A Day at the Natural History Museum of Utah

What’s up everybody?

Well, we had a little impromptu adventure this week.  I should say that I had one, since Erin had to work and wasn’t able to join me.  To be honest, she didn’t even know that I had went.  I guess that I should have told her but like I said it was an impromptu adventure and I didn’t even know that I was going.  I had some time off of work and had nothing better to do and I had recently heard a radio advertisement for the Natural History Museum of Utah.  I hadn’t been there in a very long time, so I jumped in the car and was on my way.

The Natural History Museum of Utah is housed in the Rio Tinto Center on, or just off of, the University of Utah Campus.  301 Wakara Way Salt Lake City Utah, 84108 if you want the exact address.  If you are familiar with the area it is right next door to Red Butte Garden.

The History Museum first opened in 1969.  At that time it was housed in the George Thomas Building located on the U of U campus.  If my memory serves me correctly, I believe it was off of Presidents Circle.  Like I said, it has been awhile since I was there.  The idea behind the museum was to consolidate the artifacts that had been placed throughout the University.  Over the years the collection has grown.  It now contain over 1.6 million artifacts.

In 2011 the Museum moved to the state-of-the-art Rio Tinto Center.  I will have to tell you, it is a really cool building.  I’m not big on architecture, but its quite a site to behold.  The building is made to blend in with the surrounding hills.  It is easily recognizable by its 42,000 square foot copper roof.  The intricate pattern of horizontal bar of varying sizes are made resemble the layered rock formation that are found throughout Utah.  The copper is mined from Utah’s very own Kennecott Copper Mine.

I Don’t know about you, but for me when I think about history I think about human history.  I often forget about the natural side of history that makes up our planet.  Humans are only a small part of the picture. We have made an impact but there is so much more to our planet than just us.  Natural History Museums give us a chance to get more in-depth than what we are used to.

The NHMU has plenty of permanent exhibits to explore but they also have an area that is dedicated to rotating exhibits.  At the that I was there, they had an exhibition on animal movement.  If you think of it, animals are incredible and highly adapted to the world around them.  In this exhibit we get to look at muscle and bone structure and how its adaptation help animal in their daily routines of survival.  I found the display about birds wings fascinating.  I’ve never really took the time to look closely at them.  Even though they seem like they would all be built the same way, they are actually all very different in the way they work.  I wish I could explain it a little better than I am but oh well.  Unfortunately this exhibition is no long there.  It was in it last week while I was there.  I’m sure that it has been replaced by something that is just as interesting.

Maybe its the kid in me, but my favorite part of the whole museum was the Past Worlds exhibit.  It also happens to be the first exhibit that you encounter as you enter the museum.  I will admit that I did spend the majority of my time here.  Past Worlds is filled with dinosaur fossils found through out Utah and the surrounding areas.

Most of the fossils came from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, located in central Utah.  The Quarry itself is surrounded by mystery.  It has the densest concentration of Jurassic animal fossils ever to be found in one place.  Most of them came from the fearsome Allosaurus.  There are currently three major hypothesis on what caused this high density, but nobody really knows the truth of what happened.

At the end of this exhibit is a display that shows the waterline of Lake Bonneville.  You may or may not have heard of Lake Bonneville, it is a ancient lake that used to cover a large portion of Utah.  It was over a thousand feet deep and stretched high in to the mountains.  It lasted until about 15,000 years ago when the lake finally broke through to the Snake River and drained a large portion of it.  Changing temperatures would eventually dry up the remnants of the lake.  All that remains of the ancient lake is: the Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, and Sevier Lake.  The shorelines can still be seen in the mountain surrounding the city.  Its hard to believe that the Salt Lake Valley used to be covered by a thousand feet of water.

I don’t want give away all the secrets of the museum.  There is still plenty for you to explore if you choose to visit the Natural History Museum of Utah.  I had a lot of fun learning about the history of what is now Utah and I hope you will to.

