Disney Day 3: Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney

After a fun but exhausting day at Magic Kingdom, we were up and at 'em at 5:45 the next morning for early morning reservations for Donald's Safari Breakfast at the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.  DISNEY TIP #7:  Don't do early morning breakfast reservations on consecutive days.  Two days in a row of pre-park-opening breakfast reservations is exhausting.  But we persevered.  :)  So, on to Donald's Safari Breakfast.  We had 8:10 reservations and were at AK in plenty of time even after having to wait for a bus to arrive to pick us us.  After checking in with the hostess, we were immediately called to get in line to have our picture made with Donald.  Donald does not sign autographs (bummer) but he does do a great pre-meal picture.

After having our picture made with Donald, we were taken to our table.  The characters started coming out almost immediately.  So on our third day in Disney, we finally got to meet the big man (or mouse) himself--Mickey!!!!  He was followed by Daisy and Goofy.  Right before we left, they started one of their 'celebrations' or parades.  The kids have shakers or maracas and get to follow one of the characters around the restaurant while dancing and playing their instruments to a fun and upbeat African-esque song.  And Daisy chose B to help her lead the parade in our section of the restaurant!!!  I may or may not have gotten mildly choked up watching that sweet boy lead the parade while holding hands with Daisy Duck!

 (Just look at the precious face on that sweet boy hugging Goofy!!)

(He was much more excited here than he looks! lol)

After a yummy breakfast at the Tusker House, we headed straight back to the Kilimanjaro Safari and loved it!  We were pretty much able to walk right on and had front row seats on our jeep with a truly incredible tour guide/jeep driver named Nick.  He talked with the kids, asked them about their favorite animals, and even played peek-a-boo with C!   He was really amazing!  And we got up close and personal with some amazing animals.  It was a truly remarkable experience.

(Look at how close that giraffe is!  It was literally walking right alongside the jeep!!)

(Our jeep had to stop for this horned wonder to cross in front of us.)

After getting off the safari ride, we headed to Asia for the hubs to get a FastPass for Expedition Everest, and then B and I changed into our swimsuits for Kali River Rapids.  The standby line was only 30 minutes, so we got in while the hubs and C sat and watched the amazing monkey exhibit.  And 'the norm' struck again!  After nearly 30 minutes in line, the ride had 'technical difficulties' and they closed it down.  We were given return tickets that could be redeemed any time over the next two days, but we didn't end of using them.  We headed to Dinoland U.S.A.  B and I rode the Triceratop Spin while the hubs stayed with C who had fallen asleep in the stroller.  The time arrived for the hubs to use his FastPass for Expedition Everest, so the kids and I got in line to meet Pluto and Goofy.  The hubs was done riding Everest and back in time to see the kids with Pluto and Goofy.  We stopped for a Mickey Premium Bar (not to be missed at Disney World) and B made quite a mess of it and loved every bite!  Then we let B play a few of the Fossil Fun games (which he had been dying to play) then we headed over to Camp Minnie Mickey to meet a few of our favorite characters--Chip 'n Dale, King Louie and Baloo.  The heat and sheer exhaustion of two early mornings sent us back to the hotel by 1:00 for a yummy lunch in the Pop Century food court and a nap with some pool time.

 the before

 and the after--the boy was a hot mess, literally!

After a rest, we headed to Downtown Disney, but honestly we were almost too exhausted to enjoy it.  We went to the Christmas store where I got each of the kids what will be there annual ornament for the year and then on to The World of Disney store where B picked a Lightning McQueen and The King racing game and C picked a large plush Minnie Mouse as their souvenirs.  We went into the Lego store and were really impressed by the creations in there.  Then B wanted to see the dinosaurs at T-Rex Cafe, so he and I sneaked in there to check it out.  I made a mental note to try to get us reservations there for our next trip to Disney.

After a yummy meal at Wolfgang Puck Express (which is an amazing quick service meal for anyone using the dining plan), we popped into Goofy's Candy Company to use up a couple of our snack credits on items we could bring home, and then hopped a bus back to Pop Century for a good night's sleep.  One more Disney day to go, and we needed to rest up!