WALT DISNEY: Day 5 ANIMAL KINGDOM

Day 5: Disney Animal Kingdom: Animals, awesome rides, a safari, a tree that don't light, and burr it's cold!

Up at the crack of dawn, well that's nothing new for Sakari, it was her normal time to get up for school. BUT, today she was playing hooky and no school for her because we were going to Animal Kingdom!​

We ate breakfast and headed out the door...layered in clothing because it was quite chilly today. I did not order this weather! We are in Florida. It's not supposed to be like this. If this is the kinda weather everyone migrates to for winter then I'm going to have to go further south next time! ​

We put the location in the GPS and....once again it told me to get on the coin $1 freeway! Ugh! I.don't.have.any.coins! I'm on vacation. Do you accept a credit card? No? Well fine then...I flew on past the coin machine and never looked back this time. I didn't hear any sirens and I calculated in my head how many tickets that was for me so far. ​

Once on the Mickey Mouse freeway, Animal Kingdom was easy to find.

Did I mention that it cost $25 to park at each of the Disney theme parks? That's just so crazy to me! The hubby had brought a few fifties and several hundreds with him and it was eating up that money! 

We managed to park in the "I can't walk long distances" parking lot and grabbed a people mover to get the rest of the way in. Out at the entrance there was a lovely couple having their picture taken so I figured I'd take their picture too obviously. They were in shorts and short sleeves! Are they crazy? They must have been visiting from the north.​

We immediately headed to the people mover desk, turned in my manual stick shift model for an updated automatic with turbo boost and they gave me usage instructions: no piggyback riding, do NOT run over other people, share the road, give a nod when you encounter someone else on a people mover (it's the I can't walk code of ethics), "we are not responsible for your belongings left in the extra wide shopping cart in the front, and sign here that you promise to purchase your people mover should you decide to mod it.

I was armed with my personal map I had designed prior to vacation, equipped with the "must do's" and people mover information. (I don't think I shared my Disney one, but it was just like this...only Disney World stuff of course.) Once again, I had studied this map and knew exactly where we wanted to go. I checked the wait times at each attraction and said "this way" to the fam.

Putt putt putt this people mover just had absolutely no speed to it, even on the turbo function. Geesh! My family was walking faster than me and sometimes they would get so far out of my sight that they thought they had lost me. No worries "beep beep" here I am. Sorry, didn't mean to draw attention to myself for those around me wondering why I am honking. Don't worry, it's not for you...it's for my hubby who has managed to gain 2 football fields ahead of me. 

So Animal Kingdom is divided up into these little "lands" with the middle section being the "tree of life" area. It's a beautiful large tree with many many carvings in them. It's like playing where's waldo trying to spot how many animals are in the tree. Just when you think you have it all figured out, there's more. It was my goal to head to the first ride, but we got caught up in this beautiful area a little longer than expected. 

My goal was to head straight to the Avatar or Na'vi River ride. However, since we had spent quite a bit of time and the Tree, after checking my app, we decided to head over to the Safari instead. It said the wait was not long at all and I had read up on this place and most people suggested going on the safari early in the morning or late in the evening. They said most of the animals are more active during those times. 

So we started heading that way.

Off to Africa we went where we would see our first giraffe. 

There was a lot of twisting and turning in line for my people mover and despite what others around me thought about my driving skills, I thought I did ok. The line moved along pretty quick and before long, they instructed me to "go this way" with a bunch of other people movers. We had our own loading dock. The safari trucks would pull over in areas to load people and then pull out to start the safari. We were the first one's on the truck and we ask if we could sit in the back seat. He told me "no, then the count would be off. Please go to the 3rd row from the front". Um...ok. I counted the rows of seats and no matter how you sat people, it would have turned out the same. THEN after we sat down, he loaded ALL THE ROWS! Wait, what? I wanted in the back because we had these plastic dividers in the front and back of us and I know if I wanted to take a picture on the opposite side of what I was sitting on, I was not going to be able to get it with plastic in my way. So aggravating. If I was sitting in the back, then I would have the entire back open to get pictures as we passed by turning around. 

