In the Jungle. the mighty jungle
The lion Sleeps tonight
In the jungle , the quiet jungle
The Lion Sleeps tonight
AND HEREEEEE’S SIMBA!
Tag Archives: lions
Animal Kingdom At Christmas
With the Orlando Eye down for the count Joe and I put our heads together to come up with a plan B. Now when you are in Orlando and your BFF works for Disney World, what is the most logical conclusion for a Plan B? Why, go to one of the parks , of course!
My very favorite park is Animal Kingdom because of the animals. We figured we could get The Kilimanjaro Safari ride in and maybe the Lion King Show before the park closed for the day.
I love the bridge where we can see the Mountain. I always have to stop and take a picture there. Usually there’s a park photographer too because its such a popular vista.
The park was pretty slow so we were able to get on the safari ride pretty quickly.
A lot of the animals were out of sight waiting for the evening feeding but that meant that I got to see some that I’ve missed in the past.
There was a lovely bright colored bird. The driver told us its name but I don’t remember it now.
Of course the elephants can’t hide
and there were giraffes.
The best were the big cats and of the big cats, the lions.
We even got a roar out of the male before he laid down for his nap!
Too soon it was time to move on if we wanted to see the Lion King Show.
The Secret Garden
You may have noticed the dolphin in my header photo. I bet you wondered what that had to do with January/February . You’re right, its no refection on Valentine’s Day or any other January/February holiday but it is from the Vegas trip.
Ok Next question. We’re in the desert. Where did a dolphin come in?
Well we had a lot of exploring to do on Monday. It ‘s our last full day in Vegas. We started the day off at the Hash House A Go Go again. Location and convenience counts for something. I skipped the pancake this time but tried the waffle. Not bad but the waffles at the Sheraton in San Diego were better.
After eating too much at breakfast we headed to the Mirage. For a desert, there’s sure a lot of water here.
In the Mirage was the Secret Garden. The full name is Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. There are 3 interconnected pools and the dolphins can be found in any of the pools. You can also do “downstairs” and watch through viewing windows. There’s no show per se but the dolphins are trained to perform some behaviors so the biologists can observe them.
I spend quite a bit of time watching the dolphins while JR went on to explore the rest of the Gardens. He found the Big Cats. He led me through the gateway to huge cages where retired cats from Siegfried and Roy’s shows now reside in leisure.
They appeared to be well taken care of but they looked sad to us. Still if they were free in the wild they’d be dead by now. Wild Big Cats just don’t live to be 20 years old. 🙁 We took most of the morning among the animals and then it was time to move along.
Animal Kingdom, My favorite Disney Park
No offence to Minnie & Mickey’s Magic Kingdom or Adventure Land or any of the other parks in the Disney World universe but I love, love, love Animal Kingdom. The only thing I would like better is if the safari ride was longer.
In fact I would just spend the day riding it over and over but Joe wasn’t buying that.
We actually met up at my condo so we could use just 1 car. We checked out the breakfast buffet at Sizzler…only $4.99 and quite extensive and then it was off to the parks. On the way we stopped in front of the big Disney World Sign so for a photo opportunity.
Of course there were signs everywhere that said “No Stopping” but I just pretended I couldn’t read. Joe did the honors.
Once in the parking lot we hopped on the tram for the trip to the park.
As we were entering Joe spotted some of his co-workers and stopped for a chat. He spent a “tour of duty” in Animal Kingdom before he was moved to the photography cast and assigned to the Hollywood Studios Park.
We wandered the various “countries” looking a the different animals. I loved the tigers but they weren’t being the most cooperative for pictures. I managed to get a couple through the glass side of the enclosure.
What gorgeous cats.
The bird aviery was really cool too but finally we reached the Safari Ride.
Joe was right about it being a slow week. We had no line. The trucks were going out without being full.
I was on the right side of the truck on this ride and it seemed like all the cool animals were on the left. Just my luck.
There were hippos and crocodiles..or was it alligators, I forget which, pelicans, rhinos, giraffes, spring bok, wildebeest and other antelope and lions. Of course lions. What kind of safari would it be without the “King”?
And yes, Hippos do get sunburned.
You had to shoot fast because the truck doesn’t stop so good shots were a challenge with the motion of the truck exaggerating camera shake.
After the safari Joe said it was time for a show. We headed across the park to the theater where the show The Lion King Celebration was presented. We got some pretty good seats. Loved the music! Hakuna Matata! The sets were amazing as only Disney can pull off!
Lunch time and we visited the open air snack bar. We both opted for Sweet and Sour Chicken. Not bad for fast food.
There were birds every where begging for tid-bits and snatching up dropped food. A mother duck and her brood were trying to get from the pond to the picnic area but a cast member kept shooing them back to the water. They were very persistent.
The chimps were really going all out in their enclosures. Swinging around the tower in the center of the enclosure. That was pretty amazing to see.
About that time Joe said it was time to go see Finding Nemo the Musical. Ok so we were off to another show. This was just as good as the Lion King. The funny thing is that if Joe hadn’t been with me and insisted we go, I would have skipped both shows in favor of the real live animals and that would have been a shame. Both are outstanding shows and worth taking the time to see.
I saw the Mt Everest coaster ride but was content to just watch and of course there was a parade! 🙂
Animal Kingdom closes at 5pm and the afternoon was winding down. I begged one more ride on the Safari. When we got there it was almost empty but once again my place in line was about to put me on the right side in the truck. I asked the gate attendant if I could please sit on the left. Since it was slow he said yes and directed me to a different row.
This time our driver actually stopped to give us time to take pictures of the animals. I am sure it was because it was the end of the day and not many people were taking the ride. He didn’t have to worry about a little delay.
After this ride it was time to leave this park but we weren’t finished with Disney yet. We were headed over to Epcot for dinner and to see one more night of fireworks.