For our first real vacation day, we went to Animal Kingdom. It’s the largest park in terms of area, but it has relatively few things to do. We started off with an invigorating shuttle bus ride, then made a beeline straight for the safari ride, which is basically an open jeep you ride on a track through a zoolike area. We saw several elephants, a group of giraffes, some Thompsons’ gazelles, a few oryx, a batch of hippos, and a lioness. Matthew was entranced, especially by the elephants. This was Arlene’s favorite ride. We also went for a walk on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, where we looked for (but didn’t find) the legendary white-bellied go-away bird.
Next, we wandered over to the Asia section and the Kali River Rapids. Matt and I sat this ride out, since a)I didn’t want to get wet and b) Matt was too small. The riders were unanimously thrilled with it. After a quick snack, we went on to see It’s Tough to be a Bug. Mom and the older boys loved it; Matt spent the whole time with his face buried in Arlene’s shoulder. David and I rode the Dinosaur thrill ride, which he said was “so turbulent” that it “aggravated his motion sickness”. Indeed. So, here are a few pictures:
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