​We had a good time on the safari. There were a lot of animals out. The driver told us about the animals and made jokes. He was very informative and did a great job to keep our attention. 

 These were termite hills. I thought they were pretty cool being on the ground like that. 

They were building condo's!

As we came up on the rhino area, the driver let us know that the reason they usually don't mess we people or charge is because they are very blind. They have to be extremely close to be able to see what is in front of them. They use their ears and nose to detect things around them. Sakari shouted out "I think I'm part rhino then" and it would become a joke the rest of the week. As the safari truck passed by, a rhino was walking our way. She got very close to the truck and the driver said she probably sensed that their was something in front of her but wasn't sure what it was until she got up close. 

She was headed our way as we were passing.

She was headed our way as we were passing.

It was such a pretty area and we love things like this

This lion was king of his palace and he had several females with him. They were all very active and playing. The driver said this doesn't happen too often during the tours so we were lucky.

Moving right along...it was such an enjoyable ride!

These are some big eggs ya'll!

A couple of young elephants were playing around. They were charging each other and it was hilarious to watch. The driver said that when you have youngens like this, it's a rule that a dad figure has to be in the area with them to keep them in check otherwise they will tear everything up and he has to calm them down. Hey, I know this feeling with my 2 huskies. I'm constantly having to keep the younger one in check. All he wants to do is play and if you let him get away with it, he will start running so fast and knocking stuff over. Maybe he's part elephant!

There were a couple of unruly zebra's as well. They were kicking at each other and playing around. It was definitely the day the animals were having some fun.

The safari ride was over and it was time to move on. I picked up my people mover and away we went walking around Africa and seeing more animals.

We headed over to the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. We were told that this was a family of 7 I believe. All related. From older to teens to youngins.

As we went across the bridge, we had a character sighting. I had read that they were no longer doing character meet and greets, due to COVID, and that characters could be spotted in boats going along the river.

We just happen to be crossing over at the right time. Yes, you can thank me for having such a slow moving people mover for catching this moment for you. Otherwise, I would have been long gone.

It was now 11:03am and we had reached our goal: Pandora: The World of Avatar. We were pretty excited to get some action rides in at this point. ​

I'm honestly not sure what the heck Pandora or Avatar has to do with animals or why it's here at Animal Kingdom. So, I looked it up after I got home. (I have to admit that I have never seen the Pandora or Avatar movie or whatever it is so I am clueless, but Sakari knows all about it). ​

History:

Discussions were held about creating an Avatar-themed attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios, but it was suggested incorporating the film into a newly designed "land" at Disney's Animal Kingdom to improve the park's attraction roster.

So, why did Pandora end up at Animal Kingdom? The movie goes on to show the destruction humans are causing the environment on Pandora by mining for valuable minerals. That message of protecting the environment goes hand in hand with the message Animal Kingdom has had since day one.​

A piece of 12-acre land, that was unused within AK to create this Avatar area, in addition to the other "islands" there. 

Well, there you have it. I just knew that it looked pretty cool in that area once I arrived. I mean like REALLY REALLY REALLY COOL! The details that went into this place was crazy! Sakari explained some of the movie to me and said that the way the land was just hanging in the air is exactly what it was like in the movie. I didn't get the concept until she told about this. ​

We headed to a line...any line...I didn't really care which line it was because we were doing them both! I felt like this was going to be a highlight for me. We found the end and jumped in it. It was a bit of a wait. It's a popular ride. But, it was well worth it. We were in line a total of around 45 minutes. Like any of the other rides we have experienced this trip...it moved along quickly. But there was so much to see and discover while in line that I would actually hold up the line to take pictures, run into something, a little beep beep beep backing up and make the turn just to stop again for more pictures. I'm sure the people behind me hated it. But, it's not like me stopping was keeping them from getting on the ride any sooner. We were still going to wait no matter what. ​

After we had been in line about 25 minutes, I decided to ask someone "Hey, what are we in line for?" :D I found out it was the "Flight of Passage" line. Ok, don't know what it is, but at least I knew what the line was for. ​

Let me show you around this area some. It has to be the most elaborate thing I have ever seen for OUTSIDE of the attraction. Just wow!

