Hakuna Matata

My daughter still wasn't feeling quite herself this morning, We first headed to breakfast in the hotel where we were joined by Pluto, Goofy, and Minnie Mouse. We learned on day one that she is not into meeting characters, so we were pleasantly surprised that she had a fun time meeting this trio.

My daughter was still determined to go to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Our third day in Disney World, this was also the most crowded and hottest day. We fought our way through the throngs and waited in line for 45 minutes to see the Festival of the Lion King. It was worth it, and probably one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. It was my daughter's favorite part of the day.

We also saw Finding Nemo: The Musical and went on a "safari." We were all rather disappointed -- my daughter didn't get a chance to see much as the safari truck never slowed down, and my husband and I were struck by how fake everything was, right down to the act put on by the truck driver. Interestingly, people who work for Walt Disney World are referred to as "cast members," not "employees."

None of us like crowds. We also realized we are true Northerners and found the heat and humidity to be a bit much. The Animal Kingdom was a zoo in every sense. We decided to quit while the quitting was good, and headed back to the hotel for a nice cool swim in the pool. At least by mid-afternoon my daughter was acting like herself, and we had seen two memorable shows.