Animal Kingdom!

It was another early morning to get to Animal Kingdom at the opening. It was so cold this morning (28 degrees!) so we bundled as best as we could. This park is absolutely beautiful!
We raced over to Expedition Everest to beat the crowds for the giant roller coaster. The kids have been nervous about getting on this one, but I told them they would love it.
Thankfully, I was right, and they loved it. Since there was still no line, we went on it again. Unfortunately that proved to be too much for my stomach right after breakfast, so I spent the next couple hours pretty nauseous!
We went to the Kilimanjaro Safaris after that, which was amazing. To get so close to the animals was awesome.
We saw giraffe, elephants, tigers, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, okapi, cheetahs, and more.

After the safari, we walked the Maharaja Jungle Trail and Pangani Forest Exploration Trail to find some more animals. This tiger had just woken up and was doing some exploring.
We watched some fun shows in the afternoon, including an awesome bird show (where Coop was thrilled to see some of his favorite owls), and a really fun 3D Bugs Life show.
In the center of the park is the "Tree of Life". The trunk is carved with tons of different animals, and the kids loved exploring it.
We had picked up a couple of autograph books for Disney World, but we weren't willing to wait in any lines to see the characters. Luckily, we timed a lot of them right, and were able to get some of their favorites.

Even though it was freezing cold, and my hands had gone numb, Joe and the kids still wanted ice cream!

Zoe was determined to go on the Rapids (which they didn't open until late in the day because of the freezing temperatures!) So we waited until we were ready to leave the park, put on our ponchos and on we went.
There was no one in line, so we stayed on the raft and went again. At that point, Joe and I were soaked and had had enough, but the kids wanted to stay on. They rode 2 more times!

It was a great day, but we were exhausted and cold, so we were ready to head out. This is such a unique park and so glad we were able to explore it.