15 Days to 15 Years- 2010

Across the years, 40 Days to 40 Years, 30 Days to 30 Years, 20 Days to 20 Years, and now, 15 Days to 15 Years, my series partner has reached back in Disney time and found her most precious family memories to share. Today’s no exception!  Please welcome back Beth and the year 2010.

In 2010 we visited Walt Disney World for Joey’s third Disney trip, and Hayley and Emily’s second trip.  They were ages 5, 3.5 and 2.  This trip was the first time, through Hayley’s eyes, I truly appreciated all that Disney’s Animal Kingdom had to offer.  Hayley loves animals, and that is an understatement.  Where we live in New Hampshire, we have a lot of wildlife in our yard from bears to moose to fishers to deer (to name a few). Every spring, she is my child I have to remind her that if she sees animals in the yard, she cannot pet them!

Hayley at the park’s entrance taking tull advantage of meeting her favorite characters!

In all my trips up to this one, we would quickly walk through the Oasis with barely a glance at the animals along the way.  But on this trip, Hayley stopped at every sign and wanted us to read it.  It was the first time I noticed how amazing this area was.  Spotting the animals became a game for the kids and we all learned something new at each stop.  Even better, this was the trip we discovered the amazing cast members throughout the Oasis talking about the animals.  We now stop throughout the Oasis every trip.  It may actually be Hayley’s favorite part of the park!

In 2010 was the first time that my parents (who always travel with us!) experienced Flights of Wonder.  We fell in love with this attraction after the first time seeing it.  It is a unique way to see the natural behaviors of several species of birds, as well as entertaining!  My parents had said they could not believe they had skipped the attraction for so many years, because they loved it!   Now it is on our “must do” list for every Disney trip!

Flights of Wonder is entertaining and educational

Hayley also brought to our attention many of the park’s details that we just hadn’t noticed.  Have you seen the ladybug lights?  How about the animal shaped benches?  Well, Hayley sat on every animal shaped bench we saw.  Another Disney detail I had missed for so many years.

We love the details at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

From Kilimanjaro Safaris to the Maharajah Jungle Trek to Expedition Everest, this was the first trip we took the time to enjoy all that Disney’s Animal Kingdom had to offer.  Seeing the parks through Hayley’s eyes gave us a whole new perspective.  How did we miss all these amazing details and offerings for so many years?  I don’t know, but we have spent the last two trips making up for that!  And we have Hayley to thank for opening our eyes to this amazing park!

Beth, you never disappoint!  If you don’t already know, she is the founder of  The Magical Blogorail and Pursuing the Magic.  She is one busy lady, so be sure you are following her on Twitter and Pinterest, and “Like” her on Facebook.  (She’s pretty darn likeable!)


We’re just days away from the big 15th Anniversary celebrations.  Tomorrow, one of the @DisneyGals, Gayle, will help “bring it home”!