We were DRAGGING the morning after our super late night at Magic Kingdom so we did something we nevvvvver do – we slept in for a bit and arrived at Animal Kingdom about an hourish after park opening.
The only real “must arrive early” ride is Flight of Passage and we were all okay with skipping it so we didn’t feel like getting up early was a MUST. It was nice to take a more casual approach to the day and it didn’t cause us to miss out on anything!
First up for the bigs was Dinosaur. I LOVE when Zach surprises me by taking pics 🙂 How adorable are these!!!
While they rode Dinosaur Spear and I hung out in the pretty sad “dinosaur area.” At this time the dinosaur playground was not yet open…I have heard it’s back open though so I’m eager to surprise Spear with a visit when we go for his bday in November!
Spear doesn’t need a playground though. I def think it’s a “thing” of being a toddler through the pandemic because he hasn’t had a whole lot of playground opportunities. He’s totally content on the ground (or in the water fountain) playing!
He NEVER complains about being board. EVER. He never minds that others are riding things and he’s hanging out waiting. He’s very easily entertained and easy to keep content. He loves having his own little book bag of toys!
I can’t even handle this cutie.
I know I’m on that verge of no longer having a little one waiting with me. It’s a milestone for me as a mama and one I’m not quite ready for! I love these moments together!
Leading up to the trip the two main things Spear wanted to do were ride Dumbo with Mommy and ride Dinosaur ride with Daddy. He loves a good spinning ride 😉
We went over to ride Safari and Tessie took good care of her baby through the whole line. Safe to say Spear is slightly spolied!
It was SO NICE to be back on the jeep without any of the barriers up anymore! We could finally SEE clearer and it wasn’t NEARLY as hot and stuffy thanks to being able to feel the breeze!
I love moments like these all together and especially love seeing those little moments of childlike excitement in Kye!
We hit a pretty decent snag in our plans. I had reserved a surprise reservation at Tusker House for 10:30 breakfast for our first socially distanced character dining experience buttttt we missed it. We were on the safari past our reservation time and when we went to check in they had switched over to lunch which the menu for lunch did nottttt look like we’d enjoy it.
Zach had the idea to go do an EPIC lunch somewhere fun. Whereas I kinda wanted to do more of a fun Disney treat. Soooo we did both haha.
I felt (and still feel) a LOT of guilt about this situation because Tusker House was supposed to be Tess’s big birthday celebration meal. But Zach kept reminding me that it’s FINE. She was HAPPY. She had a GREAT TRIP. It’s okay that one meal didn’t happen and truly it saved us a TON of money and we were able to do two fun things instead!
We grabbed delicious breakfast treats from Tamu Tamu! SUCH yummy treats and a whollllle lot cheaper than food we wouldn’t have liked at Tusker House!
I can’t even handle Spear with his peace sign vibes hahaha
The reason Tessie wanted to visit Animal Kingdom was to be able to ride Everest! Britt doesn’t love Everest so she opted to hang with me, Spear, and G-Mama. We all met at a shop so the kids could choose a pin for the trip for their pin boards and then Britt and Spear had fun walking together through the park.
Kye was so sweet, he chose an Everest pin because he wants to remember this trip as the first time he and Tessie got to ride Everest together!
Britt kept saying it was her favorite day ever because Spear was giving her so much attention 🙂
As one last surprise for the trip I learned that Festival of Lion King had reopened! It is Britt’s FAV!!!
We all met there to watch the show before heading out. I love our outfits and wanted to make sure to get a couple of pics. It was crazy how Britt, Zach and I all just so happened to have coordinating fabrics and it was unplanned and not even bought together!
It was Spear’s first time seeing the Lion King show and we had AWESOME seats! All the floats came in right beside us and Spear had a perfect view of everything! He was also super snuggly with Britt and I love her face in the pic of them together. She was EATING IT UP.
We were all super happy that the show is back…however…it is VERY modified and limited and we just didn’t realize that going into it. Super bummed that it’s not the same show we know and love so much BUT we know it’ll be back to its full glory soon!
We left Animal Kingdom and Tessie chose her epic lunch…Chick-Fil-A (no surprises there ha!). Since we were saving so much money by not eating at Tusker House Zach said that everyone could order ANYTHING they wanted.
Chicken nuggets, chicken sandwiches, fries all around and OF COURSE milkshakes too! It was def an EPIC meal ($80 which is NUTS for us) and still cheaper than what we would have spent (it would have been over $150 for the lunch at Tusker House, easily even more). The kids loved getting to choose whatever they wanted from the menu and we were all in silly fun moods that made the whole outing even better. Spear was HILARIOUS and cracking us all up!
Tessie felt loved and special and celebrated and that’s what matters most to her mama for her bday trip!
We had a FULL, BUSY and FUN week celebrating our Tessie girl! Always thankful for these family moments and getaways and love that life is returning more and more to normal!
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