Day 7

When we got to Dinosaur there was only a five minute queue, so San, Peter and Me joined the line, whilst Beth stayed outside with Rachel and took NINE photographs of Dino-Sue with her disposable camera!!!!!
Our short wait was spent looking at the exhibits of "fossils" and "dinosaur skeletons" in the Dino Institute. We were soon strapping down our valuables as we set off on our journey 65 million years back in time. Our mission was to rescue the last Iguanodon dinosaur just as a fiery asteroid hurtled towards the Earth obliterating dinosaurs from existence! The majority of the ride takes place in the dark lit only by the occasional flashing strobe light as you pass a dinosaur either eating a smaller member of its species, or threatening to eat you! The journey gets quite bumpy and our jeep was thrown about trying to avoid the meteor shower that threatened stop us returning to the present day! So did the Carnatorous which chased us right at the end of the ride, (and actually followed us off the ride…if you watch the video as you leave the Institute).

I'm not sure whether Dinosaur has been tamed down as it didn't seem as scary as it was last year, but Beth was still relieved when we emerged unscathed. She'd been inside the shop area, (conveniently placed at the end of the ride!), laughing at everyone's faces on the ride photo. We were quite surprised to find that the Dinosaur movie merchandise was all half price, as the film hadn't even been released in the UK yet!
We bought Beth some little plastic dinosaurs, which change colour when they go in hot water. She ended up leaving one of these in the villa when we came home, sat right in the middle of the flower arrangement at the centre of the coffee table in the lounge! Whoever finds it will get quite a fright!
Me and Peter then went over to Asia to get a Fastpass for the Kali River Rapids for later that morning, whilst Beth took Rachel to play in the Boneyard, and San mellowed out in the Florida heat by some tables just outside the play area. The Disney Dude on the Boneyard was quite an old chap, and he went over to warn San about sitting in the Florida sun, even though it was only 9.00am-ish, and she was wearing a hat, long trousers and factor 50 sunscreen. He must have been concerned about her white, see-through skin! She moved into the shade…where it was still about 90 degrees!
When Peter and I returned with the Fastpasses, Peter was sent on a quest into the Boneyard to retrieve Beth and Rachel, whilst San went to visit the toilets opposite the Flame Tree Barbecue! Once assembled, we headed to Camp Minnie-Mickey for Festival of the Lion King. After waiting only 10 minutes, we took our seats in the Giraffe section of the Lion King Theatre. When I parked the pram, I remembered to bring our cooler bag containing our ice cold drinks into the theatre with us, because last year the heat inside the Lion King Theatre was unbearable.
We were sat on the third row, right in the centre, and Beth was getting quite cocky now, so she made her way to the front row in the hope of being picked out to dance in the show! Last year she was invited to take part by one of the 10 foot stilt walkers, and was so scared of him that she hid behind me, (needless to say, she didn't get picked this time)!
San and I have tried to come up with a description of this show that does it justice, but you really must see it to believe it! Festival of the Lion King is a celebration of African colour and culture, featuring every kind of circus performer imaginable, from fire eaters to stilt walkers, all dressed in African tribal costume. There are characters wearing costumes representing all of the creatures in the animal kingdom, including zebras, lions, giraffes, monkeys and birds. The voices of the artistes were rich and unique in their renditions of the Lion King songs. When they sang The Circle of Life, you could actually feel the hairs on your neck stand on end! It was truly moving, even though we had seen the show before. Beth was so emotional at the end that she cried, pretending to be upset that she hadn't been picked to dance in the show! The Lion King show does what Disney does best - it gives you an intense emotion that can only be described as Disney-ish!
After the Circle of Life intro, Timon introduced the acrobatic monkeys, who flipped their way through Hakuna Matata.

