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View Full Version : Our Summer Celebration, Day 4, Part 2: From Asia to Africa and Back Again...



darthmacho
09-06-2010, 05:05 PM
Date: August 18, 2010
Location: Animal Kingdom

The Cast:
DM: Me, Darth Macho, Celebrating Our 12th Anniversary. (Belatedly)
DW: Dear Wife, The Queen, Celebrating Our 12th Anniversary. (Belatedly)
DD1: Princess, 9yo, Celebrating 1st Visit (That she'll remember. She was just 2yo on her actual first visit.)
DD2: Princess, 6yo, Celebrating 1st Visit (She was born mysteriously 9 months after our last visit…)



Arriving in Harambe

When I last left off, we had used our EMH to ride Expedition Everest for the first time ever, followed that up with Dinosaur, and had breakfast at Pizzafari. Now the park was officially open and a steady stream of people were filing into the area. We decided to head for Harambe to ride my favorite ride in all WDW, Kilamanjaro Safari. Usually I insist on doing this first so that I can get in more than one ride before the crowd builds, but the addition of EE has made the situation more complicated. When we crossed over the bridge into Harambe, it was crowded! One of the most wonderfully themed areas in WDW, Harambe actually felt like it could have been a real bustling town. Part of me regrets not having the time to just explore there like I really want to. That's the difficulty in having long stretches between trips.

As I had feared, by the time we got to KS, the line was advertized at 60 minutes! Instead of panicking, we got fastpasses. If the FP program didn't exist, I'm not sure how I would have gotten on the ride that day. We suppose we would have had to wait an hour. Since our passes weren't for almost an hour later, we decided to go to explore Pangani Forest Trail, which is one of the most underrated attractions in WDW. Call it a zoo, if you want, these are no animatronic creations, these are real live creatures, and worth every second of our attention. It was hot, but there was shade, so we took our time and enjoyed everything.

The highlight of the trail, of course, is the gorilla exhibit, which in itself is worth the trip, but to put it over the top, there was a baby that was only months old! Saying the baby was cute is such an understatement. It was so adorable! The gorillas were active and every time we turned a corner it seemed there was another viewing area. Even the areas with no gorillas were nice.

A couple of disappointments were that there was no meerkat sighting. We didn't see any in 2003, and we didn't see any this time. I assume they sleep in the daytime. Another disappointment was that the hippos were not near the glass of their tank. This was something I was hoping would happen. We have great pictures from 1998 when the hippos were all right against the glass, giving us a fabulous view. I haven't been as lucky since. Oh well. The trail was still awesome, since we got to see okapi, dung beetles, naked mole rats, and lots of birds. It was impossible not to love this area.

By the time we exited the trail, we were minutes away fro our FP time for the safari, so now I was stoked. This is my favorite ride in WDW, better than anything at MK, Epcot, or DHS. I love animatronics, but they pale in comparison to the real thing. Kilamanjaro Safari is a different ride every time, and it's the live elements that make it so.

The highlights, again, were the baby animals. We saw a baby elephant, and two baby giraffes. They were so cute that I was as giddy as a schoolgirl. No baby rhino though, which I thought I had read was a possibility. There were plenty of other animals though, including an adult rhino, wildebeest, ostrich, hippos, crocodiles, and of course, tommies. I don't think we saw zebra, so perhaps they are still in time out? Well, the safari was a good one, even if the lion was asleep, and our guide was pretty good too.


Trekking Back to Asia

As much time as we spent in Africa, I would have liked to spent a LOT more time there, but my kids were dying to go on Kali River Rapids, we had FPs for Everest, and ADRs at Yak and Yeti for lunch, so it was time to head back to Asia. Along the way, however, we were able to get pictures and autographs from Balloo and Louie(?) from Jungle Book, and Flick from Bug's Life. We also got some video of DeVine, who was commanding a lot of attention, and picked up Kali FP for after lunch. Before we got back on Everest with our FP, we got Photopass pics out front.

Again we kind of regretted not getting to see all of the props in the queue, but we didn't let that slow us down. We were back on the ride in no time, and it was another great ride. This time, DW and DD2 actually saw the Yeti, which was good. We also took some time to pick up some yeti merchandise in the store, including a cute little yeti plush with magnets for hands, who now resides on our fridge.

Now it was time for lunch, and our ADR's were for Yak and Yeti, which turned out to be one of my favorite meals of the week. The restaurant was nicely themed, and actually seemed like it was a residence converted into a restaurant. The food was special. My kids had burgers, but my wife had "bourbon chicken" which was a tempura, and a dessert she loved, which consisted of skewers with wantons and pineapple. I had the duck with rice and vegetables, which I ate with chopsticks. (Food, especially Asian cuisine, is so much better when you eat it with chopsticks, IMHO.) I had to have the mango pie for dessert. I had been looking forward to that for a long time, and it was worth every excruciating moment. I wish I had some right now!

