Our trip to Animal Kingdom was magical for our family thanks to Dug, Russell, and the Wilderness Explorers! When we told people that we were going to Animal Kingdom with our 10 month old, Owen, they laughed and thought we were wasting our time because he was too young to ride the rides or remember the visit. Boy, were they wrong! On the first bridge we met one of the Wilderness Explorer Leaders who gave us our badge book and inducted us as Junior Explorers. We practiced our hand signal and made our way over to meet and greet Dug and Russell. My son was enthralled with these characters. As Owen dug his hands into the fur on Dug’s nose, we explained that we had two golden retrievers at home. Dug reacted happily and my son cracked up laughing. As our turn was almost up my husband yelled “Squirrel!” and in true form Dug turned to look for it. The rest of the day was spent collecting as many badges as we could, which was an impressive 21 by the end of the day! Next time we plan to get all of them on our visit so we can become Senior Wilderness Explorers. We had a blast and even took some time to relax at the beautiful baby care center (another gem of the parks). Thanks to all of the cast members and experiences, we were able to prove everyone wrong. Disney is fun for even the youngest!
-Christine, 35, Tucson AZ
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