disneydream06

September 12th:

I woke up around 7:30-8 am. I showered, aren't you glad I do that everyday? lol... Then I headed for the buses. Today I am going to Animal Kingdom. It doesn't open until 9 am and it closes early at 5:30 pm.
They let people into the very beginning of the park and then you have to wait until it opens to go any further, so there is a long jam just before the Tree of Life, which is really amazing to see in person. TV just doesn't do it justice. There was a little preshow to the opening. It was Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto out searching for Mickey.
When the park opened I headed straight for Expidition Everast. It is the new rollercoaster ride. You are climbing Mt. Everast and you awaken the Yeti that lives on the mountain. The ride was really fun. You go forward and backward and you loop around. The only thing I would change about the ride would be to cushion the headrest. You bounce around some and it is just a solid piece behind your head. Later on I had to come back for a second run. :)
From there I headed over to ride Dinosaur. On the way I stopped at a meet and greet with the Winnie the Pooh gang. I got my picture taken with Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger. Yes, I really am a big kid at heart. Then on to Dinosaur. It was really fun. You ride in kind of a convertable Hummer like vehicle. You are supposedly trasported back in time to find something. Along the way you dodge different dinosaurs and then you have to try and get back before the big meteor shower that ended dinosaur life. Just as you are leaving you go down this dip and a huge T Rex head comes screaming out at you. :o Then I went over to see the Maharajah Jungle Trek. It's kind of a walk through zoo. It was pretty early yet so the animals were either just getting out or kind of lazying around yet. There were a couple of areas that pretty cool. One was an open area that housed bats. They could fly around even into the viewing area. They were just kind of hanging around yet and stretching. I think the sign said some of them had a wing span of 6 feet. yikes... Another cool area was a bird sanctuary. You would walk through and they would just fly all around you, or walk past you on the ground. There were some beautiful birds in there. Many different pigeons, but not at all like the good old American pigeon. Then I went on the Kilimanjaro Safaris. That was a lot of fun. The story they tell as you are driving around gets a little cheesy at times, but it is fun getting to see the animals. The giraffes were feeling a little frisky. We were driving along and all of a sudden one of them just takes off like something was chasing it. Then a little later we saw them again, and off the one went again. lol... From the safari I went over to the Pangani Forest Eploration Trail. It's another kind of walking zoo area, just another part of the world. Part way through here my camera batteries started to die on me. I had more batteries but they were back at the hotel, and as expensive as they are, I wasn't going to buy more at the park, so I headed back to the hotel. I grabbed some batteries and went right back to Animal Kingdom. When I got back I went to the Flights of Wonder show. It is a bird show. They had some very beautiful birds to show. Part of the show is this guy that supposedly use to be a great nature man, but now he was doing tour guide duty. He comes walking across the stage looking for his group and of course becomes part of the show. His big downfall, he's afraid of birds. lol... From there I went to see It's Tough To Be A Bug. It's a 3D movie with the Bug's Life characters. It is in a theater that is in the base of the Tree of Life. I think the theater hold like 300 people or something like that. That shows how big this tree really is. Anyway, the show was a lot of fun. It's another 3D movie. Did I mention their 3D movies usually also have little extras like smells or water being sprayed at you in your seats. LOL... In the movie a stink bug lets go and you talk about bad odor. LOL... From there I followed the Discovery Island Trail. It's another walking tour. It kind of takes you around the Tree of Life and you get to see some of the carvings in the trunk of the tree.
Then I headed to Minnie and Mickey's camp ground area. There I saw the show Festival of the Lion King. It is a show with singing, dancing, gymnastics, large puppetry all tied around the Lion King theme. After the show, I went over to another meet and greet area. This time I got my picture taken with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. Where the heck is Daisy???
Then I took the train ride over to Rafiki's Planet Watch. It's like a learning area for conservation. There is also a little petting area. It was mostly some kind of goats, and a couple of pigs. So many people have trouble reading. I didn't realize it was that bad. There were several goats that were penned up with signs that said, Do not disturb. We are resting. So of course everybody was right there trying to pet them. Then it was back on the train and back over to the main Animal Kingdom area. People were starting to line up for the Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade so I found a spot. It was a lot of fun. It had a Lion King kind of feel to it.
It was getting close to 5:30 pm so I started to head for the gate and on the way I checked out the Oasis. It's an area around the start of the park where they have different areas where they keep different animals to see. Just like little oasises.
I decided to go back over to the Disney/MGM Studios and try and see some of the tings I didn't get to see yesterday.

Back at the Disney/MGM I went and saw Sounds Dangerous Starring Drew Carey. It's a short fill of Drew playing an actor that is hooked up to mics and a camera so that you are suppose to experience the action he is going through. It was okay, nothing to spectacular. Then I went through the Walt Disney One Man's Dream. What can you say, the man was a genius. Thank you Mr. Disney.
Then I went and saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I wasn't going to but hey, it's the Little Mermaid. It was fun, I will admit it. Lots of little girls in the audience. lol.... Then I stopped at Journey Into Narnia. It's a short walk through briefly telling the story. There are also some props and customes used in the movie there. Then I went over to see The Magic of Disney Animation. It was really quite interesting, but then again, I LOVE Disney animation. There was a display of some of Disney's Oscars that were won over the years.
Then I had to stop and ride Tower of Terror one more time. It could have been several more times, but it was closing time for the park. I think it was either 10 or 11 pm by now, and because I am a glutten for punishment, I hopped a bus and headed for Downtown Disney.
Downtown Disney is where they have lots of stores and clubs. I just looked around the Marketplace area. It is mostly Disney related stores. Soooooo many things I wanted to get, but I also was tring to be good about the budget. I know stupid on vacation. lol... There was a really big Christmas store there with so many beautiful things. There was a Pooh store. I love Pooh. I walked around the bend and went to the Lego store. My friend Kevin is a HUGE Lego freak. I think I can safely say that and not offend him. lol... I got lots of pictures of stuff they had made out of Legos, and I picked him up a mug with his name on it. He liked it. :) I stopped in a Trading Pin place and bought a lanyard and a few trading pins for myself. On the way out I stopped in this one store and was just looking around and I noticed some postcards and realized I hadn't gotten any postcards off to Derek. So I snapped up a couple. The store keeps track of where their customers are from and so they asked me and I was the first person from Minnesota that day. YAY...
I went and WAITED for a bus to go back to the hotel. I got back to my room, ate some munchies, watched a little tv, and went to bed.
Tomorrow... Epcot.