Thanks for stopping by.  Until next.

Josh

Epcot

What’s up everyone?

Well we have finally reach the last stop in our Disney World adventure and of course thats Epcot.  I will have to admit that I really wasn’t looking forward to going here.  The first time that we were there I was a little disappointed with it.  In fact, we ended up leaving the park early and spending the rest of the day hanging out at our hotel.  A shame really, that we didn’t give it the chance that it deserved.  This time around it became one of my favorite stops.  I think the problem, the first time, was that we had burned ourselves out at the other parks.  We didn’t know what to expect, since we had never been there.  Plus, it was in August.  It was hot and humid.  We just went too hard for too long and wore ourselves out.

Epcot feels different than the other parks.  Even though Epcot has some intense rides, as a whole the park has a very laid back and an easy going feel to it.  It is only divided into two areas: Future World and the World Showcase.

Once you enter the main gate, you are greeted by the giant golfball, better known as Spaceship Earth.  As you approach Spaceship Earth, you enter into Leave a Legacy Plaza.  This is actually a pretty cool area.  In the Plaza you will find several megaliths ranging in sizes.  If you look closely at them, you will discover names and images of park guest from around the world.  The Leave a Legacy program was started in the fall 1999 during Disney’s Millennium Celebration.  They wanted guest to have “the opportunity to leave a little piece of themselves at one of their favorite places”. (disneyworld.com)  Unfortunately, they shut the program down in 2007.

Lets face it, if someone mentions Epcot your mind immediately pictures Spaceship Earth.  It has become the symbol of the park and it would influence the tone of the rest of the park for years to come.  The ride takes you on an adventure throughs mans evolution of communication.  Starting from the earliest cave paintings to the moon landing and beyond.  It is a easy going ride, narrated by the one and only Judi Dench.  Once you exit the ride, you enter into Project Tomorrow: Inventing the Wonders of the Future.  Project Tomorrow is an interactive area for the young and old.  Games and exhibits are awaiting for you to discover what the future can hold.

My favorite ride in the Epcot is the Test Track.  It has had a whole new make over since the last time we were there.  Before you get on the ride, you are given a chance to design a car to test.  Throughout the ride your car is used to calculate its performance in the different tests.  Each test earns you point towards the total outcome of your cars performance.  Over all the cars we designed faired pretty well.  Mostly above average but nowhere near the days top performers but thats ok.

The ride itself goes through a series of tests that you would find on an actual car test track.  Brake check, skid control and so on.  The best part is when the car goes outside.  It speeds up to about 65 mile per hour and throws you into a corner before slowing down for the exit.

Mission: Space is based on authentic NASA astronaut training.  On this ride you experience what it would feel like to fly in a shuttle.  Four people can ride at a time.  Each person is assigned a crew position to operate the shuttle efficiently.  Each crew member will have a specific task that they will need to perform throughout the mission to return back to Earth safely.  There are two levels of intensity that you can choose from before getting on the ride.  Green which is easier of the two and Orange which is really intense, from what I hear.  We had just ate and we weren’t sure if our stomachs could take too much, so we chose Green.  Maybe next time we’ll do the Orange one.  Either way it was really fun.

There are a lot of other cool rides within the park but I do have to mention Journey Into Imagination With Figment.  On this ride you take a tour of the Imagination Institute.  You encounter Figment, a purple dragon.  He takes over the tour of the institute and madness ensues.  It was a fun little ride.  Nothing too spectacular in my opinion, but thats not what made it special to me.  It was the only ride in the park that my nephew really wanted to ride.  We was wait very patiently to get his chance to ride it.  It was starting to get later in the day and I didn’t want him to miss out.  I did what any other responsible Uncle would do, I kidnapped him and took him to the ride.  We have been living in different states for a long time now, so we don’t get to see or do as much with each as we used to.  Being able to hangout just the two of us was special to me and I hope it was for him as well.