Next up was some crazy guy who tossed a stick of fire around wearing only a thong, whilst doing handstands and somersaults!!! He even balanced the firestick on his bare feet. Then came Scar, singing Be Prepared, during a mock battle between tribal warriors on stilts. High wire artistes dressed as colourful birds followed this, swinging around to Can You Feel the Love Tonight. I Just Can't Wait to be King was the "audience participation" bit - where children were invited to join in a procession around the stage. This set the scene for The Lion Sleeps Tonight, where the whole audience was invited to join in with hand-clapping, foot stopping, animal noise making and singing, each section competing to be the loudest. Of course, the Giraffe section won! The show closed to a medley of songs from the film, as the cast lapped up the well-deserved applause. There were even people standing and clapping, and this is one show where NO-ONE leaves before the end!
After making our way out the theatre, Beth plotted us a course to Asia, and we arrived at the Kali River Rapids just before our Fastpass window expired. San quickly went into the nearby toilets - the thought of all that water had inspired her! Beth was getting really good at reading the park maps, which means that we can no longer fool her into thinking that we are going to her favourite attractions, when we are in fact heading in the opposite direction.
We rushed through the Fastpass entrance, by-passing the jealous stand-by queue, straight to the front of the line, and were soon off on our trip down the turbulent waters of the Chakrandi River. We managed not to get too wet, as our raft spun along the river, until right at the end when we were squirted by statues of elephants as they raised their trunks.
We collected Beth's pram, as San went to check out the toilets by the Anandapur Ice cream Truck…again, and we decided to walk through the Maharajah Jungle trek through the Anandapur Royal Forest to dry off. Here we came across antelopes and deer, Komodo dragons (lizards), and when we got to the ruins of the ancient palace we saw two Bengali tigers lazing in the sun.

The whole area was beautifully themed, and a lot of it was under trees to protect you from the mid-day sun. In the centre of the jungle we walked through a set of double doors, and entered the bat pavilion, which housed giant fruit bats, some of which were hanging upside down from trees. They were huge, and when one decided to wake up and fly around we all instinctively ducked, even though they were behind glass. We didn't stay too long in the darkened viewing area, as Beth wouldn't let us - just in case one escaped!
Our trek was completed through an aviary where we found many species of exotic birds, all brightly coloured. They were flying about high above us, but were contained in the aviary by a high net in the treetops. After our trek, we crossed over to Africa to get a Fastpass for the Kilimanjaro Safari, and then headed for the Tree of Life and It's Tough to be a Bug. Just as we came past the Creature Comforts shop Beth spotted Terk the gorilla from Tarzan, and rushed over to get an autograph and have her photo taken.

We then admired the carvings around the roots of the Tree of Life as we made our way through the queuing area. There were some amusing posters advertising movies using bugs as stars, such as BUGsy Malone. It was really hot in the queuing area, as there is no air conditioning in the narrow pathways, which are outside, hence no protection from the sun. Our water spraying, cooling fans came in really handy! I got left behind on more than one occasion, not only because I was pushing Beth's pram…minus Beth, as she was running up ahead, but also because I was trying to admire the carvings, and make out as many animals as I could. Everyone else was too hot, and they were rushing to the sanctuary of the theatre. I eventually caught up with the rest of them, having handed the pram to a Disney Dude to park. We were herded into a small, darkened waiting area, where we were constantly told to "move to the left" and "move all the way down", even though there was no more room! Eventually, when we were all squashed to ant like proportions, we were allowed into the theatre with our 3-D glasses. Rachel had decided that she was too scared to come inside, and made some pathetic excuse about getting a temporary tattoo - so we left her to it.
As we entered the theatre, the Disney Dude again insisted that we filled up every seat to our left, and as we did the people following us, who appeared to be Chinese and didn't speak English, sat down behind us, leaving only three seats for the four of us! San ended up sitting on the arm of a chair, sharing the bench area with Beth. The show started, and we put on our 3-D glasses to be spat at by the Acid Bug, stabbed in the back by a wasp, and then a funny thing happened……….San could feel something crawling on her arm, and was frantically trying to brush it off! She was then stung by what we assume to be a wasp, but didn't want to make a fuss in case she upset Beth!
Beth was actually enjoying the show, as she quite likes the movie A Bug's Life, and as she was sat to the side of the chair, she hadn't been stung by the wasp (the one in the show!). However, both San and Beth felt the crawling maggots under their seat!!!!!
When we got outside, San's souvenir was beginning to swell. Being fair skinned doesn't help when you have a wasp sting. She had to apply her trusty aloe vera cream to try to make the swelling go down and the pain dispel. I seem to remember that Chris Franklin's son also got stung at the Animal Kingdom…is this part of the Disney theming to make the show seem more realistic?! We eventually found Rachel, and when we had all finished laughing at her tattoo that apparently said "lurve", but looked more like "chicken cashew nuts" on a Chinese menu. San then got some ice from one of the refreshment barrows to put on her sting and we made our way to Harambe, stopping to buy Beth nine safari figures (out of her own money that she had saved!) and buy Safari Eeyore for San to make her feel better. The CM on the cart was really concerned about San's sting, but she assured the CM that it was already starting to feel better, and I think Eeyore had helped!
We headed to the Fastpass entrance of Kilimanjaro Safari, but there appeared to be a problem with loading. As a result of this, all the trucks seemed rushed and bunched up on the Savannah, and the commentary was out of synch with the action. The wobbly bridge did not cave in, and we didn't see as many animals as we had on our previous visit. But they do say that no two safaris are the same! We saw lots of alligators, a baby hippo swimming with its mother, and the usual Tommies.
Peter and I tried out the groovy alligator and turtle benches outside the safari, whilst San tried out the toilets at the Mombassa Market Place. We then got Beth a Simba's paw print ice cream from the Tamu Tamu Refreshments stand, and Chocolate Mickey Ears for Rachel and Peter, whilst San and I shared a fruit bar. Feeling suitably refreshed, we decided to walk the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail to visit the gorilla family again. We saw a baby hippo swimming with its mother from the underwater viewing area, possibly the same one from the safari. As we came out at the end of the trail, we came across a huge crate with steel bars that had "Gorilla Re-introduction Programme" written on the side of it. Beth and I decided to try it out for size, and had our photo taken whilst sat inside it, which drew a few odd looks. After having our picture taken, I tried to stand up, and banged my head on the roof of the cage, which bl….y hurt - no sympathy - just lots of laughing. (I didn't get a cuddly Eeyore!)

