| Orlando Trip Review Part 2 -- 6/10/08 - 6/21/08 (LONG)
Ok moving on to Part 2 now so picking up where we left off which was Sunday at Universal Studios. We now head into Monday 6/16
6/16 -- Animal Kingdom
**Weather for the day HOT HOT HOT!! It was actually cooler than any day we had so far temperature wise but the humidity in this park was so high it was deadly! This park is where the wife made me buy one of those fan misting bottles (what a ridiculous price). Whoever came up with this idea should be rich by now.
This is where the other family members we were with split up for the day. They went to Epcot and we took the kids to Animal Kingdom. My 4 never made it to Epcot which is a bummer as I really wanted to do Soarin' but oh well we figured the kids would like Animal Kingdom more. We did basically everything the park had to offer. Highlights are below...
Kilimanjaro Safaris -- we made a B-Line directly to this when we got there so we could be assured of getting a Fast Pass for it. Our FP time was for 10:30 so we had some time to kill and decided to take the walking tour behind the Safari area (forget what its called though) but we got to see the Gorillas, snakes, lizards, and much more. Very nice walk and those Gorillas were HUUUUGE!!! My goodness the pack leader was as big as my car and for sure could do some damage if mad ... wow!!
So now we have about 5 mins before ride time so we plop down on the bench and wait. This is where the day went south for me. I get the video camera out for the safari ride, set it on the bench and wait. Our time comes up and guess who ******s up and leaves it on the bench ... yep me.
So we are heading up the line and are almost at the load station when I realized what happened. I haul a$$ back to the bench to find it gone already (this was maybe 5 mins after we got up from there to get in line). Basically I spent the day mad and upset because I just pissed away a $400 camcorder with footage of the trip on it ... oh great!
Anyway the Safari was great. I think the actual "exhibit" and the animal area is MUCH better here at AK than at BGA but the our guide was not as good as the BGA Rhino Rally guy and that makes a HUGE difference. Also RR with the water part makes the experience a little more unique. If only the 2 could be combined you would have the best Safari ride around.
After the Safari ride we wer looking around at more exhibits when a very large man ran right over me as he wasn't looking. The knocked me right over to the ground, looked at me and said next time look where you are going a$$hole. I damn near wanted to get up and beat the crap out of him geesh!! He ran into me so hard that he broke my sunglasses and knocked all my stuff out of my hands as well. I spent the day blinded by the Sun ... yippee!!
Moving on we hit most of the exhibits (including the conservation section) and shows in the park including Lion King and Nemo.
Conservation Section -- you have to take the train to get to it. I LOVED this train. This was definitely the coolest themed train I had seen anywhere. With the way they did the seats and stacked all the props on the roof it just fit perfectly. The ride was short but the train was great!!
The "petting" zoo part was excellent. The kids got to pet sheep, goats, cows, and a few other animals. They got to brush them as well. They got a kick out of this part for sure!
Shows:
Lion King -- very good show. Performers were top notch and the music was excellent. Animatronic animals were cool but obstructed our view a little as there were so big. The gymnasts/acrobats were very good as well.
Nemo -- not sure where to go on this ... supposedly this is the MUST SEE show this year. I am kind of in agreement and disagreement on this one. The sets, the puppets, the atmosphere, the costumes, the actual talent of the performers, the experience all very very good. Some excellent effects as well. HOWEVER .... the puppet part really took me out of the show. Seeing the ACTUAL people on stage right there with the puppets and seeing their hand movements just kinda took me right out of the experience. Don't get me wrong these performers are BEYOND talented as both puppeteers and singers but seeing them in funky looking skin tight spandex next to their puppets just doesn't work for me. Overall the show was a BIG BIG hit with the audience though so I am sure its here to stay. The stadium is also very very nice except for the benches. Who in the hell thinks that wooden slat benches with no backs and no padding would be comfortable for a 40 min show?!?!?! Bad move Disney .. Bad Move.
Moving along through the park I separated from the family after Nemo to get my 4 Fast Pass rides on Everest (sometimes its good to be the only coaster person).
