The Animal Kingdom

Day four at Disney World was spent at Disney's Animal Kingdom.  The highlight of the morning was taking a peaceful safari ride through a reserve area.  It was so nice to see the animals relaxing and enjoying a natural habitat, all from the comfort of a large safari truck.  

The animal Kingdom is really a zoo with a few rides.  Despite the few rides, this was the only park where I finally summoned the courage to ride a roller coaster with my hands in the air, and we rode this roller coaster twice because it was such an awesome roller coaster.

Riding Expedition Everest.

Each Disney World park has a central feature.  At the Magic Kingdom, it is the castle; at Epcot, the large, silver sphere; at Hollywood Studios, a large replica of the Fantasia hat.  At the Animal Kingdom, the central feature is a large tree.  The tree doesn't look like anything special from afar, but up close you are able to see 100+ animals intricately carved into the tree's bark.  

During the afternoon, Chris and I met Dug the dog from the movie Up while at the Animal Kingdom, which was special to Chris and I for obvious reasons.  Unfortunately, the Disney employee who offered to take a picture for us did a TERRIBLE job.  I think it was a plot to force us into purchasing the overpriced photo from the Disney photographer.

Chris and I ended day four at our resort, where we took a pirate themed fireworks cruise in Bay Lake.  We met Captain Hook and Peter Pan, enjoyed the Magic Kingdom fireworks from a boat, and laughed at the boat guide who, unlike so many other Disney attractions, was full of sarcastic, adult-humor jokes about Disney World. 

    

At one point during our boat cruise, the boat guide made a joke about the holiday celebrations at Disney World starting in October and lasting well into 2014.  As it turns out, he was right.

Happy Holidays!