Disney's Animal Kingdom

The sun slowly rises in the East, filling the morning sky with vibrant shades of red, yellow, and orange.  The tall grass dances side to side as a cool breeze nudges them so gently.      The silence of the plains are broken by the loud roar of the big cats…..Lions that is.  They are returning to their den after a long night of hunting.

Are we on some safari down in Africa.  I wish.  No, for we are still continuing our Disney World adventure as we explore Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  Maybe someday I will be able to make it to Africa and go on an actual safari, but for now I will have to be content with the wilds of Orlando Florida.

I know it is hard to pick a favorite Disney park.  Each have their own uniqueness and offer something that the other parks don’t.  With that said, I will have to say that Animal Kingdom might be my favorite park.  I have been fascinated with wildlife for most of my life.  I can sit and watch animal documentaries all day.  I prefer them over regular T.V. most of the time.  When Shark Week is on don’t even think about bothering me, because I have a nice comfy spot on my couch and the Discovery Channel is calling my name.  If I didn’t have to go to work I probably would watch it all day.  Thats the dream right?

I had mention in one of my previous post that the Animal Kingdom was more like a zoo.  Well I was a little quick to judge when I had said that.  Even though it does have that zoo like essence, with various animals from around the world on display, there is much more to it than that.  Much like the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom is divide up into 6 areas: Oasis, Discovery Island,  DinoLand U.S.A., Asia, Africa, and the new Pandora - The World of Avatar.

The Oasis is just inside of the Main Gate of the park.  It is mostly a gathering place with a few shops and animal encounter for your viewing pleasure.

Discovery Island is the heart of Animal Kingdom.  Much like Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle, the Tree of Life is the focal point.  The tree was created to celebrate the creatures of the world.  Encompassing the tree is 325 carving of living and extinct animals.  The tree is cool to see during the day but I think that it really shines when the lights go out.  As the sun goes down the tree is light on all sides in many colors and thats not all.  About every 10 minutes the tree comes to life.  The animal spirits of the tree comes to life and move about in a 5 minute show.  I could be wrong about the length of the show.  It could be longer.  There is a different animal that comes to life per show so it doesn’t repeat that often.  Underneath the tree lies It’s Tough to be a Bug, a 3D show based on Pixar’s A Bugs Life.  Just a warning, its not meant to be scary but there is a part that can be a little intense for the little ones.  There was a little girl in the theater with us and I’m pretty sure she will be traumatized for the rest of here life.

DinoLand U.S.A is modeled to look like any typical U.S. city in the 40’s or 50’s.  One area of DinoLand is made up of carnival style rides and games.  Its typically not my style of entertainment, but it was actually pretty fun.  We did ride the Primeval Whirl.  Its much like a Wild Mouse ride were the upper part of the carriage moves freely from the base.  Its a fun but jostling.  I went on it when I was a little too full of food, not my best idea of the day.  No worries, I didn’t get sick but things got sloshed around.

I think the Highlight of DinoLand is the Dinosaur ride based on Disney film of the same name.  The idea behind this ride is that you are sent on a mission back in time to find an Iguanodon, but there is a miscalculation in the trip.  When you go back in time you go back within minutes of the meteorite hitting the Earth.  Not to mention that you are also being chased by a carnivorous dinosaur.  Is your mission successful…..well I could tell you but I don’t wont to spoil it completely.

When you enter into the Asia area of the park, you can’t help feel that you are about to take a trek up to top of Everest.  Which you will, but we’ll get to that later.  The building are made to resemble those that you would find in Lukla, Nepal.  Lukla is a small village around the base of Everest.  This is the starting point for many climber that attempt to make it to the  summit.

My favorite ride in Asia is Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain.  Expedition Everest is a high speed, high thrill ride.  On this expedition you are tasked with find the legendary yeti.  Instead of you finding him, he finds you and pounces causing damage to the track.  There is only one way to go from here and that’s backwards.  Hopefully you are brave enough to endure to the end.  There is another cool little spot in this ride and it takes place before you even get on.  If you are fortunate, or unfortunate depending on how you look at it, not to us a FastPass on this ride you are treated with a little yeti museum.  This museum chronicles the history of yeti sightings throughout  the history of the area.  It interesting to see how the legend has grown through the years.

Don’t worry though, if Expedition Everest sounds too intense you can always turn to the Kali River Rapids.  A lazy river style ride, with a few drops that are sure to get you wet.  Ever ride is different.  We rode it twice.  On the first ride I barely got wet but the second one I was drench.

After dark Asia comes alive with River of Lights.  This is a light show that takes place over one of the rivers that flows through the park.  Moving images are projected onto background trees, while floating platforms jet water into the air.  The platforms are equipped with lights which change the color of the water and the platform themselves, for that matter, depending on the flow of the show.  Large jets shot water from one end of the river to the other.  Vivid movies are projected on to the falling water from the jets creating some visually stunning effects.  A really cool show I would recommend seeing if you have the time.

My favorite ride in the whole park is in Africa, the Kilimanjaro Safari.  On the safari you will see many African animals.  It is made to simulate an actual African safari.  Many of the animal are free to roam wherever they choose to go.  This free roaming can cause the truck to stop for periods of time until the road are clear.  They do keep the predators separated from the prey animals so that there are no unfortunate accidents.  Ever safari is different from the last as different animal are active at different times of the day.  If you are able, I would suggest riding it several times at different times of the day.  You will not be disappointed.

While venturing through Africa make sure to stop in at Festival of the Lion King and visit with Simba and his friends.  The festival is a live action show full of singing, dancing, and acrobatics.  You’ll enjoy the songs from Disney’s Lion King.

Welcome to Pandora - The World of Avatar.  The latest addition to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  As the name suggests, Pandora is based on James Cameron’s film Avatar.  The World of Avatar takes place generations after the events of the movie.  Humans have come back to Pandora to help restore the planet back to its former glory and restore the friendship with the Na’vi.

Disney has down an awesome job recreating Pandora.  As you wonder around you feel like you’ve been transported into the movie.  Gravity defying mountain float above your head.  Waterfalls run off said mountains.  Strange and unusual plants surround the walkways.  Currently Pandora only has two rides: Na’vi River Journey and Avatar Flight of Passage.  Since the area is fairly new expect longer than usual wait times.

The Na’vi River Journey is simple little boat ride.  As you travel down the river the native Na’vi tell you about Pandora.  While the creature of the planet run and stalk about the ride.  It is a fun little ride.  I will have to say that I was a little disappointed by it.  The ride is short only about five minutes or so.  It was visually stunning though with the use of black light and projected images.  I would ride it again, but I would not stand in a long line to do it.

Avatar Flight of Passage on the other hand is an extremely fun ride.  We ended up standing in line for a little over an hour to ride it.  This was relatively a short wait time.  At one point it reach well over two and a half hours.  The ride itself is a 3D thrill ride.  The ride simulates you riding on back of a banshee as you fly through the wilds of Pandora.  Disney put a lot of thought into the design of this ride.  You can feel the seat move as it simulates the breathing of the banshee.  Something that I thought was really cool.  Just think of it as Soarin’ but on back of an alien creature on an alien planet.

We had a lot of fun playing in the different areas of the Animal Kingdom.  We were able to ride all the rides, sometime more than once, and see all the shows that we wanted to.  I can’t wait to go back.

We’ll see you next time in Hollywood….Studios that is.

As always until next time.  Thanks for stopping by.

Josh