There is more to Epcot than just the rides.  As I mentioned before Epcot is divided into two areas and the second one is the World Showcase.  The World Showcase is a loop around one of the many lakes that can be found throughout the Disney World Resorts.  As you traverse the loop you will be transported to different countries.  Eleven of them to be exact:  Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, the American Adventure (United States), Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and our neighbors to the North Canada.  Each of these eleven areas are designed to mimic the architecture and culture of the actual country it represents.  You can virtually travel the world in the matter of a day.  If only it was that easy.

There are only two rides in the World Showcase:  Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros and Frozen Ever after.  Gran Fiesta can be found in Mexico.  It is a gentle boat ride that take you through the sites of Mexico.  Frozen Ever After is found in Norway.  As you can probably guess, it is based on the movie Frozen.  I would say skip the rides and see the many live performance and shows that are put on.  We saw a drum battle in Japan and it was amazing.  I would have liked to seen the Chinese acrobats.  I have heard that it is an awesome show.  Maybe next time.

Lets face it,  you’re not in the Showcase for the rides.  You are there to experience other cultures that you may never actually be able to go to.  The World Showcase is a foodies paradise.  All types of food can be found here.  Candies, drinks, pastries, meals and even fancy restaurants.  If you can think of it, you can find it.  I know we had our share, and probably the next person share.  I’m pretty sure we sample something from every country and over did it in France.  Dang them and their fancy deserts!

Like most Disney Parks, Epcot has a firework show when the sun goes down, IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.  In my opinion, this is not the most spectacular show of the parks but it cool none the less.  It takes place in the lake surrounded by the World Showcase.  In fact, it uses the buildings from the Showcase as part of the show.  Boats shoot off fireworks and jets of water as the travel around the lake.  They use the smoke from the fireworks to create a laser show.  All this is happening while a lighted globe of the Earth spins in the center.

This is our last stop in our Disney World adventure.  We had a lot of fun and can’t wait to go back.  I can’t say that it will be anytime soon but we’ll get there again.

Thank you for join us.  Until next time.

Josh and Erin

Saying Goodbye to Chicagoland

What is up everybody?

I know that it has been awhile since you heard from us here at the Adventure Diaries.  I have to apologize about that, but there is a good reason for it.  We have packed our bags and left Chicagoland and headed west back to our home state of Utah.  Believe me this was not a easy thing for us to do.  

Early in June we started to feel that it was time to head back.  I don’t want to say that we were homesick.  We have lived in Chicagoland for nearly three years and had never felt this way before.  Erin and I had a heart to heart talk and tried to figure out if it was even feasible for use to make the move.  A lot of variable had to fall into place.  I really don’t now how it happened but everything fell into place perfectly.  With all the sign point us home, all that was left was to pack up and hit the road.

In case you were wonder Chicago to Salt Lake City is 1399 miles, which equates to about 21 hours of drive time.  Its doable in 2 days.  At least that is what we were planning on but the old U-haul had other plans for us.  On the first day we ended up blowing a tire and had to wait for roadside assistance to come and change it.  This set us back a little.  The biggest issue that we had was with the gas pedal.  No matter how hard I pushed on it, I could not get it to go any faster than 65.  I don’t know if you have ever had to drive across country but after awhile you just want to get to where your going.  Especially when you’re driving through Nebraska.  Sorry Nebraska I’m sure you have a lot of good qualities about you, but you are the worst to drive through.  It is very flat and all the scenery looks the same.  Fields!  One day maybe I’ll get a chance to explore the Nebraska in-depth and not just I-80.

But our little drive west is not what this post about.

I have never been a fan of big cities.  I do not do well with large groups of people and big cities are nothing but large groups of people.  Needless to say, when we first started talking about moving to Chicago I was a little hesitant.  Really I’m still not sure how Erin convinced me to do it.  

To be honest, I’m still not that fond of Chicago but i will have to admit that it was probably one of the best things for us at the time.  It definitely forced me to get out of my comfort zone and experience things that I normally wouldn’t have done.

