Disney condensed

We're back from our trip - we've been back for a week, actually. We were welcomed home with a clean house (thanks, Mom), but the crud quickly came creeping in ... not into our house, but into our bodies. At least into Bobby's and mine. He had the crud earlier in the week, and now it's my turn. There's so much about our trip that I want to blog about, but I'll probably forget many details, so I want to at least get the highlights down before more time elapses.

We loved, loved, LOVED our resort - Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's truly an amazing place, and I wasn't kidding when I said in a facebook status update that we could have stayed there the entire week, never seen a single theme park, and still had an amazing time. It's decorated with an African theme, and it's really authentic.

Many of the employees are native Africans, and they love sharing about their countries and their cultures. There are activities for kids throughout the day; Maggie enjoyed decorating suncatchers and participating in a parade through the lobby using African musical instruments. There are nature trails and animal overlooks and a beautiful pool and a playground. There are three restaurants. But here's what really got me excited about the place:

The animals!! Oh my gosh, they're everywhere, roaming around freely as it should be. I loved being able to sit on our balcony and just watch them. (The photo of the giraffe was taken from our balcomy.) I fell in love with giraffes. I'm not sure what it is about them ... they're just graceful, moving slowly and deliberately, and silently, at least from where I was sitting. Five giraffes live on the resort's savannah, and my favorite times where when all five were hanging out together.

We did all of the requisite parks - Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. Maggie's favorite was Magic Kingdom, due largely to the Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster.

She was really nervous about riding this, even though it's just a kiddie coaster. When we got to the front of the line, she insisted that Bobby ride it first - alone. She and I stayed on the platform to make sure he returned safely. While waiting, the ride operator offered to push the "slow" button if she'd ride it (I tell you, those Disney castmembers are geniuses sometimes). She said yes, and here was her proud face once she'd finished her first ride:

She wanted to ride it again, right away, and she chose Bobby to ride with her this time (that first picture is one I took of their second ride). The castmember recognized her as she boarded again, and he gave her a special "Honorary Princess" badge for being so brave. She went on to ride this coaster a total of four times, each time insisting the workers press the slow button for her.

Bobby and I enjoyed Animal Kingdom the best. It was lush and green and beautiful, and full of animals! We loved the park's emphasis on conservation and preservation of endangered species - the threat to most endangered species is loss of habitat (read: humans are destroying the places they live), and Animal Kingdom is trying to provide adequate habitats for many of these species. We saw tigers, elephants, more giraffes, ostriches, crocodiles, even bats hanging from trees. Oh, and I saw my very first kangaroo! We loved it!

Can you believe this is a Disney theme park?

The centerpiece of Animal Kingdom is the Tree of Life. I took about 800 pictures of it - animals are carved among its trunk and roots - but here is one photo that actually shows us too.

Part of Animal Kingdom is called The Oasis, and that's what this place was to us - an oasis of green and (almost) calm amidst a pretty busy vacation.

Other highlights included meeting characters - lots of them! I can't even remember them all ... there was Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore; Belle, Aurora, Pocohontas, Snow White, Ariel, and Cinderella rounded out the princess group; Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Flik (from A Bug's Life), Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins, Jiminy Cricket ... the list could go on and on. And of course you can't go to Disney World without seeing these guys:

I'll be sharing more updates throughout the week (at least, that's the plan ...). We had a really great time and came home with many wonderful memories. I can see now why people love Disney vacations - we can't wait to go back!