I just hated that it was such a gloomy day out and made for bad pictures.

I was still motorizing along, drifting the corners in line, taking out a few details in wall, and making my mark on this place. ​

We finally made it inside where we would be mesmerized by the bioluminescent rocks and plants. But the line was still moving pretty fast, so not much time to stop and take pictures since everyone was already giving me the stank eye from how many times I stopped over the last half and hour plus. I'm sure they're thinking...just how many pictures does this chick need of a rock???

We made it into the cave and then inside the lab where this creature was floating in some type of space tube and every so often he would twitch and move as he floated. I don't know what type of experiments they are running in here, but get me outta here! I hit my turbo button on my people mover, set off the get outta my way button, and bolted out of there! I was not about to become a trial human specimen. 

From here, we entered our own chambers. We mounted this motorcycle looking thing and put our 3D glasses on. You had to move all the way up and then our legs and back had padded restraints that would inflate and deflate during the ride to enhance the experience. ​

Now this room of "bikes" had 16 bikes in there. However, they are only allowing 1-2 families at a time to social distance them away from each other. So, there were a lot of bikes not used. There are several rooms though. But, this is probably what makes the wait so long. ​

The doors were shut and yyyeeeeowwwwoooowwww offffffffffffffffff we went....woo hoo oh em gee! WE WERE RIDING ON A ..... BANSHEE!!! A Banshee! That's what that thing was that I bought Sakari at Disney Springs the night before! It wasn't some type of dino or monster. It was a flying banshee. Now I get it!!! Hahahaha...jokes on me. ​

So, here a little HISTORY about this ride to help understand it:​

This is a 3D flying simulator. Set in the Avatar universe, the attraction allows guests to take flight on a native mountain Banshee's back and soar across the breathtaking landscapes of Pandora. The land is a representation of the planet of Pandora seen in the 2009 Avatar film. The ride officially opened to guests on May 27, 2017 and is the most popular ride at Animal Kingdom.

In the attraction's storyline, the humans and Na'vi are attempting to restore the banshee population to natural levels, after the mining tactics caused by the Resources Development Administration generations prior. Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE) has reactivated the avatar program through the Pandora Conservation Initiative as a method of conducting research, and allows guests to link with an avatar to fly on an Ikran (known as a "Banshee" by humans) to partake in the Na'vi's tribal coming-of-age tradition.

Set within the remains of a former Resources Development Administration facility, the attraction invites guests into the ACE lab where guests are linked to an "avatar" and fly aboard a banshee across the Valley of Mo'ara.​

So what is a Banshee? They are large, dragon-like aerial predators that are native to Pandora. They are used by the Na'vi for hunting from the air and traveling larger distances.​

Now I really really have to watch this movie to understand it more. I'm really intrigued after riding this ride. Like I seriously rode a Banshee! Like for real. He was amazing dipping and turning throughout Pandora and a few near misses with these tree-like things that were held up by nothing in the air. I could feel his chest go in and out on my legs as he was breathing when he stopped to rest. Then we were off again. I was really there! I'm telling you! It was AMAZING! I can totally understand why everyone loves this ride. Looking at my pictures and time, we were in line for 38 minutes. Honestly, that's not bad at all considering just how long the line was. ​

After the ride, we came out and the hubby was hungry...however, I was ready to head to the next ride, right next door, which was the Na'vi River Journey. I mean we are already here. We started trying to figure out where the end of the line was it was so hard to find. Winding in and out of everywhere and 6' apart made the line a lot longer than it would normally be. But, finally we were able to find it and quickly took our place. ​

It had the same scene outside because it was in the same area and of course we were still in the Pandora Avatar movie so to say. The line for this ride, even though it was very very long outside, was about 25-30 minutes tops to make it on the ride according to my time stamps on my pictures.

