Animal Kingdom: Day #1

This tree is called The Tree of Life and it's the first thing you see as you wind your way into the park along a tree-lined trail filled with parrots and other animals. You can't really get a perspective on how massive this tree is until you take a step back from it...


Wow!


The entire thing is made from some kind of resin and there are animals carved out in every nook and cranny. Truly amazing! We all had fun picking out all of the animals. Later in the morning, we were inside of the tree for a 4-D show of It's Tough to be a Bug. I won't reveal any details, but it's not a show for the faint of heart!


Fans of The Lion King: This show is a must-see at Animal Kingdom! There is something for everyone in this show – singing for the music-lovers, dancing for the Broadway show lovers, characters for the kids and acrobats for the dare-devils!


The animatronics in this show were not stellar, but the live performers were AMAZING!


The costumes were beautiful and really eye-catching. I'll let you in on a little secret: Brian enjoyed this show. I know! So, go see this show...NOW!



After an amazing show, it was off to see some characters! We didn't stand in line too terribly long for any characters and it was tons of fun for Mason to collect their autographs! Of course, it was tons of fun for me to collect photos of Mason collecting their autographs. What?


While Mason and Brian stood in line for Chip and Dale's autographs, a park employee was striking up conversation and asked them if they wanted to be in the parade at 3 pm. Really? What kind of question is that?! So, we went where they were told to go shortly before the parade began and we were escorted backstage to where all of the floats were lined up. We were on a float right in front of Minnie Mouse! This was our view from backstage. I will post the photos from our view during the parade later.



Snack time at Disney is no small feat! With so many options, you can't really go wrong...especially with ice cream. The weather in Orlando was outstanding, so an ice cream treat in 80º weather was just the thing to cool us down. **Note that Mason is biting the strawberry bar with the side of his mouth since he has 3 loose teeth in the front**



Brian doesn't like to admit it, but when he's in the mood for sweets, he has giant eyes! When I took this photo, he had already eaten half of that cereal snack...and look at how much is left! For the record, I had an ice cream sandwich that was shaped like Mickey's head...it was delicious!



Performances were held throughout each park and we happened to be sitting in the snack area while this was going on. Music and dancing while you eat...how can you go wrong?


What is an animal park without a safari? Disney did a pretty good job making it look like the African plains, yes?



We saw lions, ostrich eggs, cheetahs, alligators and more!



A far-off view of Expedition Everest...the only ride I wasn't able to convince Mason to go on. Next time we visit Disney, it's first on my list!