Wish Trip Day 5

From the day that I found out Riley’s wish was going to be granted, I put some serious time and effort into planning this week. Disneyworld really does require that, but this trip in particular is also once in a life time and can never be replicated. So I literally read the planning book and the GKTW Village guide from cover to cover! I’m a dork like that. One thing I felt strongly about was planning a slower, down day today. I knew by this point after SO much walking, we were going to be very tired, Riley in particular, and I didn’t want to push her too far. So today was our Animal Kingdom day and it was supposed to be the day we took it easy. That means I really didnt have high expectations for today but wouldn’t you know it those expectations were blown out of the water! I should have known! We had one more banner day full of magic and fun today! They just keep coming and our smiles, memories and hearts just keep getting fuller! 

We got some much needed sleep this morning by sleeping in a little and then took care of laundry and our villa since there is no maid service. The day really started out with a bang when the gift fairy who has come every single day to bring a gift for both of the girls brought the GKTW special edition of Candyland! So exciting! And then it was finally the day for ice cream for breakfast! We had banana splits though so hey there was fruit in there! But really that was so fun. And finally it was on to Animal Kingdom. 

Riley rocked her a Princess Anna dress today and all three of us rocked our ears that each of us picked out for ourselves. The park itself is just absolutely beautiful everywhere you look and we could have got lost in all the nooks and crannies to see all the animals. The Tree of Life was definitely my favorite. 

Our first stop was Dinoland where Keagan rode the Primeval Twirl rollercoaster a total of 4 times, only once with Mom. And Miss Riley was thrilled to play games to win a couple of prizes and get her face painted! The amazing thing about that is all face painting is free for wish kids and a sweet cast member gave me free game vouchers for her! I was blown away! That was such fun pixie dust! Both girls had a fantastic time in Dinoland! 

After a super yummy lunch from Flame Tree BBQ Keagan and her dad rode Expedition Everest! That is one big rollercoaster named after one big mountain! Of course there were serious drops but it was also Keags first to go upside down! She didn’t want to do a second round but I was still proud of her! I am SO grateful she got courage that first day to ride a rollercoaster because that has been the most amazing part of the trip for her! And Expedition Everest was a great one! 

Then it was onto Kilananjaro Safari where we had our second dose of pixie dust! About half way through the safari Franky the rhino walked right in front of our driver and got extremely close to our truck for a little while! We also got extremely close to some giraffe! And we all loved seeing all the other animals too! The animals and hey even Animal Kingdom as a whole are a different kind of magic, but still magic none the less! 

And then it was on to some of my favorite things in all of Disneyworld, which there is A LOT to love so that saying a lot! I think the Lion King show is the best show ever and it was only made better today because Keagan and Riley were called up to dance a little part on the finale! See? So much pixie dust today! They had fun dancing in a parade around the ring and at the end Timon as part of the show said they all did great and then he hugged Riley and said especially her! It was amazing! We all had so much fun at this show and will cherish the pixie dust of it! 

And finally it was onto the absolutely most incredible section of any of the parks and hands down the best ride I’ve ever been on in my life! Pandora was incredible both with the sun up and with the sun down! Everywhere you look it was amazing! We all did Na’vi River Journey together and Travis and I took turns going on the Flight of Passage which there are no words to describe it because it is that amazing! Seriously SO magical!  

While in Pandora Keagan was begging for one of those Banchese that are from the movie. It is actually a colorful puppet with controller and a belt loop for the remote to sit on your hip which is a dream come true for Miss Keagan! Since this is a wish Trip I was absolutely  thrilled to tell her yes and let both her and Riley pick out their  very own! Keagan has named hers Mr Blueberry and she does a cute little act with Riley in it. There was lots of giggles about that at the park, in the car and even at home because of the Banchese! They are pretty excited! 

And finally we ended the day with another bubble bath, Sister cuddles and tickles and a pizza party here in our villa for dinner including shakes full of milk but still shakes. It was the perfectly easy ending to a fantastic day! I’m actually thrilled I set my expectations so low because I was extremely pleasantly surprised! Leave it to Disney to surpass it all including my expectations!  So thankful they did! Thankful for my girls! Thankful for this trip! And thankful for another fantastic day!