History:

The Na’vi River Journey is a slow-moving boat ride, which look to have been handcrafted out of reeds or grasses, through Pandora’s bioluminescent rainforest. The Na’vi River Journey is a 4 1/2 minute cruise through the colorful, glowing jungle of Pandora. Guests float past Pandora’s exotic animals and glowing plants on their way to the Shaman of Songs. This ride officially opened to guests on May 27, 2017.  

There is an exterior and interior queue for Na’vi River Journey. The exterior queue winds through the exotic landscape of Pandora before leading into a covered queue which looks to have been constructed by the Na’vi and filled with totems and other Na’vi handiwork. Even though it’s not enclosed or as extensive as the queue for Flight of Passage, it is impressively detailed and looks to have been crafted entirely out of natural materials from the light fixtures to even the switchback poles.​

I'm going to pick up after we get in our boat and we are on our way.

It was so beautiful inside!

Here is a very short clip during the ride. I wish I would have gotten more, but I'm just not much of a videographer.

When we walked out of the ride, the skies had opened up and it was a beautiful blue with white cotton clouds. Now that's what I want to see when taking pictures facing up.

Ok, I gave in to letting the family get food and we headed off the Pandora island and back toward Discovery Island in the middle. We stopped at Flame Tree BBQ. I ordered a Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Pulled Pork topped with Onion Rings and Coleslaw. Hey, what can I say...it sounded "interesting" to say the least. The hubby ended up with the Ribs and Chicken Combo and said it was pretty darn good. I think Sakari ended up with the Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich topped with coleslaw and baked beans. Everything was delish!

We had a few visitors as we ate. Is this a stork bringing a baby? Hey now, I'm done with children...take your baby somewhere else. Wrong family.

Next up was heading over to Dinoland USA. It was mostly a kiddie area, but we did know that we wanted to ride Dinosaur.

It was about a 30 minute wait in line to make it onto the ride. We wound our way around and around the outside where we were able to see dinosaurs and skeletons of dino's. Hey at least there were things to look at in line, which made it interesting. So interesting that I was busy looking at the bones that I only managed to run over a half a dozen people...but who's counting. I'm sure one of the statistics happened when I had to scold Sakari for petting a dinosaur. It could have taken her hand off for heavens sake! What was she thinking?

Right before we headed in the building, we were minding our own business and Sakari just wasn't paying attention like I told her. She leaned up against a wall and all of a sudden, a dinosaur tried to EAT HER! I hit turbo on my people mover and scooped her right up! Whew...that was scary.

We made it inside the building and there were even more skelton's. I made sure to hold her hand to keep her out of any more trouble. Of course that didn't help with my people mover skills. But, sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do to keep your pre-teen safe!

Then it was almost time! We were about to get in our time Rover and experience the dinosaurs!

And we're up! Thank goodness the seats held 3 people in them. I could keep my family all together..

We headed off dino hunting and ran into quite a few. Our time rover was bumpy yet fast enough to get away when the dino's came after us. Whew! I thought I might have to save the family again...but I made the wise decision to sit in the middle. At least the dino's would be able to grab those on the "end" first. ah hem.

We made it out alive! We walked around dino land but as I said, it was of a kiddie area and nothing that interest us and the only other ride there was actually closed. We just used the area for some pictures and moved on out and toward Asia.

We could see the mountain off in the distance. Sakari was excited when she found out it was an actual rollercoaster. YES! This is what she has been waiting for.

On our way there, we had another character spotting. Our timing has either been pretty darn good or they do this very often.

Weaving our way in line, it moved along quickly and I'm happy to report, I took out 0 people this time.

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!! SAKARI HAD FOUND IT!!! The ride she had been looking forward to since getting to Florida.

The roller coaster that's zooms along and the all of a sudden the track ends and you come to a stop....then go backwards.

She was screaming with excitement.

Now obviously I didn't take pictures while on this ride, but I wanted to show you what I'm talking about.

THIS IS NOT MY PICTURE!

History:

​The most remarkable part of this particular attraction is that it reaches maximum speed while going the wrong way. The ride cart is traveling backward when it hits 50 MPH, causing you to hit 3 G's along the way. Expedition Everest often gets mentioned as the best thrill ride Disney's ever made.

