On our third day in Orlando, we decided to hit up Animal Kingdom. My sis loves taking the girls to the zoo, so picking Animal Kingdom for our third and final theme park was a no brainer. We arrived nice and early that day, hoping to beat the Friday crowd. No such luck. It was definitely more crowded than the previous two days, but the lines were still bearable….about 20-30 minute waits for each ride.
We started off by enrolling the girls to be amateur explorers. They picked up a booklet which included various check points throughout the park. At each check point, there would be a Disney team member there to quiz them, sing with them, and play games with them. If they successfully collect the stickers at each check point, they would be official explorers.
We all loved the global theme at Animal Kingdom, taking us to Asia, India, Mexico, and other parts of the world. Ofcourse, Disney spared no expense in creating amazing details to replicate each country, making the 20-30 minute lines much more interesting for everyone.
Half way into Dino-land, it suddenly started pouring. Everyone tried to find shelter, and for 15-20 minutes, we just stared outside as the skies thundered and poured buckets after buckets of water.
We eventually decided to buy a few ponchos to brave the rain. We didn’t want to leave without our most anticipated ride–the jeep that would take us through an African safari!
Lucky for us, the ride was still open despite the storm, and of course there was no line at all! It actually worked out perfectly, because riding the jeep through the flood, mud, and rain made it feel much more exciting and like a real safari!
The next day was our last full day in Orlando before boarding the cruise ship, and we decided to take it easy. We slept in, found an authentic Mexican restaurant nearby for lunch, and then shopped at the outlets for a bit.
We ditched the shopping rather quickly and went back to the house to enjoy an afternoon in the awesome pool together.
We were in the pool for hours. We watched the sky turn from blue to gray, to black….and then blue again, with the most magnificent rainbow. Then, we witnessed a beautiful, almost surreal Florida sunset.
We took turns cooking that evening and enjoyed a lovely meal in the house. What a perfect way to end the first part of our trip…