It was hard to pack up and leave our families but it taught us to be more independent.  We really grew to depend on each other which also caused us to grow a lot closer to each other.  I like to think of myself as someone that doesn’t have a problem with being alone.  Lets face it, humans, by nature, are a social animal and they need that sense of community.  I suppose that I’m no different.  I will miss the little community that we created while we were there.  We had met a lot of good people and many friendship were formed.  I would like to stay in touch with them as much as possible.  I guess that is what Facebook is for.  I will miss them.

Besides gangster, Chicago is known as a first class food destination.  I would like to say that I had a chance to partake of it all, but I’m a bit of a picky eater which put a limit on what I would eat.  From what I chose to eat though it was fantastic.  Being near the heart of dairy country, ice cream and frozen custard shops created treats that were creamy and beyond words of how good they were.  It seemed like we were constantly heading to Andy’s Custard to get a snack or two.

I might ruffle a few feathers with this statement, but in my humble opinion I feel Chicago has the best pizza.  This is not a Chicago Style verses New York Style debate.  I have not had a true New York style pizza yet, so I can’t make a fair judgement in that case.  I enjoyed eating deep dish, but truthfully I would chose a regular pizza over it.  We had eaten at many pizzerias and they were all delicious.  Its hard to explain what made them so good.  Really hard to beat.

So heres to you Chicagoland.  We had some good times and crazy adventures.  I would like to say that you will be missed but, lets be honest, I wont miss you that much.  I will miss the friends that we made along the way.  You will always be part of our story but your chapter has come to an end.  With one chapter ending a new one is about to begin.  We here at the Adventure Diaries are excited to share new adventures from our home state of Utah.  It might be a little hit and miss for the next few weeks until we get settled.

Until next time.  Thanks for stopping by.

Josh

Hollywood Studios

Lights.  Camera.  Action!  We are exploring Hollywood….Studios that is.  Thats right we are continuing our Disney World adventure.

Lets face it, who hasn’t grown up watching Disney movies or T.V. shows.  I know I did and I would bet that most of you would say the same thing.  Disney has been making feature length movies since 1937, when they released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  Walt was creating animated shorts long before that.  I’m going to date myself here but I can remember popping in an old VHS tape into the VCR and watching some Chip and Dale cartoons.  Funny enough, I recently came across these same old cartoons on Youtube and enjoyed watching them now as much as I did as a kid.

In essence that is what Hollywood Studios focuses on.  The movie side of the Disney.  In doing this, the rides and attractions are more show based than that of their other parks.  Not to say that they don’t have any thrills rides because they do have some really good ones.  All Disney properties are on display: Disney Animation, Marvel, and Star Wars.

I will get this out of the way, since it one of the biggest question that we get when people hear that we had went to Disney World.  Did you make it to Toy Story Land?  Unfortunately, the answer to this question is no.  We were a month too early for the opening.  We had hoped that there would be a soft opening while we were there, but nothing.  It gives us an excuse to go back.

Like the other parks, Hollywood Studios is divide into section: Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard,  Animation Courtyard, Echo Lake, Commissary Lane, Grand Avenue, Pixar Place, Toy Story Land and eventually when it open in 2019 Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.

Hollywood Boulevard is the main street that leads you into the park from the main gate.  It is filled with shops and eateries much like Main Street, USA in the Magic Kingdom.  One really cool thing that they do here, especially if you are a Star Wars fan, is the March of the First Order.  Several times a day Hollywood Boulevard falls under control of the First Order as the march from the main gate to the main stage near the Animation Courtyard.  Lead by Captain Phasma, the First Order Stormtrooper vigilantly search for Resistance scum.

Sunset Boulevard is were we spent most of our time while we were there.  At the end of Sunset you will find two of the iconic thrill rides, Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror.

