Wow, it was so nice to wake up on my own at 6:30 AM than at 5:30 AM from outside noise. The AKL was quiet; I never heard so much as a person talking or a car moving even though we were right next to the parking lot. The paper was waiting just outside our door which, was a nice touch. I turned on the TV to catch the weather and then wished I hadn't bothered. Rain for most of the day. I think I heard something about a tropical wave? Oh great, just what we needed. Oh well, it can't be helped; so we will just have to make the best of it.
Everybody got up pretty easily and there was a general concenous that all had slept well. My 2 DNs are 15 and 17 and are on the heavy side. They just loved the bunk beds and said that they were plenty big for them to have a comfortable rest. We decided to eat breakfast at Maras the AKL food court. I have to admit the selection was not as good as the ASMos but we could get what we needed. I like WDW's scrambled eggs and notice that everywhere fixes them the same. So, I had them and a donut. My Dsis had the french tosst and said it were very good. All in all there was no complaints and everyone was satisfied with what they got.
We went down to the bus stop and had to wait for about 15 minutes. That is not a long time but I thought it would be quicker considering AK is just next door. We got to AK around rope drop so there was a lot of congestion around the entrance. The paths are so small that it seemed to be a lot more crowded than it really was. Our troop first went to the Sarfari ride which only had a 10 minute wait. It was great as usual. We saw a lot of animals and I'm always amazed how the rhinos just walk up to the jeep and cross right in front of you. I would think that Rhinos are dangerous and that this would not be a good idea. The experts must know a lot about them than me though so I try not to get to get nervous about it. My Dsis and DNs said that AK was becoming one of their favorite parks.
After the Sarfari ride we went looking for the gorillas. This is always a fun activity and we were able to spot two of them. They were not real active at the time so it was kind of hard to find them. The scenery at AK is very nice and I would recommend that everyone take the trails and try to see everything. The animals and trails are what makes this park enjoyable. If you just ride the rides and do no more than I think you will be disappointed.
We moved on to the Tree and It's a bugs life. My two DSs had hated it when they were 4 and 6 but this time they enjoyed it. Please all parents take notice! Most children under the age of 7 will not like this attraction. It is just to scary for them. Children under the age of 7 still believe in magical thinking and have problems determining what is real and what is not. You put them in a room with spiders coming down from the ceiling, 3D bug images in thier faces; combining that with the smells, real effects like water and things really touching them; you have set the stage for a nightmare in a young childs mind. I wished I had not taken my sons when they were younger. My 6 year old ended up on the floor screaming his lungs out while I frantically searched for a way out. My 4 year did a little better but started crying at the end. Of course this time they thought it was funny. But there was children all around us that were having a very hard time of it. In fact, almost every young child I noticed was either crying or screaming histerically by the end of the show. My Dsis said that she didn't even like it (she hates bugs) and had to take off her 3D glasses. So, just remember even if your young children loved the movie they probably will not like this attraction!
Things were really starting to cloud up so we knew we had to move fast. We moved on to the Lion King show which was awsome as usual. I just love the Lion King music and all the bright colors which helps to makes a cloudy day seem a little brighter. Everyone agreed that this was a great show. It had started to rain so we decided to get somthing to eat. We got some food at a counter service and sat down for awhile. It really was raining hard but we didn't want to leave. We had ps at RFC at 5:30 so we thought we would stick it out until then.
After eating we moved on to the Dinosaur ride. Everyone enjoyed it and it was a nice break from the rain. I think we waited 25 minuts. I do want to say something about Dinorama though, Yuck!!! What an ugly place. I do not think it fits in with the rest of AK. I'm not sure what the Disney Imagineers were thinking with this. I feel like I would like the concept a lot better if it was at the MK in Toon Town. That is just my opinion
We next went to see Tarzan Rocks. I don't like this show very well at all. It reminds me of just another amusement park show. The music wasn't special and neither was the dancing. I,ve seen shows on the same scale of this one at Kings Dominion, I would not bother watching it agian. It was a nice respite from the rain though so it served it's purpose.
