Tink in the Parks: Monkeying Around Animal Kingdom

Good morning, Tinkers! Everyone enjoying the final days of summer?

     Today I wanted to give you an update on Animal Kingdom, since D and I spent a Mommy-Daughter day there last week and checked out a lot of the newer sights, as well as some old favorites.

     The first big change you can't help but notice right from the parking lot,  and that's the large cranes
to the left of the park entrance, and the huge new building that has appeared. If you haven't heard already, this is the soon-to-be magical world of Pandora, from the Avatar movie franchise. Construction has been going on for quite some time now, but it's becoming clear that more drastic changes are starting to take place. The huge ride building is assumed to be the home of the future "Soarin'-like" attraction, and some of the scaffolding appears to me as though it is around the structure for the giant tree-like archway, which I believe is a "floating mountain". (This is based on rumors I have heard. I have yet to see Avatar, but I have added it to my Netflix queue. Gotta bite the bullet at some point, so I know what the heck I'm looking at in Animal Kingdom!) Either way, lots going on over there!

     We went into the parks, and when we got just over the entry bridge after the Oasis and were in front of the Tree of Life, we saw all of the walls that are surrounding the construction on the Disney Outfitters retail location. Not really sure if this is just being expanded as a shop, or if there's something else going on. It does look like there may be projection booths on the second story, which could make sense, since there are rumors that The Tree of Life will be getting a nighttime projected show on it. Anyone know???

     I also took a look over at the newly updated Flame Tree BBQ area. Looks like they haven't gotten a chance to put up the signage yet. I felt kinda bad for the Cast Member who had to become the human sign.

     There was no wait for Tough To Be a Bug, and D had never done it before, so we ran in. I don't love the attraction, but you get some spectacular views of the Tree of Life from the queue, AND watching D jump a foot off the seat when the bee "stung" her in the back was pretty priceless. (Yes, I am the mean Mom, who sat on the very edge of my seat to avoid the stinger and didn't tell D to do the same.) Seriously, can you ever get enough of this Tree??? Let's just all pause and take a look...



 

   

     Gorgeous, right?

     We also saw the Rivers of Lights construction, taking place on the banks of Asia. Sorry the picture is from a distance, but it had to have been 97 degrees out, with about 99.3% humidity. There was no way I was hauling my cookies on over to Everest to get a closer look. Walls, scaffolding... you get the idea.

    

     We were getting hungry, so we decided to check out the new Harambe Marketplace and maybe grab a bite. This area is so authentic-looking and fun to explore. Nice, detailed, Disney touches are everywhere. It also makes an easy cut-through when you're walking from Asia, trying to get over to the safari or the train out to Conservation Station. You don't have to walk down around Tamu Tamu Refreshments and through that congested corner, in order to get to where you're going.

                               



     The Marketplace has a good amount of outdoor seating and the stands seemed to have some tasty offerings, but since we were too hot to sit outside, and since the Florida summer storms were looking like they were about to roll in a few hours early, we took a risk. I knew that the only real place in Animal Kingdom where you can spend as much time indoors as you choose, (aside from gift shops), is Rafiki's Planet Watch/Conservation Station. So, looking at the darkening sky, I made the judgment call that we could hop the train, and make it inside of the building, before the rain hit. Luckily, the train was just then pulling into the Harambe station, so we grabbed a seat, and enjoyed the short ride out. D had never done this attraction before either, so it was fun to show her the backstage areas that you pass on the train, like the Rhino Habitat, (even though it was hard to see the rhinos, since they were inside the structure).

      Riiiiiight as we pulled into Conservation Station, the sky opened up. I forgot how long of a walk it was back to the main building out there, and though there's a lot of vegetation providing some cover from the rain, we still got pretty wet. Once we made it to the building, D and I had fun checking out the veterinary clinic, the nutrition center, and the reptile and insect habitats. We also happened to catch Rafiki and Chip and Dale doing meet and greets, plus an animal presentation on a huge, live hawk. There was plenty to keep us busy while the rain poured down.



      We even tried out the sound booths where Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas told us about deforestation and we heard the sounds of the rainforest all around us. (Very similar to the old booths they used to have at the exit of Drew Carey's Sounds Dangerous at The Studios, where you got an audio "haircut" while you waited to talk to the studio executive.) Between the A/C and the darkness in those booths, I could have gone to sleep in a heartbeat. In fact, I may have. D might have had to wake me up a little. When we were done there, it was still raining and D was hungry, so out at the gift shop, which was at least undercover, we bought some apple slices from the refrigerated case and waited out the rain. When it slowed to a light drizzle, we decided to walk out and visit the goats and other farm animals in the Affection Section. Those goats had the right idea. They were all chillin' under the awnings. We still got to pat a bunch of them, and we saw pigs, donkeys, an alpaca, and a cow. By the time we wrapped up there, the rain was finished, and we hiked on back to the station to catch the train back to Harambe.

