Nataliya and Seth's Orlando Vacation

As our vacation was winding down, we had one more day on our five-day pass for the Disney parks. We decided to go to Animal Kingdom.

After being welcomed into the park by Mickey, Pluto and Goofy, we quickly made our way to the Kilimanjaro Safaris area. We were able to beat most of the crowd there and we soon got on our open vehicle as we drove around looking at the animals in their natural habitat, or at least how Disney envisioned their natural habitats should be. It was fun and relaxing. We even managed to take a few pictures of the animals.

Then we walked on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail where we saw some of the same animals we saw before, but now on foot.

Then we walked to this train they had there called the Wildlife Express Train which took you to an area called Rafiki's Planet Watch. On the way, the train went through some of the back areas of the park where the animals are cared for, but there really wasn't much to see. We don't know what there was to see at this destination, so we stayed on the train and headed back to the main park area.

Then we rushed to get on line for Kali River Rapids. Surprisingly, there wasn't any line so we got right on the ride. We got soaking wet. If you didn't get wet from the ride itself, they were nice enough to add water jets that would get you wet. Still, it was a fun ride.

Then it was off to go to into The Tree of Life, a 14-story tree with over 300 carvings of animals on the trunk. Interesting to say the least. Inside the tree they had another one of those 3-D movies that interacts with the audience: It's Tough to be a Bug! Based on the A Bugs Life movie. It's very well done as well, mixed with a few surprises which everyone in the audience loved!

Next on our destinations was the Festival of the Lion King show. I'm not sure who all the characters were since I'd never seen the movie, but Nataliya was delighted when one of the "human" (very attractive) characters called me up and asked me my name. She replied with "That's Swahili for 'I'm gonna get lucky tonight!" Whoa! Sounds like Disney grew up! It's a good thing that Nataliya isn't the jealous sort. Then this costumed woman asked me to snort like a warthog. *sigh*

We sat down to see the Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends show, which starred a young woman dressed like the Indian (or is that now 'Native American'?) star of the movie Pocahontas. I think the story was that the forest is being cut down in bits and pieces, so she talks to this old tree for advise. Then she looks for answers around her and with help from the animals. However, I didn't understand what the heck was going on. Backstage, they'd release some animals who ran to a location on the stage, ate some food, and then ran offstage. I don't think anyone really understood the message. Still, it was kind of cute. So was Pocohontos! (Am I allowed to say that sort of thing, now that I'm married???)

The Dinosaur ride was alright. It was one of those rides that they try to scare you with big animatronic dinosaurs growling at you. Not much to say other than that. Like I said, it was alright.

We had a late lunch (or early dinner) at Cici Pizza, a fairly large chain in almost half of the country. We'd never heard of them though - we just wanted some lunch (dinner). Anyway, it was pretty good - well worth the price we paid for an all-you-can-eat pizza & salad meal.

After we rested in the hotel for a bit, we played some shuffleboard, but we were soon shuffle-bored and stopped in the middle of a game. We decided to go play some miniature golf, and we found ourselves at Hawaiian Rumble Adventure Golf. Nataliya had never played it, but she quickly got the hand of it! She helped me keep score, but I'm not quite sure her score-keeping was completely accurate (or honest!). Still, I managed to pull out the victory! (scorecard)