Just Plain Magic

I'm sitting in the bar at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, day 2 of our Disneyworld adventure in the books.  The boys are asleep in the room and Jude is licking her wounds after I smoked her 5 or 6 games in a row in iPad Boggle.  The bar seems to be populated by parents, relaxing without the kids after a long day marching through the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot Center, Universal Studios, etc. 

We're having a great time, even better than I imagined we would have.  It really is a magical place.

After a surprisingly easy flight in Wednesday night (as in no vomiting!), we checked into or room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  The Lodge is a pretty amazing place, insofar as we can look out our window and see giraffes, zebras, ostriches and many other animals roaming around the grounds.  Pretty cool for parents and children alike.

Yesterday, we left early for a 10 minute bus ride to the Animal Kingdom.  First up, "Expedition Everest," which Jude had booked for us via Fastpass (no waiting in line for the ride).  J.P. and I almost skipped up to the ride with absolutely no idea what we were in for.  In short, it's a roller coaster that travels up "Mt. Everest" through a series of caves, only to find that a "yeti" has torn up the track, as a result of which the roller coaster rolls down hill through a series of twists and turns at breakneck speed. 

It was terrifying. 

At one point during the ride, J.P. looked at me and said, "I knew I wouldn't like this," followed by "you made me ride this."  Of course, neither of those statements was true.  Still, he was not a happy camper. 

When we safely disembarked from "Expedition Everest," J.P. and I both felt like we were going to throw up.  For the next couple of hours, he was quiet, subdued even, I think because his stomach felt queasy.  I felt the same way.  Fortunately, though, he rallied after we ate lunch and was his normal self the rest of the day.

J.P. and Joe particularly enjoyed "the safari," during which we saw a variety of exotic animals.  White rhinos, elephants, giraffes, hippos, gnus, etc.  It was really cool. 

Last night, we had dinner in a restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge, then put the boys to bed.  Today, really early, it was off to Magic Kingdom.  More on that later.