The Romney Family: Animal Kingdom

The fifth day of our trip was Sunday. We woke up to a cold, wet and very windy day. We got dressed, ate breakfast at the Gingerbread House and then went to church at a local LDS meetinghouse in Kissimmee. Shortly after we got there, we realized Jason's step-uncle was the bishop of the ward! We knew he and his family lived in Florida, but with all the excitement of our trip, we hadn't actually thought much about it... Needless to say, it was fun to chat with him and his wife for a few minutes after the meeting.

We had planned on going to Disney's Animal Kingdom, but with the wet and cold, I wasn't feeling very excited about walking around a theme park all day. Of course, it was just our luck that Sunday was one of the coldest days in Florida history! The same storm hit NC dumping 9 inches of snow at our house in Winston-Salem--it would have been our first "white Christmas" in NC (the kids were extremely disappointed that they missed it--I think a trip to Florida is better than snow, but that's just me...).

Anyway, after church, we headed back to the Village and waited for a bit to see if it would at least stop drizzling. We kept tabs on the weather for a while and when it looked like the rain was about ready to subside, we drove to Animal Kingdom. We did not come very prepared for cold, frigid weather--we only had light jackets--so when the cold wind hit us, we were miserable to say the least! But, we decided to stick it out for a little while. Right after we got there, we were able to meet, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald Duck. Parker gave each of them a HUGE hug and giggled and giggled until we had to drag him away! I think meeting all the characters was one of his most favorite parts of the whole trip.

Then we made our way to Festival of the Lion King, a live, 30 minute "Broadway Style" show that included acrobatics, incredible singing, dancing, and puppetry. It was absolutely amazing (and the theatre was warmer than being outside...)! After that we decided to "splurge" for lunch, so we ate at The Rainforest Cafe, a jungle-themed restaurant, with simulated weather patterns and animated animals. It was REALLY loud, but the food was delicious and it was nice to be warm for a while.

After lunch, we braved the cold again and headed to "Africa" to Kilimanjaro Safaris. The Kilimanjaro Safaris tour begins in the Harambe Wildlife Reserve where we boarded a rugged open-sided safari vehicle for an expedition through the wildlife preserve. We saw several animals including gazelles, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, lions, antelope, giraffes, and wildebeest. We were glad the animals were out and about in the cold so we could see them.

After that we rode The Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Here we were able to meet Rafiki and Jiminy Cricket. We walked around the building which is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of animals. After we took the train back to "Africa", we were done with the cold, especially Parker. We all felt chilled to the bone and couldn't wait to get in the car and crank up the heat! When we got back to the Village, we ordered dinner in from Katie's Kitchen and then went to bed, hoping for a warmer day on Monday.