Upon arriving at Animal Kingdom we did the only sensible thing and grabbed a Times Guide. It was just as I suspected, there were only a few Festival of the Lion King shows left in the day and we would have to run to catch the next one. So we decided to make our way over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek and see Simba sing at the last show of the day.
It was almost parade time but not close enough that the street had been closed. (Although I think at AK the streets are probably better classified as paths.) Since people were waiting behind the ropes so the paths were fairly clear and we made it to Asia in no time flat.
As we approached the Jungle Trek we watched all the people just getting off Kali River Rapids that were SOAKED. I have been one of those people and it isn’t much fun especially when you are wearing a white t-shirt. I felt like I was on Spring Break and in a wet t-shirt contest with out the benefit of tequila shots. Now I use a poncho on the Kali River and enjoy myself much more. But I digress.
We found the Trek which isn’t always the easiest. You really have to be looking for it or you won’t find it which suits me fine - it keeps people out. I am not sure why I love the Maharajah Jungle Trek so much. I rarely ever go on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail so I think it must be the tigers. Which surprises me since I am NOT a cat person.
We saw the Komodo dragon first.
I’m just glad that thing was on the other side of the railing. I imagine his bite is worse than his bark.
I was being brave today and we stopped to see the fruit bats. Sometimes I avoid them since they can be creepy. I’ve seen these before but I don’t think I have ever seen more at one time. Every available wire was covered by an upside down bat. I am just glad these bats liked fruit and not human blood because they are huge. I wasn't brave enought to take any pictures though.
Flat Brody was very interested in the tigers - although I think he was a little frightened since these cats were bigger than the ones he usually chases on our walks.
On our way out we saw the monkeys. I've never seen them so playful as they were today.
Aren't the mom and baby so cute?
We started to walk back towards FOTLK by Expedition Everest since the parade was still going on. We had plenty of time before the next show so I decided to let my thrill seeker out to play and got in the single rider line for EE. Mom was going to do a little browsing.
I was in line for about 5 minutes when I just couldn’t take it anymore and got out of line. The line was slow moving and there were three young teenagers behind me. It took me about 3 minutes of their incessant babbling chatter to get irritated and after five minutes I thought I was going to throttle them if I had to hear another second of it. It was all "OMG", "like I know" - ugh, I can’t even go on or my blood pressure will get too high. I felt like I was having to listen to Valley girls on speed. It was just too much for my adult brain to take and my sanity was not worth a ride on EE. I have since decided that parents must build up a tolerance to this kind of thing starting at the birth of the child so that they are immune to the incessant babbling chatter when their children become teenagers. Next time I will be prepared and bring my ipod.
It took me a few minutes to find Mom since she wasn’t expecting me for another 15 minutes. She hadn’t bought anything since common sense won out and she decided that she didn’t really need a Yeti plush animal. Maybe next trip she will indulge herself and come home with a white furry monster toy.
We strolled over to DinoLand, U.S.A. and had no intentions of riding anything. We were on our way to see flying monkeys and hear Simba sing after all. But wouldn’t you know, my thrill seeker self was still out and about and there was no wait for Primeval Whirl. Zero, none, zilch, na da, no people in line!!!!! How could I resist!!!!!! Other than Tower of Terror, Primeval Whirl is the only "thrill" ride I can get Mom on. So I checked the time to see if we had 3 minutes to spare. We did! So I grabbed Mom’s arm and said let’s go!!!
Every time we ride Primeval Whirl Mom has the same reaction. When we get to the spinning part, she closes her eyes, holds on tight and yells "No, No, No, No, No, No, No!!!" over and over again until the spinning stops. Of course to be fair, I have the same reaction to her reaction each time - I laugh. I can’t help it, it’s funny. It isn’t like she doesn’t know it isn’t coming - she can see it coming and we have ridden it together at least 6 times. It’s just an endearing Mom thing.
Flat Brody really enjoyed Primeval Whirl
We finally made it to the Festival of the Lion King. (It is a long trek to get there!!!) We were seated in the Lion section which is always fun - I always feel sorry for the Warthog section (who wants to snort when you can roar). And then I saw them! The cheerleaders! They were coming in the theater in droves. Where were they before? How could I have missed them? What is going on? A little voice inside my head said "Oh, this could be bad!!!"
As it turn out, it was World Cheerleading Championship at Disney World this week (which I knew about but everyone on the Boards said you won’t even notice they are there) and the competition was over for the day (or at least some of it was.) My niece Skatie is a cheerleader and I have never really understood all the various cheerleading competitions but apparently this is for the creme de la creme of cheerleaders. Skatie will be old enough next year so who knows maybe I will be back at Disney World some April hanging out with the cheering crowd.
As we sat there, nothing was happening and it was after time for the show to start. And then there was an announcement. Now, I’ve been to Disney World enough to know that announcements are never a good thing. This one said the show was going to be another 5 minutes due to technical difficulties. Hmmmm, this is not looking good - but I was patient.
Thankfully my patience paid off and the show went on. It is such a good show. And for some reason I got really weepy. Not sure why - maybe dust got in my eyes? Yeah that’s it - dust.
Flat Brody loved FOTLK
Okay, so it is a bad picture. I haven’t figured out the indoor dark setting for my camera yet and I didn’t want to leave out a Flat Brody picture.After the show we stopped in at Island Mercantile to do some more pin shopping. We got some pins for Dad. But Mom and I also snagged the last two AK 10th Anniversary Annual Passholder Exclusive pins left. We were very excited.
In our excitement, we also decided we were a bit peckish so we stopped at a cart and got frozen bananas to snack on as we strolled out of Animal Kingdom. (It wasn’t ice cream but I can’t eat a Mickey bar and walk at the same time. The chocolate cracks and falls all over me and makes a mess.)
On our way out we saw a Cast Member collecting all of the birds that were in The Oasis. She was trying to wrangle a parrot off his perch but the parrot was having no part of this. She would try then step back and then try again. It took about 10 minutes before the parrot finally cooperated. The parrot wrangler was very patient. But there was this idiot guy who walked by and kept yelling for the parrot to talk. Everyone watching the parrot and the wrangler just sort of looked at him like he was stupid. And then when the guy walked off he called the bird dumb since he wouldn’t talk. A perfect example of a smart bird and a dumb man.
We got to the buses and only had to wait a few minutes. (I think I am a bus person after all!!!) As we were sitting there some cute little girls commented on the Jibbitz in my Crocs. The family was English but lived in Spain and very friendly. We talked about our favorite characters and our favorite rides and whether they had met Mickey yet. I even got to tell them some helpful hints on how to enjoy Disney World better. Nothing earth shattering - wake up call from Mickey on speaker phone, don’t miss this show, ask to ride in the front of the monorail - that kind of stuff. But it makes me happy to spread the magic. Isn't that what it's all about?
Next Installment - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.
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