"....to-NITE in Jungle-LA-A-A-A-AND...."
With the holidays officially behind us (it's still hard to fathom that it's really Christmas Week, what with an average temperature of 80 degrees), we can truly take time to enjoy our WDW vaca before setting off to reality and home. Grabbing a cup of coffee at Picabu, which is conveniently located near the Dolphin exit that leads to the bus depot, our destination of the day is Animal Kingdom. With a mere 5 minute wait, we head for Kukamunga, Timbuktu, and all destinations decidedly 'animal'ish....true to the Disney belief of 'total immersion', their tree, with homage to our 'four-legged friends', was decorated in its full glory:
...of course, since our last trek to the Himalayas was cut short because of a passing thunderstorm, which caused all outdoor rides to be shut down, we decided to visit ol' Bigfoot, otherwise known as Yeti, before some other 'act of God' was to befall us. The tallest mountain peak in the world was within our grasp as we viewed it in the near distance:
...that's when my DS suddenly got 'cold feet' and sheepishly decided to forego said thrill ride. He and my DH detoured through Dinoland in search of
Dinosaur by way of Asia, passing
Finding Nemo while David and I headed closer to Tibet:
...the ride certainly did NOT disappoint us, especially from the FRONT SEAT. Actually, it was a bit much for David, a first-timer to EE. I, on the other hand, couldn't wait to experience EE again and again. Thoroughly exilarated, we hurried towards the 'campiest carnival in town' in search of my DS and DH and, of course,
Primeval Whirl...
....they had already conquered
Dinosaur but were up for the challenge a second time, namely becaue it is much tamer than
EE, and the line was practically NON-EXISTANT...
...truth be told, AK isn't my DS's favorite park (actually,

I don't think he HAS a favorite park! ) so we didn't plan on spending too long a day here. However, we still wanted to ride
Kilimanjaro Safaris and
It's Tough to Be a Bug! - I was in the minority as far a getting to see
Finding Nemo for the first time, so you can imagine that THAT particular attraction wasn't on anyone's priority list. One of these days I might just get brave enough and head to WDW by myself and experience all those things that my DFamily 'pooh-poohed' in past visits....
...the first thing on our agenda was
It's Tough... so, we decided to have an early lunch at
Flame Tree Barbeque, yet ANOTHER addition on our 'former FIRSTS' list. The chicken was quite tasty and filling. The cornbread was a tasty treat, too, although my DH couldn't (for obvious reasons) eat HIS, so I volunteered for him....Since no thrill rides were looming large in the near horizon, we felt it was fairly safe to eat quite a huge meal without any, uhhhh, shall we say, 'repercussions' [

]...
....I must say, this time was the FIRST time I ever got 'stung' while watching this show....
....we exited quickly turning left at the exit to traverse the bridge into
Asia (boy, it sure felt like deja-vu all over again!

) in order to quickly beat out the rest of the crowd now heading in the direction of
Kilimanjaro. It was at this point that my DS SUDDENLY wanted to ride
Kali River Rapids, which was a concept totally foreign to me, since it was actually quite cool - too cool to be getting myself wet - especially when wearing denim capris, an article of clothing NOTORIOUSLY famous for staying wet, even in the hottest of circumstances. Being the eternal peace-keeper, I aquiesced. We found ourselves passing the cutest monkeys, happily oblivious to the guests, playing in the late morning sun:
...before setting our sights on
Kali...
...with that sudden adventuresome spirit quenched, we finally made our way towards a very crowded
Africa, but not before encountering
DaVine...
[...and I thought all vines had BROWN eyes...]
"....Mommy, lookit the walking TREE....!!"
....next installment - Post #455