Disney Trip: Day Four

Animal Kingdom day. This was probably the most heavily planned day we had. There really aren't that many attractions in this park, so we laid out a plan to see virtually everything(skipping the Kali River Rapids because no one wanted to get wet). This is definitely my least favorite park, but it's a good kid park.

So how did we start out? By scaring the hell out of the kids. I really wasn't sure what to expect on the DINOSAUR ride, but I wasn't expecting what it is: A big stupid noisy lurching bore. The ride is simply too dark and fast to follow the supposed plot(time travelling into the past to see dinosaurs just before a meteor caused extinction event), but it's definitely good at frightening small children. After about ten seconds I just put my hand over my kid's eyes and told him to wait it out.

After this we went up to catch the It's tough to be a Bug show. This is an okay 4-D show that I've seen three times. This was followed by the Kilimanjaro Safari. I actually like this one, though they still insist on throwing in the silly B.S. plot instead of just letting us look at the animals. Next, we moved down to Camp Minnie-Mickey.

Once there, we caught the Pocahontis and her Forest Friends show. Bring some insulin to see this. Fortunately, and I have to give the disney folks credit here, then end of this show was timed perfectly so that we walked out of it and right into the Festival of the Lion King. No waiting whatsoever. The Festival is about the best thing to see in this park, and if you want a copy I've got the whole thing on tape. It doesn't look that great from pictures, but it has a gymnist act, a polynesian fire-twirler act, and a trapeze artist act. It also doesn't have too much p.c. syrupy disney waffle in between these acts, though of course there is some.

It was time for lunch, so we wandered back to Dinoland U.S.A. so we could eat McDonalds' food(hoo-frikin'-ray). After this we had some time to kill before the Tarzan Rocks! show(warning! suckage ahead! warning!), so we took the kids to the boneyard playground. While there, my son got lost. This was totally my fault, and it still scares me to think of it. I was trying to get a stupid video shot of my son coming down a slide. I didn't follow him up to the top, and I didn't know there were four different directions he could turn once he got there. Needless to say, he didn't go where I was expecting, and I lost him. I got the whole family out to search, and we found him pretty quickly, but I shudder to think of what might have happened to him.

Next was Tarzan Rocks! The gayest thing I've ever seen. I mean this in both the 'gay = lame' sense plus the 'I think there's several homosexuals in the cast' sense. It's mostly a show where a band sings Phil Collin's hugely overplayed Tarzan soundrack, while roller-skating acrobatic monkeys bounce around. My teenaged neices were laughing hysterically at it. I hope to never see it again.

We caught the bird show in the Asia section after this, and my boy fell asleep during it. I had to carry him from this show to the train(to go to Rafiki's planet watch), and it was during this hideous walk that I had an epiphany. I am going to rent a stroller tomorrow! I will not spend another day carrying my son around. I haven't detailed every instance I had this boy on my shoulders, but there were a lot of them. It was good for keeping the holiday weight off, but not so good for my back.

We finished Rafiki's planet watch and headed back once again to Dinoland U.S.A. The little kids rode the TricerTop Spin, while the adults rode the Primeval Whirl(not a bad little roller coaster, kind of a combination of the whirling tea-cups with a traditional coaster.). Left the park at around 5:30 or so. Shortest day at the parks.

Ride Summary:
DINOSAUR
It's tough to be a Bug!
Kilimanjaro Safari
Pacahontis and her Forest Friends
Festival of the Lion King
The Boneyard Playground
Tarzan Rocks!
Flights of Wonder
Rafiki's planet watch train
Primeval Whirl
Triceratops Spin

Tomorrow: Disney/MGM-Studios