As you make your way through the Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster, you meet up with rock legends Aerosmith, a younger version of them anyway.  They are in the middle of a recording session when they realize that they are late for their concert.  They invite the group to join them at the concert.  The call a super stretch limo for you to follow them.  This is not your average limo.  No, this is a high speed thrill ride.  The coaster races you through the streets of L.A all while you listen to the tunes of Aerosmith.  Unlike the actual roads in L.A., there are twist, turns, and drops.  Oh yeah!  Its all in the dark so you can’t see whats coming up.  This is my favorite ride in the park.  As I mention, it does slingshot you to high speed in a matter of a few seconds and is extremely fun.  Just use caution if you have neck or back issues cause it might just aggravate them.

On a dark and stormy night The Hollywood Hotel was in for the shock of its life.  Literally, as it was struck by lightning sending a family and their bell hop to the other side when their elevator plummeted back to the bottom floor.  This is the premise of the Tower of Terror ride.  You board an elevator that transports you to the Twilight Zone.  Once there you see strange things and encounter the ghosts of the poor victims of the accident.  You travel a short distance down a hallway.  Be wary, for when the doors open you will experience free fall.  For the elevator gives way and drops you.  Slowing down long enough to shoot you back up and stops just long enough for you to catch your breath before dropping you again.

Echo Lake is kind of the center of the park.  Here you will find Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.  The first time that we came to Disney World I was disappointed that they did not have the Indiana Jones Ride like the one in Disneyland.  Instead they have a Epic Stunt Spectacular show.  This show demonstrates some of the stunts that they used while in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark.  

I will suggest stopping by the 50’s Prime Time Cafe.  It is locate not far from Indiana Jones.  It is a little pricy but the food is well worth it.  Don’t expect to be treat politely if you misbehave.  The waiter and staff will scold you as if we were back in the 50s.  No elbows on the table and definitely don’t be caught playing with your toys (cellphones).  It is all in fun so don’t be offended.

Grand Avenue is tuck into one of the corners of the park but here you can find a fun little show to watch.  Muppet Vision 3D is, like the title suggest, a 3D movie experience.  The cast of Muppets take you on a behind the scene tour of the Muppet Show.  As you would expect craziness ensues.

Also found in this area is Star Tours.  On this ride you travel to a galaxy far far away as you explore the worlds of Star Wars.  The idea is that you are a traveler aboard a shuttle that is harboring a spy that the Empire or First Order is looking for.  As you flee your pursuers you jump to various planets and have different experience at each one.

Outside of Star Tour you will find Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple.  Sorry friends but this one is for the kid.  Throughout the day children get the chance to experience what its like to become a Jedi.  Under the tutelage of a Jedi Master they will face many trials and eventually come face to face with forces of the Dark Side.

Oh Pixar Place, we were not friends.  As I mention before Toy Story Land was not opened yet.  Which was a bummer but what can you do.  In this area is were we made a big mistake.  One of the ride in Hollywood Studios that always has a huge wait time is Toy Story Mania!  We decided to tempt fate and wait in the line.  Heres were the mistake was made.  Do to the construction of Toy Story Land, they had to redirect the line.  I might be exaggerating a bit but I would say about 90% of the ride was outside in direct sunlight.  They did attempt to create shade by putting up umbrellas along the path.  Lets face it, it really didn’t help that much.  Hopefully now that Toy Story Land is open they have improved the line conditions.  Other than the line, the ride itself is a fun interactive ride were you compete with other people in your car to score points.  I hate to say I didn’t do as well as I would have like but thats ok I still had fun and thats all that matters.

There is a cool little museum in the Animation Courtyard.  Walt Disney Presents is a journey through Walt’s life as a struggling animator to the powerhouse that Disney is today.  Inside you will find displays about Disney and the animation process.  I found it cool to see some of the old machine that were used to animate.  Definitely worth the time to check it out.

