22 January 2009

Florida Trip - Disney's Animal Kingdom

We only spent a morning at this park so this should be a shorter entry than the others. We only planned for a half day here as there 'isn't that much to do'. Obviously as its a park there are many things to do but not as much that would probably interest us in a full or multiple day sort of visit. Your mileage may vary and all that.

Man I'm glad I kept these maps.

Kilimanjaro Safaris - you ride a 'bus' through a wildlife park while keeping an eye out for poachers. The line was long but it was worth it. The cast-member that acted as tour-guide was fun, engaging, and educational; pretty much everything you'd want. He drove us around this zoo with no cages and paused occasionally to point out animals. Having a giraffe a couple yards from you is a neat experience indeed. The poachers storyline is a bit weird and seems to be there just to add a little Disney to the experience. There's a poachers camp and a baby elephant animatronic right at the end. Apart from that, it's all actual wildlife hanging out. Very nice.

Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain - roller coaster that I rode twice. Probably not unlike the Matterhorn after discussing that ride with my Dad. The waiting area is all like guide posts and mountaining climbing gear shops. There's also some 'museum' stuff about the Yeti. Hopping into the roller coaster, you take a couple fun zippy turns before starting to climb the mountain. The view of the park from this climb is quite remarkable and I was shocked that my ... concern over heights didn't kick in either time. You ride through the mountain a bit on your 'train ride' until it suddenly stops. The tracks are out, damaged, ripped up? The ride pauses long enough so that you might feel that this is not part of the ride and then the car zips backwards for longer than you'd think, through a few dark twists and turns, before pausing in a cave. Above you, in the distance, is the Yeti, ripping up more tracks! Down you go, zipping through the mountain, in and out, until you reach the last dark cave where a flickering light barely illuminates the giant Yeti! And he's reaching out for you! But he doesn't get you and you return to the station safe and sound. Hopefully.

Attraction wise that was all we did there. We did meet some characters there like Stitch (who seemed to like the spaceships on my Doctor Who shirt), Pooh (who was sad that I didn't walk up wanting to hug him like Moppy did but then I hugged him and all was well), Eeyore, and Tigger.

Told you today would be shorter. We're going to EPCOT tomorrow, which is good because that is the land of tomorrow, today! Or something. I think I just made that up.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Couple things about Everest. It is similar to the Matterhorn, and definitely Disney Worlds answer to the classic Disneyland Attraction. I believe the big difference is that the Matterhorn coaster involves a water splashdown point at the end of the mountain. Did some reading actually, the Space Mountain tracks are largely based on the Matterhorn. Anyways, not sure if I told you this when we rode it. The strobe light on the Yeti is used because the Yeti is always broken. When it is working properly, there is a solid light on him and he actually lunges at you.

Unknown said...

I remember you grumbling that the Yeti was still broken.