Disney's Animal Kingdom

Our view of the Tree of Life as we entered the park this morning.

A look at Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain from the entrance to the Africa section of the park.

As we waited in the queue for Kilimanjaro Safaris, we watched this black crowned crane clean itself...

The first animal we spotted on the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride was okapi standing away from the trail, hidden among the trees.

We also saw this kudu laying down and the bongo standing nearby.

This mated pair of saddle-billed storks were standing near the Kilimanjaro Safaris trail.

A closer look at one of the saddle-billed storks.

There were a lot of hippopotamuses visible today...

...including these two sunning on land...

...and these three in the water...

...and three more on land!

We also saw this Nile crocodile relaxing in the water...

While there weren't many out today, we spotted these blue wildebeest roaming the prairie during our ride on the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride...

...and a third one nearby.

We also saw a couple of sable antelopes roaming around.

A closer look at the sable antelopes.

A Hartmann's Zebra alone on the prairie.

A masai giraffe making its way across the prairie...

...and another grazing near the wall.

A pair of African elephants near the water...

A mandrill walking across its habitat.

Another angle of the African elephants near the water.

Another African elephant walking across the elephant habitat...

A flamboyance of flamingos on the Mickey Mouse shaped island.

Three more African elephants, including a baby!

A couple of ostriches near several white rhinoceroses.

Two cheetahs passing by each other...

...while another lies in the grass.

One of the cheetahs wandering along the fence.

A male lion laying atop the rocks.

A closer look at the male lion.

A few more pictures of the lions wandering and resting on the rocks...

Some of the many Nigerian dwarf goats that we saw near the end of the Kilimanjaro Safaris.

A couple pictures of the waterfall located near the end of the Kilimanjaro Safaris...

A look at the Scar popcorn bucket and the Ed the Hyena drink sipper that was the purpose of our trip today.

A look at one of the cotton-top tamarins participating in its self care today on Discovery Island...

Walking along the Discovery Island trails today we came across these Abdim's storks...

...as well as several Galapagos tortoises...

A look at a waterfall in Asia as seen from the Discovery Island trails.

Although I doubt I could tell the difference from the Galapagos tortoises from earlier, we also saw these black mountain tortoises along the Discovery Island trails...

"The backside of water!" as seen from the trails in the Oasis.

We spotted Grandma Terry's dog Simba in the Oasis. Oops, sorry, not Simba - this is an animal known as a babirusa.

It seemed as though the majority of the people coming into the park completely overlooked DiVine blending into the bushes near the park entrance...

We got a good view of Kevin as we exited the park today.

Disney's Magic Kingdom

A view of another ferry as we rode the ferry from the Transportation and Ticket Center over to the Magic Kingdom...

Buttcrack alert! Be on the lookout near the popcorn cart at the entrance to the park.

Once we made it inside the park, we headed over to the Communicore Hall to begin sampling the food offerings from the International Festival of the Holidays that had just started on the 28th. Located at the Communicore Hall was the Favorites of Festivals Past, where Grandma Terry wanted to try the Reuben Croquettes (pastrami, sauerkraut, and swiss cheese with thousand island dipping sauce). While she waited in line for this dish, I headed inside the hall to get in line at Experimental Prototype Cookies of Tomorrow. Unfortunately the line was extremely long, and I decided it wasn't worth waiting in to taste the two cookies I was after - the Salted Caramel Spaceship Earth Cookie and the Ginger-Molasses Cookie with Cream Cheese Icing. I skipped the line, and met up with Grandma Terry and her croquettes. We found a place to sit, and after only a bit Grandma decided that this dish wasn't worth the money. She gave it another try, but ultimately ended up throwing it out. Definitely not a must do dish!

We next headed to the Yukon Holiday Kitchen in the Canada Pavilion, where we sampled two more dishes - this time the Seared Salmon (with butternut squash purée, maple-bourbon glaze, and fennel-arugula salad) and the Beef Bourguignon (with bacon and crushed potatoes). Although the salmon was good, the Beef Bourguignon was the clear winner here (as the steak always seems to in Canada!).

We continued our walk around the World Showcase, stopping at the Le Marché de Noël Holiday Kitchen in the France Pavilion to try the Dinde Rôtie, Sauce et Garniture, servi avec Patates Douces (which was roasted turkey with mushrooms, pearl onions, bacon, turkey gravy, and roasted sweet potatoes). This wasn't a bad dish, but just coming off of Thanksgiving, turkey wasn't really doing it for either of us.

Our next stop was at the Italy Pavilion and the Tuscany Holiday Kitchen. I had two items I wanted to try here - the Montanara (fried house-made pizza dough with pomodoro sauce, parmesan, and fresh basil) and the Pizza e Chioccolato (fried house-made pizza dough with sugar, cinnamon, and chocolate). I think the Montanara was too chewy, and could have been drastically improved with some pepperoni inside. The Pizza e Chioccolato was the better of the two dishes, though still a little too chewy. I would have it again, though!

We had a lot of other foods that we wanted to taste, but by this point we were getting full. We continued our trek around the world before heading towards the World Celebration, where we picked up a popcorn bucket for my cousin Heather, and did some shopping at the Creations shop. At this point, we were getting tired, and the waits for the rides were long, so we decided to call it a day. Until next time!