*que opening Lion King music*

After a wonderful day one and some much needed sleep, we started getting ready for our day at Animal Kingdom…

We arrived right when the park opened because we had 9:30 reservations for the character breakfast at Tusker House.

The restaurant was adorable! With all the staff in character and the rustic design it really felt like you were somewhere in the safari.

The breakfast was set up in buffet style and boy was it good! I ate just about everything you could get, becauseeee why not?

They had everything from eggs and pastries to fresh cut meats! I think my favorite part though was seeing all the characters in their safari gear! We of course got picture with all of them…

  

  

After eating our hearts content and we met all the characters we headed out to venture around…

Animal Kingdom, as well as the rest of Disney World, was incredibly detailed. I seriously felt like I was in a foreign country and not in Orlando.

While we were in “Africa” we took a ride on the Kilimanjaro Safari! It was so incredible! Most of the animals on the safari, if not all of them, are in danger of extinction so they created this little piece of safari for the animals to roam around on.

We had such a fun and adventurous ride that we decided to ride it again later!

After roaming around “Africa” for a while (and grabbing a pineapple dole whip), we moseyed on over to “India” to go tackle Expedition Everest!

Such.a.thrilling.ride. Oh man, I loved every second of this ride! The first time we rode it we were all a bit nervous, but afterwards my dad and I were ready to ride it again! This ride has you going forwards and backwards…and in the dark (for just a little bit though). Kudos, Disney, this ride was rad!

When our stomachs started growling we headed over to Dinoland! We stopped by Restaurantosaurus and got some lunch! I went the herbivore route and got their veggie burger…it was quite tasty!

Afterwards, we decided to hit the rides again! Our first ride was a little kid-ish, but hey we’re all kids when we’re at Disney…

Next, my dad and I rode Disney’s version of Crazy mouse! I would have taken pictures but with the ride whipping us around like it did, I didn’t want to risk my phone flying across the park! After the ride we ran into our good friends Pluto and Goofey…

So I can’t believe I’m even sharing this tidbit, but it’s so embarrassing/hilarious I just have to. The next ride we rode takes you around in a jeep as you “time travel” back into the age of the dinosaurs. It was dark and smokey and occasionally Dinosaurs pop out at you. Well…towards the end the big grand finale T-Rex pops up and scares the life out of me. Not lying. (Sorry for the poor phone quality photo)

If you want to see the face of sheer terror it’s this one right here ^

After that terrifying event (haha), we just had to visit the Tree of Life! My goodness was it incredible…

And as if it couldn’t get any cooler, we watched a Bug’s Life short film under the tree! It was so neat!

Animal Kingdom was insanely cool!

For dinner that night we headed over to the Boardwalk, which was adorable!

Our dinner was nice, but the best part had to be dessert (but isn’t it always?) For dessert I had a chocolate, peanut butter, banana, and candied bacon bar. I died. Whew, it was great.

The Boardwalk was the perfect way to end the night, it made you feel like you were in the twenties! I loved it!

For it only being the second day we had been in Disney, we had already seen and done so much!

But only more magic was to come…

Next stop…EPCOT!

Hey there! So i’ve been promising this post for awhile and since I’ve been holed up in my apartment for the past three days (due to snow/ice) I thought now was the time to write it!

So sit back, grab a snack, and get ready to experience my trip to Walt Disney World…

On January 10 at 3:30 am I shot out of bed faster than I ever had before, actually, I never shoot out of bed so this was pretty alarming. Our flight left at 6:30 that morning, so we had to head out by 4 to make it to the airport on time to go through security and all that fun stuff.

Now I want you to picture something…it was about 25 degrees in Memphis when we left and here I am dressed for Florida weather in a light jacket, shorts, and sandals running through the airport parking lot trying to get inside before I froze to death. I felt like I was in Home Alone in that scene where the family was running through the airport. Yeah, that’s classic me…always underdressed.

Anywho, the time had arrived for take off!

 

I really enjoy early flights because they’re so peaceful and the sky is miraculous to look at.

Around 9:30 we finally landed…we had arrived in the sunny city of Orlando!

We didn’t have to worry about bags or transportation, because Disney already had it taken care of!

When we reached the entrance of Disney I wanted to cry tears of joy. I felt like right when you entered all your cares went away and you were free to be a kid again…not even joking.

My family and I stayed on property at The Wilderness Lodge, it was so stinkin’ neat!

 

This was the view from the front desk…it was absolutely breathtaking!

And our room, was of course clean, cute, and cozy! We also had a little treat waiting on our bed.

      

The first park we visited was Hollywood Studios…

and of course you can’t forget about the iconic sorcerer’s hat!

Since we were all pretty hungry we decided it was time to grab some lunch. My mom and I knew exactly what we wanted…a turkey leg! I’m still kicking myself for not getting a picture of it…it was HUGE! My dad and brother got a buffalo chicken mac and cheese cup and it was pretty legit, if I do say so myself!

There weren’t a ton of rides to ride, but there were a lot of neat things to see!

Then…I saw it. “Meet Mike and Sully!” …I almost melted. I know, I know…it might sound silly, but Monsters Inc. is one of my all time favorite movies. It wasn’t long after I saw that sign that this happened…

we’re basically the three amigos now.

As the day started to turn into dusk we asked each other if there was anything else we wanted to ride. At first we all said no, but in the back of my mind I knew there was one ride I just had to conquer before we left…

The Tower of Terror *que blood curdling scream*

I am terrified of heights. My palms get really sweaty, I start speaking jibberish (maybe that’s all the time…), and I basically  just shut down. Lately, though, I’ve been working on this fear. I asked desperately if anyone in my family wanted to accompany me, but I got a resounding “no.” I knew I would be on my own. As I walked into the ride (aka-the haunted elevator) I felt my knees going weak, but I tried to play it cool and nervously laugh along with my fellow riders. Luckily, I sat next to a very nice couple who had already rode Tower of Terror six times before that day so they walked me through it.

After riding through “the mansion” I finally felt the pressure of the elevator going up annnnd then…surprise! The windows opened and you look out at the Hollywood Studios lot annnnnd then you go down and up about four times. The whole time I laughed like a mad woman and screamed…and prayed. Guys…I thought my stomach was in my throat…I have never felt so light before. Overall it was really exhilarating and I was really proud of myself for accomplishing it.

For dinner we ate at the cutest little 50’s inspired diner called 50’s Prime Time! Everyone was in character and it truly felt like I was back in the 50’s! I ordered Mom’s Chicken Pot Pie and a Pb&J milkshake…they were both delish! To follow the 50’s theme there were no phones allowed which I loved! I loved having time to talk with my family and watch the 50’s shows they played.

Afterwards we were all exhausted. My brother had basically been up for 48 hours so he had already crashed by the end of dinner, and my parents and I were fading quickly too. We decided to call it an early night and head back to the hotel for some much needed rest because tomorrow we headed to Animal Kingdom!

Come on back soon to see our next adventure at Animal Kingdom…