Going on a Disney Safari

The last time we were in Orlando, Animal Kingdom had just opened.  We were all looking forward to seeing how it had grown!

Sadly, Whitney was feeling a bit poorly and made the painful decision not to come with us.  Charmaine valiantly stayed with her. I felt bad about that because this is her first trip to the US. But as the hours went by, I was relieved that Whitney was not on her own with no way to contact us.  (not sure if I have mentioned the obsolete internet connections in our villa, not suitable for Apple products and no WiFi)

Almost immediately upon entering the Animal Kingdom, we were welcomed by a friendly and beautiful tree!

And of course, there is also the Tree of Life

Before going on the Safari, we saw the Lion King Show. This was incredible!  In its way, it was as good as the Broadway production and everyone seemed to be smiling and singing all the way through it.  These monkeys were so talented with the way they worked the trampoline and trapeze. What a fun way to begin our "trip" to Africa!


Next was the safari in Africa and got to see loads of (real) animals, like black and white rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, zebras and many others.

We then took a train to Rafiki's Planet Watch.  This is a place dedicated to research and is really interesting.  Corbyn was delighted to get up close and personal with a real Vulture.  Earlier in this trip, he spotted them and was surprised they were here in Florida, he thought they only lived in deserts.  We told him they lived here too and he asked what they ate. The answer was dead things.  Corbyn then wondered why they didn't also live in Scotland because there are lots of dead things in Scotland too!




Lunch in Africa was fabulous. Here is a little review I found about it from a website all about Disney restaurants::

 Tamu Tamu Refreshments

Location: Africa Cuisine: American  Rating: 3.5 Stars

Located in the heart of Harambe, this counter service has a limited menu. However, the menu is far from typical theme park fare and includes the following; slow roasted pulled beef, roasted chicken salad sandwich and a south african quinoa salad. These offerings are paired with freshly made potato chips.

Very close to the markets, with pulled pork and delicious salads.  I got the Quinoa Salad, Candi got the chicken salad and Alan got the pulled pork.

We could not stop laughing for ages!

Following lunch, we went on to visit Asia and take the Kali River Rapids ride.  Although everywhere warns about getting wet, I really didn't believe this would happen.....boy was I wrong!  Soaked to the skin and enjoyed every second of it!














At Dinoland, we were disappointed to discover a fun fair called Dino-rama where you had to purchase vouchers to use for the games.  Not only was it too hot and too late in the day, but we could not see beyond the games. And we could not face these after all the nice parts of the Animal Kingdom. But in reading the reviews about Dinorama, I see there were also rides that Corbyn would have enjoyed......now I wish we had given this part of the park a chance.  Or at least not waited til the last part of the day before arriving here.....

After successfully getting Corbyn out of Dinorama without having to play the carnival games, we rode the main Dinosaur ride, where you go back in time and the excursion gets hijacked by a mad scientist.  It is loud and mostly done in the dark and Corbyn was hysterical afterward.  He found it extremely frightening.  Alan and I thought it was just too fake looking.  I have read reviews and most folks seem to like it, but small children, like Corbyn, might not like it.  Wish I had read that before going on!  I believe he will be going back before we leave the area, so we will definitely give this area another look!

Time to go home after that ride and I felt so bad about how upset Corbyn was, but on the way out we ran into Spoonbill birds being fed and that was fun. Then to perfectly finish off the day, an American Crocodile was sitting there with a ranger giving information about him.  Who knew there really are American Crocodiles?  Only in the very southern part of Florida, but I thought we only had alligators!  Corbyn interrogated the ranger and she was very impressed with his own knowledge and the questions he asked.  A perfect way to end the day!