OMG, Aren't You Done Yet? Disney Part IV

I've been taking a rather leisurely pace through this Disney recap, but it's time to wrap it up. So here is the rest of our vacation, in brief:

Day I Forgot What Number: Hollywood Studios

We got to the park before it opened (for once), and the kids had time for a quick photo with Stitch (though I don't think they really know who he is - but hey, an autograph's an autograph, right?):

Quick summary of the day: Ariel's Grotto (show) - thumbs up, but about 3/4's of the movie is glossed over in one 3-minute segment
Jedi Academy: I was SO excited for Finn to do this. You have to sign up for a time slot, and a small group of kids get to experience Jedi training. Then Darth Vader shows up and the kids get to "fight" him. I thought Finn would be SUPER into this. But as soon as he found out that his cousin Ned was too young to participate, he was out. Too shy, not interested in doing it alone. Maybe next time?
Star Tours: I didn't get to see this, as Lucy was too short (40 inch height requirement). I think Finn and M. liked it? It's one of those 3-D motion ride experiences.
Toy Story Mania ride (we used a fast pass): Finn and M. loved it, but Lucy couldn't quite figure out how to shoot at all the targets. So mixed results for us, but most people love it.
Rain: Yuck
Pouring Rain: Really Yuck
Disney Junior Live show: The kids LOVED this. It was pretty cute, though not the most comfortable venue (we all had to sit on the floor in front of the stage. Chairs would have been nice). The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse crew, Handy Manny, the Little Einsteins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates... all the characters the kids like to watch on TV. It was a hit, needless to say.
Lunch at Hollywood & Vine: Good buffet food, and characters were present. Finn met his hero, Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates:

Coincidentally, he had begged me for a Jake doll earlier that day

After he saw that I had already purchase Lucy a Snow White doll (since all her cousins were getting princess dolls, too - peer pressure, man, I can't resist it!)

The kids don't watch much Manny, but they were happy to see him. I think his accent is cute, and considered scoring myself a hug (but resisted, I was too busy chowing on the lobster mac n' cheese from the buffet line)

Special Agent Oso. He really is one "special" bear. His show has the unique capability of driving me absolutely nuts. All part of the plan, my ass!

June from Little Einsteins. Her head is enormous.

Finn was so excited when Jake finally made it to our table, and immediately picked up Finn's Jake doll to pose with it. Seventh heaven, let me tell you. Look at that genuine smile!

Lucy's kind of sweet on him, too, though I think she prefers Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.

Finn was being crabby and lazy, so passed up an opportunity to "meet" Mater and Lightning McQueen. Lucy was all over it, though (but insisted on having M. with her). She LOVES Mater.

After lunch and "meeting" Mater and Lightning, we headed to the car stunt show. It was about 10 minutes too long, and involved the hardest wrangling of Lucy I've ever had to do. Girlfriend was DONE, and did not want to sit still. She also kept trying to stick her hand down my shirt.

I wanted to leave then and head back to the hotel (given my vow from the day before to have a less action-packed day than the last two), but Finn threw a fit a the prospect of not seeing the Indiana Jones stunt show. So he and M. caught the last 15 minutes of the one that was already going on, and Lucy and I strolled down by the big kid rides (Tower of Terror and the Rock n' Roller Coaster). Mostly just killing time. Then we met up with M. and Finn and headed back to the hotel. We suited up for the pool and... it started pouring. We all took cover under an umbrella to wait out the worst of it, and then went swimming anyway. It's not like we were going to be dry in the pool anyway, right?

BBQ for dinner, cards, bed, and onto...

Day I Forget What Number + 1: Animal Kingdom

We managed to get to the park just as it was opening, a slight improvement over our first day at the Magic Kingdom, if not as good as the day before's visit to Hollywood Studios. However, we then got stuck in the SLOWEST bag checker line EVER. Gail from Detroit was very, very thorough in her searches. Very. It was not the most pleasant way to start a day at the happiest place on earth.

We recovered, though, and headed straight for the Safari ride, while a few members of our party headed out to grab us all Fast Passes to the Kali River Rapid ride (v. v. popular). The safari was, as expected, quite thrilling. Lots of animals, many that were quite close to the vehicle/jeep/bus thing. My camera was a bit foggy from the humidity, but I managed to capture a few decent photos. The kids had just seen the Lion King the night before for the first time, so they were especially excited to see the lions, warthogs, and the Rafiki-like monkey (too lazy to look it up). Also, I must add that Finn laughed harder at the Lion King than I have ever seen him laugh - it was hilarious to watch. That Pumbaa, he's a character. Anyway, behold (some of) the animals we saw:

Rafiki

A giraffe from afar

A giraffe thisclose to our jeep

Simba and Nala

Simba's rear end

An ostrich head

Warthogs

A rhinoceros eating

Finn posing in front of The Tree of Life (not a real tree)

Other attractions we hit were the Kali River Rapids (we all got soaked, everyone loved it, even Lucy was big enough to ride), the Festival of the Lion King (GREAT show!), and the It's Tough to Be a Bug 3-D move (just eh). We headed home early, and spent some time at the hotel pool. Then we ditched all the kids with various grandparents, and headed (me, M., my sisters, and their husbands) to the California Grill at the Contemporary Hotel for dinner. It was yummy, overpriced, and generally fabulous. It was so leisurely that, despite our 7:40 reservation time, we were still finishing up by the time the 10:00 PM Magic Kingdom fireworks started - we had the perfect view right from our table. Nice way to finish off the day!

OK, I thought I could finish tonight, but I'm tired. One more day left to go, and then it's back to blogging (or lack thereof, lately) as usual!