I had mention that we spent most of our time in Sunset Boulevard, but there was one thing that I neglected to talk about for it only happens once a night and that is Fantasmic!.  Fantasmic! is a live action, laser, and pyrotechnic show.  The Wizard Apprentice Mickey takes you on a journey through the catalogue of Disney films.  Almost everyone makes an appearance during the show.  Even the dragon form of Maleficent.  If you have the time I would highly recommend seeing it.  Get there early though for it fills up quickly.  There are some other night show that Hollywood Studios does but we were not able to catch them.

Hollywood Studios is a little more low-key than the other Parks.  We had a lot of fun while we were there and had a lot more experiences than what I talked about.  I hope you get a chance to explore it yourselves.

Our last stop will be Epcot.  We’ll see you there.  Until next time.

Thanks for stopping by.

Josh

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

The Magic Kingdom

The screeching alarm blaring from my clock tells us it’s time to get up.  It reads 3 am.  Hesitantly we drag ourself out of bed.  Our cab will be here in about 45 minutes to take us to the airport.  It’s a quite drive but with every passing minute our excitement grows with anticipation.  In a few hours we will be landing in Orlando, Florida to start our anniversary adventure.

After picking up our rental car we head to hotel to see if we could check in early.  We didn’t want to go exploring Orlando with our suitcase in the car.  Well something we weren’t expecting happened when we reached the hotel.  Their system had been down for two days and they didn’t know when it would be back up and running.  At this point we were unable to check in.  It was getting close to lunch time so we figured would head over to Disney Springs and see what kind of trouble we could find there.

Disney Spring is what used to be known as Downtown Disney, very similar to the one in California.  Disney Spring is an open air mall.  It probably goes without saying but most of the stores are based on Disney and their associated properties.  No frets though, there are plenty of regular mall stores to be found.

After roaming through the stores, we decided it was time to eat.  There are plenty of places to choose from.  We settled on D Luxe  Burger.  As you would expect they have burgers and chicken sandwiches.  We both had the barbecue burgers.  It was really good and juicy.  Luckily for me they had rolls of paper towel at the table because I had juice and maybe some grease run down my hands and arms.

All in all, our first day in Orlando was pretty low key.  Which was a good start to the hectic week we were about to have.

We find figured we would start our Disney World adventure with the heart of Disney, the Magic Kingdom.  We rose early to meet up with my family before heading to the park.  Magic Kingdom is a little different than the other parks.  In the other parks after you park you catch a shuttle that takes you to the gate and you walk into the park, but at the Magic Kingdom after you park and take the shuttle you then have to choose one of three ways to get to the main gate.  Take a ferry across the lake, take the monorail or catch one of the buses.  All are acceptable.  On the first day the monorail was having issues, so we had to take it the ferry.  Which wasn’t that big of a deal to me.  It was a nice leisurely cruise with great views of the resort.

The Magic Kingdom is divided into 6 different areas: Main Street, USA, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Liberty Square, Frontierland and Adventureland.

Once you pass through the main gate, you find yourself on Main Street, USA.  Main Street is the gateway to the park.  Here you will find shops and eateries to fit your fancy.  On one of the days we stopped in at Casey’s Corner.  They serve American style grub.  Mostly hotdogs in a wide variety of flavors.  I had a macaroni and cheese foot long.  I know that sound awfully strange but it was surprisingly good.  At the end of the road sits Cinderella’s Castle, the center point of the park.

To the right of the castle sits Tomorrowland.  Here you find Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway and many others.  One of my favorites rides in this area is a easy going and non-abrasive.  The Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.  The PeopleMover is a small tram that takes you through the rides of Tomorrowland and gives you some insight into them.  We were sitting there and you could hear the screams from Space Mountain.  A different perspective on what you are used to.

I don’t know if you have ever driven the cars on the Tomorrowland Speedway or Autopia in Disneyland but there is something about them I can’t figure out.   I think of myself as a good driver, not the best by any means but good.  No matter how I adjust the way I drove, I would always crash into the safety rail that sits underneath the car.  It was frustrating but I guess sometime you have to give in once and awhile and let it run its course.  We still had fun and thats all that matters.

