We saw Rafiki himself, along with Jiminy Cricket.
Pocahontas was not far behind, so we went to the "Affection Section" (read: Petting Zoo) while we waited. I was a little disappointed. I guess I thought someplace like Animal Kingdom would have more exotic animals- something the girls could pet for the first time. But this was like the 11th time they've petted goats.
When we came back in, Pocahontas was still nowhere to be found. We explored the exhibits- stations showing what the animals in the park were fed and other fun stuff. Then Big Sis and I checked out the observation area to see what the vets were doing, but it was all being broadcast from another room and she couldn't tell what was going on. They kept saying that the animal (some sort of hog from the
Luckily, Pocahontas arrived. Little Sister was excited to see her- she recognized her immediately and said something like, "Po-hat-on!" She even gave her a hug.
Then there were a few photos with the "animals" inside. Big Sister has started striking model poses for certain shots. Sometimes I refuse to take the picture, but I thought these were actually kind of creative/cute.
By the time we left this small part of the park, it was after 11. The girls had a lot of fun, but we were on track to run out of time since Animal Kingdom closes at 5:00.
We ran into Tarzan's friend Terk as we were leaving the train from Planet Watch. Big Sis got her book signed and smiled nicely for the picture, but when we were finished she let me know that she had no idea who that was. I had to rattle off several of my favorite Rosie O'Donnell quotes from the movie and sing most of "Trashin' the Camp" before she put it together.
Then we watched a great show called "Flights of Wonder" featuring some very talented birds. My favorite was a parrot who sang "How much is that doggie in the window" and a Seriema that eats lizards by first catching them, picking them up and SLAMMING them repeatedly against a rock. Sounds violent, but it was fascinating. And the bird was adorable...in a violent, lizard-thumping sort of way... oh forget it. See for yourself, that's her in the last photo.
We had lunch Flame Tree Barbecue; it was one of our yummiest in-park meals. Then we headed back to Africa.
Big Sister, drumming with intense concentration, reminds me a lot of my college roomie. Anyone else see the resemblance?
The girls enjoyed playing the drums. A little too much. Little Sister did not want to share and had to be carried away, screaming.
But she got over it when we started the safari. It was a lot of fun and one of Big Sister's favorite moments of the trip.
Can you spot the baby giraffes?
Then we walked down to Camp Minnie-Mickey and saw Festival of the Lion King. It is supposed to be rated the best show of any of the parks. We all enjoyed it, but I think Hubby and I were expecting too much after seeing the mind-blowing Broadway production a few years ago. Little Sister either liked it or hated it- she fell asleep.
The problem with Animal Kingdom was that if you wanted to do everything at the "ideal time" there was a lot of walking involved.
With it being the fourth day, we were all moving a little slower than before, and getting a little tired (and grumpy). I was moving especially slow because I just wanted to soak in the atmosphere at the park. I could have spent hours just wandering around, taking in the landscaping and wildlife.
And then we wandered into the parade route. Things got a little crazy and we got separated. We waited for a bit, watching the monkeys.
See what I mean about the posing thing?
Then we wandered through the Asian animal exhibits until my mom could get through the parade.
Our time was almost over. My dad and I took Big Sister to DinoLand USA for a quick glimpse at what we hadn't done. Big Sis and I rode TriceraTop Spin together and then went to meet everyone at the RainForest Cafe for dinner.
The gorillas, elephants and "thunderstorms" during dinner were really cute, but Little Sister wasn't sure about it all, especially because the closest gorilla was directly behind her. After a day filled with fresh air and walking, we had worked up an appetite. Both girls ate everything on their plates.
We spent some time in the gift shop and then walked out to see something shooting through the sky- almost straight up. Daddy noticed it first, and wondered if it might be a rocket. A few moments later, we saw some red lights falling from the bright "something" now further up in the sky- boosters being released, perhaps? Sure enough, we read later that there was a launch that night.
How cool is that?! Another magical ending.
3 comments:
Just to clarify, we did not actually watch the Seriema that SLAMS the lizard into rocks do that to a REAL lizard. We did watch him do it to a plastic lizard, and that was pretty cool. While watching him do it to a real lizard would have been awesome, it probably would not have been appropriate for the kids... unfortunately...
Sara loved all of the pics! She wants to go to Disney World now.
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