Disney Adventure 2014 -- Day 1

We had a bit of orange juice and oatmeal cookies in our room and then made our way to the near-by bus stop. The check-in receptionist was indeed right -- we do have a good location in relation to the bus stop.

We were off to Animal Kingdom. Just as we got off the bus, rain showers began so we put on our jackets and walked quickly into the park. We made our way to Pizzafari and had a cinnamon roll and hot beverages. By the time we were done the rain had stopped and we made our way to Safari.

We saw lots of animals.

a black rhino

hippos -- and our driver told us a group of hippos is called a bloat -- isn't that a great word!

 elephants -- but my pictures aren't the best because most of the animals were on the left side of the road, and I had a seat on the ride side of the car.

Entering into the savannah we go by the baobab tree. On this safari trip I learned this tree is dormant 9 months of the year in order to conserve water, and the tree holds water in the bark.

 I had a glimpse of a giraffe and learned from our driver that a group of giraffes is called a tower -- another great word.

And here's an antelope that was on the my side of the wagon.

Following the safari ride we took a walk down the Pagani Trail.

We got a good view of the gorillas.

From here we made our way to Rafiki's Area. We saw a monkey getting X-rays and an ultrasound because it had an abdominal blockage. We also enjoyed seeing the types of foods the various animals eat.

Next we tried to find a character meeting on Discovery Island. We walked aimlessly around and finally learned it had been cancelled because of the rain. Instead we stumbled into a chance for my daughter to have her picture taken with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Back to Pizzafari were we shared a pizza and then headed back to our hotel room for a rest.

Later in the day we grabbed a bus to the Magic Kingdom. We made a trip around Magic Kingdom on the train and then got off at the Frontierland Station. We wandered down to Columbia Harbor House and had supper. Then we went to Small World. I noticed how dramatic the roof tops of Fantasyland looked against the stormy sky.

Raindrops continued to fall so we made our way to Country Bears.

When the show was over I found some benches under an arcade that were dry so we sat ourselves down to wait for the Electric Parade. This is one of my favorite things.

Above is a bit of video of Pete's Dragon float in the parade

We found our way to the bus and then back to our room. We had a great first day.