That's the first time we had to wear a poncho in Disney! A Mar./April '11 TR DONE 9/5

[onelilspark]

So I had to laugh on your last update when you said you got a more durable poncho. My family had the bright yellow ones for years! We always saved them until they rip and just re-use them!!

Also, I heard that there will be a Pirates 5...but I forget where I heard that, so I don't remember if it was fact or rumor!!

 

[cbg1027]

Those lion photos are incredible! I have NEVER seen either one of them standing up. Very cool!

 

[amyrella]

Yay for awesome shots of the lions!! I saw African cats the other say and loved it. Lions are just so beautiful! The close up shots wee amazing... I couldn't get over how they were able to get the cles ups they got..

I also saw POTC 4 this weekend... I liked it as well and I agree I think there may be another one on the way...

Great update! Glad the rain held off!

 

[dawnbu40]

I'm glad you enjoyed Pirates Before the movie even opened I had read they were trying to get Johnny to sign on for number 5

Wow you had some amazing luck on your safaris! Your pictures are great and it sounds like you had a lot of fun. Nice update

 

[Queenofallthings]

Those are amazing pictures of the lionsIn all our trips I have never seen the male lion awake let alone standing

 

[brookelizabeth]

Hey Sarah! I was a trillion updates behind, but caught up again now. Hopefully I can stay caught up somewhat! What AMAZING safari rides you had!!!!! I've only ever seen the heads of the lions too. I would probably end up snapping 100 pictures if I ever saw what you did.

I hope that rain stays away!!!

 

[Jennifer48]

Cute Toy Story topiaries!

What fantastic safari mojo you had!!!!!!! (had to agree with your use of ! )

I didn't know that about the lady bug lamps! Thanks for sharing!

 

[PirateKate]

Cool lion pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I thought it deserved a few more exclamation points)

You had some great Safari luck!

 

[Nermel9]

I just saw the new Pirates movie yesterday and I LOVED it! I thought I heard they were making 2 more, but I could be wrong...I hope they are!

Love the safari pics! The lions are so beautiful! I kind of want to do rope drop for AK someday, but it definitely won't be on my next trip. Maybe in May, if I go!

 

[nessz79]

Subbing! Great review- thank you for posting all the videos!

 

[xoktenox]

Wow, that is amazing that you got to see both lions like that!!

I love that zoomed in picture of Mickey that you got!

I hope the rain held up for you for the rest of your day

 

[jecskc]

Loving your TR !! Hoping to see more pics of OKW since we are going in 25 more days !! I can't WAIT !! Great photos of the safari !!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Just catching up, I had 3 updates to read, you were busy while I was gone!!

Very impressive drawings of Pooh

Love the Toy Story topiaries, I don't blame you for taking the pics from under the overhangs - stupid rain!

Holy cow!!!! Another great lion sighting, and a double one at that!!!

 

[Cat0727]

Omg you got some incredible shots of the lions! I love it! And score for getting a clear shot of the cheetah! They are always hiding waaayy in the back when I'm on KS.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wow! I am so jealous of the luck you were having with the lions on your trip! Amazing photos!

 

[meeko_33785]

Nice picture of Mickey, and what fantastic luck you had with the lions on this trip, not to mention the cheetahs.

 

[wdwgirl03]

WOW! Both lions?!?! That's awesome! I've never actually been to AK, but I've read A LOT of TRs... enough to know that it's rare to see/get good photos of just one, but both at once?

It was definitely a treat getting to see both lions and the lioness twice! It made up for some of the not-so-memorable moments (mostly the weather, lol).

Good to see the rain disappeared! I've never had the chance to see the opening show for Animal Kingdom and I heard its really cool. I love the pictures you got of Mickey and Minnie especially the close-up of the head honcho himself! I can see why it's your favorite. (; Then, you go on Kilimanjaro and got some great photos. I've been lucky to see the lions or lionesses, but they usually are hard to take pictures of. I can't believe the Lion was actually standing up. Insane stuff on that ride seemed to happen to you this trip Haha Can't wait to read more about your adventures in the AK! Update soon!

Oh and I saw POTC recently too and I'm so glad to see someone thinks there should be another POTC. It really left me hanging at the end. Overall, it was fairly good

Yeah, the AK opening show is cute. Hopefully you'll get to see it some day.

