts of Animal Kingdom is the Kilimanjaro Safaris. Here riders are given a chance to see giraffes, elephants, white rhinos, and every other African animal roam freely in the 100 acre savanna. Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised at the ride's length. At one point, I remember asking Sean how long we had been riding since it seemed like quite a while.

The baby elephant above and the baby giraffe below were new additions to the park, naturally. Sometimes I just crack myself up.

Waiting for the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch.

Within Rafiki's island, Gavin loved the petting zoo and the close encounters it produced. He especially took a liking to one goat in particular and kept referring to him as 'my goat.'

In fact, when this sweet boy in the sunglass and red shirt came to help brush Gavin's goat he was informed who's goat it really was.

'No, thanks. My goat. Uh-uh. My goat.'

And yes, my son did try to climb in the donkey pin to say hello.

In the early evening, we attended the Finding Nemo-the Musical. Basically, Disney took the movie, condensed it, wrote songs to it and put it on stage. This 45 minute show was quite the production and both kids were in a trance the entire time. We were not even out the doors yet when Gavin turns to Sean and says 'Nemo fun.'

And no day at Disney is complete without seeing that famous mouse.

We still have a few attractions at Animal Kingdom on our list to see. Namely, the Lion King production that I had worked so hard to introduce to Gavin so he would be familiar with the characters during our visit. Looks like a great excuse to go again.