Seawitch and Company Animal Kingdom

[seawitch]

Cast;
Seawitch
Seawitch DH
Seawitch DD 10
Seawitch DS 9 turning 10 3/22
Seawitch DD 8
AJ
Ray
A&R DS 14
A&R DD 12
A&R DD10

Alarm at 5:50 am, shower and pop in the breakfast casserole. Kids up and dressed 6:45 and we all eat our feast of b'fast casserole, fresh strawberries, milk and juice. 8 am we are out the door. AK is less than 3 miles from the rental house so we arrive quickly and park very close to front of park. Seawitch's dad has flown in for one day of fun before his annual week of golf at The Villages. He asserts that he was the very first car in the parking lot and has secured us a first in line entrance at the turnstyle. Way to go Dad! Park opens unceremoniously (more about this later) and I grab all 11 tickets. Group heads to Safari while I nearly get trampled by the hoards of RUNNING TEENAGERS on my way to FP EE. After getting FP I trek back to Safari. Group got on right away, my DH was very sweet and waited for me so that I 1. get to go on the safari and 2. wouldn't have to go alone Both groups had awesome safaris. It was very cool outside (low 60's) and the animals were quite active. DH and I actually heard the lion roaring/growling. As a group we did Rafiki's animal walk thing and visited the naked molerats and meerkats. Time for EE. Now here is the lowdown on our group. 9 of us will ride just about everything. 2 (my DS 9 and A&R's DD12) are very timid when it comes to rides. DH and I did not give DS a choice and we put him on EE (screaming and crying). A&R are nicer parents then we are and allowed their DD 12 to sit out. 9 of us thought the ride totally rocked! Even my DD8 loved the effects of the Yeti projections etc. Very cool ride! DS hated every minute of it, but we were able to break his fear of coasters by making him ride (more on this later). We FP ITTBAB and head to Dinosaur, PW, Boneyard. Time for Bug, then new Nemo musical. The older kids didn't care much for the musical, the dads liked it because it was dark and they could catch a nap. I personally loved it. In fact, I'd like to find out if the music is available on Cd 'cause I keep singing the "go with the floooooooooooow" song and my family is getting annoyed After Nemo we head to Kali Rapids and 2 kids get SOAKED!!!. Grandpa buys all 6 kids an ice cream treat, we do a little pin shopping and leave the park at 2:30. The park was really crowded (a theme we saw all week long). About 10 minutes later we were back at house to swim, have cocktails and an early dinner of chicken soft tacos, spanish rice, salad. Around 6 pm AJ and I load kids up and head to DTD for some window shopping and treats at Ghirardelli (highly recommend the new Mint Bliss YUMMY). Back home, a little tv and everyone in bed by 9:30.

Impressions of the day:
AK bathrooms were FILTHY. I went to the restrooms three times in three different restrooms in the park. All three were disgusting. CM's in this park (the ones we encountered) were a little flat. They would smile only if you smiled and greeted first. Not sure if it is just the time of year and the crowds are overwhelming to the staff, but it was noticeable. It did not, however, effect our ability to have a great day!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the report!

[Bethis26fan]

Thanks for sharing.

[faline]

Hearing the lion roar must have been pretty cool! Thanks for the report on your Animal Kingdom day!

[sleepingbooty]

So many Intercotees stay on property that we don't often get to hear trip reports from people renting vacation homes and villas. I'm enjoying hearing about it, sounds like a great fit for a big group like yours!