Chattyaholic
~For years I wanted to be older, and now I am~ Mar
- Joined
- May 6, 2000
Thursday, January 11: We caught a bus from our hotel over to Animal Kingdom and were there shortly before 8:00 when it opened. I had read on these boards about the "secret entrance" inside the gift shop at the Rain Forest cafe and thought about trying it, but the crowd at the entrance was really small so we didn't bother. We headed right to the Kilimanjaro Safari, and since the weather was quite cool a lot of the animals were out and about so we had a great safari, took lots of pictures and video. We went on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and saw more animals, including the gorillas. The "Tree of Life" was magnificent, really something special to see. "It's Tough To Be a Bug" was wonderful, with all the 3-D effects, and the "Festival of the Lion King" was really good too, but we had lousy seats in the back so didn't film much. They seated you as you came in, had no choice in where to sit, and they filled up each section before starting another, so that was disappointing. On the "character greeting trail" we had our pictures taken with Pooh and Tigger. I had my picture taken with Pooh when I was 14, so I was thrilled to have it done again, almost 30 years later!! 
I'm sure it wasn't "the same" Pooh though, ha ha! We then went on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. It was too cold for the bats to be out, but the tigers were all sleeping together in the sunshine. We had lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ and really enjoyed it. Kirk had a BBQ platter and I had the grilled chicken salad sandwich and fries. It was on the expensive side, but large portions. We saw the "Tarzan Rocks" show and thought it was good, then went on the "Dinosaur" ride and enjoyed that, the dinosaurs look so real! After viewing and purchasing our Pooh and Tigger pictures, we left about 2:30 to head on over to MGM Studios. We saw "Beauty and the Beast" and thought it was fantastic. Then we went to the "Magic of Disney Animation" for a very interesting and informative 35-minute guided tour. We learned how the animation is done, and they're working on movies that will be released in 2-3 years. We also did the 35-minute "Back Lot" tour which was very interesting too. We saw how they film ships/storms, and saw the "fake street" with facades of houses used in filming ("Golden Girls" was one). We also did the 25-minute walking tour of "Back Stage Pass" and saw a lot of different sets used in TV shows and movies. The park closed at 6:30 and we hopped on a bus and got back to the resort about 7:00 - tired, hungry and thirsty. We went to the food court again for supper. I had a kid's meal - macaroni (shaped like Mickey's head) and cheese, fries and a Mickey ice cream bar. 
We never did eat in the restaurant on top of the hotel, the California Grill, or Chef Mickey's. We figured we would be getting more than our fair share of great food on our cruise, so we decided to "go easy" while we were at the parks and save our appetites, and waistlines, for the cruise!
WDW '73, '79, '98
WDW Contemporary 1/01
7-night Disney cruise 1/01
I'm sure it wasn't "the same" Pooh though, ha ha! We then went on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. It was too cold for the bats to be out, but the tigers were all sleeping together in the sunshine. We had lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ and really enjoyed it. Kirk had a BBQ platter and I had the grilled chicken salad sandwich and fries. It was on the expensive side, but large portions. We saw the "Tarzan Rocks" show and thought it was good, then went on the "Dinosaur" ride and enjoyed that, the dinosaurs look so real! After viewing and purchasing our Pooh and Tigger pictures, we left about 2:30 to head on over to MGM Studios. We saw "Beauty and the Beast" and thought it was fantastic. Then we went to the "Magic of Disney Animation" for a very interesting and informative 35-minute guided tour. We learned how the animation is done, and they're working on movies that will be released in 2-3 years. We also did the 35-minute "Back Lot" tour which was very interesting too. We saw how they film ships/storms, and saw the "fake street" with facades of houses used in filming ("Golden Girls" was one). We also did the 25-minute walking tour of "Back Stage Pass" and saw a lot of different sets used in TV shows and movies. The park closed at 6:30 and we hopped on a bus and got back to the resort about 7:00 - tired, hungry and thirsty. We went to the food court again for supper. I had a kid's meal - macaroni (shaped like Mickey's head) and cheese, fries and a Mickey ice cream bar. We never did eat in the restaurant on top of the hotel, the California Grill, or Chef Mickey's. We figured we would be getting more than our fair share of great food on our cruise, so we decided to "go easy" while we were at the parks and save our appetites, and waistlines, for the cruise! WDW '73, '79, '98
WDW Contemporary 1/01
7-night Disney cruise 1/01
