steve_rob
Mine? Mine? Mine? Mine?
- Joined
- May 23, 2002
- Messages
- 1,460
# Day 2 - 4th October (Early to rise...) #
As with most Brits, either due to jet-lag or sheer excitement, waking up at 5am is de rigeur for the first day. Deal with the suitcase unpacking and any ironing, get breakfast (bagels, cream cheese, cereal from last nights shopping trip - now you know why we needed that fridge) and plan our first real day at Animal Kingdom. This is always our starting day because it's easy on the feet and you can do it in six-odd hours without rushing too much - though we STILL tend to do it commando style, because that's how we always do it!
Start in Africa with Kilamanjaro Safaris and the Pangani Exploration Trail, then head to Conservation Station and have a interesting conversation with a trash can while Erika tries to get her picture taken with an extremely shy Rafiki who kept running away!
Then over to Asia for Kali where we stayed surprisingly dry and a gander at the start of the ground work for the new Yeti encounter ride they offically announced while we were there. Next up was the Flights of Wonder bird show, which I can highly recommend doing, even if us two seemed to be the only ones to getting the jokes! Having said that, at least the audiences for the shows seemed to be getting involved this time.
Our last trip was filled with times where the performers seemed to have to go that extra mile just to get people to even clap along with the music. The audience all seemed to enjoy the shows based on their response at the end, but during the shows most of them sat there stoney faced with arms folded as if to say "Entertain me." Maybe that had something to do with 9/11 being still on the radar screen back then, but it was a little disconcerting at times and I was glad to see it had changed.
Tough to Be a Bug followed (remembering to lean forward at the right time!) and lunch at Tusker House - in my opinion, one of the best counter service lunches on Disney property. We then had to make a choice - based on the show schedule, we could only see one of Tarzan and Lion King, unless we were willing to stay virtually until park closing. Last time we saw LK and as we were heading over to Dinoland anyway, Tarzan seemed the obvious choice. To be honest, we made the wrong choice - I was very disappointed with the show. I was expecting something more like the one at DLP (which was superb), but it was more like an okay-ish rock concert loosely based around the storyline. In fact the only bit I really enjoyed was the Starlight Express-esque roller skating bit. Oh well, we know for next time.
Then on to Dinosaur and Chester & Hester's Stick Out Like A Sore Thumb Land.
One word - Ugly.
Although give it credit, Primeval Whirl was good fun (although Erika didn't like it as she got a mega bruise on her arm from being whipped around so much).
So we were out of the park by 4pm, meaning a nice lazy evening in, a chance to fill up the fridge with Cokes after a 'proper' trip to Publix and a rather pleasant meal at IHOP. Hey, I almost feel I'm starting to unwind already...
As with most Brits, either due to jet-lag or sheer excitement, waking up at 5am is de rigeur for the first day. Deal with the suitcase unpacking and any ironing, get breakfast (bagels, cream cheese, cereal from last nights shopping trip - now you know why we needed that fridge) and plan our first real day at Animal Kingdom. This is always our starting day because it's easy on the feet and you can do it in six-odd hours without rushing too much - though we STILL tend to do it commando style, because that's how we always do it!
Start in Africa with Kilamanjaro Safaris and the Pangani Exploration Trail, then head to Conservation Station and have a interesting conversation with a trash can while Erika tries to get her picture taken with an extremely shy Rafiki who kept running away!
Then over to Asia for Kali where we stayed surprisingly dry and a gander at the start of the ground work for the new Yeti encounter ride they offically announced while we were there. Next up was the Flights of Wonder bird show, which I can highly recommend doing, even if us two seemed to be the only ones to getting the jokes! Having said that, at least the audiences for the shows seemed to be getting involved this time.
Our last trip was filled with times where the performers seemed to have to go that extra mile just to get people to even clap along with the music. The audience all seemed to enjoy the shows based on their response at the end, but during the shows most of them sat there stoney faced with arms folded as if to say "Entertain me." Maybe that had something to do with 9/11 being still on the radar screen back then, but it was a little disconcerting at times and I was glad to see it had changed.
Tough to Be a Bug followed (remembering to lean forward at the right time!) and lunch at Tusker House - in my opinion, one of the best counter service lunches on Disney property. We then had to make a choice - based on the show schedule, we could only see one of Tarzan and Lion King, unless we were willing to stay virtually until park closing. Last time we saw LK and as we were heading over to Dinoland anyway, Tarzan seemed the obvious choice. To be honest, we made the wrong choice - I was very disappointed with the show. I was expecting something more like the one at DLP (which was superb), but it was more like an okay-ish rock concert loosely based around the storyline. In fact the only bit I really enjoyed was the Starlight Express-esque roller skating bit. Oh well, we know for next time.
Then on to Dinosaur and Chester & Hester's Stick Out Like A Sore Thumb Land.
One word - Ugly.
Although give it credit, Primeval Whirl was good fun (although Erika didn't like it as she got a mega bruise on her arm from being whipped around so much).
So we were out of the park by 4pm, meaning a nice lazy evening in, a chance to fill up the fridge with Cokes after a 'proper' trip to Publix and a rather pleasant meal at IHOP. Hey, I almost feel I'm starting to unwind already...