It sounds like there is going to another POTC movie on the way. So we'll see...

great shots of the lions!!!!!!

We heard them roar in March!! It was for like a second but it was still pretty cool!!

Thanks!

That is really cool to hear them roar. Though I'd still probably be a little nervous. haha

You definitely win the award for TR with best pictures of the lions ever!! Those shots are so amazing. Looks like we chose the wrong day to go to AK!

haha, aww, thanks!

Amazing photos on the safari!
Great photo of Mickey close up too.

Thank you.

Ugh...sorry about the rain. But, I love those Toy Story topiaries! I''m so sad we missed seeing them this year.

Wow! Great Lion pictures!! We've never been lucky enough to even get a glimpse of him. That's so exciting to be able to see him in full view!!

I love the F&GF. Hopefully you'll get to go again soon. I know I want to go again next spring break!

I was going through some old Disney pictures and the most we saw of him before this trip was his head, kind of like what most people say. It was such a shock to see him out like that. But I'm not complaining!

We've never seen the rope drop show at AK. We were either already in the park for an ADR, or got there a bit late due to heavy rain, that we waited for about an hour for it to slow down.
Nice pictures of the lions I really enjoy seeing them so free and open.

I think the AK show is probably the 2nd best one. It's pretty cute.

 

[wdwgirl03]

So I had to laugh on your last update when you said you got a more durable poncho. My family had the bright yellow ones for years! We always saved them until they rip and just re-use them!!

Also, I heard that there will be a Pirates 5...but I forget where I heard that, so I don't remember if it was fact or rumor!!

We used to have those yellow ones too. The ones we brought were actually from home and are meant to be disposable (they were super thin which was nice for carrying in a park bag...until we had to use them, that is).

My sister said something about another POTC movie too.

Those lion photos are incredible! I have NEVER seen either one of them standing up. Very cool!

Thanks for the compliment! We had never seen them standing up before either. It was hands-down one of the best, if not the best, safari we've ever done.

Yay for awesome shots of the lions!! I saw African cats the other say and loved it. Lions are just so beautiful! The close up shots wee amazing... I couldn't get over how they were able to get the cles ups they got..

I also saw POTC 4 this weekend... I liked it as well and I agree I think there may be another one on the way...

Great update! Glad the rain held off!

Oh, I know! With the Earth and Oceans DVDs they have bonus features about how they get the shots. I can't imagine how long it must take though to get them!

I'm glad you enjoyed Pirates Before the movie even opened I had read they were trying to get Johnny to sign on for number 5

Wow you had some amazing luck on your safaris! Your pictures are great and it sounds like you had a lot of fun. Nice update

It'll be fun to see what happens with another Pirates movie.

We did have a lot of fun, especially that we could stay dry for a day.

Those are amazing pictures of the lionsIn all our trips I have never seen the male lion awake let alone standing

hehe, I love seeing all these comments about the lions because that's what we were thinking and we heard other people saying it too on the ride. It's just so rare that you get to see them.

Hey Sarah! I was a trillion updates behind, but caught up again now. Hopefully I can stay caught up somewhat! What AMAZING safari rides you had!!!!! I've only ever seen the heads of the lions too. I would probably end up snapping 100 pictures if I ever saw what you did.

I hope that rain stays away!!!

Hi Brook! I am so jealous you are on your way to WDW again right now. Wish I was going! I hear ya on trying to get a bunch of pictures. I wanted to too, but you can only get so many in a moving truck. haha Though it might be easier with a better camera too.

Cute Toy Story topiaries!

What fantastic safari mojo you had!!!!!!! (had to agree with your use of ! )

I didn't know that about the lady bug lamps! Thanks for sharing!

I loved the TS display.

haha, thanks. It was definitely exciting!

Cool lion pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I thought it deserved a few more exclamation points)

You had some great Safari luck!

haha, yes, we did!

I just saw the new Pirates movie yesterday and I LOVED it! I thought I heard they were making 2 more, but I could be wrong...I hope they are!

Love the safari pics! The lions are so beautiful! I kind of want to do rope drop for AK someday, but it definitely won't be on my next trip. Maybe in May, if I go!

