Walt Disney Animal Kingdom

The weather today is splendid - the warmest day of the entire two-week holiday! We arrived at Disney's Animal Kingdom mid-morning, looked at the map and made our game plan. First we went to the Tree of Life, which is the centerpiece of the park. The tree is completely fake (though the birds obviously do not know this) and can see seen from nearly everywhere in the park. It was carved by hundreds of craftspeople and over 300 animal species are represented on the trunk.

Tree of Life


Detailing on The Tree of Life

Even more amazing - inside the base of the tree is a 400-seat theatre, where we watched It's a Bug's Life - a very fun 3-D show with fabulous special effects. As you enter the theatre, you pass posters from other famous buggy Broadway hits such as: My Fair Ladybug, A Cockroach Line and Antie. In the classic Disney fashion, no detail is too small. The show was part film and part characters and part special effects that made me jump a few times and made little girls scream! The pretense of the story is that bugs outnumber humans billions-to-one, so (along with Okeechobee) don't mess with bugs - bugs are necessary to the survival of the planet, etc. The audience was sprayed by a stink bug (fog), stung by bees (a little jab actually comes out of the back of your seat!), sprayed with a giant can of bug spray (fog), sprayed by an acid-throwing ant (water) and basically had the wits scared out of us by assorted crawling, creeping and flying insects and spiders. It was fabulous - especially the 3-D part (says Dave). At the end of the show, the audience is asked to remain seated so the bugs can depart without being stepped on and then you somehow feel and hear thousands of insects crawling along the seats and floor! Quite magical, even for these old folks.
 
After exploring Discovery Island, home of the Tree of Life, we trekked over to Africa. I was quite excited to see this part of the park and we were a little disappointed in the actual animals, though the landscape and vegetation were spectacular. Actually, besides the lowland gorillas and African v. Asian elephants, Disney has the same species as our Zoo Oregon! (Okay, okay, so I am a well-recognized zoological snob.) We rode around the "wild vast savannah" in safari trucks with a safari guide. There was some fuss made over trying to catch poachers and we had to go over creaking bridges and washout roads to trap the wicked hunters - all pretty hokey - but the plastic baby elephant was miraculously saved in the end. Along the way we were treated to views of (actual, live) rhinos, hippos, lions and African elephants.

African lions

We had lunch in a small African village - well, it seemed to be a small village (invaded by thousands of tourists with strollers). Tuskers Restaurant served up a fine sandwich. The village was built with incredible detail again: everything looks a little decrepit. Odd "electric" wires hang across the town square, the buildings are in "disrepair", paint is "peeling" and everything just looks "old". 
 
On to Asia! Set among “ancient ruins” were fabulous habitats for tigers. It was ingenious the way the animals were contained - the hanging gardens, crumbling walls, decaying statues and fountains covered in vines. Disney artists have created an ancient temple in Orlando.

Indian tiger


Indian tigers

We also attended a bird show and had birds of every description fly over our heads - owls, parrots, cranes - in another attempt to educate the public about endangered species, loss of habitat, poisoned waters, etc. In Asia, there is a water ride, but we nixed the ride as we saw hundreds of totally drenched people walking around the park. (Everyone repeat after me: "wimps".) 

Bald Eagle


Komodo Dragon


Fruit bat (with fruit)

Another area we visited was Dinoland, U.S.A. - presented by McDonald's. We went on a wild ride, "Dinosaur", some sort of indoor roller coaster where we (I think) traveled back through time to save a dinosaur before he was killed by a meteor shower??? The exact purpose of the ride is not important, the ride was a fun, exciting and jarring event. I was screaming and laughing and I think I had my spine adjusted!
 
We decided to not visit Camp Minnie-Mickey, which was for little toddlers, had a stroll through the shops and it was already 4p and we were pooped. It was a good day. I will leave you with a lovely photo of my wild safari partner.

"Safari Dave"

Added later: We had a very exciting evening.  Okay, so maybe you had to be there and I am sure DT wishes he did not have to be there... but I proceed myself. The evening began, quietly enough, at the Westin Swan or Dolphin Hotel (I can't remember which hotel, they are connected and are undistinguishable from one another.) We had dinner at Kimono's, a sushi bar. We had enjoyed a delicious meal here several years ago and thought we would try it again. It is still a wonderful establishment. I tried asparagus and cream cheese sushi! Something new and really delicious. We consumed several Japanese beers and then, needing a walk, strolled along the Disney Boardwalk.
 
It was a lovely evening; just the perfect temperature and I found a few little souvenirs (for little nieces) in a cute Disney shop. (Oh, what am I saying??? All Disney shops are cute!) We continued our walk until we stumbled into the ESPN restaurant/bar/complex and my cell phone started beeping with the GW score... my little brain started working and 13 seconds later I was in the control booth at ESPN Zone and they were searching their 22 satellites for HTS and BINGO BABY - GW v. Xavier was on the big screen and I was whooping it up for my Boys in Washington! We lost, but that is of little consequence - they were down by 12 and lost by 2 and put up a good fight, even though they can't put up anything but short 3 pointers. My Man Chris Monroe was fabulous, as always, and the GW game was enjoyed by all the patrons in the bar... well, there were 3,000 other games on the TV's, but I am SURE everyone was watching GW B-Ball, because, after all, nothing else really matters, does it??