Disney with Toddlers Day 1- Animal Kingdom

This post is more of a recap of what we did, including our schedule. For more detailed tips for Disney with toddlers check out this post. As much as I hope you can get some good ideas about the parks out of this post, it is also my kid's scrapbook so I'd stop reading here if you don't want to see TONS of family pics!

We started off the day bright and early at 5:30am. We ate a good breakfast and drove to the Disney All-Star Sports resort to get checked in. Rather than taking the bus, we picked up a parking pass from the resort and drove over to animal kingdom. We arrived 30 minutes prior to the park opening, parked up front and were able to enter the park early!

We immediately stopped by guest services to pick up our stroller as a wheelchair pass and then headed back to the Kilimanjaro Safaris. This was a great first ride. We got to sit in the front of the bus and the kids had a blast looking at all the animals. I was told to do this early because the line gets really long and the animals are normally sleeping in the afternoon.

tree of life, center of the park

LOVE this shot of her expression! 

not the best family pic but a picture none-the-less!

After riding the safari we decided to split up. My family all went to ride Expedition Everest and I took the kids on the Pagani Forest Exploration Trail. We had a great time looking at all the animals. I'd highly recommend doing this with kids. The animals are close up and its easy to see from stroller level. My family on the other hand LOVED Everest and would highly recommend that! They did it without using a fast pass and got right on because it was so early in the morning. I'm telling y'all, getting to the park early is KEY! I missed out on riding the thrill rides at Disney because of the pregnancy. 

They LOVED the fish on the trail

You can see the gorillas in the back. There was another gorilla that we got MUCH closer to (just a glass partition separated us) and I cannot find the picture! The kids were amazed.

We met my family in DINOLAND USA. The kids were in awe of all the colors and rides. This is the most "colorful" part of the park. The rest is very much like a zoo. We were able to walk right on to the Triceratops Spin. Holden loved it, Emma Cate, not so much. This had me a little worried for all of the other spin type rides that we were scheduled to ride over the next day.

Selfies... this kid will not smile! He did love the ride though.

Emma Cate not enjoying the Triceratops with Gigi

my sis and mom waiting in line for expedition everest

Me and terrified

I want to ride!

While we rode the Triceratops Spin, my sisters and husband road Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur. They had fun on Primeval Whirl and didn't think too highly of Dinosaur. We headed over to the Boneyard next for a little playtime. We learned that animal kingdom does not have a lot of attractions. My family is really into the thrill seeking aspect. This park was a lot of fun but I wouldn't make it a MUST DO. It was good just to spend 4-5 hours there like we did. We did skip a lot of the shows and exhibits only because our group just wasn't that into that kind of stuff. If you are into that, you could definitely spend the day at the park. I'm really glad we did the park hopper on this day.

love this cute pic of my parents. They hung out on the benches while we played with the kids.

matching holden and daddy shoes

Next we hit "It's a Bug Life". There wasn't a wait and we knew we wanted to try one of the shows. Our kids HATE IT! Like screamed. I think the problem was that we let them stay in their strollers instead of holding them. The sound effects freaked them out and they did not care for the 3D glasses.

buggy glasses

After the show we took the kids on what we thought would be a super fun train ride. The train ride was pretty ok. The train just takes you to another part of the park and back. The train conducter was the ONLY person we encountered the whole trip that wasn't overly kind and friendly. She was pretty cold. Unless you are heading out to the attractions that the train takes you to, I'd totally skip this.

trying to keep her entertained on the train

Hitching a ride

We headed to lunch after the train and decided to try Yak & Yeti. It was soooo good. Best counter-service restaurant. I wish I took some pictures but my sister and I split the beef lo mein and egg rolls and had plenty of food. Great portions and great quality. On our way there we stopped to play the drums along the way. Disney is so great about setting up little things to do all over the park. Its amazing how much more you notice when you have two little ones asking "Whadis" as you walk through the park.

After lunch, we packed up and headed back to the car. We were able to go straight to the hotel rooms because we had already checked in that morning. Luck for us our rooms were ready at 7am but if they weren't ready, they offer a service where they text you when your room is ready. We were fully prepared to take advantage of that. The twins took a little nap, as did their Daddy. Mom, Bo, Allie, and Brett explored the resort and took these pictures. My Dad caught up on a little work and I drove over to the Embassy Suites we stayed at the night before to retrieve the sound machine we left. 

The rest of the family decided to head over to our afternoon destination, Hollywood Studios while the babies finished napping. I'll create another post outlining our Hollywood Studios adventures!