Behind the castle you find Fantasyland and Liberty Square.

Liberty Square is a snapshot of Colonial USA.  The highlights for me were The Haunted Mansion and The hall of Presidents.  I think most people know about or at least have heard about The Haunted Mansion, so I’m not going talk about it in too much detail.  The Haunted Mansion takes you on a tour of…well the Mansion.  Inside you encounter the former residents of the home who are no longer amongst the living.  Be on your guard or might find yourself joining them.

The Hall of Presidents is Disney’s animatronics at their best.  All 44 men that have served as the U.S. President are on display.  Several of them move, which are very realistic, as they related the history of our nation.  The one thing that I thought was really cool was when Obama and Trump gave there speeches.  As you would expect, the supports from each side cheered and clapped for their President but neither side booed the other.  During these times it was really inspiring to see happen.

Fantasyland is were Disney Princesses come to life.  Here you find rides and attractions relating back to Classic Disney movies.  It seem that we spent a lot of time here.  Maybe it was because it started down pouring on us when we got there and the idea was to get out of the rain.  Just a helpful tip.  Pack an umbrella or poncho, you never know what the weather will do.  The first stop for us was Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid.  This is a fun little ride that takes you through the movie.

There are two rides in Magic Kingdom that always had insane wait times.  One was Peter Pan’s Flight and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  I was familiar with Peter Pan but I had never heard of the Mine Train and was intrigue to know why it always had a huge line.  We were unable to get fast pass to it.  We were going to spend one more day in the park and decided that we would get there first thing and wait out the line.  The Mine Train is a fun little roller coast that takes you through the diamond mine of the dwarfs and the story of Snow White.

Left of the caste lies the lands of Frontierland and Adventureland.

Ah Adventureland,  I don’t know what it is but I really like this part of the park.  It doesn’t have a ton of rides but what is there is fun.  The two main rides are Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise.  My favorite ride of Disney has to be Pirates.  It is the only ride that I feel I have to do at least once no matter which park I’m in.  I will say Disney World Pirates feel a lot shorter than the one in Disneyland.  There are a slight difference between the two, but for the most part they are the same.  Pirates is a lazy river style ride that takes you on a pirate adventure with a few twists and turns.

The Jungle Cruise is another boat ride but on a much bigger scale than Pirates.  What starts out as a simple river tour through Africa quickly changes for the worst.  The captain will try to expertly navigate you through the treacherous waters, so don’t lose your head.  Literally, for head hunts live in this region of the river and can’t wait to take a souvenir back to their camp.

Frontierland, home of Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad.  Splash Mountain was the first ride that we went on when we got to the Magic Kingdom.  Its a ride that you will get wet on, so we wanted to get it out of the way.  Of course, we did know we would be caught in a monsoon later in day and be soaked to the bone.  Splash is yet another river ride, but is more on the thrill side of things.  You join the Br’er Rabbit as he takes you on an adventure through the Briar.  Its all easy breezy with a few twists and drops, until the end when you go careening to your death down a 52.5 drop to the water below.

Big Thunder is a thrill coaster with high speed and lots of twists and turns.  Its funny, I’ve been to Disneyland many times and to Disney World only twice.  I think that I have rode this ride equally between the two parks and that would be twice in each of them.  It seem that whenever we were in Disneyland it was closed do to construction or it had broke down.  Do to this, I feel that it is more enjoyable and fun for me.

Our Magic Kingdom adventure was filled with fun and excitement.  We were able to see a lot and ride all the rides that we wanted.  The only thing I would have done differently would have been to close the park.  We had to leave early on the days that we were there.  I would have like to see the firework show that they have.  Well there is always next time.

We will see you at the Animal Kingdom.  Until next time, Thanks for stopping by.

Josh