A day at Animal Kingdom (pics & music)

[DixieDreamer]

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The second day of our trip we headed to Animal Kingdom for the bulk of the day. This is by far my favorite park at WDW. It is a truly magical place. From the moment you approach the tree of life... you are swept away to lands of adventure and beauty.

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Upon entering the park, we headed straight for Africa and grabbed a fastpass for Kilimanjaro Safari and then proceeded on to the Pangani Forest exploration trail. This is a beautiful trail and the wildlife never ceases to amaze me. Straight away we met up with an Okapi.

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Then we found some gorillas. The babies were playing and I managed to get a fairly close up shot of one of the juveniles.

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As well as one of "DAD".

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My favorite "critters" have to be the Meerkats. They are precious.

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It's not just the animals that make the trails beautiful. There are details, details, details - as only Disney can do it... and flowers that will take your breath away.

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Upon exiting the Pangani trail it was time to use our fastpass for the Kilimanjaro Safari! We marched right on and met our wonderful CM driver who promised we were about to enjoy a TWO WEEK safari. LOL!

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Then we set off on our safari adventure. This is one of my favorite attractions... because it is different every time. The scenery is beautiful.

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One of the beautiful "non" animal attractions is the Boabob tree (not sure if I am spelling that correctly). It has leaves only a few months of the year - which conserves precious water. It is also called the "upside down" tree - because it looks ... well.... upside down!

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Along the way we saw.....

Flamingos.

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A rhinoceros.

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Some elephants.

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And so many other animals! I won't post pics of all of them. The good news is... we managed to stop those nasty poachers and the friendly CM waved us on... with a hearty thank you for our job well done.

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After our safari, we headed to Asia, grabbed a fast pass for Kali River Rapids and then walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek. This is a beautifully themed area and once again... it is the Disney details that transport you to another place and time.

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Along the way we found TIGERS! Beautiful, glorious cats.

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And more details that capture the imagination.

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After we journeyed through the exploration trail we used our fastpass for Kali River rapids and rode the whitewaters! DD got soaked through and through... and I miraculously stayed reasonably dry (for once).

We enjoyed the monkey ruins and relaxed in the Asia area. The vibrant colors and details of this area are a feast for the eyes.

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A candid shot of my DH enjoying the monkeys on the ruin island.

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And a picture of my DH and my DD together.

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We then grabbed a fast pass for "It's Tough to be a Bug" and went to dinoland. We rode the new Primeval Whirl ride (it was in a soft opening). This is a fun "Wild Mouse" style coaster themed as a trip in a timemachine. This is a nice new addition, but honestly, the rest of the new "carny" style games that are in this are not appealing to me. We blew right on by those. We did stop and admire the "bones" as we headed back to the tree of life to do it's tough to be a bug.

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We finished up with it's tough to be a bug and headed back to Africa to have a late lunch at the Tusker House. We love to eat here - as you can sit on the outdoor terrace area and enjoy the gorgeous scenery and shade. The food is good here as well. Along the way we ran into DeVine. She was attached to a pole and slowly unfolded herself to the sun. This is a really amazing thing to watch.

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After a lunch we left Animal Kingdom and returned to the Swan for an afternoon swim and rest. We made last minute PS arrangements for the Brown Derby before heading off to MGM for the evening. I left my camera behind this portion of the day - as I was intent on riding my favorite rides - hands free! We arrived at MGM about 6 pm and the park stayed open until 10 pm. We were able to ride all our favorite attractions with little or no wait - by using Fastpass in the earlier portion of the evening, and later on the lines were non existent as people flocked to the Fantasmic show. Tower of terror, Rock N Roller coaster, Star Tours, Muppets, and a great dinner at the Brown Derby. It was a great night!

So ends our two days at the World. The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast at Tubby's (Dolphin) and ran into LisaF and her family (those lime green ribbons really do work!) before boarding the Disney Cruise Line transportation to port Canaveral. We were sad to have the WDW portion of our trip come to an end... but the excitement of a caribbean cruise was building.

I will post the cruise portion of our trip on the cruise reports board. When I have completed them I will come back here and post a link. If you missed our first day at Epcot - here is a link to that post:

A Day at EPCOT

I really love Animal Kingdom. I cannot capture in my words or pictures the true beauty and magic of this park.

(edited to add a link to the first cruise report)

All Aboard the MAGIC!

 

[helenabear]

DD, thank you so much for posting these. It really gets me wanting to go back in a bad way You captured a lot of beauty in these! Very nice

 

[Amzey]

Wonderful pictures, DD!

 

[zurgswife]

Great pics and I really enjoyed the music......thanks for spending the time....Iwant to go back now....

 

[jennymouse]

Fantastic pics and music! Really exellent photographer you are!

 

[sammi]

DD these are so neat..........thanks for posting and you sure looked like you all had a great time!

 

[#1 Disney Fan]

Great pictures, DoubleD!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Laura, the pictures are just absolutely breathtaking. I love them. When I go back I really have to take even more in than I have. It is just so very nice to look at these, and again, Enya and her Storm makes such an appropriate background. And Lindsay sure looks like she is getting tall there next to dad. And Devine...never heard of 'her'. I will have to find out what that is all about.

Thanks, Dbl D. Thanks.

 

[oldkicker]

Spectacular, DblD!

You are cranking up my Disney jones in such a big way!!!!

Thank you for sharing these!!!

 

[laurenk]

What a GREAT way to start my week off!!! I loved your report. Thanks for taking so much time to do this. What is that music? It is beautiful.

 

[Mamu]

Dixie thanks for sharing your adventures at Animal Kingdom. Pic's are beautiul, I felt like I was there with your family.

 

[Baboo]

I love AK too! Great pics of it! I especially like the fact that bullseye_girl shows up in the mirror in the pic of your Safari driver!

 

[TimNDansMom]

Gorgeous pictures, DblD. AK is such a beautiful park, isn't it! Thank you for sharing these with us.

 

[nicurnc]

Loved this trip report!!

We leave in two weeks and your pix and music really got me going !

Thanks,

Loretta

 

[yepod]

Great pics & love to hear Enya anytime (great background)

To laurenk, it's the elevator version of an Enya song.
She has been recording since the late 80s.
You find her quite often in the 'alternative' music section!

Her latest release is 2 cuts on the Lord of the Rings sound track.

My 3 year old DD loved this music when she was an infant! We put her to bed with it!


Thanks again DD, for the great report & pics

 

[mousemaniac]

Loved the tour. How did you get such great pics on the Safari? Were you sitting near the back/ on the right side? I'd like to get the same vantage point when we go.


thanks again for sharing.

Cris

 

[cottontail]

Hi: All I can say is wow, great pics. I am going in two weeks for the first time to animal kingdom, I know by your pics that I will love it too, and it will become one of my favorite parks at disney as well.

Could I ask what kind of digital camera you were using? Thanks,

Deb.

 

[DixieDreamer]

mousemaniac - I was sitting on the very front seat of the safari vehicle... in the middle with DD and DH on my left. All the seats are good... but my preference is very front... or very back of the vehicle.... as you can see the front or back unobstructed... for that last parting look!

cottontail - I have a Canon PowerShot S10 digital camera. I like the quality of the pics - but I like the small size of the camera almost as much! Very small and easy to throw in a fanny pack.


Glad you are all enjoying the pics and reports. I am finishing up with my Cruise pics and will be posting those soon on the Cruiseline Trip Reports board... but I will come back here and add a link so you can find them too.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

Great pic's DD - I'm ready for our June TRIP!!!

 

[Laurabearz]

Thanks for the pictures! It does my heart good to see AK again! Thanks!