Disney World - Day 1

 Okay here's the beginning of our Disney Trip.  I could do it all in one, but I took a lot of pictures.  We were there for a week afterall! So, I'm going to try breaking it down.  I'll try to post them all in the next few days though.

Our trip started on the 6th of February.  We got a great deal (Thank you Military Discount!) on a room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in Disney World.  I'm not all that into animals or African themes, but let me tell you, this hotel was AMAZING!  It's huge! The lobby is absolutely beautiful and as soon as you drive in the gate or walk in the door they say 'Jambo! Welcome home!'  I mean Disney knows how to pay attention to details.

One of the attractions of the Animal Kingdom Lodge are the savannahs that are home to several different species of animals.  You can pay extra to have a savannah view room, but we chose not too and were glad we made that choice when we read many reviews saying that it wasn't worth it.  Even our neighbor, who did pay for one, said she hoped we didn't because they really didn't see any animals.  When we checked in, Jeremy said that we had a 'parking lot view'.  Oh well, I thought, there are still plenty of places to see cool things.  So we get to our room to settle in, walk out on our terrace and here is what we see:

Baby giraffe and zebra -taken from our balcony!

Oh and a whole giraffe family! Emma kept saying the baby couldn't find his mommy and daddy. I guess she didn't see the big giraffes standing next to the baby!



So after seeing such a beautiful 'parking lot' from our room, I was REALLY glad we didn't spend the money for a savannah view.  We were also right near the steps to the pool and had lots of trees surrounding us so it was actually much better than the savannah view rooms!

Immediately upon arrival, Emma wanted to swim.  She must have noticed that there wasn't 2 feet of snow on the ground.  It wasn't terribly warm, but coming from 20 degree temperatures, it felt pretty nice! (And the pool was heated.)

They have a zero depth entry pool. AWESOME! No I didn't pack that big yellow life jacket.  The hotel provided them!

Pool side view of the Animal Kingdom Lodge

Oh yeah, we could also see flamingoes (and about 4 other kinds of exotic birds) from our room and the pool.

And an antelope

And a ... eland?  Lots of animals with horns/antlers.  I can't keep them all straight!

Later that night, we decided to go to Downtown Disney since we didn't have park tickets for that day.  We saw this giant Lego creature - dragon?  Maybe Lochness Monster?  It also had a long tail that went in and out of the water.  Very cool!

Then Emma found Sleeping Beauty.  She was thrilled!
 Little did she know she was going to have breakfast with the real thing the next day!

Outside of the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, she was hit with some fairy dust by a Fairy Godmother-in-Training.
 She STILL has fairy dust stuck to her scalp!

Then we met some other friends.

Oh Toy Story! Her favorite ... Mr. Potato Head?  Buzz Light Year! She was in awe!

By the time we found Minnie, we were a little tired hence the binky.  Rules are broken when in Disney!

We ended the night with a few rides on the carousel.

I wasn't actually sure we needed to go to the parks after that first day.  There was so much to do at the hotel and at Downtown Disney! Emma didn't know any better! We could've gone home and called it a day!Grandmas and grandpas were on their way though, and we'd already bought passes for the rest of the week!

...To Be Continued ...