3) It's Tough To Be A Tourist.
Thursday we had breakfast in the villa. Scrambled eggs. Made by me.I have never actually entered my scrambled eggs in a scrambled egg contest but if I ever did I would be confident of walking off with the golden spatula. My culinary skills were wasted on everyone else and the best of the responses was "Alright" I wouldn't say I was disguntled but I was far from gruntled.
We arrived outside Animal Kingdom at 9.00am just in time to begin our one hour wait until opening time. Yes, AK opened at 10.00 that day. I had looked up all the opening times and I didn't remember any park posting 10.00 as the opening time. We passed some of the time in the Rain Forest Cafe Shop. The theming in the shop is the same as the restaurant with trees and various animals. Every 22 minutes they have a storm with thunder and lightening when the animals go a bit mental. Rachel was nervous the first time it happened. They don't have the rain though because it would ruin the tee shirts. Plus you would never get to the end of your soup.
At 10.00 we piled through the gate and went to Dino Land USA. Barbara took Rachel around The Boneyard but after a few minutes they ended up on Triceratops Spin. Meanwhile we three hunter/gatherers headed off to Dinosaur. We ended up on a special mission to bring a dinosaur back to this century. No not David Bowie - a real dinosaur. The guy at the briefing said it would be OK but I wasn't so sure. I didn't want to fall foul of any Disney rules or the hard faced woman who kept telling the first guy off. Anyway we went and it was quite a ride.
We went on Primeval Whirl maybe 5 times. No queue at all and only half the ride working. On our way to The Kali River Rapids we took in the 3D Bug Show. We all thought it was hilarious. I was the only one who had seen 3D shows before and with hindsight I think that maybe the Muppets would be a better introduction for smaller children. We went on the River Rapids next. Take a tip and take off your shoes for this one, we got absolutely soaking wet. The ride itself was pretty good but the similar one at IoA we all thought was better. There are three attractions that bring you close to the animals. The Maharajah Jungle Trek and the Paganini Forest Exploration Trail you walk around at your own pace. There are guides to tell you all about the animals. Then there is the Kilimanjaro safari which you ride in a jeep. It's amazing how close you get to the animals. Animal Kingdom is a zoo at the end of the day, but it's the best zoo I've ever been in. Unlike most zoos it leaves you with the impression that the animals are lucky to be in captivity .
Anyway you wouldn't believe it but our group got picked for another special mission! This times it was to capture some poachers on the Kilimanjaro Safari, which we did with ease before lunch. I wanted to stay around for the lynching but Babs thought it might be a bit much for the kids. You know all that purple-faced gasping, and right before lunch too. We are supposed to be on holiday so we all agree that if we are offered anymore special missions we're going to politely decline.
We had lunch in the RFC. Only about a third of the restaurant was being used. The server poured salt on to a napkin and put my glass of beer on it. Why? I don't think I look like a person who would eat napkins. The food was pretty good we had typically huge sandwiches. The bill was about $60 which I paid for with wet money.
After lunch we saw Lion King an absolutely brilliant show, another great presentation Flights of Wonder, all about birds, funny too. The park is a lot bigger than you think. it's a really long trek from Camp Minnie-Mickey to say Dino-Land. Although we missed a few things in the park we felt we'd seen the best of it and due to having only five day hoppers wouldn't be back this trip. It rained just before the parade for maybe 20 minutes. The parade was excellent. Weird animal vehicles and lots of percussionists. While we were waiting for the start a child in a pushchair/stroller threw a carton of fries onto the road. In no time at all a CM had appeared with a broom and pan,cleaned up, left and then returned with a new pack of fries. Only in Disney. I told the kids if they see any ice cream on the floor to stand around it looking sad.
The car found another way back to the villa and the kids cooled off in the pool. Our lunch had been quite late so by the time we were hungry no one felt like going out. The car and I went in search of Popeyes Famous Chicken and Biscuits and soon found one. Tip number 503 - don't order large fries from Popeyes unless you are dining with Desperate Dan and Billy Bunter. You won't be able to eat them.
