Our first stop in the park was the Safari. There were lots of animals out for us to see, and it was a great ride. We even had a run-in with a herd of giraffes that wanted the road we were on.
We wandered for awhile, until we got to Dinoland USA!
While in Dinoland, we convinced Max to ride one of the many "Dumbo Style" rides, the TriceraTop Spin. Max did fine, but wouldn't let me raise the car any higher than the lowest position.
There's a great fossil themed playground nearby, and Max and Bobbie Jo spent quite a bit of time in there. I ran off to get us some Fast Passes to Expedition Everest.
In celebration of Max's 5th birthday, we had booked a Character lunch at "Tusker House", a restaurant in Africa. We got to meet lots of characters, and Mommy and Daddy each had a few well-earned drinks.
Max told Goofy it was his fifth birthday, and Goofy showed Max how many fingers that was. Max counted the fingers that Goofy was displaying multiple times in total confusion. Goofy was showing all of his fingers on one hand, and one finger on the other.
Goofy only has 4 fingers on each hand.
After lunch, we caught the Safari Parade.
And then the Lion King show.
It was about 6:00 and I was starting to get a bit agitated. We hadn't done anywhere near the number of things that I had planned. Max was tired, and there was no way we were going to be able to go see the Electrical Parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom as I had on my nifty spreadsheet. We left the park to go back to the hotel, unsure of what the evening would bring.
Here is a text I sent to one of my friends in response to a "how's it going?" text:
It was this advice that helped me understand what this trip was really about, and shaped the remainder of the trip for the better. For the rest of the week, we took the park at Max's pace. We were there to see him experience everything. We would be there again.
Though I would still be pretty upset if I didn't get to see the Electrical Parade.