I think you should try to do rope drop. As I've said before for other parks, it's worth doing atleast once.

Subbing! Great review- thank you for posting all the videos!

Welcome!! Glad you are joining in!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Wow, that is amazing that you got to see both lions like that!!

I love that zoomed in picture of Mickey that you got!

I hope the rain held up for you for the rest of your day

Glad you liked the pictures. You'll have to wait and see if the rain stayed away the whole day...

Loving your TR !! Hoping to see more pics of OKW since we are going in 25 more days !! I can't WAIT !! Great photos of the safari !!

Woo hoo, you are going soon! Glad you are enjoying my TR. I do have more pictures of OKW too.

Just catching up, I had 3 updates to read, you were busy while I was gone!!

Very impressive drawings of Pooh

Love the Toy Story topiaries, I don't blame you for taking the pics from under the overhangs - stupid rain!

Holy cow!!!! Another great lion sighting, and a double one at that!!!

Thanks for the compliment on our Pooh drawings.

I can think of many more words to describe the rain too...LOL!

I know, right?! It was too good to be true.

Omg you got some incredible shots of the lions! I love it! And score for getting a clear shot of the cheetah! They are always hiding waaayy in the back when I'm on KS.

It was cool to see the cheetah too but I am still bummed I couldn't get a picture of the one that was like right up front. That would've been awesome.

Wow! I am so jealous of the luck you were having with the lions on your trip! Amazing photos!

Thanks!

Nice picture of Mickey, and what fantastic luck you had with the lions on this trip, not to mention the cheetahs.

We did have amazing luck...and we'll probably never see them like that again.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 cont'd (part 2)

After our most amazing safari, what did we decide to do? Well, we were at the Animal Kingdom so of course we went to go check out some more animals! Since it was so close, we took a nice stroll through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.

Our first animal sighting was the okapis.

We learned that okapis usually live alone and the CM explained to us that this was a mother-daughter pair.

One of the educational signs to learn more about okapis. If only I taught in Florida...it would be fun to take a field trip to DAK! Or maybe not...

In the little building leading into the aviary Claire found some interesting creatures.

A huge frog...

And some mouse that she thought was cute. LOL.

On our way into the aviary, Claire asked if we should pick up a bird spotting guide. She quickly decided not to, but I ended up taking one. Turns out, I found a bird right away! hehe According to the guide it is an African Jacana.

Unfortunately I don't know what this little guy is called.

After the birds we stopped briefly to watch the meerkats. They're so cute how they keep watch like that.

And finally, the highlight of the Pangani Forest...the gorillas! We sure got to see plenty of them that day!

There's the little baby! I told Claire that was the same one Dad and I saw last year and she didn't believe me because she's still so small. I later found out that apparently she has some issue where she isn't growing normally.

But she is still cute.

Speaking of primates, we saw Terk too so Claire stopped for a picture.

And Flik!

I thought I got my picture with him too but I guess Claire didn't post it on her facebook. Hmm.

Next up was the Flights of Wonder show. Claire had never seen it before and I wanted to see it again so we headed over toward Asia and found some good seats. I wouldn't consider myself a bird fanatic but I actually really enjoy this show. It's a good mix of animals, humor, "tricks" (though they really mimic the birds' natural behaviors), and conservation. Plus, sometimes the birds don't cooperate which can be entertaining for the audience and the trainers as well.

Here's a few pictures of the birds:

This guy was probably a crowd favorite. See the microphone? He sang "Yankee Doodle" and "How Much Is That Doggie In the Window?". Hilarious!

If you do have bird phobia, beware because sometimes they have the birds fly out over the audience!

The East African Crowned Crane. I think this one is really cool!

This one is pretty neat too. I forget the name of it, but they talk about how they eat small lizards so they put a fake lizard out on a rock. Then the bird grabs it in its beak and starts smacking it against the rock to tenderize it. Poor lizard...

As I mentioned, the show throws in a little bit of conservation. They end with another crowd favorite, the bald eagle!

The good news is that the bald eagle is no longer on the endangered species list!

And one last shot of some parrots (or macaws?).

Overall I enjoyed seeing the show again and I think Claire liked it too. Definitely worth checking out atleast once!

up next: Lions and Tigers and Yetis...oh my!