Still, I have to say this was by far, the favorite park of the trip for most of us.

Another later start for us – about 11:30 AM when we arrived. We started through the Oasis, taking more time to look at animals more closely than we did on Monday. We went straight to Africa to get a fastpass for the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. We had about a couple of hours to kill before we could use it.

We grabbed a heavy snack – fruit and pretzels, at the concession stand right next to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride.

We took the kids over to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and spent a good deal of time there. Zevan and I spent a very long time birdwatching in one of the first areas of the trail.

After we finished the trail, we took the Wildlife Express Train over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. Turns out they have some a Kids Discovery Club Guide, much like the KidCot Stops at the Epcot center. We stopped at the Rafiki’s Planet Watch Club spot on the way in, and got the booklet. Zander got a booklet and had to look at an exhibit and find all the animals in the booklet for that Club to get a stamp. We stayed there for a short time, then moved on. It was rainy, and we headed over to the Conservation Station. Just outside the doors was a cute little talking trash can. He was very amusing. We took our time through the Conservation Station looking at all of the creatures, rooms and exhibits.

It was getting close to our FastPass time, so we started heading back. This time all the kids got into the Rafiki’s Planet Watch Club spot. Maya and Zevan each got their own booklet this time. They all found the animals and got their stamp. We took the Wildlife Express Train back to the main park and got in line for the Kilimanjaro Safari ride.

The ride was really great, even though we had been on it before, you just never know exactly how close or how many of each animal you will see.

After the ride, Zander and Zevan took turns with the camera, taking pictures of each other and/or the open air bus we rode on.

We headed over to Dinoland USA afterwards. Jennifer took Zevan and Elliott so that Doug, Zander, Maya and I could go on the Dinosaur ride. That turned out to be the scariest ride of all. About 90 seconds into the ride, both Zander and Maya held onto the bar in front of them, put their heads down, and looked down at the floor. For Doug and I the ride was really great – roller coaster and thrill ride. Zander and Maya were troopers – they didn’t cry or complain. And they just talked about how intense and scary it was afterwards – with a “we survived it!” attitude.

There is one point in the ride, where the scariest, biggest dinosaur jumps out and roars at you, and there is a camera to take a picture of everyone’s reaction. I saw our photo come up on screen – it looks like Doug and I are in a row by ourselves with two empty seats between us. You couldn’t even see Zander and Maya because the were tucked down low. It was a very funny picture.

We caught up with Jennifer and the little guys on the Triceratops Spin ride. Zander, Maya and I jumped on with them. There was hardly a line, so we went on there for a few rounds.

Then we headed over to watch the Festival of the Lion King. We got really good seats near the center (it was in the round).

I got chosen to lead everyone in our section in making elephant sounds. That was comical. Later, Maya was chosen to shake a rattle and walk around the stage area for the celebration part of the show.

After the show, we decided to have dinner at The Rainforest Cafe, just outside the entrance of the park. We got our name on the list, and we waited. We distracted the kids with the fountains outside and the aquarium tanks inside. And we waited. And waited. And waited.

And then we finally got a table. And the funniest thing happened. Maya was SO tired from this week’s activities that she was punchy. It was HILARIOUS! She just giggled uncontrollably and laughed loudly at everything anyone said that was even remotely humorous. She was totally cracking me up – I was loving it. So much better than a tantrum!

Our dinner was DELICIOUS and filling and wonderful. It was a great finish to a long, fun week of activity.

After dinner, we headed outside, only to find out that the parking trams stopped running. And that we weren’t even exactly sure where our cars were. We trekked out there (I had to leave my stroller at the park) and found our cars (thank goodness for remote key fobs).

When we got back to the room, I started my pre-packing for the next day. Our flight didn’t leave until the afternoon, but we had to check out by 10 AM.