Walt Disney World: Christmas at Animal Kingdom Lodge

By Michael

Kathy, Lisa and I set out for Detroit, waiting out the morning at the gate with Lisa's stuffed husky and her handheld game. A stop for a bite in the terminal came before the flight to Orlando, and we watched our plane wait on the tarmac before boarding.

After landing at Orlando International, we lined up for the Magical Express bus to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village. The lobby had a Christmas tree rising up through the thatched roof, and from the room Lisa could already see zebra and longhorn cattle out on the savanna.

We spent the evening at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Lisa met Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger along the character trail, and we had a sandwich dinner at one of the park's open-air pavilions. Inside the Tree of Life we looked closely at the carvings in its trunk, then made our way back out past the park's lit Christmas tree as the evening wound down.

By Michael

The day was spent at Epcot.

We started out from Animal Kingdom Lodge in the morning and headed over on Disney transportation. Lisa met Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck early on, then Minnie, Pluto and Goofy as we made our way through Character Spot. We walked past Spaceship Earth and Lisa got a hug from Stitch outside.

In the afternoon we spent time at The Seas with Nemo & Friends, looking at the fish tanks and posing inside a giant shark's mouth. We walked by the Soarin' sign and past the Mission: Space building before making our way back toward the front of the park.

We made it back to Animal Kingdom Lodge before dark and watched zebras and a giraffe out on the savanna from our room. Lisa put on her life jacket and went swimming in the pool that evening while the lights came on around the water.

Walking in past Spaceship Earth we passed the Leave a Legacy wall, where Kathy and I have had our tile since our first visit in January 2003.