Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

After ending the day Saturday  with twenty Wilderness Explorer badges, the kids voted unanimously to head back to Animal Kingdom for more. The badge stations opened a little bit later than park opening, so we ducked into the Tree of life to warm up while we waited. Guess who was coming out just a we left the world of the bugs?  Squirrel! Our fellow Wilderness Explorers, Russell and Dug greeted Christ and Kylee. The kids told them all about their mission to become Senior Wilderness Explorers. Russell wished them well and signed their Wilderness Explorer Handbooks. We hiked off to the Maharajah Jungle trek through the quiet of the morning.   Beautiful and fun. The tigers weren't out yet, but the badge guides were.  Talking tiger with their badge guide. We hopped one of the first trains out to Rafiki's Planet Watch and the kids faced their biggest fear...the petting zoo. The badge guide insisted that the kids had to go into "Affection Secti...

After our adventures with Dory and Marlin in the "Big Blue World," Chris looked forward to visiting DINOSAUR. We scheduled our FastPass+ for right before lunch time, just in case the bumpy ride bothered anyone. After Dr. Seeker told us about our secret mission to retrieve Aladar (an Iguanadon) and Dr. Marsh sent us to load into our time rover, Chris and Kylee decided they both wanted to ride on the outside edge so they could see better.  She's not afraid of any DINOSAUR! After bumping and screaming and barely escaping before the meteor impact causes mass extinction, the kids were up for some lunch. We picked up a few of the Wilderness Explorer badges and settled in at Mr. Kamal's for a bite of lunch. Both kids normally love falafel and were excited to see it on the menu as we passed by...  First thumbs down of the trip... But neither kid like the falafel. They found the spicing too hot and both ended up eating my hummus and veggies instead. (Both kids...

This morning the sun rose in the bright clear crisp cold sky. The kids queued quietly as we waited for the bus and took turns snuggling up quietly for warmth. This morning actually felt cold and I looked forward to really exploring Animal Kingdom for the first time. I never really gave it a fair shake in high school, to the extent that by the time I graduated college, we swung in for exactly two hours to ride Dinosaur during our Disneymoon and that was it. Oh, what a beautiful morning; oh, what a beautiful day! I've got a beautiful feeling, everything's going my way. After our early night the evening before and sleeping in a bit, the kids and I chomped at the bit to head off for our breakfast at Tusker House. We toured around the buffet with the chef, who promised Kylee a steaming plate of vegan Mickey waffles, then headed back to our table with plates brimming full. Something about the  cool morning air and walking across the park made us all dig in quit...

The Magic Kingdom may be the most magical place on earth, but it is also smack dab in the middle of Walt Disney World. My biggest problem at Disney is there is literally, "more to see than can ever be seen or to do than can ever be done." Forty-three square miles brimming with tons of things to see and do and eat, to be exact. So where do I start planning my perfect, stress-free Walt Disney World vacation?   It can be done! Whether it's as simple as my kids' picks list out of the Birnbaum's Walt Disney World for Kids or a well detailed down to the minute spreadsheet developed from pouring over PassPorter's Walt Disney World and The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World . Step 1: Do Your Research! Look at projected crowd levels . Learn about the FastPass+ system. Measure your children (at the end of the day in sneakers) and note any rides with height restrictions out of your range.  Please note: they do not count bows, high ponytails or f...

Welcome Wordless Wednesday Blog Hoppers! This Wordless Wednesday is brought to you by my favorite action moment! Kylee and Chris earning their last Wilderness Explorer Badges! Now to make them "Trust me, I'm a Senior Wilderness Explorer," shirts for next trip. Thank you to  Focused on the Magic  for hosting!