Animal Kingdom Is AWESOME!!

We spent 3/4 of the day today at Animal Kingdom. We had planned to be there all day today but it was HOT!! It was 89 and very humid and it's only get hotter this week... Katie just can't handle a full day in those temperatures. The good news is - Animal Kingdom has so much shade that really helps.



We started off in DinoLand - just like last year. We rode Dinosaur twice and Katie loved, loved, loved it!! We then rode Primal Twirl... I think that's the name. It's almost my favorite... it makes me laugh so hard that I cry! My laughing makes Katie laugh and the fun is just contagious.



Be careful what you wish for... I've always wished that sometimes you could just stay on your favorite ride and not have to go back through the line... which is REALLY bad of me when we have this pass for Katie... but anyway, we were on the Primal Twirly ride for the second time and when we came back around - they pegged Katie for a "free ride" and we got to go again without getting off. That's the neat good news. The bad news is... I discovered that getting off a ride like that, walking the exit and getting back in line gives your body a chance to re-acclimate with reality. Staying on... let's just say, we all were a little loopy after that third ride! :) But it was still great fun!!

Then we headed to Expedition Everest...



the ride Katie has talked about all year since riding it four times last year. This right here is where I have to say that Disney is just amazing! For the second year, we provided a note to Guest Relations from Katie's pediatrician stating that she has medical conditions that prevent her from being in the heat for extended periods of time - in addition to ADHD and vision impairment. They give us a pass to use at the Fast Pass entrances and then give Katie preferential seating when available at shows, etc.

At Expedition Everest, the normal wait today was 45 minutes. Because of Katie's pass, we rode it five times in 40 minutes. I feel a little bad about that... but there is no way in today's heat that Katie could have withstood the 45 minute wait for one ride.

Plus, all the Disney cast members are sooooo very nice to Katie.

We called it a day at 1pm by eating lunch at GUESS WHERE!!!? The jungle place... as Katie calls it. The Rain Forest Cafe.



Then we came back to the hotel where I had 20 missed calls on my cell, 10 voice mails and a dead phone battery. Chaos ensued. Gran had a plumbing catastrophe that my Uncle Jack had to help her with. According to my dad tonight, Jack now sees what we've been trying to tell people about with her memory. She had lunch with a dear extended member of the family yesterday and she couldn't tell Jack today who it was... she thought it was a neighbor. It was Charlotte Ann... someone that Gran has known and loved since she was 25.

Additionally, the plumbing catastrophe apparently was fixed by Cedar Bluff Plumbing, but it caused Jack and Sue to really get a much better idea of how Gran is living. He's mad that he didn't listen to us sooner.

Jack is going to some facilities that I've already talked to in Kingston this week. I was told waiting list, private pay, no medicaid, she wouldn't qualify, blah, blah, blah. But, he is Jack Muecke and Jack Muecke gets things done in Kingston. We will see!

We then jumped in the "quiet" pool here at the Pop Century. Katie, bless her heart, was so patient during our 40 minute wait to go to the pool... while I dealt with Dad and Jennifer and my messages.



Katie was a lot happier at the pool than she appeared in this picture... :)

The pool felt great!!

Tomorrow, I think we are going to Magic Kingdom.

More then....

LA :)