Welcome to the Jungle

From an up close and personal safari through Africa through an encounter with the Yeti in the mountains of Asia, Animal Kingdom has it all.  This was Matt's favorite park by far, and Charles and I really enjoyed it as well.  It is certainly the prettiest of the Disney parks, and the least Disnified.  It is possible those two facts are related.

Animal Kingdom is divided into African and Asian sections. At the center of the park is the Tree of Life, a 14 story created tree covered with truly amazing animal carvings.  This was beautiful, and you could easily spend several hours exploring its artwork.

Tree of Life

A small example of the fantastic carvings that cover the tree

In Africa the highlight is the Kilimanjaro Safari ride.  Passengers board an open-sided safari  "jeep," and travel through a wildlife reserve.  Because it's Disney, and it is a ride, there's a subplot about poachers and some thrills at the end, but the main attraction here is the animals.  We saw everything from rhinos to lions to a baby elephant (which was possibly the cutest thing in the history of ever.)  And we didn't just see them, we were so close that in some cases we could have touched them.  Both times we rode this our vehicle had to stop to let giraffes cross the road.  That's not something that happens every day.

Giraffe herd - they are heading for our road

This was taken from my seat in the jeep - pretty darn close to the giraffe

Lioness - looks like our Trini

In Asia the landscape in dominated by a snowy mountain peak rising 200 feet in the distance.  This is the home of Expedition Everest, Animal Kingdom's signature roller coaster.  At 200 feet, this replica of a Himalayan mountain is actually one of the highest peaks in Florida.  I didn't want Matt to do this one.  Everything I had read in my planning said it was too scary for smaller children, both because of an 80 foot drop and a surprise Yeti attack near the end of the ride.  He was adamant that he wanted to try it, however, and since he tall enough (just barely), I relented.  The ride carries you up and around and through the Himalayas, until it comes to an abrupt stop at a piece of mangled tracks, obviously destroyed by an angry Yeti.  Since you can't continue forwards, you go backwards.  In the dark.  At a ridiculous speed.  After a couple more encounters with the Yeti, you plunge down the aforementioned 80 foot drop.  Matt, of course, loved all this.  Clearly I underestimated him.  This kid runs on pure adrenaline.

Expedition Everest

Also in Asia was the boy's favorite ride, the Kali River Rapids, a white water raft type attraction.  It's not a scary ride, but the thrills come from the possibility that you may get completely, totally, to the bone, soaking wet.  I had packed ponchos for us, but Charles decided that he didn't need one.  Big mistake.  Huge.  As we dropped over the 30 foot waterfall, Charles caught the full brunt of the splash.  He was so soaked that it took him close to five hours to dry out.  Matt and I found this hilarious.  Charles did not.  The next time we rode it he wore the poncho.

Waterlogged Charles and slightly damp Matt

The whole park is wildlife themed, with walking trails through more animal habitats, with gorillas, tigers, and kimodo dragons as part of the attraction.  Matt wanted to get in on the animal theme, and decided to get his face painted.  Do not ask what this costs in Disney World.  The end result was totally worth it, as our boy was transformed into an adorable panda.

The transformation

Super cute panda boy

Panda in the jungle

We also rode some dinosaur themed rides, shared our African BBQ lunch with some friendly birds, and watched a beautiful rainbow emerge after a brief shower.  There were performers everywhere with authentic instruments, a huge variety of African and Asian foods, colorful flags and colorful people, with all of it set in a fantastic landscape of tropical flowers and plants, and trees full of free flying parrots.  Disney doesn't do anything halfway, and Animal Kingdom was no exception.  This is one I can't wait to return to.

One of our lunch guests

Cheesing it up in DinoLand

Boy and Charlie the Cheetah, his most favorite Disney souvenir

Still to come - a Thanksgiving to remember...