Today is Animal Kingdom, so we got
up in time to catch the 8am bus. I keep vowing to take the rental
car, but the simplicity of just jumping on the bus won me over
again. I especially like how close the bus stop is here at
VWL. The AK bus was there just before 8am, and wasn’t too
crowded. Even after we stopped at Fort Wilderness – it still
wasn’t even full. It was great to actually get to have a seat
this year, because the entire trip to AK took about 35 minutes.
We arrived well before park opening, and had a quick breeze through the
security check. We waited a few minutes for the gates to open and
then we were off. Since everyone heads for the Safari, I decided
it was best to go the opposite direction. They had let us in a
bit early (about 8:45) – so the rope was up to Dinoland, but Bugs Life
was open. We headed in there and were the first ones in the
line. :-) They ran the show for only 3 families! It
was still good, but the girls had forgotten that they didn’t really
like this show, and started to get a bit scared. We still had a
good time.
 After we left,
Dinoland was now open. Just as we walked into Hester and
Chester’s area we saw a Dino Daisy (Daisy dressed as a Dinosaur) as
well as a ‘real’ dinosaur come out to meet and greet.  We got a picture
with both, and then headed on to Primeval Whirl. Brinn has ridden
this 2 or 3 times before, but decided THIS time that she was
scared. So we had to child swap, and I ended up riding
alone. It seems to have become more jerky since the first
year. Not really a fun ride, and Kristen ended up passing on it
all together. We then took a couple turns on the Triceratops
Spin. The girls love all these Dumbo Clones.
 We were soon supposed to be at our 10am Breakfastosaurus
breakfast, so I took off for Africa and picked up Safari fast passes
for everyone. Then back to meet Kristen and the girls for
breakfast. We have made reservations the last two trips and
cancelled both. More to do with not making an early breakfast
than any disappointment with the restaurant itself. Today we
finally got there, and it was pretty good. The food was very
good, and the characters were fun.
 Our return time for Safari was up so we headed toward
Africa with a stop in Asia to grab fast passes for Kali River
Rapids. On to Africa, and we used our passes to quickly ride the
safari. The animals were fairly plentiful today (it was not as
hot or humid as it has been. We even got to see the new baby
elephant. What a cutie! :-) Thank goodness, because
we think Animal Kingdom is the hottest park.) After our safari
was over it was already time to head over to Kali River Rapids.  We headed for Asia,
and as you passed over certain bridges you could see the construction
has already started for Expedition Everest. Just looks like
preliminary clearing work right now.
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On
the way, we even caught Devine. We arrived at Kali and headed
down the fast pass lane. There was NO one in the standby lane,
which was pretty surprising for the number of people in the Animal
Kingdom today seemed pretty high. I’d have to say that fastpasses
for this weren’t even necessary today – and it was noon and pretty hot
out. We were definitely ready for a bit of cooling off. 
One thing we
noticed this year were big signs that said to keep your shoes on at all
times. I don’t remember these in the past, because I have always
removed my shoes and placed them in a ziplock bag... Takes away
from the enjoyment of the ride having to make sure your sneakers don’t
get soaked! :-) We all loved the ride, and we ALL ended up
getting soaked! We were all soggy the rest of the day! Not
terribly comfortable, and it did keep us a bit cooler. After the
rapids, we did the Asian exploration trail. The bats are amazing
and the tigers were beautiful. 
I
love walking through this side. Then it was time to head on off
to Tarzan Rocks. We had never seen this show, and really enjoyed
it. And while we waited for it to get going we all enjoyed a
Mickey Ice Cream Bar. I typically try something else, but the
choices are limited here. It was VERY good – I understand why
everyone likes them so much now! :-) 
