As a small aside that has nothing to do with Disneyworld, I have a funny little anecdote that I think about e.v.e.r.y. single time I see, hear, think, talk about the Lion King. I went to my best friend’s daughter’s Catholic baptism (that’s sure a lot of possessive nouns) a few years ago. The priest was from Africa, he had a very thick and heavy African accent which made him very hard to understand. I wasn’t tracking the whole process very well because it was all a little confusing and hard to follow. I was even day dreaming a bit. That was until I heard, “Hakuna Matata! It means no worries for the rest of your days!” I kid you not, the African priest, quoted a song sung by a cartoon meerkat in a Disney movie. You really can’t get more awesome than that.
Back to the vacation that never seems to end.
We had one extra day at Disneyworld. We put it up to a vote and the kids chose Animal Kingdom. I’m not quite sure what we did on this second day except for characters, characters, and more characters. We also watched a parade, but only because we were trapped and forced to watch it.
The one thing I love about Animal Kingdom is that they aren’t afraid to use the minor characters. Sure, Mickey and Minnie were there in their safari clothes, but there were quite a few characters that we didn’t even know their names. Really any character that is part animal or insect is free game. Like this guy:
“I think he’s from Tarzan”
“No, I think that he’s a she”
“What’s its name?”
“no idea”
(that’s Mike looking at his/her signature to find out his/her name)
“It’s Turk!”
“So is it a boy or a girl?”
Everyone loved Flick.
Mike: “Why don’t we ever see ants stand up in real life?”
Me: “Why don’t we ever see ants with 4 legs or the absence of an abdomen?”
Mike: “Huh?”
Dave: “Really, I want to know why I’ve never seen an ant smile like that.”
Me: “For that matter, why haven’t I ever seen a blue ant before? I feel gyped”
Mike: “I wish that mean grasshopper was here and then they could fight to the death. That would be cool to watch. They should have a show like that!”
This picture may depict one of my most favoritest (love that don’t you) memories of Disney World. We were next in line to see Baloo and King Louie when the Cast Member told us that King Louie needed to eat a banana and Baloo needed a water break and would be leaving before our turn but someone else would be coming soon to replace them.
Dave: I really wanted a picture with the King of the Jungle and Baloo.
Cast Member: I know, but King Louie is really hungry and Mowgli just picked him a large bunch of bananas.
Dave: What if I sing the Bear Necessities song? Will they take a picture with us if I sing?
Cast Member: If you can sing the whole song, you might convince them to stay.
and Dave proceeded to sing the whole song, start to finish. That is one of the many reasons I married this guy.
After we took our pictures with countless animal clad people we made our way to the animal sanctuary portion of the park. Dave took the boys into the petting zoo because I do not do petting zoos. Something about too many animals with an insatiable appetite in an enclosed space makes me nervous. The twins loved it.
“Can we get a goat?”
“No”
The goat jumped on the bench to get away. Little did he know that our kids are climbers.
“Hey, Goat! I’m talking to you. Can you see me?”
“Mommy, can we get a goat?”
“No, wash your hands.”
“I did”
“Here is some hand sanitizer. Sanitize them.”
After the animals we let the kids choose whichever rides they wanted. The twins chose a dumboesque type ride. They’re really lucky they have a sister that loves them enough to take them on it over and over again.
The bigger kids all chose rides that the twins weren’t quite tall enough for. They did convince them to ride the water ride again. This of course led to everyone being soaked and Jacob crying for hours.
While the bigger kids rode the dinosaur ride, Dave and I took the babies on the dinosaur trail. To you and me, this dinosaur looks completely fake and cheesy. To a three-year-old this dinosaur is rather realistic and at any minute might stop playing possum and tear you limb from limb. Jacob might look like he’s smiling, but that’s a cheesy smile covering his sheer terror. It was rather comical. Dave would knock on the dinosaur and Nathaniel would flinch, waiting for it to reach out and bite Dave’s head off.
And that concluded our Disney extravaganza.
Overactiveovaries 
Tell the twins I feel their pain, Auntie Dana won’t let me have any goats either. I want to get four big shaggy red ones, and train them to pull a charriot. Then I can Charge around downtown pretending to be Thor. but will she let me? noooooooo…. :o(
LOL! Love the Vacation! I think this was the best post yet. Thanks for sharing.
Maybe you could get a mini goat? How can you tell them no?
Doesn’t everyone know that song? It was nominated for an Oscar for goodness sake. How can you get though life without this advice:
Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Next time beware
Don’t pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don’t need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw
Have I given you a clue ?
The worker wanted me to sing “I Wan’na Be Like You” but it was our turn to take the picture. 🙂
Notes on a petting zoo:
It should be called a “goat petting ring.” The only animals to be pet were goats. They had a cow and a llama but they were back away and the kids were not allowed to go into their pens to pet them. Also, there was a sactuary where the kids weren’t allowed so the goats could lay low.
Notes on goat pictures:
#1. Note that they have brushes in their right hands but those left hands are not relaxed. They were at the ready in case that goat tried anything. Further it was approached from flank. It is was not to be trusted!
#2. That picture of Nate looking at the goat is AWESOME. I think it might just become my wallpaper for my iPad. You can see that Jacob warmed up to the goats.
#3. The one on the bench, I told Nate to smile, and he did, but not for 1 second would he take his eyes off that goat. He clearly didn’t trust it and wasn’t gonna let it get the drop on him.
The Dinosaur:
It took a LOT of convincing to get them on it. It was scary and they wouldn’t get close. I walked up and knocked on it’s head (hollow metal). “See, it’s not real.” But they had no interest still. Eventually they walked up, touched it and ran away. After I put them up for the picture they still were on pins and needles. Note that Nate is still afraid to touch it with his hands even though hes sitting on it. Jake’s expression says it all.
Not a single picture with the best character ever. What’s the deal?
You talking about Tigger? We took a picture with him too. He was over at “Pooh and Friends” along with Pooh and Eeyore but my mom is an Eeyore fan so that is the one that made the blog. 🙂
Also, in case someone from Disney World is reading this: What’s the deal with having the Pooh and Friends line for meet-and-greet in the middle of a store? The stroller doesn’t even make it in the store so I have to leave it unattended for 45 minutes in a busy shopping place. The coloring booth was right there in the line so there is no way to get to it for your stamp without cutting though the line. The isles were so narrow that filling them with a line meant that it was not possible to shop. Also, this HAS to be a major cause of theft since there are people loitering in the store and leaving though a door with no clerk. I think that you need to think this through a little better.
Hey, answer the question and move on buddy. Disney and it’s former cast members aren’t interested in your grievances. Jeez.
Every time we are by a statue of something that may or may not scare the kids I pretend it grabs my hand and start screaming bloody murder 🙂 Its one of my mini joys in life!
That sounds fun but I just don’t have the budget for future therapy that you do.