Disney Day 3: Hakuna Matata

A good night’s rest and a hearty breakfast calls for a day at the Animal Kingdom. We arrived around 9:15am which is later than we would have liked, but we just couldn’t get moving as fast this morning. And it was rather crowded today due to the Martin Luther King holiday. Seems as if everyone and their mother had the same idea we did about going to Disney World! I’m looking forward to the rest of our vacation where I’m hoping we’ll see very few people and no lines to speak of!

First up, Jeff walked over to Africa to get Fast Passes for the Safari while Grammy, Grampy, Sean and I walked over to Dinoland. Sean and I jumped in line for the Triceratop ride, which he seemed to love more while in line than actually on the ride. Then we stopped by to visit with Pooh, Eyeore and Tigger, some of Sean’s favorite Disney friends and oh so appropriate for him to visit first on this trip. Next up, It’s Tough to Be a Bug. Always a good one, and luckily Sean doesn’t get freaked out by all the scary bugs.

Then we walked casually over to Africa to catch the safari, but on the way we ran across Baloo and King Louie from Jungle Book and had to stop and say hello. This put us behind schedule a bit, so we decided to go grab a bite to eat before the crowds piled into the restaurants. On a full stomach we jumped on the Safari where we saw rhinos, hippos, flamingos, elephants, giraffes and a bunch of animals I don’t remember what the heck they’re called. Sean promptly fell into a deep sleep while on the bumpy safari and could have cared less about the baby elephant kidnapped by poachers. Once we got off the Safari we plopped him into his stroller and he didn’t even stir. Just kept right on sleeping. We walked over to Camp Minnie Mickey in hopes of catching the 1:30pm Festival of the Lion King show, but that is a long-ass haul over there and we didn’t make it in time. But were pleasantly surprised to find a whole character spot with all sorts of characters just standing around waiting to meet us! It took some coaxing to wake Sean up but the Country Bears did it without much effort.

We then caught the 2:30pm showing of Festival of the Lion King. Always fantastic!! It’s a live show with dancing, singing, stilts, tumbling, rope dancing, animatronics, etc. So much to see and so worth the time and effort to see it.


Last, but not least we strolled through a trail that snakes around the Tree of Life. About 15 feet into the trail all sounds of the park and crowds disappear and it’s just you and nature. You get an up close look at the amazing detail in the Tree of Life, and you are instantly relaxed and ready to go back to your resort!! Which is what we did. And man, did it feel good to put my feet up!

This evening we enjoyed a scrumptious meal at Artist’s Point at the Wilderness Lodge. One of our favorite restaurants here at Disney World and it continues to exceed our expectations. I had beef tenderloin with fingered potatoes and sautéed spinach. Yummy! Jeff had the bison steak and I’m sure I’ll hear about its wonderfulness until the next time we head back to here to WDW.


Here’s a laundry list of the characters we met today. Not too shabby!
Wendell & Shaker (Country Bears)
Timon (Lion King)
Marie (Aristocats)
Brer Bear & Brer Rabbit (Song of the South)
Baloo & King Louie (Jungle Book)
Pooh, Eyeore & Tigger
Thumper & Miss Bunny (Bambi)
Goofy