Disney Day Three - Animal Kingdom and Date Night

Wednesday Donna, my parents, Lyla and I went to Animal Kingdom. Adam and Steve went to play golf. Adam loves to play golf, so I am so glad he and his dad got that time together to enjoy and play.  The weather was perfect for them, it even was a little cold, first thing in the morning! It was not hot at all this day and we even encountered a little bit of drizzle. We had to say goodbye to Mawmaw that morning. We had such a great time with her and we were sad to see her go home. I know she enjoyed her time with us, just as much as we did. We loved that she got to come and share in our Disney magic!

While Steve and Adam went to play golf, we headed over to Animal Kingdom. I have never been to this park, so I was excited to see what it had to offer. I had planned that we would only be spending a half of a day here. I wanted Lyla to take a nap that afternoon, since she hadn't taken a nap since Saturday. Adam and I had plans for a date night and the grandparents were taking Lyla back to Downtown Disney to see Cirque Du Soleil's La Nouba.

We got to Animal Kingdom and it was cold! Like I wished I had more clothes to put on! It was just kind of overcast, so there was no sun to warm us up.

We went in and headed to grab a few FastPasses. Since I was so unfamiliar with this park, I was not sure what the "must-do" activities were. I did not research super well, but I feel like next time I have a better idea of the things to do.

We grabbed a FastPass for the Kilimanjaro Safari and for the Finding Nemo - The Musical show. We had some time before our safari, so we headed towards the Tree of Life, and the bathrooms. Haha! Always have to go!

We heard from a cast member that Pocahontas would be back from her break shortly and that there was not really a line to see her. We have seen both of her movies, so Lyla was excited to meet her. We waited in line for a little while before she came out. We were able to see some wildlife while we waited though. We watched the colorful parrots and then I think there were wild boars? or something like that as well, right there where we were waiting.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I loved Pocahontas. She was beautiful and so so sweet with Lyla. 

Lyla loved chatting with her. I think they were talking about Pocahontas' friends Meeko and Flit.

It was fun getting to meet her, since we had never met her before!

Again, she gave Lyla so much time to sit and be with her. I love that as the week went on, Lyla really got in to talking with the Princesses. She was not shy at all.

We headed over to the Safari. I think if you are pregnant, you are not supposed to ride this ride, but I did not want to miss out. I was not really showing, so no one said anything. I think because the ride is SO bumpy, they just do not recommend it. We had a FastPass and it was so nice to be able to just walk up and get right on. This line looked extremely long and I have heard it is the thing people go to first after getting to the park!

My sweet parents! Ready to see some animals!

Lyla loved this one. We of course love going to the zoo, so watching all the animals was right up her alley. We sat in the very back of the safari vehicle, which I think was great because we were able to see a lot. However, I do not feel like we were able to hear the guide very well, and I would have loved to hear better what he was saying.

Up first, hippos. This ride was fun. We went through mud and water. They had chains on the road to help these massive vehicles grip better to get through the terrain. And it was super bumpy for sure, but nothing that made me feel worried or sick or anything being pregnant.

Crocodiles.  Definitely would not want to get left out here with these guys! There were so many of them! 

We rode right up close to these giraffes!

Sweet girl checking out the animals!

I mean it truly was amazing how close we got to some of these animals!

Zebras. Did you know that they are really black with white stripes? I did hear the guide tell us that. I never knew that!

After the Safari, we had FastPasses to see Finding Nemo-The Musical. We thought riding the train to the other side of the park might be a fun way to get there. We quickly found out that the train literally went in a straight line and went no where! Haha. So we rode it back to where we started and Lyla enjoyed riding it! It was kind of a pain to take everything out of the stroller, fold it up and get on the train for such a short ride that did not even take us anywhere. We could have left our stroller where we got on, but did not realize that we would be coming right back. Oh well.

Donna, Lyla, my mom and dad. Lyla was not interested in taking any pictures at this time. Lyla holding her Belle jewelry box that Donna bought her the day before. I am telling you she carried it around everywhere in her new sparkle princess purse!!

We walked right in to Finding Nemo - The Musical. It was phenomenal. It was a HUGE production. The music was spectacular and the puppetry by the actors was amazing. It held all of our attention. It was beautifully done. The colors were gorgeous and they even came out in to the audience for a few dance numbers. It was a little long though and did not hold Lyla's attention quite as well as some of the other shows. Maybe because there where no princesses? We busted out the snacks in there and that made her happy!

After Nemo, we were hungry and Lyla was kind of falling a part. This girl had been a TROOPER, but I think the lack of sleep was finally catching up. She never had a melt down or anything, I could just tell she was getting tired. It looked like it might start raining and actually did lightly sprinkle as we went to find a place to sit down and eat. I packed lunch for Lyla and I, so my parents and Donna grabbed some lunch for themselves. After lunch we left the park to head back to the condo to rest and relax. I really wanted Lyla to take a nap and I needed one too! So you can see, we did not get to do everything at Animal Kingdom, so I would love to go back and have some more time there. Lyla really wanted to go in the Boneyard play place to play. It's Tough to be a Bug, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, and Festival of the Lion King are a few of the things I would like to make sure to hit next time we go.

That afternoon we rested, and if I remember correctly, Lyla did not end up actually sleeping for nap time, but at least as was able to rest. After naps, we got ready for our fun evenings. The grandparents headed to Downtown Disney with Lyla to see Cirque Du Soleil's La Nouba. They had a blast! Lyla loved it! She was treated like a princess by her grandparents. She loved the special food treats they bought her especially, haha.

Adam and I headed to Narcoossee's at Disney's Grand Flordian Resort and Spa. This restaurant was AH-mazing!! First of all, it was so nice to have a date night to ourselves at the most magical place on earth. Narcoossee's is beautiful. We had a table that over looked the water and we could see Magic Kingdom. We had dinner as the sun went down and it was just perfect. The food was delicious! We seriously debated about grabbing a room for the night and just really living it up! I mean the hotel is amazingly beautiful. We could not bring ourselves to spend the money though, so we grabbed the monorail at the Grand Floridian and headed to Epcot for the Fireworks. 

We got there with plenty of time to spare, so we decided to walk around for awhile. We would be heading there the next day with everyone, so it was nice to get the "lay of the land" and get a plan for tomorrow. We walked through the whole park and each country. We grabbed a sweet treat and picked a spot to watch the show. Epcot's IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth was amazing. It was an awesome fireworks show and we really enjoyed it. More so than that, we loved the time together and we are so thankful to have parents that graciously allow us that time together. We were tired after the fireworks, so we headed back to The Grand Floridian to get our car. Can I just say how nice it would be to stay that close? I mean, we will probably never spend that kind of money just for accommodations, we would rather spend our money on the hours that we are actually awake, but it does just confirm to me that I would prefer to be on Disney property from now on. Even if it is just for the convenience factor alone. And can I just admit how lame we are (or how TIRED we were) we got home literally right after Lyla and the grandparents got home!! Haha. They already had Lyla in bed which was great and I was right behind her.

Another GREAT day down in the books for the week. Up next, a super fun character breakfast and full day at Epcot!