S
susana
Guest
Day 1 - Saturday, February 3, 2001
Today it was chilly, low 60âÂÂs, very windy and overcast. We caught the bus to Animal
Kingdom, and were there when the gate opened. The characters came out to the gate,
and some CMâÂÂs were there with animals in cages that we stopped to look at. They also
had some people up on stilts with feathered costumes, blowing on bird calls, so that they
looked and sounded like birds. One came up to my daughter and ruffled her hair with his
wings, which she thought was very cool.
We got a fast pass for Kilimanjaro Safari, even though there was no wait, so we could go
on the Pangani trail without a lot of crowds. The gorillas were very active, and we had a
lot of fun watching the babies ride on the momsâ backs, the young males play fighting,
and one young one washing his food before eating it. When we came out of the trail, we
went on our safari and saw lots of animals. I donâÂÂt remember all of the varieties, but the
ones that stand out are the elephants, giraffes, lions (we saw the male and female),
zebras, rhinos, and gazelles. There were many more, but my memory fails me.
We then went on the train to RafikiâÂÂs Planet Watch (formerly known as Conservation
Station). There didnâÂÂt seem to be much happening here. We went through the exhibits,
and they claimed there was a veterinary procedure going on, but we couldnâÂÂt see anything
but technicians and machines. The animal they were working on was nowhere in sight,
so after a few moments, we moved on. We went to the petting zoo and saw nothing but
goats, which we can pet here at home at the zoo, so we decided to go back to the train
and continue our day. We would not choose to come out here again.
Once back in the main part of the park, we went to the Tree of Life to see ItâÂÂs Tough To
Be a Bug. This was a great show, and had some unexpected surprises. We thought it
was very funny, and would have liked to see it again, but ran out of time and energy
before we could get back.
Next, we rode the Dinosaur ride. This was great fun, although rather rough, and became
one of my daughterâÂÂs favorite rides. She wanted to ride again, but Mom and Dad were
too wiped out, so we moved on.
We saw the Tarzan Rocks show, which we really enjoyed. The music and singing were
great, and the skaters were lots of fun. Tarzan was cool to look at, although they gave
him some seriously gnarly hair! Anyway, we liked this one very much. Here was the
first place a CM said hello to Tara and called her by her name. She forgot she had her
Guest of Honor badge on, so she gave him this puzzled look like âÂÂDo I know youâ and he
said âÂÂYou have a name tag onâ and then she remembered and broke out in a big grin. It
was really funny!
Had lunch at Pizzafari. I had the Italian deli sandwich, which was very good. The others
had pizza, which they said was good, but nothing to get charged up over. About $22.00
for the three of us.
We then went to The Festival of the Lion King show, which was entertaining and very
pretty. It just wasnâÂÂt what I had thought it would be. I wasnâÂÂt as blown away as I thought
I would be, maybe because I had built up such high expectations. At any rate, it wasnâÂÂt a
bad show, just not as exciting as I had pictured. The tumble monkeys were good, and the
costumes were very colorful, but not sure if I would go back to this one.
By this time, it had started to rain and we were tired. We went back to our room at
Dixie. Really liked this resort, they met all of my room requests and it had beautiful
landscaping. The food court was also very good, and we used it several times while we
were there.
After our rest, we went to Magic Kingdom to see the MSEP, since this was the only night
it was running. We ate at Pecos BillâÂÂs. I had a chicken wrap, my husband had a
cheeseburger and our daughter had chili cheese fries. Very good, about $20.00. The
parade was spectacular. We were so close to the floats, we could have reached out and
touched them. Even my husband was grinning from ear to ear before this was over. I am
really glad we got to see it.
ThatâÂÂs it for day 1 - on to day 2!!
Today it was chilly, low 60âÂÂs, very windy and overcast. We caught the bus to Animal
Kingdom, and were there when the gate opened. The characters came out to the gate,
and some CMâÂÂs were there with animals in cages that we stopped to look at. They also
had some people up on stilts with feathered costumes, blowing on bird calls, so that they
looked and sounded like birds. One came up to my daughter and ruffled her hair with his
wings, which she thought was very cool.
We got a fast pass for Kilimanjaro Safari, even though there was no wait, so we could go
on the Pangani trail without a lot of crowds. The gorillas were very active, and we had a
lot of fun watching the babies ride on the momsâ backs, the young males play fighting,
and one young one washing his food before eating it. When we came out of the trail, we
went on our safari and saw lots of animals. I donâÂÂt remember all of the varieties, but the
ones that stand out are the elephants, giraffes, lions (we saw the male and female),
zebras, rhinos, and gazelles. There were many more, but my memory fails me.
We then went on the train to RafikiâÂÂs Planet Watch (formerly known as Conservation
Station). There didnâÂÂt seem to be much happening here. We went through the exhibits,
and they claimed there was a veterinary procedure going on, but we couldnâÂÂt see anything
but technicians and machines. The animal they were working on was nowhere in sight,
so after a few moments, we moved on. We went to the petting zoo and saw nothing but
goats, which we can pet here at home at the zoo, so we decided to go back to the train
and continue our day. We would not choose to come out here again.
Once back in the main part of the park, we went to the Tree of Life to see ItâÂÂs Tough To
Be a Bug. This was a great show, and had some unexpected surprises. We thought it
was very funny, and would have liked to see it again, but ran out of time and energy
before we could get back.
Next, we rode the Dinosaur ride. This was great fun, although rather rough, and became
one of my daughterâÂÂs favorite rides. She wanted to ride again, but Mom and Dad were
too wiped out, so we moved on.
We saw the Tarzan Rocks show, which we really enjoyed. The music and singing were
great, and the skaters were lots of fun. Tarzan was cool to look at, although they gave
him some seriously gnarly hair! Anyway, we liked this one very much. Here was the
first place a CM said hello to Tara and called her by her name. She forgot she had her
Guest of Honor badge on, so she gave him this puzzled look like âÂÂDo I know youâ and he
said âÂÂYou have a name tag onâ and then she remembered and broke out in a big grin. It
was really funny!
Had lunch at Pizzafari. I had the Italian deli sandwich, which was very good. The others
had pizza, which they said was good, but nothing to get charged up over. About $22.00
for the three of us.
We then went to The Festival of the Lion King show, which was entertaining and very
pretty. It just wasnâÂÂt what I had thought it would be. I wasnâÂÂt as blown away as I thought
I would be, maybe because I had built up such high expectations. At any rate, it wasnâÂÂt a
bad show, just not as exciting as I had pictured. The tumble monkeys were good, and the
costumes were very colorful, but not sure if I would go back to this one.
By this time, it had started to rain and we were tired. We went back to our room at
Dixie. Really liked this resort, they met all of my room requests and it had beautiful
landscaping. The food court was also very good, and we used it several times while we
were there.
After our rest, we went to Magic Kingdom to see the MSEP, since this was the only night
it was running. We ate at Pecos BillâÂÂs. I had a chicken wrap, my husband had a
cheeseburger and our daughter had chili cheese fries. Very good, about $20.00. The
parade was spectacular. We were so close to the floats, we could have reached out and
touched them. Even my husband was grinning from ear to ear before this was over. I am
really glad we got to see it.
ThatâÂÂs it for day 1 - on to day 2!!
