Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom: Orlando, FL

November 25th, 2006 in Vacations

Today I woke up at 4:15 AM and took my parents to the airport for their 6:30 AM flight. On my way home I stopped at the nearest geocache to the hotel and nabbed that. After a nap and a shower we were back at Perkins for the third day in a row for breakfast.

After breakfast I needed to find another cache large enough for the three travelbugs I had with me. The nearest one of any respectable size was 7 miles away near Sea World. We drove over there and I found the cache in short order. While signing the log I felt like I had been bit in the leg. A wayward alligator? Nope, a golf ball. After tossing the golf ball further into the woods I left and got back to the car.

We’re doing the Animal Kingdom today and then probably the Magic Kingdom tonight. We have the park hopper option and we’re gonna take advantage of it.

At first, the Animal Kingdom seemed crowded but I think that has a lot to do with the way it is designed inside. A lot more narrow walkways because of the lush greenery and nicely done buildings.

Kim was leading the charge today and planned it out for us so that we could do some cool stuff. We used our first Fastpass, even though I don’t like the idea, to give us a fast route to the Yeti ride at the Enchanted Mountain. Woot.

After nabbing the Fastpass, we walked to the other side of the park to the Safari. Because of the early sunsets, the safari stops at 4:30 and thus we wanted to get through that as early as possible.

The line for the Safari said only 30 mins and based on our experiences at Epcot and Disney this week, we expected the wait to be even less. Woot, Kim’s plan is working well so far :)

We boarded the “transport” in under 15. Very nice. This park is by far the most authentic looking (at least from Hollywood’s perspectives) and since I’ve never been anywhere they are trying to replicate, it looks just fine for me ;) The safari was ok and was definitely worth the short wait but I swear at least some of the animals were fake — especially the alligators.

After the safari we did several walking tours with animals in view. There are plenty of these exhibits (zooish) that don’t include long lines. Very nice but the animals aren’t all that exciting to be honest.

After that we stopped for a pretzel and a rest before riding the train over to Rafiki’s planet. What a boring hellhole that was. While the train ride there was nice because you get the opportunity to see some of the backstage areas of the animal care, it could use a bit more work to make it interesting.

By the time we returned it was in our 60 min range for the Yeti Fastpass. We hustled over there and were blowing by the 70 min wait and straight to the coaster in 30 seconds. Very cool. My thoughts of the Fastpass have changed ;)

The Yeti ride is, by far, the best ride Disney has to offer that we sampled. It was exciting, thrilling, and different. I was surprised that they turn you backwards for most of the ride. While I never felt nervous it was still exciting to ride.

After Yeti, we headed over towards Dino Land and stopped for a turkey leg (a nostalgia thing for me at Disney parks) and Kim nabbed some wings. Both were excellent and we enjoyed the shaded little nook we found next to a waterfall and duck pond.

After lunch we enter Dino Land which was like a tacky amusement park put on by traveling vagabonds. We went to the Dinosaur first which had a 50 min estimated wait. Definitely not the best but with the great time we’ve been making today, this short wait wasn’t bad at all.

When it was all said and done, we were at the ride in 24 minutes. Very fast indeed.

The ride itself was *dumb* and not worth any amount of wait. It reminded me of the pointlessness of the Maelstrom yesterday. Don’t waste your time even entering Dino Land.

After that we headed to Discovery Island which showcases a huge carved tree as its centerpiece. Kim had some attraction she wanted to see but the wait for “It’s Tough to be a Bug” was listed as 10 mins so we ducked in there first. The line winds you through the carved roots of the carved tree. Very cool.

The theater was located under the tree and was in 3D. I haven’t seen a 3D movie since Freddy and Michael Jackson’s Disney 3D movie before that. This one was completely different than any 3D movie before because it included air bursts, smells, water splashes, external animated creatures, and surprises from your seat. If you are in the Animal Kingdom, this is a must see!

After that we took a walk around the tree and took some nice photos next to the waterfalls while eating frozen fruit treats.

With it getting close to 3 PM we decided to take off for the hotel for a quick rest before heading over to the Magic Kingdom for dinner, shopping, and more rides.

See all the pictures from today here (mobile) and here (camera).