Originally Posted By dabekr This was our Animal Kingdom day; boy this park is so hot! We headed straight over to Expedition Everest; we got fast passes then went through standby line (20 minute wait). This was a bit confusing as both lines seemed to have merged. The queue was great although we went through it a bit fast to see everything. What a great ride! Loved it. We went to Kali River Rapids, but the boys wimped out - "didn't want to get wet". Us girls had a blast but were absolutely soaked. Oh well, it was hot! We did the jungle trek then headed across to Africa to grab a bite. I'd intended Tusker House but kids wanted Pizzafari - have to be flexible! - and it was good. We watched the Festival of the Lion King which was as good as ever, hadn't seen it for 6 years. Then we did the forest trail and took the train out to Rafiki's Planet Watch. We'd never done this before so we can cross it off our list, but we didn't spend a whole lot of time there. You might be saying what about Kilimanjaro? Truthfully, we've tried it twice and have not really enjoyed it. Spiel is lame, truck is extremely rough, and we just didn't see that many animals. We enjoy the trails better. Maybe we'll give it another shot in the future. Back to POR for rest and relaxation, then out to MGM for our 6:00 ADR's at Prime Time. We had a lot of fun, Cousin Stacey was our server. She did her spiel about family reunion, then looked at us and said "You guys look scared; it's really not that bad!" So she toned it down for us and we had a great time, with some great food (fried chicken - yum, pot roast and pork tenderloin, with smores for dessert!). We caught a bit of a Star Wars show by Star Tours, rode Star Tours, shopped, then did the Muppets. By this time the back of the park was pretty well deserted (all over at the first showing of Fantasmic). We went through the Narnia exhibit - it was interesting as we really enjoyed the movie and the books. Took in the Little Mermaid with my youngest while the others headead over to ToT and Rock'n Roller Coaster. Met up over there and got in line for the second showing of Fantasmic. Very nice and not nearly as crowded; recommend this highly. End of another great day! Wish we could've seen LMA stunt show but the timing didn't work out for us. Another next time!
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Sounds like you had a great time! I found the thing with the safari if you want to see the animals is to go when it's cool (I know, cool this time of year!? Not happening). We usually go first thing in the AM or when it's just rained. We've even seen the big male lion addressing the savanah. But I agree the spiel is lame and they should just drop the story line.
Originally Posted By stitchcrazy ^^Totally agree, first thing in the morning has always been the best safaris for me! But the poacher story seems to be falling apart more and more everytime I'm there. My last visit it seemed like none of the effects were working at the end two days in a row.
Originally Posted By dabekr We tried the first thing in the morning thing in November 2000 on our first try; we were in the very back of the truck and were bouncing around like crazy. The CM must have been new; he kept messing up his lines and it was very confusing. Closest animal experience was the backs of the hippos in the pond. I keep hearing it's awesome but I just haven't had that experience. I do appreciate the way they set up the animals habitat so they look to be roaming in the wild, no fences.
Originally Posted By stitchcrazy Well I hope someday you have a better experience with a safari dabekr! Sounds like you've had some really rotten ones. Everytime is certainly very different and I think its the best ones that stand out in my mind so its easy to say good things about it. However, we've definitely had some too where its like umm...did the animals all pack up and leave? Memorial Day we did the last one of the day and we saw like 6 animals together eating some food that literally was being put out for them while we drove by and then at the very end we saw one zebra. Not a very fun one to say the least!
Originally Posted By sun-n-fun We did have a giraffe come very close once. That was cool. But the lion has always been up on that rock.