Everest -- WOW this thing is so cool looking. The mountain is very impressive, the themeing for the ride is outstanding and the "steam" powered train really fits the ride. There is so much to look at going through the que and getting to the ride. Like The Mummy at Universal this is what really helps the experience. The ride itself is a ton of fun. It's not a super high thrill ride like RNR but it is also not just a kiddie ride. The backwards part of the ride was totally cool and I loved it when we rode up to the top to find the "bridge" was out. Then when you are "finishing" up the Yeti is AWESOME!! I wished that we could have done some sort of helix in there or something to get more time with the Yeti as it goes by so quick but man this thing is so realistic. I rate the ride about a 4 out 5. It gets high marks for themeing and the overall experience but gets knocked down a tad for not being "high thrill" enough (not that I was expecting it anyway).
We finished up AK with some more walking tours and shopping and rolled out just before 8pm so the kids could hop in the pool at the house for a little while.
**OH I almost forgot ... we got lucky at AK as on the way out we checked lost and found and someone had turned in our video camera. I was thrilled and shocked at the same time.
6/17 - Magic Kingdom
**Weather was the hottest it had been all vacation long --- super super hot. Crowds out of control insane. This place was beyond packed.
Ok we knew going into this trip that this park would be the busiest, craziest, most trouble of all but it was 100% for the kids!!!
This day did not start well at all for us. We were late (again) and with the amount of time it takes to get from the parking lot to the gate makes it even worse. Also our other family members thought they were supposed to wait at the parking lot for us yet we had gotten there 15 mins ahead of them and had already come across so we lost yet another 30 mins waiting on them. We lost another 45 mins due to some bad family news my mother in law got while were there. Once that was dealt with and the kids got some character photos up front we hopped on the train to ride to the back of the park. I did do one smart thing in all of the waiting ... I jetted to Space Mountain and got some Fast Passes for 12 noon!!
Once in the back we headed straight for Pirates as the ONLY thing my wife wanted was a Johnny Depp Pirates shirt. We had looked everywhere else with no luck and I was convinced this would be the spot to get one. Guess what NO FRIGGIN' SHIRT!!! Disappointed we moved around to ride the ride ... guess what NO RIDE!!! It was down for painting and would not be ready until Friday. Wow was my crew bummed out!!!
On the way out of the que Jack Sparrow and his mate showed up for a little show so we got to see that which helped. The performer playing Sparrow was a dead ringer for him. He looked, acted, sounded, and performed EXACTLY like Jack Sparrow. He was excellent and this was a really nice little 10-12 min show! Very very good performances. Best news was my wife got to be an honorary pirate in the show ... yeahhhh!!
Next up Flying Carpets, Space Mountain, and Jungle Cruise ...
Flying Carpets ... terribly long line 30 mins at least but the kids REALLY wanted to do this so we did. Afterwards they took a little break to get a pic with Aladdin and the Princess and shop. I jetted over the SM for my Fast Pass time (2 rides)
Space Mountain -- still a classic, not exactly a super high thrill ride but fun nonetheless. Ops were kickin' a$$ and move trains as fast as possible. Wait time (non fast pass) was still 60 mins though. I got 2 quick rides and went back to the group for the Jungle Cruise.
Jungle Cruise -- silly cheesy ride but we had the ABSOLUTE BEST guide and he TOTALLY made the ride!! He was from the UK and was crackin' jokes, and making fun of everyone (and hitting on the girls on the boat). He pointed out cool stuff and of course completely useless, worthless items like a rock etc. This prompted my 8 year old daughter to bust on him about it -- he busted right back .. it was great. We came up on the Rhino part of the cruise and he asked why is it called the White Rhino when its not white?? Naturally my 8 year old had to chime in with answer thanks to both BGA and AK educating her --- you see when the white man first came upon the rhinos in Africa they asked what was the name of this animal the natives explained it was the white rhino (white in swahili means WIDE as these animals have a wide mouth). We misunderstood them and the name White Rhino stuck. The guide just looked down and said here is the mic you can have the job. The whole boat cracked up! This guy was truly great!!
Continued in next post as this one was too long to make it in one shot (ooops).  | 
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