Wendy's trip log: Disney Day 5: Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom
April 24, 2018

I think this had to be one of my favorite days at Disney. Animal Kingdom has usually been at the lower end of my list of the four parks, but this time was different. We really had a great time at this park. Maybe it was the new Avtar attraction, maybe it was the multiple times we went on Everest or maybe it was watching the Tree wake up ceremony later in the evening. I'm not sure what it was but we had yet another great day at Disney Parks. It happened to be Animals Kingdom's 20th year too. What a great year to come.

Of course you walk into the Tree of Life!

We started our day off in Asia and were lucky to spy a line for meeting Micky and Minnie. We got in quickly, and what a great way to start the day.

How fun to get so many pictures with Mickey and Minnie.

As we moved into the area heading towards Everest, we heard these weird sounds. I actually thought they were pumped into speakers or something. It truly could not be real animals making all that racket. It ended up being these monkeys and they were all chattering away. "Wooop...woooop"...some longer some softer...

As we got closer we saw who was the culprits, and it was these guys. With the woooops they would shake the trees and swing around. They continued for some time.

We stayed and listened, watched for a bit and the banter slowly decreased to only one lone monkey making a last effort to keep the chanting going.

We inquired if this was a "normal" activity, and were told they do this every morning. So glad we got to hear this to start our day.

We walked past these guys several times over the course of the day, and I don't think I even thought to look up and see them. They were quiet and in hiding as the crowds formed later. One really good reason to get to the park early.
Animal Kingdom, like the rest of Disney Parks is so authentic to real. Not an area is untouched by the theme the area is trying to depict. We headed into the Asia area to start our day with Everest.

One could get lost just in the designs of the buildings, the signs, the trees, the cobbled roadways.

Its all just BEAUTIFUL....

As we approached Everest..we started to see mock store fronts for hiking attire.

And there up in the distance....the Mountain.

Everest is a rollercoaster that takes you up into the mountains.

We had a fast pass for this ride and made our way into the line. We really didn't need one as there was no wait. (Everyone was at Avatar)

Beware the Yeti!!!!!

I'll admit I was a little fearful of this ride. The last time I rode it. (10 years ago) I remember feeling scared. I was surprised that this time, all I had was fun. We all had so much fun, we rode it again. And yes....we did see the Yeti, and he was pulling up the train tracks. AggggAHH!!!!! Great Fun!!!

WE enjoyed some walking after our Everest rides, and headed back towards Africa....

We stopped to enjoy these drummers.....

and made our way to Kilimanjaro Safari.

Before we even made it on the trucks for our safari, we got to see these pretty birds...

There was a line for the safari, but it seemed to go quickly.

Here's our adventure Rig....

And soon we were off....

Up first were some unusual animals. I unfortunately forgot their names. The Hippo's were difficult to catch on camera. The submerged for some time. We were told that they can hold their breath for some time. I waited patiently as our rig stood still and caught this one lift his head ever so quickly.

Got ya...

Shading themselves from the sun, these hyena's rested under the rocks.

Here they are sleeping ever so soundly.

Somewhere back behind these "ant hills" is a pair of gazelles.

The giraffes were easier to catch. The enjoyed the open pasture and offered ample opportunity for pictures.

Hi Momma and Baby.

This one was right near us. Smile when ready.

...and her comes baby all by herself.

These are beautiful creatures.

This elephant is from Africa (you can tell by the shape of the ears, as they resemble the continents shape.)

This guy was attempting to hide in the brush.

Here this guy is up close.

Another awesome animal.

The pink flamingos....

Our driver shared a little about pouching. Animal Kingdom accepts donations to end poaching. Part of the sales goes to this cause. You can even donate funds yourself.
Stef recalled that this part of the ride once had a chase to obtain some illegal pouching. I did not remember this from the last time I went.

Well hello Mr. Rhino

We also got to see some BIG Kitties.....Like this spotted leopard.

and the sleeping Lion.

This beauty was taking in a rock high view.

Next we saw some warthogs....

a few Zebra's

and a happy (butt) end with this long beaked bird.

After the safari, we headed deeper into Africa and took the

After our safari we made our way to the River rapids.

I tried a little drumming.

We actually changed into flip flops for this ride, as there is a likelihood of getting wet. We did end up getting a little douched. Aimee more then Stef and me. After a short down time and some lunch we made out way through the Maharajah Jungle Trek to view some more animals.

and iguana.

a monkey....

some really BIG bats.

Some very lovely walkways.....

But the tigers were nowhere to be found....

except for this one.

Up next we did the Its tough to be a Bug....and enjoyed the several animals carved out of the center tree of life.

The trails around the tree of life are filled with greenery and you get face to face with some of the incredible carvings of animals woven into the tree's bark.

Its tough to be a bug is not a ride, but an attraction. As members of the audience you are invited into the Bugs life. This is a 3-D adventure, and the bugs come out and play. Of course there are some funny parts, mishaps and the evil character to create some drama. It is always a fun one to watch.

After the bugs, we made our way over to the Dinosaur area to ride DINOSAUR.

This is a fun ride, that has a little scare to it. It might not be to fearful for you, but I generally am fearful of Dinosaurs to begin with.

