Trip Log:

Started off this morning a tad later than planned with some pictures of the Art of Animation then met up with the rest of the group at the bus stopped and headed for the Animal Kingdom to celebrate Earth Day and the parks birthday.   Walked out the Safari and grabbed a Fastpass then spent some time in Pangani Forest until the time to go on arrived.  The rain started to come down as we were in line but by the time our Safari finished the rain had let up. Once back in Africa stopped by Pizzafari for a quick lunch then spent some time roaming the park.  Walked around the Tree of Life and stopped by the Flame Tree dining area for some Everest shots then continued on to Asia to check out the gibbons.  Decided to wander back toward the park entrance and hopped on a bus to the TTC.  Then took the ferry boat to the Magic Kingdom.  Stopped by the fire station for some sorcerers cards then stopped by a window on the way to the hub.  Headed for Tomorrowland and a ride on the People Mover.  Walked out to the Storybook Circus with the goal of going on the train, but the line was more than my patience so doubled back through Fantasyland by the Tea Cups to the hub and made my way to the park exit and walked to the Contemporary to grab a bus to Downtown Disney.  Spent some time going through the Marketplace stores as we worked our way over to Fultons for dinner.  After dinner continued on through Pleasure Island and to the West Side before boarding a bus to the Wilderness Lodge.  Wandered through the lobby and out to the boat dock to catch a launch to the Magic Kingdom.  Made our way down Main Street and to the People Mover again (different group this time with me).  Once back walked out to Main Street and then through Liberty Square to Frontierland.  The goal was to try another window but did not instead walked through Frontierland and hopped on the train to the Storybook Circus.  Took some night pictures then walked to Main Street and for the park exit.  Took the Express Monorail to the TTC and transferred to the EPCOT line.  Then walked to the Pop Century bus and back to the resort to call it a night.

Thoughts & Observations:

• I started off the day roaming around Pop Century again and taking some pictures across the lake of the Art of Animation Resort. It appears that some elements of the Cars section are shared with Cars Land at DCA. For example the neon sign on Sarges looks to be the same from this distance.
  
  
• My first park of the day was the Animal Kingdom because today the park celebrated 14 years since opening back on earth day 1998. I was not expecting much but I thought there would be some recognition, even Cast Member buttons. But I did not see anything as I roamed the park. As far as Earth Day events go they had a couple extra activities as you roamed the park but nothing over the top jumped out to me.
  
  
• I was disappointed to find all the trails around the Tree of Life closed this morning. I talked to a couple of cast members and no one had any real information. Later on I learned there had been an issue overnight with a part of the tree. We had a bad thunderstorm, wonder if that had anything to do with it. The trails remained closed the rest of my trip.
  
  
• As I walked around, even though it was raining for part of the morning the park felt more crowded to me than yesterday. The rain was steady at times but no real down pours like the previous two days. It was really just enough to annoy you and make taking pictures a challenge (since I was trying to keep the camera gear out of the rain).
  
  
• Spent the afternoon at the Magic Kingdom which had a fairly healthy crowd too. Nothing of real note to report.
  
  
• We headed over to Downtown Disney in the mid afternoon for dinner at Fultons Crab House. Downtown Disney was alive with activity and shoppers. Nothing too new or interesting jumped out at me as I wandered around before and after dinner. As usual the Marketplace area seemed the most crowded and as you pushed into Pleasure Island the crowds seemed to thin but since it was a weekend they were still healthy all the way through.
  
  
• It had been a couple of trips since I had last eaten at Fultons. The meal was good and the service was great. The food was not as memorable as my last meal there, not sure what was off but something seemed not as good... maybe it was just my memory playing tricks on me.
  
  
• Stopped by the Wilderness Lodge on my way back to the Magic Kingdom. Always fun to walk through the Resort and spend some time there as well as on the lakes.
  
  
• I spent the evening playing more of the Sorcerers game as I was slowly making my way through the quests.
  

Pedometer Information for the day:

Enough with the text.. onto the pictures

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