We knew this was going to be our longest day, since we were combining two parks. We weren't sure the girls could handle 12+ hours of Disney fun, but they did awesome. It was a great day. We started out at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. The girls had fun with the characters, but the food wasn't good at all. It was honestly one of the worst breakfast buffets we've ever had food wise. How do you have a breakfast buffet and not have an omelet station?! We all love breakfast food on vacation (especially Chris and I), so this was a disappointment.
Chris' favorite Disney character as a kid was Goofy, so I made sure he got in this picture!
We did the safari ride, which was pretty cool. The giraffes were insanely close to us, as was this rhino (so close I was honestly a little nervous).
After the safari ride we rushed to get to the Lion King performance. We were trucking through the park and a worker stopped us and asked if we wanted to see the Lion King show. We told her we were on our way there, and she said she would walk us in. On the way she said, "I really like their dresses. The giraffes are so fitting. I'm going to put you in the giraffe section". She took us in through a different door, and we totally skipped the long line. She sat us in the first row of 3 "reserved seating" rows. Nobody else sat by us or in any of the other reserved rows. Chris was like, "What did you say to get this?!" I think she was a Matilda Jane fan, obviously.
The show started, and Juliet was immediately pulled onto stage to be the leader of our tribe (the Giraffes) and make the giraffe sound. She wasn't sure how to make a giraffe sound, so the woman showed her how. She very quietly made the sound. It was so ding darn cute.
The show was really cool and it was fun to see people actually sing (after hearing about 293 different "Elsa's" lip sing to "Let it Go"). The fire dancing was cool, as was the gymnast monkeys (my personal favorite). It was amazing to see how in character all the performers were. It was a great show.
Leah and Juliet were pulled back on stage at the end. They all danced around. They pulled Juliet aside at the end, and Timon gave her a hug and told her she was the best part of the show. It was so stinking cute. I was proud that both girls went up and had fun. We originally planned on taking them to Disney a few years ago, but postponed it because Leah was always terrified of characters, and also (at times) painfully shy. I am SO GLAD we waited. Leah didn't show quite the "magic" that Juliet did with interacting with characters, but she looked forward to seeing them, and never hid behind us. Juliet was very captivated by the characters. It was so fun to see the trip through her eyes.
Timon giving Juliet a hug!
Right after the show I had an alcoholic Dole Whip. It might have been my favorite drink of the trip. Dole Whips are already pretty good, but add rum, and it's the best!
After the show, Chris and Leah rode the Expedition Everest roller coaster (which Leah hated and vowed to not go on again until she was 35--we think she had fun.--she certainly likes bragging about how she rode it now!). Juliet and I explored Dinosaur land and rode a few rides and played some carnie games and won a cheap toy.
After that, we went to Hollywood Studios. The girls really wanted to meet the Disney Junior characters, which I was pretty surprised about. They don't have a cool character feel, and just seem really fake. We tried to see the Indiana Jones show, but were rained out. Leah and Chris rode the Star Wars ride, and Juliet and I shopped. During our shopping experience, the Star Wars parade began. Juliet ran and hid because she was so scared of the storm troopers. I made her leave the store and watch the parade. She made me hold her, and hid her head most of the parade. After the characters left, we wandered out after them to try to find our restaurant. One of the storm troopers had stopped to "guard" the area, which we didn't notice at first. I had put Juliet down by then and pointed out the storm trooper. She got scared and tried hiding behind me. The storm trooper said, "YOU THERE! COME HERE!" Juliet was so nervous and shuffled over to him and stood about 3 feet away from him. Then he said, "SMILE FOR THE PICTURE!". I have the funniest picture of it on my phone. After we got the picture, Juliet said, "I thought he was going to kill me--shoot me dead with his gun!" Later, C explained that all she needed to do was use the Jedi mind trick on any storm troopers that try to stop her.
We had dinner at Hollywood and Vine which was actually really good. We ate a lot and Juliet was so excited to meet Minnie Mouse. All the characters were in their Halloween gear. Juliet told a few of them that she was going to be a demon for Halloween, and it was funny to see how they reacted (they can't talk).
We finally saw the Indiana Jones show after dinner. Due to the rain, they didn't do the boulder part, which was pretty disappointing to us! It was still a good show.
We watched the Star Wars show.
Chris asked if I got pictures of the "good" Star Wars characters. I said, "yes. Chewy." Apparently, Chris doesn't think he is a "good" character and I should have got a picture of someone that I never even heard of before. I was pretty disappointed that 3CPO wasn't there. He's another one that is under appreciated by Mr. Chris.
We all really liked the Toy Story Game. Leah had better accuracy than me!
We saw Fantasmic to end our day. It was a pretty cool show. We sat in the first row so we had a really good view of everything. The only bummer was that when the show ended, it took forever to get out. A nice guy saved the girls seats on the bus back to the hotel, though, which was awesome after being in the parks for 12+ hours.