To be continued...
Thursday we had breakfast in the villa. Scrambled eggs. Made by me.I have never actually entered my scrambled eggs in a scrambled egg contest but if I ever did I would be confident of walking off with the golden spatula. My culinary skills were wasted on everyone else and the best of the responses was "Alright" I wouldn't say I was disguntled but I was far from gruntled.
We arrived outside Animal Kingdom at 9.00am just in time to begin our one hour wait until opening time. Yes, AK opened at 10.00 that day. I had looked up all the opening times and I didn't remember any park posting 10.00 as the opening time. We passed some of the time in the Rain Forest Cafe Shop. The theming in the shop is the same as the restaurant with trees and various animals. Every 22 minutes they have a storm with thunder and lightening when the animals go a bit mental. Rachel was nervous the first time it happened. They don't have the rain though because it would ruin the tee shirts. Plus you would never get to the end of your soup.
At 10.00 we piled through the gate and went to Dino Land USA. Barbara took Rachel around The Boneyard but after a few minutes they ended up on Triceratops Spin. Meanwhile we three hunter/gatherers headed off to Dinosaur. We ended up on a special mission to bring a dinosaur back to this century. No not David Bowie - a real dinosaur. The guy at the briefing said it would be OK but I wasn't so sure. I didn't want to fall foul of any Disney rules or the hard faced woman who kept telling the first guy off. Anyway we went and it was quite a ride.
We went on Primeval Whirl maybe 5 times. No queue at all and only half the ride working. On our way to The Kali River Rapids we took in the 3D Bug Show. We all thought it was hilarious. I was the only one who had seen 3D shows before and with hindsight I think that maybe the Muppets would be a better introduction for smaller children. We went on the River Rapids next. Take a tip and take off your shoes for this one, we got absolutely soaking wet. The ride itself was pretty good but the similar one at IoA we all thought was better. There are three attractions that bring you close to the animals. The Maharajah Jungle Trek and the Paganini Forest Exploration Trail you walk around at your own pace. There are guides to tell you all about the animals. Then there is the Kilimanjaro safari which you ride in a jeep. It's amazing how close you get to the animals. Animal Kingdom is a zoo at the end of the day, but it's the best zoo I've ever been in. Unlike most zoos it leaves you with the impression that the animals are lucky to be in captivity .
Anyway you wouldn't believe it but our group got picked for another special mission! This times it was to capture some poachers on the Kilimanjaro Safari, which we did with ease before lunch. I wanted to stay around for the lynching but Babs thought it might be a bit much for the kids. You know all that purple-faced gasping, and right before lunch too. We are supposed to be on holiday so we all agree that if we are offered anymore special missions we're going to politely decline.
We had lunch in the RFC. Only about a third of the restaurant was being used. The server poured salt on to a napkin and put my glass of beer on it. Why? I don't think I look like a person who would eat napkins. The food was pretty good we had typically huge sandwiches. The bill was about $60 which I paid for with wet money.
After lunch we saw Lion King an absolutely brilliant show, another great presentation Flights of Wonder, all about birds, funny too. The park is a lot bigger than you think. it's a really long trek from Camp Minnie-Mickey to say Dino-Land. Although we missed a few things in the park we felt we'd seen the best of it and due to having only five day hoppers wouldn't be back this trip. It rained just before the parade for maybe 20 minutes. The parade was excellent. Weird animal vehicles and lots of percussionists. While we were waiting for the start a child in a pushchair/stroller threw a carton of fries onto the road. In no time at all a CM had appeared with a broom and pan,cleaned up, left and then returned with a new pack of fries. Only in Disney. I told the kids if they see any ice cream on the floor to stand around it looking sad.
The car found another way back to the villa and the kids cooled off in the pool. Our lunch had been quite late so by the time we were hungry no one felt like going out. The car and I went in search of Popeyes Famous Chicken and Biscuits and soon found one. Tip number 503 - don't order large fries from Popeyes unless you are dining with Desperate Dan and Billy Bunter. You won't be able to eat them.
To be continued...
