Day 4 February 6th

February 6 – Up bright and early, grabbed our free bagels and juice/coffee and headed to our resort. I had done online check in so we were in and out in under 10 minutes and on our way to Animal Kingdom to start our day!! Our room wasn't ready so they were supposed to text me with our room # (for the third year in a row, that never happened!!). When we got to AK, it was a little bit drizzly, and our new rain gear was perfect!! The only think I don't like about them is the reflective stripe down the arm reflects back something awful in photos. Oh well, small price to pay for being warm and dry (and compact!!). We watched the Mickey/Minnie/Pluto opener at rope drop – it is now at the front gate instead of by the tree of life?

Then we walked behind the CM's all the way to Asia.

I grabbed Fastpasses for Expedition Everest and we got in line – well we walked through what would be the line – got right on -back row is our favorite!!

Andy was a bit scared to ride this and he has ridden it many times over but again, as soon as it was over,

This is the part that scared Andy, the broken tracks and going backwards - I could ride it all day!!

  we got the “let's go again, let's go again!!” So we did, again no lines, no waiting.   He wanted to do it a third time but it was raining a bit harder now and you get that much wetter on the roller coaster – it was like a water ride, even in a small sprinkle.

So we made the trip from Asia to Africa and hopped in line for a Safari. We had the cutest little boy behind us. He had never ridden before and when the driver said that we were going on a two week safari, he was concerned. A few minutes later, when he told us that there is plenty of food in the Serengeti for everyone, he told his dad that that was good since we're gonna be out here for two weeks!! So sweet :)

Since I am a Thompson, we always get a photo of the Thompson Gazelle's

We had a great safari – the elephants were running and playing and the lion was out, which is unusual for us.

The cheetahs were all out, they are so beautiful!!

There were great views of the rhinos too, but I am never on the right side of the ride for good pictures though. When we ride it later, I'm getting in last!! After our safari ended “early”, we did some photopass pictures and then hopped the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. I love to go out there and see what they are doing with the animals.

This year, they were working on a bird that had just come in – so cool to watch!! The boys got to touch a snake (yuck!!) and we saw Jiminy Cricket, Rafiki,

Here you can really see the reflection from our new jackets

and Flik.

Flik helped Austin search for hidden Mickeys. It was so cute!!

See the hidden Mickey in the bug....

Then Rafiki came over and shook one of the trees and made the leaves fall off – they were so funny!! We checked out all the critters in their homes, like the turtles, blue poisonous frogs, spiders, snakes, lizards, and everything else that they have out there. We decided to swing into the petting zoo since a lot of the animals were roaming freely.

They are so funny – the boys got a kick out of their playground. It was lightly raining again so they wanted to be under cover just as much as we did. A quick wash of the hands and we were back on the trail for the train, viewing the monkeys along the way and the bat houses – we so need one of those and hope to build some ourselves this summer!!

The drums in Africa are always fun to sop and play with

Headed back to EE to use our FP's one more time. Primevil Whirl is closed (so bummed) so no Dinoland for us.

Went back to the car, met some fellow Browns fans on the tram (a nice break from all the Steeler fans on this Superbowl Sunday). Drove over to HS just in time for lunch at Pizza Planet. Lots more pin trading, hidden Mickey searching, and a quick ride on the Great Movie Ride (I never get tired of that one!!) and then off to meet Lotso – that bear can HUG!!

He hurt me actually lol!! He also got mad at me for trying to take a picture of the LGM and stood in front of it so I couldn't have him in it. Andy made one of the CM's day at this point. He asked to trade pins with him and he noticed Andy's Browns hoodie. So he asked him who he wanted to win the Superbowl tonight. Andrew looked at him and said, “ NOT THE STEELERS!!!” The guy about fell over backwards! He said, “He could've just said Green Bay but instead he said “NOT THE STEELERS”!!” He must've told 10 people before we got away LOL! Animation was about to open up at this point so we went in. We drew Pooh this time (it was the first of many – the boys would've done this all day long!!). On our way out, some CM's asked the boys if they wanted to play Toy Story Tic-Tac-Toe for a prize. So they did that and each won a game so they each got a little pack of Toy Story Memory Cards – they have had fun with them!! We decided to watch the new parade. It was really cute but I did miss the interaction that they used to have. It is so fun to see our favorite characters from Pixar though, especially all the Bugs Life Characters!! I don't know how Slim (walking stick) walks in that costume but it is sooo cool!!!

We headed back to the hotel to try and get our room. It was ready and we were surprised with an upgrade to a premium room – it was perfect, just steps from the parking lot in one direction, and the pool and food court in the other – we loved it!! I do have some complaints but I will leave them between myself and Disney :)

This was on the bed when we walked in the room

After we got things into the room, we headed for the buses to Magic Kingdom – EMH's started at 8 and we were set to go til 11 (at this point).

We headed straight for Big Thunder since it is Andy's favorite MK ride. No line to speak of so we rode it twice. Then we hopped on the train to Mickey's Toontown Fair. Our last time there before it closed. Took one last ride on Goofy's Barnstormer.

It's so fun but too short and I always hurt afterward – Bob is way too tall to ride it too. The boys didn't want to ride it a second time so we moved on. I should mention that we were pin trading, or at least browsing all the way around the park.  The kids talked to so many CM's that they wouldn't have otherwise, it was great for them!! We walked over to Buzz and it was walk on, then on to the Peoplemover, stopped for some pressed pennies before heading to Cosmic Rays for dinner. We ate outside and watched Wishes. Before the fireworks started they showed the memories on the castle – how cool that was!!! I could just sit in that park and do nothing but take it all in forever – I love it!! We had a great view of Tinkerbell as she flew out of the castle at the start of the fireworks!! From there we headed over to Pirates and again, no wait.

Sometimes, I'd like one of these at home!!

We were so tired at this point that we decided not to stay for the remaining EMH's! Oh and I should mention that I did something so dumb tonight! Our tickets are through the homeschooling program so the media couldnt' be on our room keys and not thinking, I told Bob we would only bring ours with charging privledges and leave the boys in the room. As soon as the bus pulled up to the stop it hit me – they need them for EMH!!! I went to City Hall and they were so nice – they issued me new keys for the boys right there. It made the other keys invalid but it worked – then of course, when we went on the rides they only wanted to see one room key lol – not for pirates though, they wanted all 4. We pin traded through all the shops on Main Street, had a happy birthday call from Goofy, and headed for the buses to go home. Set an early wake up time for tomorrow because we have our special day at EPCOT and we can't be late!!