Another trip to the Walt Disney World Resort is in the books! This trip featured some goodbyes and some new experiences as well. I am going to do this trip review a bit different than the last. As opposed to going day to day I am going to highlight different experiences I had at each park. I'll be focusing in on rides, shows, and other things I found interesting, strange, sad, fun, etc. Chances are pretty good that the Hollywood Studios blog is going to need to be a couple blogs as opposed to one since there is just so much going on there. This blog will probably be shorter since Animal Kingdom is largely the same as it was back in March. So let us get right into it.
I always feel weird in talking about Disney's Animal Kingdom. I love the park, but from working with animals so long I feel really jaded when talking about the safari and the trails through the park. This bring me to the first thing I'd like to talk about.
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| Disney's Animal Kingdom at semi-sunrise |
Kilimanjaro Safaris has seen a lot of changes through the years and I have to say it's current form I am not the biggest fan of. Don't get me wrong, the animals and their habitats are awesome for sure, but the experience itself I have a little bit of an issue with. This really stems from the quality of safari that Six Flags Great Adventure puts on. I know it's ridiculous to compare Six Flags to Disney, but in this specific case I have to. The guides on the Six Flags safari are lively and educate you on a mass amount of animals over what is essentially an hour long experience. I feel like I don't get this on Kilimanjaro Safaris. This was my second safari in a row where the guide seemed to just be repeating a script. There were long portions where I was learning nothing and other times the guide just seemed disinterested.
I know that's a negative way of looking at it cause at the end of the day most people aren't going on the ride to learn, they're going to see the animals. In that aspect, while Disney does not have the number of animals that Six Flags has it is still a very well put together safari and includes several animals not seen at Six Flags. For the first time I was able to see the wild dogs awake and running around. That was certainly the highlight of the safari. Any other time I've been on it the dogs were sleeping, but that day they were up and running around. This was also the first time I've seen a sleeping elephant. Again, I feel a bit jaded and skewed when talking about this ride. Overall it was a good time for sure though. Just wish that the guide was more informative or at least acted like she enjoyed what she was doing.
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| Low crowds and construction walls at the base of the Tree of Life |
Dinosaur
Dinosaur is one of my favorite rides in not only Animal Kingdom, but Disney World as a whole. I am a massive dinosaur fan in general so I love the movie the ride is based on. I know it's not the best movie and certainly not the most popular, but I enjoy it. I enjoyed the ride as much as I always have, but noticed a few things either wrong and fixed. The first two times I went on through the week the raptor animatronic was missing, by the end of the trip it was back and working again. Glad to see it back as it's one of my favorites in the ride. The first Carnotaurus encounter on my second time riding was not working. The dino roared and you could hear trees snapping, but the dinosaur was not moving at all. The last time I rode it though it was fixed, so that was a quick fix for sure. The only other thing that wasn't working correctly was the Pterodactyl that was motionless the whole trip and apparently has been motionless for a while now.
If they decide to replace Dinosaur with a new theme I will be a bit upset about it. I really do enjoy the ride and while it may not be the best for kids it's a rare thrill ride for adults and teenagers. While I was there the ride had very little wait times. For the most part it was 15 minutes or less, even on the busier days and there were plenty of fast passes available as well. While crowd wise it was pretty quiet, I still fear that consistent wait times and low demand may lead to the ride eventually becoming extinct. Speaking of extinct...
Dinoland U.S.A.
Dinoland as a whole is still what some would call a hot mess. Compared to the rest of the park, the land just looks like it could use some love. Primeval Whirl remains down for refurbishment, and Triceratops Spin is in dire need of anything from paint to just being cleaned. The ride operated fine and the new soundtrack that goes with Donald's Dino Bash is much better than the country banjo music that used to play. The rest of the area still has that temporary carnival feel. Donald's Dino Bash however, continues to be a success. I'm glad they decided to keep the party going long term. The lines to meet the Dino Bash crew were all pretty long and it's still awesome that Scrooge and Launchpad are there every day. The music through the land is also pretty fun as it's a variety of different rock songs and what not. Certainly different than anywhere else in Animal Kingdom.
