May 28 – “A Disney Adventure: Day Five – Animal Kingdom”

We began our day in the Animal Kingdom with a safari ride in a Jurassic Park jeep.  We didn’t see any velociraptors, but there were elephants and giraffes and okapis and elands and even some cheetahs.  I have had a craving for some Cheetos all day.

From there we took a train ride to a petting zoo. On the way there we saw the velociraptor compounds.  Either that or the rhinos.  While there we saw a trained animal show.  Started and ended with a pig, but had guest appearances from an owl and a rat and a macaw.  Oh, and the macaw pooped.  Really made the show.

We moved inside for the Finding Nemo musical.  It was done well.  My favorite was the gigantic bird.  Great perspective established with the human-sized fish.  I have to confess that I fell asleep before it ended, though.

Next we went on the Expedition Everest roller coaster.  And that, my friends, was actually a roller coaster.  And Caleb managed to survive it.  We were quite proud of him, since he was more than a little bit apprehensive.

Then it was off to the birds of prey show.  Hawks and eagles and exotic parrots.  I think I missed one of the last birds, though.  They kept saying “Nama, Stay.”  I never did see Nama.  Oh, and guess what?  The owl pooped.  Really made the show.

We did manage to get into the world famous Lion King show.  Now that was worth the entire day.  Loved the monkey acrobats.  There was no sleeping through this one.  Too much action and too loud.  Definitely high on my recommend list.

We went back for one final drive through safari country to see if the animals were more or less active in the early evening.  They may have been a little more active, but there weren’t nearly as many of them.  Not sure where they all went.  We did see something we hadn’t seen earlier - attack bunnies stalking the lions and cheetahs.  Yep, tiny little bunnies just waiting in the bushes for the big cats to fall asleep so they could pounce.  Poor predator kitties.

Here’s our people list for the day: Southern Illinois, New Jersey, Evansville, Indiana, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, Wales, Birmingham, England, New Zealand, Washington State, Virginia, and Cuba.

Romans 6:11-12 says, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.”

Father, it’s been a long and fun week.  We could use your protection on a certain airplane ride home now.  Thanks.  Amen.