Animal Kingdom, a Parade, and a Cruise

Tuesday was our day for Animal Kingdom.  We started the day with an 8:05 breakfast at Tusker House.  This is one of my favorite breakfasts at Disney, it is breakfast with "Character".  You start out with a photo with Donald Duck in his safari clothes.  This was last year's photo, we haven't received the ones from this year yet.  The breakfast has an African theme, and you are visited at your table by Mickey, Goofy, and Daisy in their safari clothes.  The food is really good.  You have your typical breakfast fare, and also some African items.  We finished our breakfast and proceeded to the Kilimanjaro Safari.  I absolutely love this attraction.  The ride is definitely rough - it's been known to nearly bounce me out of my seat, and that's saying something.  We had really good luck this trip and saw nearly every animal imaginable.  We say the baby elephant from last year and were amazed at how much he had grown.

We saw the Festival of the Lion King show, always one of our must-sees.  Some of the group rode Expedition Everest, while others (like me) just killed some time in the gift shops.  Rod and I had pizza and salads at Pizzafari.  We had never eaten here before, and it was really quite good.  Soon it was time to find a good viewing spot for the Jingle Jungle Parade.  A friend of Mary's had made arrangements for Jimmy, Mary and the kids to ride on one of the floats in the parade.  It was really great to see them sitting up there waving to all the crowd.

Rod, the twins and I had reservations for the Cape May "clambake" for 6:30.  In the past we have loved this buffet, but the food was somewhat lacking this time and we probably won't eat here again.  After dinner, we made our way to the dock to await our Illuminations cruise.  It was a beautiful night, and the first time I had seen Illuminations with the Christmas tag, which includes the song "Let There Be Peace on Earth".  The first time I had ever heard this song was when my sister had sung it in concert choir in high school, and it still brings tears to my eyes.  Nancy passed away in 1991 at the age of 37, and there isn't a day that I don't miss her. The fireworks were probably the best I've ever seen.  After the cruise, the captain urged me to disembark before the others because their weight kept the boat closer to the height of the dock.  Rod had gone to retrieve my scooter, and I nearly fell as I stepped onto the dock.  That put me in a bit of a bad mood.  We proceeded into the resort and had started to admire the gingerbread, when I realized that my bag wasn't in the basket of my scooter.  I knew I had it on the boat, and Rod and the twins began to search for it while my mood grew more and more black.  But alas, no bag.  While at Disney, that bag holds most of my life - our daily meds, our gift cards, my pins for trading, a first aid kit, and more.  I was nearly in tears over the $350 in gift cards, Rod was more concerned about the pins I was so excited about.  It was a quiet ride to our room that night.

Notes on the day:  All in all it was a great day, although it ended on a dark note.

Tomorrow:  Lost, found, and good bye to Disney.