Animal Kingdom

We had another great weather day to spend in the Animal Kingdom. Not too hot, not too cold, although cold enough to deter me from wanting to ride the raft ride. The theme park is divided into areas of the world. (Africa and Asia for example.)

Kid bloggers will share their highlights of the day and I may interject. :o)

Tree of Life

It's Tough to Be A Bug - 4D Show

Spencer: "We went to Animal Kingdom. Our first ride was "It's Tough to Be A Bug". Also, we went to a Lion King Festival where Simba, Pumba, Timon and a giraffe and an elephant danced and partied to all the Lion King songs. Also, we did something called Primevil Whirl that you twist and turn and drop. We went on a small drop that Mom thought was the big drop, but then we did the big drop. Also, you go backwards and go over big bumps. We also went on a Dinosaur ride that you go back in time and try to bring back a dinosaur with you and there is a t-rex that almost eats you."

Illustration from Spence's journal

           



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Safari Trek

On the Safari Trek, Disney did a great job making it feel like there were no barriers between different kinds of animals or between you and the animals!

5000 lb rhino walking towards you is

kinda intimidating

Very Kingly

Giraffe walked up to our truck - within
 a couple of feet of us!

Flamingoes

There was a herd of zebras.

We saw three huge silverbacks.

Regal tiger

Some type of deer (?) with huge antlers.

Fruit bat

Several elephants with a couple of babies!

Expedition Everest

Mom is going to excerpt the best part of Bri's journal for the day.

Brighton: "...After the freaky dinosaur ride, we went and saw the Lion King Festival. I'm not describing it because I have other things I would like to tell about. Expedition Everest. This is my favorite ride. It was a huge model of Mt. Everest that had tracks going through it and drops and climbs. I am going to tell it in a story: Mom, Brynna, Dad, Spencer, Ben and I were all waiting in line for the terror of the expedition. Spencer, Brynna and Ben decided they aren't willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause of research. After the line of researchers had died down and we were at the front of it, Mom and Dad informed me I must ride with a stranger. I told them it was good for them to have some time together and that I would. The expedition train seemed to come in to the station in slow motion. The man I was sitting with had survived four expeditions and told me I would be fine although his words didn't comfort me. I pulled on my hood for courage and waited for the doors to open.

"You're not scared, are you?" inquired the man.
"A little." I replied.

"You'll be ok," reassured the man.

"I only hope you're right."

The door swung open and all the expeditionists clamored in. I sat on the right side. The doors closed and we jerked forward a few feet. The operator of the train waved us farewell and sent us off. At first, it was mild, cruising through gardens and up little hills, (Mom interjects, "I noticed it was a brilliant sunset just before reaching the crest.") but once we reached the bottom of a hill going straight up, it all changed. As we neared the climax of the hill, the man next to me told me that the tracks ahead were broken. My mind started to race at the thought of sure destruction. As we neared a curve in the track I looked past the curve and saw, indeed broken and twisted tracks! The train is going faster; it doesn't plan on stopping, what shall I do. Oh! What shall I do!

Suddenly, before we are going off the tracks, the train lurches to a stop. I look around and see that we are starting to move. The man next to me points behind us with a smile. "Raise your hands!" He shouts.

I tried to do as I was told, but it was pitch black and we were careening backwards and I couldn't hold them up for more than 30 seconds before I had to put them on the handrail. Did we just go upside down?! I don't know because it is still pitch black and we are still going backwards. Finally we enter a cave and reverse directions. As we start to move forward again, Thank God, the man says something strange. "See that light ahead? That's where we're going." 

I nod and try to think about why he told me that, when I look ahead and see our tracks drop suddenly. "Where do our tracks go!?" I scream, but my voice is carried away by the wind.

Our train suddenly falls and down we go with it. It happened so fast and then it was over. Later, I learned we had gone straight down, over, then straight up again.

Then we were in a cave with some sort of beast hanging over the exit. "The Yeti is real?" I yelled.

"Quite." replied the man.

As we picked up speed and started toward the beast, my heart was racing. How would we get out of this one? Right as one of the beasts claws was about to tear through my throat, we dropped to the station and safety. As we pulled in, I was proud of myself, remembering it was just a rollercoaster, as all the cast members applauded our success.

OK, that was a little dramatic, but that was how it felt and I loved it!"

On our way to Expedition Everest

Here we are after we faced Everest. I had shaky knees and hands.
Brock somehow missed seeing a giant, hairy Yeti inside.
Brighton impressed because he even raised his hands for part of the ride.

Festival of the Lion King was SO cool.

Brynna: "Today we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom! It was so fun! Even though I only went on one ride (because of fear problems). I still enjoyed the shows that we watched. First when we got there, we walked and scanned the tickets and all that stuff. Then, we went and looked around the Tree of Life and took a picture. Then we saw kangaroos and a gigantic catfish! Then we went to It's Tough to Be a Bug, which is a 4D short about bugs. There was a stink bug, a spider that shoots acorns, an acid bug, bees, and at the end, it felt like bugs were crawling under your bottom; it was funny. After that, we went and did a Safari Trek and saw a lot of animals; it was cool! Then we went and got fast passes for this one really scary-looking roller coaster called Expedition Everest and then we went and looked at some birds, bats, tigers, and these deer with really big horns! After looking at the animals, Mom, Dad, Brighton, Spencer and Skylar went on the Dinosaur ride while I stayed the Gift Shop. After that, we went and played on a really cool playground and then had ice cream. Brighton, Spencer and I floats. Mom did too. Dad had a sundae and Skylar had an ice cream cone. Afterwards, we rushed through a crowd watching a parade and went and watched the Festival of the Lion King which was a really cool play! There were four sections in the crown: the lions (with Simba), the warthogs (with Pumba), the giraffes, and our section was the elephants! It was really cool to see the acrobats dressed as monkeys and Timon dancing. It was really cool! Then we went to Expedition Everest where Mom, Dad, and Brighton went on the ride while Spencer, Skylar, and I waited out of the ride. Then, we went to Nemo and saw that play which was very cool. Then, we went to a Dinosaur Fair and while Mom, Spencer and Brighton went on another ride, Skylar, Dad and I went on a sort of Dumbo ride where the cars were triceratops. It was such a fun day!

Finding Nemo the Musical, Mr. Ray

Nigel pokes his head in the "window" to talk to the fish in the "tank".

Skylar: "One of my favorite parts of the day was Nemo. It was very fun to see the pretend characters all dressed up. It was funny and fun. Another favorite was the Lion King. It was fun to see Simba and the elephant and the giraffe. Simba was very funny because he was like singing along. My favorite ride that I went on was this thing called the Triceratops Flying. It was fun because one person could tilt it and one person could steer it up and down. I was the one in the front so I could tilt and Dad was in the back so he could steer. It was fun!

Spencer petting an endangered indigo snake, found here in Florida;
they are harmless, but BIG.