We arrived at Disney World on 3/20 and checked in to the Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary Resort.  We quickly hit the pool and then headed over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Jiko – it was delicious!  We loved the elk flatbread appetizer.  That night we got to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks for the first time from the balcony of our hotel room.

The next day we went to Animal Kingdom!

We started out at the safari ride, which was really well done.

Next we went to the Lion King show, and one of the ushers must have taken a liking to Blaine because all of a sudden she was leading us into the theater by a side door to front row seats.  Nicely done, Blaine!  The show was great; the kids especially loved the acrobatics.  Next we went on the self-guided gorilla jungle walk.  I was really impressed by this hippo but the photo doesn’t do it justice.

We hit a few other rides and got caught in a little rain before stopping for lunch at Tiffins.  The kids were excited when the waiter proposed they could get some french fries that were not listed on the menu, and by these desserts included in the kids’ meals.

After lunch we went over to the dinosaur area and rode the somewhat-scary “Dinosaur” ride.

Followed by a tamer triceratops spin ride.

Then we had some more hotel pool time, and Andrew cooked burgers in our hotel room kitchen for a relaxing dinner.  The next morning we were up early to get into the Magic Kingdom at 8am.  Sarah was pretty excited we had some extra time to purchase her some Minnie ears.

A view behind us after speed-walking through the park to the next checkpoint before the Seven Dwarves Mine Train, a new coaster-style ride that was pretty great.

Andrew planned our days really well so that we took advantage of fast passes and hitting the popular rides early so we never had to wait too long.  One surprisingly long wait, though, was for the Dumbo ride!  Sarah loved it, though.

Then we went to the teacups.

The Space Mountain lines were really short so Andrew and I tried out the “rider swap” option and got to enjoy the best ride of our childhoods while the kids had some snack.  After the morning at Magic Kingdom we took the monorail to Epcot for lunch in Norway and more rides.  Somehow I must not have taken any pictures there, because the next pic I have is of the ferry ride back.  Oh well, we had fun in Epcot!  We all enjoyed the Frozen ride, and Andrew and I got some frozen margaritas in Mexico.

That night we had dinner at the California Grill in the Contemporary, which was very tasty.  They even gave the kids practice chopsticks.

On Saturday we went back to Magic Kingdom for the morning for the Pirates of the Caribbean (Sarah kept her eyes closed the whole time), and Thunder Mountain Railroad (both kids opted out, so we did rider swap again).

We did a few others — Small World, some music show, Peter Pan, then we rode the Carousel.

Then we hit Andrew’s favorite, the Haunted Mansion.  We went back to the hotel in the afternoon for some pool time, and Sarah went down the large water slide!  I guess she’d built up her bravery going on so many coaster-type rides at the parks.

Then we went back to Magic Kingdom for our fast pass appointment with Splash Mountain!  A definite fave.  We had dinner at the Be Our Guest restaurant in the park.  The food was not memorable, but the setting was very cool, and the kids enjoyed painting their desserts, and meeting the Beast.

Sunday morning we got ready to head home, and also went for our last breakfast at Chef Mickey’s, a buffet restaurant where you get to meet the characters.

It was a great trip — lots of rides with not too much waiting, a good balance of pool time, and surprisingly decent food.  All thanks to Andrew for doing such a wonderful job planning everything!