After lunch, it was time for the other walking trail, Maharajah Jungle Trek, another highly underrated attraction, and along with the bats, birds, and other animals, we got to see some great views of the tigers. Their exhibit is exquisitely themed, but it's the beauty of the tigers that truly completes it. What a wonderful viewing, and we got some decent pictures too.

It was time for our Kali River Rapids ride, so we used our FPs. The standby was 60 minutes, so I warned the kids to enjoy their one chance to ride it that day, and they did. We got pretty wet, but not entirely soaked. It was a good ride, and longer than I had remembered.

We wrapped up our stay in Asia with some slush and browsing in the shops before heading over to Discovery Island to do some serious browsing and to see ITTBAB.
I'll have to wrap up next time.

Sorry that I'm so long winded, but I enjoy rehashing my trip. Hope you don't mind reading the details.

Stay tuned!
:mickey:

faline
09-06-2010, 06:29 PM
Glad you got your safari ride in! When you left off your last installment, I was a bit concerned you had not managed to to the safari!

cather74
09-06-2010, 07:04 PM
Sounds like fun! I wonder if anyone has actually seen a lion when it was awake on KS. I know everytime I've gone, no matter what time, they are always asleep. (proving they are indeed true kitty cats)

faline
09-06-2010, 07:13 PM
I wonder if anyone has actually seen a lion when it was awake on KS. I know everytime I've gone, no matter what time, they are always asleep. (proving they are indeed true kitty cats)

Actually, we did once see lions awake. Another animal had wandered very close to the lion area and the female was stretched out as far as she could reach towards that animal!

2MuchWDFun
09-06-2010, 07:19 PM
Your review of AK is fabulous. Our family loves it too, especially the trails.:number1: It truly is amazing how close you can get to the tigers. When we lived in San Diego we went to the zoo or wild animal park once a month for many years and saw the tigers very rarely. Literally three or four times. We always spend a long time in the tiger exhibit.

You are so right about fast passes...how did we live without them?

Look forward to reading more of your family's adventure!

RedSoxFan
09-06-2010, 08:01 PM
Great day so far at AK. I love this park. So much to see. My younger two kids got the stuffed yeti lush on our last trip. Cute little guy!!

disneymomma2010
09-06-2010, 08:03 PM
I love reading about your trip and i love details!:thumbsup:

yjgirl32
09-07-2010, 08:17 AM
I love the details!!!! I have truly enjoyed your reports and I too LOVE Ak. They are getting me ready for my upcoming trip in Oct. Thank you.

SBETigg
09-07-2010, 08:28 AM
August 18 was my 20th anniversary and arrival day for my stay at WDW. We kept to the MK. Nice to hear what was happening at the AK that day. We safari'd later in the week and had wide awake lions (well, the big guy was lying down and blinking slowly, but the lionesses were moving around). We've also seen the meerkats, but not this time. I think it's just luck. Love seeing the baby animals! You can't beat that.

princessgirls
09-07-2010, 11:56 AM
A great fun day in Animal Kingdom!

I really do enjoy that park!

Thanks for the report!
Julie:mickey:

DisneyorBust
09-07-2010, 12:09 PM
Enjoying the details of your trip! I don't considr it long winded at all, I appreciate that you take the time to share your trip with us.

MississippiDisneyFreak
09-07-2010, 01:06 PM
Thanks for posting;)

WDWdriver
09-07-2010, 10:55 PM
I have enjoyed reading your wonderfully detailed reports. This one was great. Thanks for coming to visit my favorite park and my favorite animals.

Mousefever
09-08-2010, 05:36 AM
It's such a pleasure to read your reports! You have a fine flair for writing.

Amy

BrerGnat
09-08-2010, 06:26 PM
... Call it a zoo, if you want...

It's NAHTAZU!!!!

Sorry, couldn't resist. :D

Joannelet
09-08-2010, 06:36 PM
YESSSSSSSS! Someone who actually "gets" Animal Kingdom :)
I am a opening year Animal Kingdom cast member alumni and get excited when someone enjoys Animal Kingdom like you do! :)
My roomate there drove the safari truck. She has some great stories.
I have seen the lions awake....like someone mentioned above sometimes they do see an animal nearby and their basic instinct kicks in and they behave like they would in the wild. :)
But they sleep 16-20 hours a day so the chances of anyone seeing them awake are slim...

Great, great, GREAT report!

vizsla
09-09-2010, 05:09 AM
Thanks for the report.

KylesMom
09-20-2010, 09:45 AM
Do we mind if you're long-winded? Goodness, no! Your detailed reports are letting the rest of us relive our memories, too!

I agree, AK is more challenging now. We used to hit the safari & Dinosaur first, but now we make a beeline for Everest, and then make our way around to the other attractions and shows. Happy that you've hit the highlights - and you still have time left to catch a few other things! :mickey: