Disney 2015: Day 5

The last day of our trip, Monday December 21st, was different than all the others......mostly because it was just the four of us! Everyone else flew out early Monday morning, so just the Givens family headed to Animal Kingdom on our own. It was *such* an odd feeling to have a small group, and not have to constantly yell "Are you coming?" or ask "What should we do next?!" It was weird, but also a bit less stressful too, I'm not gonna lie :) 

Ready to conquer Animal Kingdom!

(The photographer made us....)

Since we had to pack up the room & check out Monday morning, we didn't get to Animal Kingdom till around 10:30 am. We had a late breakfast reservation at Tusker House at 10:50, and got to meet some characters:

Unfortunately, we were not huge fans of Tusker House. First of all, the food (African) wasn't great and neither was the selection. We were right in between the breakfast & lunch crowds, so I feel like we got a little bit of both. And then, to top things off, there was a HUGE miscommunication with our travel agent concerning this meal, and we had to pay over $100 out of pocket. Needless to say, we were NOT happy. (Especially because the food sucked!)

I exchanged a few harsh words with the travel agent over text, and then turned my phone off. I was determined to enjoy our last day! We headed off to the Kilimanjaro Safari, which was our first FastPass of the day.

Family selfie in the back of the Jeep. Let's do this!

Hands-down, the safari was one of the top 3 things we did at Disney! It was amazing!!! We saw sooooo many amazing animals & beautiful scenery....

Reading animal facts & making Nanny proud!

The Tree of Life!

Our next FP of the day was a roller coaster.....Expedition Everest. When I booked the FP months ago, I didn't know this would be too scary for Nate. So, lucky for Greg & Abby, they got to go twice in a row!

Round #1

Selfie while we waited for them to get off the ride. Nate was nervous FOR them. Ha!

Round #2

We had a little time to kill before our next FP, so we did a few walking tours/trails. There were a ton more animals, every where we looked.....

Yes, those are BATS on the left! So gross!

The most beautiful birdhouses & peacocks!

These monkeys were so entertaining!!

All of my friends who had been to Disney before told us to get a Dole Whip. Holy cow it was delicious! Super refreshing too since it was 85 degrees again :)

Our third & final FP of the day was the Lion King Festival show. I loved every second of it, mostly because that was one of my favorite Disney movies as a kid. The music was great! What I wasn't expecting was how circus-like and entertaining the show was! There were singers, dancers, robotic animals, aerial artists, gymnasts (dressed as monkeys), fire-throwers, and stilt walkers. We all loved it!

After the show, Abby insisted on buying a monkey (with her own money). She named it Cocoa, and decided to "wear it like a baby, like Aunt Bebe does." Ha!

African drums are serious business

Looking back on Expedition Everest; I still can't believe Abby conquered that thing twice!

Next up, we headed to Dinoland. We were able to secure a 4th FP for a ride called Dinosaur though Nate was a bit weary. Again, it was more simulator than roller coaster, but since we didn't know 100% what it was like, he was a basket case in line.

 

Please see the bottom right picture above. This is so funny to me! The Dinosaur ride was basically a complete disaster. Greg & I both had to hold Nate's hands, though he was covering his eyes half the time. With my other hand, I was trying to hold my camera from bouncing around because the ride was SUPER jerky. Then, all of a sudden, I looked over and ABBY was crying. She hadn't cried on any rides yet!!!! She & Cocoa were scared, so we were all pretty relieved when we got off the ride.

On the way to our next destination, Greg asked me to check the wait times on my phone, so I reached for it in my back pocked. IT WAS GONE. I peed a little bit, and then ran back to the ride to find someone to help me. 3 employees & 20 minutes later, they were able to find it on the ride. Thank heavens no one picked it up & pocketed it!!!!!!

We headed to Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama for a few more rides, carnival games, and best of all......beers. What a day!

We found one more playground, and let the kids run around while we enjoyed our beers. After two sips, the security guard kicked me & Greg out for having drinks without lids! #rebels

Climbing, playing, and unearthing dinosaur bones!

Animal Kingdom is the one Disney park that always closes between 6-7 pm, I'm guessing to give the animals a rest and some type of schedule. We grabbed a quick dinner right before closing, and then were escorted out of the park. I can't believe we closed a park down!!! What a way to end our trip.

Though these 5 days were some of the most exhausting of my life (!), they were also some of the most memorable. I will never forget seeing Abby's face on her first roller coaster, watching Nate do spells in Diagon Alley, hearing all the giggles with Anderson, playing in the rain at Magic Kingdom, and seeing Abby meet Cinderella. I'm so appreciative that my whole family was able to re-arrange their schedules to make this trip happen, and I'm even more grateful that my parents were able to come & experience this trip of a lifetime with their grandkids. It is something none of us will ever forget!!!

#gibbsdodisney2015