Mt. Everest, Gorillas, and Kali Rapids

Looking back, we really did a good job choosing Animal Kingdom as our launching point for the grand adventure. It offers a little less than the others, isn't quite as overwhelming - and that was very necessary. Between jet lag, adjusting to high heat and humidity - and learning to accommodate 13 people in a group - we were all just a bit edgy. Nobody was over the top, we were all just a bit anxious to see our expectations realized - and every wait, or indecision regarding where to go next seemed a bit exaggerated.

The highlights of Animal Kingdom were the Mt. Everest Ride (four times!), the Safari Tour (seeing the gorillas close up was astounding) and Kali Rapids (three times) where getting soaked was actually part of the goal due to the heat.
















At about 3pm, our family called it a day and headed back to the hotel. It was a very wise choice even though Mom and Dad made it quite clear that we missed a great show in the "The Lion King". It's almost a bit sad how underscored this hotel where we are staying is - as it could easily be a vacation destination in and of itself with all it has to offer. I thought for sure that once I got here, I'd find myself quite disappointed we weren't "onsite" in one of the Disney properties. Maybe I'd feel different if I actually experienced one, but I can't it imagine it feeling any better than this place. These were a couple shots I took of the kids down at the pool, and then a couple of the view of our room (bedrooms and kitchen not shown) as well as the view from our patio.