The premise of this ride is a time machine has been invented and you are sent back in time to the land of the dinosaurs for the purpose of obtaining certain items. Another scientist secretly gives you the mission of returning with a dinosaur. This is all happening while there is an epic explosion. You barely escape the end of the world and being eaten by the Dinosaur you were sent to take home with you.

I survived, but I'm always afraid.

We waited for this ride for some time, it is the only ADULT type ride in Dinoland..

I have spend much more time in Dinoland with my kids and they have loved it, this time we passed through quickly onto the next thing.

There are of course everything DINO related,......

But there is also some funky fun stuff too. Like these lawn chairs on the roof of this restaurant, complete with cooler for snacks. It reminded me of my youth, sunning myself on the roof of my garage.

and this fun "tin can" airstream trailer.

We got a quick pic. of Up Characters before we were shoo'd away...

Look its a big George....with real teeth and snapping jaws....

We made our way back to Africa/Asia area before we headed into the deep exploration of Gorilla Falls.

This is another trail walk, that features animals. Hippos and gorillas are the feature. We did not see any Hippos..... and the gorilla was so far away, it was hard to get a glimpse.

We did see some bugs.

and some birds....

a school of fish.

and this guy came out to say hello.

Although we didn't see many animals along this trail, the landscaping was beautiful.

After the Gorilla trek, we headed towards Pandora. This is the newest attraction at Disney.

Along the walk we had some ice cream. I just had to have the infamous Mouse Ears.. while Stefanie had a chocolate covered Banana.

On to Pandora.

I have not seen the movie Avatar in some time, so I struggled to recall the concept, but this place can give you an idea without having ever seen the movie. Walking into Mo'ara was like walking onto another planet.

Strange plant life is growing everywhere, floating land masses hover over your head as you walk.

It is truly incredible. Disney did not miss a beat here.

I don't even know what to type as the scenery is indescribable.

We had a few minutes before our fast passes to Na'vi River Journey so we took in a show. These drummers were awesome.

They were drumming to honor the Banshee (These are the dragon like creatures that you can ride.)

They encouraged the crowd to get involved. Then they would stop and listen and the Banshees would respond somewhere off in the distance.

Stefanie got involved in the drumming.

After all that music, we were ready for our next ride. Lucky we had booked fast passes for this. The line was long even in the fast pass line.

The river ride is familiar to Disney's water rides. You view scenery as you glide along in a personal boat.

My camera was not offering much in the picture department. I am sure if you youtube Na'vi River ride, someone has the whole trip on video.

It was beautiful. I was surprised that there was only two actual anamatronic figures throughout the trip. But the neon lights were awesome, and that song, just like Its a small world will get stuck in your head.

A view from the line looking down on the Village.

We did not have fastpass's to the Flight of Passage, and we considered skipping it, as the lines were up to 2 hours. At one point we checked the Mobil app (This is a MUST at Disney as you can check on wait times, get new fast passes, get pictures, find out about shows and closed attractions. This app was our life line.) and found there was a lull in the wait time so we got in line.

We walked and walked and walked, this was a good sign, it meant there was a short line right?

Well we finally got to where the line began and that was where we stopped. FOR NEARLY 1.5 hours

Once again Disney makes the best of any wait time. We did have some pretty cool things to look at while we waited.

While we waited the screen above our heads identified the transformation. If you recall the movie, Pandora is poisonous to humans, so in order to survive in this world humans must link their minds with a genetically programmed Avatar to engage in this land. We were all subject to being genetically linked to our own avatar.

Apparently this process takes a LONG time. Because we waited for a LONG time. When we finally got in and loaded onto our very own motorcycle type vessels. IT WAS ALL WORTH IT. I personally might have waited in line again. This is a simulated right much like Soaring at Epcot. I am not sure if we actually lift off the ground or not, but you definitely feel like you in the air riding a banshee. As you dodge the environment and say hello to the Pandora people. The wind rushes at your face and you smell the waterfalls and flowers. All I can say is WOW!!!!!

So totally worth every second we waited in line. We found out later that week that both this ride and the River ride were shut down for some reason. SO GLAD we got to go.

With such great fun all day, what else could happen? Well of course the day was not over, we got luck again with shows and walked into the last showing of the Lion King. We were escorted to second row seating. I have always been an advocate of arrive early, but this trip has proven sometimes its best to come late. We got the best seats and no wait times.

The Lion King show has been around for a LONG time. I remember attending when Nick (my oldest) was a little guy. Lion King was his absolute favorite Disney movie. He watched it so much I knew the lines.

The show has with stranded time because it is AWESOME of course. My camera was acting silly again, so I had NO pictures myself. These are all from Aimee.

The show has singing, dancing, acrobats.. Great fun.

After the Lion King we were all feeling a little tired. Exhausted to be honest. BUT we still had plans to see the Rivers of Light show later that evening. We put on our best face and decided a little food was the answer.

We decided on pizza. Stef and Aimee got the 20th year specialty cupcake.

I had vodka and lemonade. It was yummy and just the right pick me up to make it through the rest of the evening.

Evening was approaching quickly....

I had another vodka drink, this time it was a vodka punch.

As it was starting to get cold we all found some sweat shirts before staking out seats for the Tree of Life waking of the animals show.

This was really cool. The creatures were superimposed with animated graphics and would suddenly spring to life and dance around the tree. Then there was a little show featured on the tree to music.