On Tuesday morning, bright and early at 8:00 a.m.,
we visited Disney's
Animal Kingdom. This is the newest theme park at Walt Disney
World, and is a mixture of rides, attractions, and a pretty decent
zoo.
When you enter the park, you walk through some
wildlife exhibits towards the Tree of Life. Inside the Tree of Life is
the It's Tough to Be a Bug! attraction, which was pretty cool. From
there you walk from one "land" to another--Africa to Asia to
Dinoland USA.
We liked Animal Kingdom a lot, even though it did
get pretty hot towards noon.
Here are the attractions we saw:
It's Tough to Be a Bug!
This is a really cool 3D presentation, hosted by Flik from A Bug's
Life. The 3D effects were awesome, and the kids especially liked
it when the termite sprayed acid on the audience--and then had to go
reload. ("I'll be back," was what he said--although he
didn't sound at all like Arnold Schwartzenegger!)
(Two really big thumbs up--one of our favorites
of the entire trip!)
DINOSAUR
This ride--previously known as Countdown to Extinction--put us in a
special vehicle and shot us back in time to rescue a dinosaur just
before the giant asteroid hits and wipes them all out. It was a good
ride, but the Jurassic Park River Adventure at Islands of Adventure
did pretty much the same thing, only better.
(Two thumbs up from Ben and Alec)
Kilimanjaro Safaris
This is a tour of Disney's African wildlife areas, pretending to be a
trip through a real African wildlife refuge. Even though there was a
little bit of a plot (about rescuing two elephants--Big Red and Little
Red--from poachers), the real treat was seeing all the animals out in
the wild. We saw gazelle, crocodiles, rhinos, hippopotamuses,
elephants, lions, and even gorillas. It was cool!
(Two thumbs up from Alec and Ben)
Kali River Rapids
This was definitely the worst ride at Disney, and maybe the worst ride
of the entire trip. (The kids may have disliked Kongfrontation at
Universal a little more...) It was supposed to be a wild ride through
rough rapids, but the ride was way too short (less than two minutes!)
and we didn't even get wet! Standing in line 30 minutes for a 1
1/2-minute ride that kind of stunk wasn't a good deal. Alec and Ben
agree that Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges at Islands of
Adventure was a much better river rapids ride.
(Two big thumbs down--it stunk!)
(click on any thumbnail to
view a larger picture)
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Alec
and Ben saying howdy in front of the Tree of Life. (Doesn't
Ben always look a little sleepy before the first ride of the
day?) |
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Alec
and Ben on the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride--lots of animals
ahead! |
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The
Tree of Life--inside of which is the It's Tough to Be a Bug!
3D attraction. |
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The
sign at the entrance of the African wildlife preserve. |
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Ben
and Alec outside the DINOSAUR attraction--yup, we succeeded in
bringing back a dino from the past! |
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Ben
watching the hippos on the safari ride. |
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Alec
and Ben posing beside a bicycle-type vehicle in the Asia
section of Animal Kingdom. |
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The
rear end of an elephant beside a really weird tree that looks
like its roots are where its leaves should be. |
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Same
kids, same bicycle, same part of the park. |
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There's
some kind of animal back in there somewhere--it may be a
gazelle. (Did you know that Africans call Thompson's gazelles
"tommies?") |
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A
really pretty parrot we saw when we entered the Tree of
Life. |
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Some
more animals, maybe. |
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Some
kind of cool blue birds in the zoo part of the park. |
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More
shots of animals, or maybe just scenery. |
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Some
kind of bright orange birds in the zoo part of the park. |
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A
really cool tree, and maybe some animals. |
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Look
close to see the giraffes on the Kilimanjaro Safaris. |
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Can
you see any animals in this shot? |
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Two
gorillas, if you look close. |
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Really,
we did see lots of animals--they were just difficult to
photograph! |
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The
same gorillas. Really. |
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Well,
it looks pretty, even if you can't easily see the animals in
the shot. |