Sakari got off the ride and was so excited about it. She screams "CAN WE GO AGAIN? I WANNA GO AGAIN. THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN! THAT'S THE RIDE I WAS TALKING ABOUT. CAN WE GO AGAIN?"

​Sooooo..........

​We went again! It was just as good the second time as it was the first and even better was the line was even shorter this time around.

As we made our way on around Asia...

All of a sudden we are standing in front of Kali River Rapids. Um...no Sakari, it's too cold for that stuff. She batted her eyes, she said please, she said we'd be ok, she said it's only water. Yea, water that will make our clothes wet and freeze us to death. She said well me and daddy have a hood on our jacket and we both have caps, then you have a face mask...we are good to go. Like hey kid, this is not helping your case because I do not have a hood or a cap!

​I looked at the hubby and he gave me "that look" but then looked at Sakari and said "If you really want to...." She said let's go and headed off. Oh boy, what did I get myself in to?

​I can honestly say that the line moved quicker than I really wanted it to on this ride.

And here we go!!

Twisting and turning, you never knew who was gonna end up on the side that would get water. There was a slight waterfall you had to go under, then jet squirting out water and of course a few drops in the river that caused a splash of water. Sakari was laughing and having a good time and that's all that mattered. Tell me why people go on these rides and know they are going to get wet but spend the entire ride moving and dodging the water to keep dry?

​

In the end, it was "too bad" and we didn't get too soaked. It dried quick enough that it didn't bother us too much. We lucked out...and no Sakari didn't talk us into a second time.

​

We were standing at the entrance of the Jungle Track and figured "Why not". There was a lady standing at the entrance and said "You only have 5 minutes to enter and we close". The hubby had ran to the restroom and we were waiting on him. When he came back, she said "You won't be able to take your wheelchair back here". Um what? Why would I not be able to take a wheelchair back there? She said I would have to walk it. I thought that was odd and I said "never mind then". ​

Now that I'm back home and looking at the AK map, it most definitely said you can have a wheelchair back there! I'm not sure what the deal was with that!

We decided to just head back to Discovery Island. I was heading in the direction of the exit and I figured we would be headed that way before long. AK closes VERY early at this time (5pm).

I knew the last thing I had on my list was to see the show "Tough to be a Bug". I also knew this was a 3D show and I love those.

We made it just in time to see the show and we were able to go straight in. I believe it was the last show of the day so we got lucky. It's located INSIDE the Tree of Life.

​We were warned not to buzz, sting, pollinate or chirp during the show and then the show began. There are hidden "bombs" in the seats, there's a stink bug who smelled up the room (it really did), water guns, and we had hornets brush around our feet and ended up stinging us in the back. Boy were we caught off guard and it scared the crap out of Sakari and then she laughed it off. As all the bugs leave the stage, you feel them under your seat moving like a stampede.

​It was a hilarious show and we loved it.

It was time to head out. I was really hoping that my people mover would make it back to the entrance before they locked me in for good....it was sooooo slow. Especially on hills.

I turned in the people mover and got my $20 refund for being a good citizen and giving them the key back to their slow moving wheelchair and had to hoof it to the parking lot. ​

We stopped along the way for pictures of the huge Christmas tree out front.

We put our address in the GPS....and it showed us yet a different way home again. This is so weird that it keeps doing this but we are seeing the sites that's for sure.

​

We arrived at home and it was time for Taco Tuesday, but it was actually Thursday so it became Taco Thursday instead. It also wasn't taco shells but taco bowls. Hey, the family wasn't complaining.

A little tv, a shower and off to bed. Sakari made sure to ask if she had to get up early the next day since it was Friday. Friday's are her asynchronous day in school and she doesn't have to be in class the entire day. So, she was allowed to sleep in and she'd do her homework whenever she got up. She's such a good kid and is always on the honor roll. I don't have to worry about her not having her work done or turned in. I just go over every class on Friday when she's done and make sure she actually hit "submit" on everything. Kinda like a double-check type of thing. She's never missed an assignment, but I wanna be sure. :)