I've never rode a white water rapids ride in the rain before until we decided to go to Asia. Here we were wearing our ponchos in the pouring down rain and riding a ride that is for making you wet. We were laughing while standing in line saying things like This ride will get you wet, but standing in line for this ride will even make you wetter. This was the first time I had rode this ride and was impressed with the scenery. No other amusement park that I know of would add so much detail to a ride like this one. It is a short ride though, so if there is a long line it may not be worth waiting for a long period of time.
The last thing we did was ride the train. I had also never done this before and was surprised to see the conservation station. I did not realize that it was there. The only way you can get to it is by the train. We enjoyed our time there especially listening to the stories that was told in what I call 3D sound. It was like the Dangerous Sounds show at MGM. I was also impressed with their animal clinic. You can even watch live surgeries if one is going on at the time you are there. Outside there is apetting Zoo which we didn't really see because of the rain. It looked like there were mainly goats that you could pet. Finally it was time to go so we made our way back to the train and then to the exit towards the RFC.
Eventhough my feet were wet everything else had stayed dry. I didn't feel to uncomfortable setting in the RFC in the airconditioning. Now, I know that a lot of people don't like this place to eat but I have always enjoyed it. I had the shrimp and pasta dish and it was very good. Everyones food was hot and fresh. We didn't have to wait a very long time either. We had the volcano for dessert which must be new. I don't remember seeing the waiters carrying this dessert and yelling VOLCANO as they approched the table. It is a huge icecream, brownie, chocolate fudge and carmel dissert which, fed all six of us easily.
It was back to AKL for swimming and relaxation. The rain had stopped so I decided to get into the hot tub. I am glad I did. I felt all my weariness just melt away into the hot water. It wasn't very crowded and I stayed there for the better part of an hour. Then it was off to bed in our quiet, dark rooms made very conducive for sleeping. Despite the rain God has been good and our time was slipping away to fast. Tomorrow was going to be our last day. I was sad to think about it, but glad that we still had one more day to enjoy.
Everybody got up pretty easily and there was a general concenous that all had slept well. My 2 DNs are 15 and 17 and are on the heavy side. They just loved the bunk beds and said that they were plenty big for them to have a comfortable rest. We decided to eat breakfast at Maras the AKL food court. I have to admit the selection was not as good as the ASMos but we could get what we needed. I like WDW's scrambled eggs and notice that everywhere fixes them the same. So, I had them and a donut. My Dsis had the french tosst and said it were very good. All in all there was no complaints and everyone was satisfied with what they got.
We went down to the bus stop and had to wait for about 15 minutes. That is not a long time but I thought it would be quicker considering AK is just next door. We got to AK around rope drop so there was a lot of congestion around the entrance. The paths are so small that it seemed to be a lot more crowded than it really was. Our troop first went to the Sarfari ride which only had a 10 minute wait. It was great as usual. We saw a lot of animals and I'm always amazed how the rhinos just walk up to the jeep and cross right in front of you. I would think that Rhinos are dangerous and that this would not be a good idea. The experts must know a lot about them than me though so I try not to get to get nervous about it. My Dsis and DNs said that AK was becoming one of their favorite parks.
After the Sarfari ride we went looking for the gorillas. This is always a fun activity and we were able to spot two of them. They were not real active at the time so it was kind of hard to find them. The scenery at AK is very nice and I would recommend that everyone take the trails and try to see everything. The animals and trails are what makes this park enjoyable. If you just ride the rides and do no more than I think you will be disappointed.
