Animal Kingdom and ALL it's Awesomeness

Sunday was our last day in Orlando.  We had a late flight and I am not going all the way to Orlando without going to Walt Disney World!!  We decided on Animal Kingdom so we could check out Pandora: World of Avatar.  Let me tell you, it did not disappoint!

We woke up at 6:00 am to get ready and be at the park at 7:00!  Yeah, we did not get much sleep the entire weekend!!  We were able to park in handicap parking right at the front of the park.  That was awesome!  And all we did was ask...no placard or doctors note.  We were planning on taking an Uber from the park to the airport because my dad's flight was a few hours earlier, so I stuffed everything I needed in a locker.  Yeah, I was super impressed with my condensed packing as well. ;)  And the booster seat I brought?  Set it on top of the lockers, hoping it would be there at the end of the day.  Once that was all taken care of, we ran with everyone else to Pandora.  By this time it was only like 7:30 and we were a sweaty mess.  Florida is on another level of humidity!!  

We waited for a while and finally were let into the land.  It was amazing, gorgeous, unbelievable...everything!! I was in awe!!  We head straight for the Avatar Flight of Passage attraction.  Since we were there so early, the line just kept moving.  We were never stopped.  The line is very long and windy, but at the same time, very cool and detailed.  We walked and walked and arrived at the ride.  Mind you, the whole time Charlotte is freaking out and crying.  Yes, I am a bad mom and made her go on it, thinking she would love it.  Boy was I wrong!!!  But the ride was totally worth going...even if you have one day like we did, GO ON THIS RIDE!! And it's even worth waiting a couple hours!!

After the ride, we got some french toast at the Satu'li Canteen and met up with my dad's twin brother and his family.  We hung out with them for a bit, went on Everest and then we needed to get some Fast Passes and take Charlotte on some kid-friendly rides.  She actually needed a new shirt too because hers was itching her.  I was not about to listen to that all day, so to the gift shop we went!  When we purchased the t-shirt, she said, "My new Ariel shirt matched my Little Mermaid panties!"  She was so proud! Haha.  We headed over to Dino Land and she was happy on TriceraTop Spin!

Animal Kingdom has this great little Wilderness Explorer program.  Charlotte really enjoyed collecting badges and looking for specific animals and checking things off her list. It is perfect for keeping kids engaged and active, rather than them just focusing on all the walking they are doing.  She loved it.

We also headed up to Rafiki's Planet Watch.  If you want to get away from crowds, take a load off and relax, this is the spot to go.  You take a train to get there and the kids can learn all about different animals.  Doc McStuffins was there too!  I am always thrilled when she voluntarily takes a picture with the characters.

On our way out of the park, we grabbed a Mickey-shaped ice cream and, as you can see, Charlotte really enjoyed hers!

Other things we did were Kilimanjaro Safaris, It's Tough to be a Bug!, Festival of the Lion King, Na'vi River Journey (the other new ride in Pandora) and ate a late lunch at Pizzafari (I got he Mediterranean flatbread- highly recommend).  We ended up leaving with my dad, to avoid the Uber fee.  We had done everything we wanted and felt satisfied and EXHAUSTED!

We cannot wait to go back to Disney World, next time with Josh!!