As we left Harambe, there was a group of people line dancing, African style, at the Dawa Bar, so we stopped to watch. San threatened to join in, (think Baloo as he joins King Louie in "King of the Swingers"), Beth got bored and went to play on the bongos outside Tamu Tamu.
As we left the Animal Kingdom, storm clouds were gathering, and we could see lightening flashing across the sky in the distance, so we hurried back to the van because Beth was getting scared. Luckily, we were parked right at the front in the Unicorn section, so we were in the car before it started to rain. We'd enjoyed the Animal Kingdom last year, but got more out of it this time as we'd seen more animals. Last year it was just too hot, so we didn't bother with the treks or the trails, which is where you see most of the animals.
We left he park at about 4.30pm and as we got back to the villa Beth was the first one in the Jacuzzi, as she wanted to play with her new safari figures! It was just as well that she was in the bath, because she was oblivious to the storm of typhoon like proportions that was brewing up outside. Then the rain rain rain came down down down in rushing, rising rivulets, and Peter floated down the road astride our inflatable Shamu!!!

After tea, and allowing for the storm to die down, we were all washed and changed, and drove to Downtown Disney Marketplace, arriving at about 8.30pm. It was still raining, and I have to admit for the first time ever - I wore one of those bright yellow, Disney rain ponchos!!!!! (I took it off as soon as we got inside The World of Disney!)
We spent ages in World of Disney and took our time in each section of the shop. We told Beth that she had to decide on her one most favourite thing after buying all of her gifts in the Animal Kingdom. She chose a Tinkerbell light-up pendant, which only cost $3. We were amazed at the thousands of Disney pins that were on sale in World of Disney - and also amazed at the amount of money you could spend on them! (It could soon mount up if you were an avid collector!)
Our next stop was Toys Fantastic where we found a great bargain - a host of beanies reduced to only $3 each! We bought Robin Hood, Maid Marion, and Herbie (the Love Bug). Peter bought Baloo and King Louie for himself and Bagheera for Beth. Rachel bought Doug and Porkchop for herself, and the blue mouse - Tutter, from Bear in a Big Blue House for Beth. Doesn't Beth always do well?!

The next shop was, we think, The Captain's Tower, where I found a new sports strap for my glasses, to hold them on when riding the roller coasters. This was only $4, and would be about £10 in the UK. Here we also discovered half price Pokemon goodies, so coughed up another $4 for Beth - Pikachu, we choose you!
We then went to look at the menu in the Rainforest Café to see if it was any different from the one in DLP….it wasn't! Beth thought that the crocodile outside was real, as every now and then it would "wake up" and open its toothy jaws and "snap them at us" (Beth's words). She kept asking me for money to throw into the crocodile's pool so she could make a wish, but actually hurled the dime straight at it, trying to get them in its mouth! Later, she admitted she was trying to "wake it up"! When it did, she legged it in fear for her life!!!!!!!!! We returned to the van, after playing catch with a Disney Dude selling those blow up balls, and drove back to the villa, arriving back at around midnight after ANOTHER long day!
I wondered whether we would keep up this pace, but we were determined to make the most of our time in Orlando.

Tomorrow - MGM Studios