We moved on to the Tree and It's a bugs life. My two DSs had hated it when they were 4 and 6 but this time they enjoyed it. Please all parents take notice! Most children under the age of 7 will not like this attraction. It is just to scary for them. Children under the age of 7 still believe in magical thinking and have problems determining what is real and what is not. You put them in a room with spiders coming down from the ceiling, 3D bug images in thier faces; combining that with the smells, real effects like water and things really touching them; you have set the stage for a nightmare in a young childs mind. I wished I had not taken my sons when they were younger. My 6 year old ended up on the floor screaming his lungs out while I frantically searched for a way out. My 4 year did a little better but started crying at the end. Of course this time they thought it was funny. But there was children all around us that were having a very hard time of it. In fact, almost every young child I noticed was either crying or screaming histerically by the end of the show. My Dsis said that she didn't even like it (she hates bugs) and had to take off her 3D glasses. So, just remember even if your young children loved the movie they probably will not like this attraction!
Things were really starting to cloud up so we knew we had to move fast. We moved on to the Lion King show which was awsome as usual. I just love the Lion King music and all the bright colors which helps to makes a cloudy day seem a little brighter. Everyone agreed that this was a great show. It had started to rain so we decided to get somthing to eat. We got some food at a counter service and sat down for awhile. It really was raining hard but we didn't want to leave. We had ps at RFC at 5:30 so we thought we would stick it out until then.
After eating we moved on to the Dinosaur ride. Everyone enjoyed it and it was a nice break from the rain. I think we waited 25 minuts. I do want to say something about Dinorama though, Yuck!!! What an ugly place. I do not think it fits in with the rest of AK. I'm not sure what the Disney Imagineers were thinking with this. I feel like I would like the concept a lot better if it was at the MK in Toon Town. That is just my opinion
We next went to see Tarzan Rocks. I don't like this show very well at all. It reminds me of just another amusement park show. The music wasn't special and neither was the dancing. I,ve seen shows on the same scale of this one at Kings Dominion, I would not bother watching it agian. It was a nice respite from the rain though so it served it's purpose.
I've never rode a white water rapids ride in the rain before until we decided to go to Asia. Here we were wearing our ponchos in the pouring down rain and riding a ride that is for making you wet. We were laughing while standing in line saying things like This ride will get you wet, but standing in line for this ride will even make you wetter. This was the first time I had rode this ride and was impressed with the scenery. No other amusement park that I know of would add so much detail to a ride like this one. It is a short ride though, so if there is a long line it may not be worth waiting for a long period of time.
The last thing we did was ride the train. I had also never done this before and was surprised to see the conservation station. I did not realize that it was there. The only way you can get to it is by the train. We enjoyed our time there especially listening to the stories that was told in what I call 3D sound. It was like the Dangerous Sounds show at MGM. I was also impressed with their animal clinic. You can even watch live surgeries if one is going on at the time you are there. Outside there is apetting Zoo which we didn't really see because of the rain. It looked like there were mainly goats that you could pet. Finally it was time to go so we made our way back to the train and then to the exit towards the RFC.
Eventhough my feet were wet everything else had stayed dry. I didn't feel to uncomfortable setting in the RFC in the airconditioning. Now, I know that a lot of people don't like this place to eat but I have always enjoyed it. I had the shrimp and pasta dish and it was very good. Everyones food was hot and fresh. We didn't have to wait a very long time either. We had the volcano for dessert which must be new. I don't remember seeing the waiters carrying this dessert and yelling VOLCANO as they approched the table. It is a huge icecream, brownie, chocolate fudge and carmel dissert which, fed all six of us easily.
It was back to AKL for swimming and relaxation. The rain had stopped so I decided to get into the hot tub. I am glad I did. I felt all my weariness just melt away into the hot water. It wasn't very crowded and I stayed there for the better part of an hour. Then it was off to bed in our quiet, dark rooms made very conducive for sleeping. Despite the rain God has been good and our time was slipping away to fast. Tomorrow was going to be our last day. I was sad to think about it, but glad that we still had one more day to enjoy.
. It's always sad to think about going home after a great time. I can't imagine riding Kali in the rain. Must have been a little strange.