Pandora: The World of Avatar
Pandora remains every bit the spectacle it has always been. I can't quite put my finger on it, but Pandora is one of two incredibly unique places for me in all of Disney World. As I walk over the bridge from Discovery Island or Africa I just get this sense. As the scenery changes to a more wild and natural one, the music of Animal Kingdom begins to fade out and more and more out of this world natural sounds take over. The scenery changes and all of a sudden I just feel like I am not longer at Animal Kingdom. It still legitimately feels like another world to me. Pandora remains in great shape, but I did notice one feature of the land that was not working correctly. In one of the many water features there are these creatures that are supposed to shoot water if they detect any sudden movements. These creatures were not working correctly. Only one of them attempted to shoot any water and when it did only a small amount of water dribbled out.
Both rides are really in excellent shape. Flight of Passage was ridden 3 times. On the third ride it was having some kind of issue that must have shut down one of the theaters so wait times were a bit longer. Other than that the ride itself is ever bit as epic as I've always felt it is. Na'vi River Journey is still as beautiful as ever. I really do not understand the flak this ride gets. No, it's not worth waiting 45 minutes for, but it still is a beautiful and peaceful ride.
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These are the creatures that are supposed to shoot water, but aren't
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| More of Pandora |
Food
At Animal Kingdom I had a couple different food items. First up was my traditional meal at Satu'li Canteen. This time around I had a noodle bowl with chicken, slaw,and garlic herb dressing. The chicken was very flavorful and while I normally am not a fan of slaw, I really enjoy it in this dish. The dressing is also very good. All the variety of flavors mashed into one bowl really bring about an interesting taste. I can see how it wouldn't appeal to everyone, but for someone looking for something a little different these bowls are pretty good. I'm not sure if I like the chicken more than the beef bowl or not. Both are very good and offer obviously different flavors. To drink I tried the Pandoran Sunrise. This drink is advertised as a blend of tropical juices and Powerade Melon. The price was a bit steep at nearly $5.00, but it was tasty and came with a slice of delicious pineapple. As far as the taste it tasted like Powerade with pineapple mixed in. Not sure what the other tropical juices are, but the two big flavors were the Powerade and pineapple. Of course dessert was the blue cheesecake again. It's one of my favorite desserts in Disney World. Tastes great and certainly looks interesting to say the least.
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| Blue cheesecake |
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| Noodle Bowl! |
I also had the buffalo chicken chips from Trilo-bites. They're a bit expensive at $8.50, but I have to say they are pretty filling. The chips are homemade potato chips with buffalo chicken, buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, and some what I think is salsa on them. You get a lot of them and they are pretty flavorful. If you are into hot buffalo though you'll be disappointed. These chips are far from hot, but they are very flavorful and do have a bit of spice to them, just nothing crazy. I got these last time I was in Disney as well so I must have liked them enough to make a point in getting them again.
The Rest
The Festival of the Lion King is still every bit as awesome as it has always been. If you are looking for something to do to get out of the heat in Animal Kingdom, check out this show. I won't spoil anything about it here for those who haven't seen it, but I will say that it is on my must do list for every one of my Disney trips! Speaking of the Lion King, the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the movie continues to go at full force. There is Lion King merchandise all over the park and various Lion King themed photo ops as well.
Kevin from Up! as a walk around character is one of the best things in the park. She comes out of nowhere and is hilarious to watch. I hear she will even crash the dance party that takes place on Discovery Island.Speaking of Up!, Up! a Great Bird Adventure is currently closed for yet another refurbishment. If I'm not mistaken this is the second or third time the show has closed to be redone. Kinda crazy considering Flights of Wonder wasn't unpopular or anything. I didn't see Rivers of Light on this trip. It remains the only nighttime show I haven't seen. Even with the Lion King additions to the show, it still really does not appeal to me any of the other shows do. It's not even the lack of fireworks, it's just that it still seems to be like it's missing some kind of wow factor. I know Disney is limited here because of the animals, but in their massive box of tricks they have to have something that can help this show out.
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| Kevin having some fun! |
By the end of the trip I had done pretty much everything there is to do in Animal Kingdom. The only attractions I did not get to was Kali River Rapids, Rafiki's Planet Watch, and Finding Nemo the Musical. As previously mentioned Up! a Great Bird Adventure and Primeval Whirl were both under refurbishment so I was unable to experience those. I spent a good amount of time in Animal Kingdom on this trip. Flight of Passage is every bit as popular as it always has been. Even during extra magic hours, the cast members still guided the crowd to the ride. I was glad to see that other new happenings didn't really affect the ride's popularity like some thought it would. Well that is it for this installment. Next I will take a look at my experiences on this trip in EPCOT! Thanks as always for reading!
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| From Expedition Everest: Tower of Terror on the right, Spaceship Earth the left |
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