Creation Museum Part 1

This past weekend was my friend's wedding in Louisville, Kentucky.  We decided to make a long weekend out of the trip and visit the Creation Museum on our way down.  Here is an overview for those of you that have never heard of the Creation Museum.

 The state-of-the-art 70,000 square foot museum brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings. Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden. Children play and dinosaurs roam near Eden’s Rivers. The serpent coils cunningly in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Majestic murals, great masterpieces brimming with pulsating colors and details, provide a backdrop for many of the settings. (www.creationmuseum.org) 

I have been wanting to go to the museum for a while now but it's pretty pricey, $29.99 for an adult ticket (currently that is for two days, which we didn't know until we got there).  Kids 5 and under are free.  This past fall, I found a Groupon type deal where tickets to the museum were 1/2 off!  Score!  That's more my price and they were good for a year so I knew that we had time to use them.  

Entrance to the museum

The museum is split into three areas: outdoor area, lower level and upper level.  

We started in the outdoor area since it was suppose to be a hot one (it was already hot and humid at 10:30 am!!)  The outdoor area consists of botanical gardens and a petting zoo.

fountain in the gardens

Zorse and Zedonk - the kids kept calling them zebras
Zebra + horse = Zorse
Zebra + donkey = Zedonk

Suspended bridge

Pretty girl by the waterfall

We then headed inside.  The exhibit entrance actually starts on the upper level and you slowly work your way down.  

Dinosaur skeleton before the entrance to the exhibits

Another display before the entrance

Once inside the museum:

 Paleontologist uncovering dinosaur bones

 Lucy Exhibit

Different interpretations of what Lucy could look like

The kids were not very interested in the upper level.  Many of the displays described the history of Christianity and didn't have as many pictures for them to look at.  

Day 8 - Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom (last day at Disney!!)

On Friday, our last day at Disney, we wanted to see some things that we missed the first time.  The kids only went to Hollywood Studios one other time and the first time we missed the Playhouse Disney show.  So when we got there, that was the first thing that we did.  This show was about 20 minutes long and of course, the kids loved it!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Handy Manny

Little Einstines

After Playhouse Disney, Alyssa really wanted to see The Little Mermaid show again, so we did.  By this time, it was almost noon so we decided to head back to the condo so the kids could get a good nap.  Leonard's parents came over to the condo in the afternoon.  Malachi was still sleeping but Alyssa woke up, so we decided to take Alyssa back to Magic Kingdom one last time.

The first thing we did was see the fairies by the Fairytale Garden. Alyssa met Rosetta first.

Then she met Tinkerbell!  She was so excited!  Tinkerbell even gave her some "pixie dust".

After the fairies, we went on these rides:

-Jungle Cruise (Safari boat ride)

-The Magic Carpets of Aladdin (just like Dumbo but with flying carpets)

-Haunted Mansion (Alyssa was scared in a few spots)
-It's a Small World

Overall, we had a very productive Disney trip.  We got to meet a lot of characters and go on a lot of rides.  I am sure that the kids were exhausted by the end of the week.  The only thing that I wanted to do but wasn't able to because it was completely booked was a character meal.  I really wanted to take Alyssa to a breakfast at Cinderella's castle, and I am sure she would have loved it.  Too bad they get booked up months in advance!

Day 7 - Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

By Thursday, we had been to all the parks at least once.  We decided to head back to Magic Kingdom since there were some more rides that we didn't get a chance to go on.

We all went on the Pirates of the Carribean ride. Malachi was a little scared during certain parts.  The ride is mostly in the dark. Of course they added a few different scenes (that went along with the movies) since the last time I was there fifteen years ago. 

Leonard's parents offered to watch the kids for the afternoon, so Leonard and I went to Hollywood Studios to meet up with Zach and his wife Tracy.

Leonard and I then went on some of the rides at Hollywood Studios that the kids couldn't go on.  Later in the afternoon, we headed back to Magic Kingdom and were able to go on some of the coasters there.  Leonard's parents then brought the kids back to the park for some more rides.

The kids absolutely loved the Tomorrowland Peoplemover.  We went on it twice because Malachi requested it.  It was actually more interesting then we thought it would be because it went through a few of the rides (Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain).

Another ride we went on twice was the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.  This ride is like a game and the object is to shoot space aliens.

We ended the evening with fireworks at Cinderella's castle.

Day 6 - Animal Kingdom

On Wed, Dec. 7th, we spent the day at Animal Kingdom.  Animal Kingdom is the newest of all the Disney World parks. 

In some ways I feel that it is like a big zoo.  There are lots of animal exhibits to see.  Definitely not as many rides, especially not for the younger kids.  Most of the animal exhibits in this park close at dusk and the park in general closes earlier than most of the other parks. 

One of the first things we did was walk on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.  Along this trail, there were different animal exhibits that you could stop at.  Throughout the trail, there were buildings that housed additional animals.  All of the animals along this trail were originally found in Africa. 

When we came to this bridge, I thought I was in heaven!

FISHIES (Koi and African Ciclids to be exact)!!  Hundreds of them!!

And past the bridge was a building.  Guess what was in the building?!?!? 

Huge tanks full of more fish!!!  Awesome!!  I could have spent a long time in these two areas but no one else wanted to stay as long as I did.  :-(



Mercats

The second thing that we did was go on the Kilimanjaro Safari.  It was 30 minutes long but the kids really liked it. 

Waiting for the Safari

There were three shows that we went to at Animal Kingdom.  The first was The Festival of the Lion King.  This show was about 25 minutes long.  I personally didn't think it was that great but many other people really liked it.  The kids got bored about half way through. 

The show many consisted of acrobatic acts and songs from the Lion King.

The second show that we went to was Finding Nemo - The musical.  I thought it was pretty good.  It was about 30 minutes long.  Malachi fell asleep 20 minutes in but Alyssa paid attention the entire time. 

The third show was It's Tough to be a Bug.  It featured the characters from Bug's Life and was in 4-D.  It was a little too scary for Malachi. 

We only went on one ride and that was at Dinoland U.S.A.  It was the Triceratop Spin and was very similar to Dumbo except with Triceratops.

Day 5 of our trip - Magic Kingdom!!!! part 2

Besides the parades and the characters, there are many different rides at Magic Kingdom.

The first ride the kids went on was the Mad Tea Party.  I was not a huge fan of this ride so my husband and his father went on it with the kids.  They actually went on this ride twice in a row because they enjoyed it so much!

 
Another ride that my kids loved was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  This ride was about 7 or 8 minutes long.  It took you though different scenes in the Pooh story books. 

The Dumbo ride was also a favorite.

Other rides my kids enjoyed but we didn't get pictures of were
-Prince Charming Carrousel
-Peter Pan's Flight
-Snow White's Scary Adventure (a little scary for Malachi but wasn't too bad)

Magic Kingdom also has a 3-D show called Mickey's PhilharMagic.  It's really neat and from the outside, doesn't look like much but the kids really liked the show.  It was about 10-15 minutes.

Malachi in the 3-D glasses

Sometime in 2012, Disney is going to be opening a new addition to Fantasy Land.  This new addition will include Belle's Castle. 

Sneak Peek of Belle's Castle