     We had a lot of fun out at Rafiki's Planet Watch. It's an often overlooked area, since it involves taking the train, but worth going out to, even if it's just to cool off. Plus it's the only spot in the Animal Kingdom where you can actually touch the animals. (For some reason, patting of the tigers is frowned upon.)

     Of course, back in Harambe, we had to stop by Zuri's Sweet Shop and check out all of the new, Lion King and Animal Kingdom themed snacks and sweets. It's a really cute shop, with some unique stuff, like flavored beef jerky, dried fruits and nuts, coffee, and of course, candy! There are bagged candies, like the gummi spiders and gummi grubs, and then there's a candy case that houses all sorts of cookies, caramel apples, and confections with animalistic decorations. The "poop" is no longer available, due to Guest complaints. Yes, for a brief while after opening, Zuri's sold clumps of candy that were made to resemble the fecal matter of various animals.... Yeah. Probably not the BEST idea they could have come up with. It's gone now, and instead there are Hippo Marshmallow Kabobs and Monkey Candy Apples. I tried the "Haystack", which was potato chip sticks covered in peanut butter. If you like salty-sweet snacks, this one was fantastic! D went with the Hippo Kabob and loved it.

      Once our sugar rush kicked in, we looked at a clock and realized it was our Fastpass time for Kilimanjaro. Well, the Fastpass line was so backed up, (because it had been raining and when it stopped, everyone with a Fastpass within that block of time showed up at once), that we decided to be risk takers again, and instead we hopped in the Stand-By queue, which said it only had a 15 minute wait. Sure enough, we were in line and on a truck before the folks who had gotten in the Fastpass line when we would have. Self-five! I love when my Disney hunches turn out to be accurate!

     What a great safari we had! Though I found our driver's off-script, not-funny version of "comedy" completely annoying and he was clearly playing to the two teenage girls who were giggling in our row, we saw so many animals that it didn't matter. The wildlife on the safari seems to enjoy the coolness of the rainfall in the sweltering summer months, and they come out to play. When we reached the savannah portion of the drive, though we did not find any Thompson's Gazelles, ("Miss Jobson, no one in Africa calls them Thompson's Gazelles! They are Tommies, TOMMIES...."), we did see plenty of Ankole Cattle, Wildebeest, and four adult giraffes with three babies! And they were all right next to the truck. We saw elephant families just beyond the Red Clay Pits, and in the shaded area, the cheetah were actually up and running around, which I have never seen before. Miss Nala was perched up on Pride Rock, looking down over the Reserve. Pumbaa was trotting through his habitat and we even crossed a group of Addax, (the white deer-looking guys with the twisty horns). Really great viewing on this safari! I would try it some other time, just after rain again, and see if the same thing occurs.

     Once we were done with our "two-week" safari, we were officially ready for some actual lunch, so we headed out of Harambe and toward Pizzafari. On the way, we passed the brand new Starbucks location, Creature Comforts. It was hopping, except I'm sure today's business was mostly

iced lattes and Frappuccinos.

     We also happened to see Daisy, in her full safari gear, just as she was crossing to her meet and greet area, across from Starbucks. Since D had just commented the day before that she'd never met Daisy, and no one was in line, we hopped on over to see her. Wow, rain sure will clear out Animal Kingdom for ya! Not to mention, drop the temperature by about ten degrees!

     We were happy to find that Pizzafari was also deserted. We grabbed a personal sized cheese pizza, which came with a side Caesar salad, for me, and mac and cheese, grapes, and broccoli for D. We had a whole room to ourselves in the dining area. It's good to note that there are several different rooms to eat in, so if you have trouble finding a seat in one place, check another room. D enjoyed checking out the brightly painted walls and naming the animals that she spotted in the murals. The pizza

was really decent, as far as Disney pizzas go. The salad was a good size serving, in a plastic cup, though I found it to be over-dressed for me. I guess I like casual salad. (I crack myself up.) D always loves Disney mac and cheese, and the fact that she could dip her broccoli in it and make it broccoli and cheese, well, that was just fantastic.

     We took our time and enjoyed our girl's lunch, before heading out of the park for the day. We did swing into Island Mercantile, where we saw one of Disney's newest collectable "must-have" items, character hand sanitizers. They were cute, and there were about 14 different cases, but with the kiddos, I always have sanitizer and baby wipes on hand.

     We had a lot of fun, as we always do when D and I hang together, but I must say, my favorite part of the day, was the tram ride back to the parking lot. There was an awesome breeze, D was tired and resting against me, and she said, "Mamma, I LOVE Disney. And you." And I wasn't even offended that she put them in that order.