Disney World 2008 Pics Of The Day--Day 7

Ked and I have a few minutes before our table is ready for our final dinner here at Animal Kingdom Lodge. He's putting in a bit more reading time before vacation is over and it's back to real life where he doesn't have nearly as much time to read for pleasure. I'm going to put in some more time here, finishing up this little travel log. Not that I think it's really of interest to anyone beyond Ked and myself, but it's nice to have a record of the memories, with all their highs and lows, and I hope, since you are here now, that this can entertain you enough to make it worth your time. Anyway, the trip wound down nicely, with some lovely Florida weather in our favorite Disney park--Animal Kingdom. Because of our health issues this week we never made it to Disney's Hollywood Studios, nor Magic Kingdom (let alone the other places we considered going this trip, Sea World and Kennedy Space Center), but Animal Kingdom was just the right place to finish our vacation. We ended it on a high note, in a place we knew we'd like a lot. After the week we've had, it would not have done at all to have had a bummer last day!

We started off with a little snafu. Last night we forgot an important camera imperative--always check your batteries!! Both our cameras were shy on battery juice today, and, technology being what it is, of course both of them have proprietary battery systems, so we couldn't just go locate a couple of AA Duracells. For most of the day we had to be content just to enjoy the park and let our minds capture the memories, rather than the shutter. While we do both love taking pictures of the things we find interesting or beautiful, it was kind of nice to just focus on having fun, instead of how to frame the perfect shot. We did snap a few, most of which we'll share below, but the selection is limited, so we'll have to be content mostly with boring people shots, rather than cool and amazing animals doing cool and amazing things.

Today was the first day both of us felt up to a little more up tempo adventure, and since it was warm enough today that we didn't fear a little water (or a lot, as it turned out), we decided to brave a ride that we didn't make it onto last year when we were here--the Kali River Rapids. It's a lot like the Grizzly Rapids ride in Disney's California Adventure Park, but perhaps a little shorter we thought. Despite it's relative brevity, though, we loved it. Beautiful surroundings, and because it was so warm today, we didn't mind a bit getting soaked to the skin. (Well, okay, I didn't mind getting soaked.) Even Ked, who's usually a fur hat and parka kind of guy this time of year (small exaggeration alert, albeit very small), walked around in shorts and a T-shirt for the whole day, and well into the evening--even after the drenching!

Needless to say, other fun was to be had throughout the park, although some of what we did reminded us that we're not as young as we used to be, and that we might want to reconsider some of the more thrilling rides the next time we are tempted to defy gravity. For today, though, we took our turns with great enthusiasm (at least until they were over), on Dinosaur and Expedition Everest. (Ked did not like plummeting backwards in the dark!) We mellowed as the day went on, and had some milder Disney fun watching "Nemo the Musical," and "It's Tough To Be A Bug." We tried to catch a few of the animals as the day went on as well. We bid farewell to the tigers just as they were retiring for the night, and wandered down a few paths that we had missed on our previous visits, discovering a few nice views and heretofore unnoticed beasties. It was lovely. A good time was had by all--or both, if you want to get technical.

After being sick for days, I had eating to catch up on! We had snack credits to burn, so the first stop of the day for me was the popcorn stand. It satisfied the salt craving, but Kedley's popcorn kicks on the theme park variety. He makes it in a pan on the stove, with olive oil and just the right quantities of butter and salt. Still, I was in a junk food mood today, and this popcorn definitely fit that bill.

Part of our wandering took us past these primates of indeterminate variety (indeterminate at least as far as we were concerned, and we never saw an explanatory placard to fill in the knowledge gap). I turned the camera on and quickly snapped this photo, ever conscious of the waning battery, but I just had to get a picture of the baby clinging to Mama for all it was worth. Mom swung from pillar to post, and baby never slipped an inch. It's amazing what those critters can do with a "grabber" on all four limbs.

This is Ked after Expedition Everest, which definitely hit the "we're getting too old for this" nail with the hardest hammer. We walked by this expedition gear and started thinking about how the next vacation really ought to be a camping vacation. Lots of hiking, beautiful scenery, nothing turning us upside-down...

Here's one of those giant tortoises that live to be over a hundred years old and grow to six hundred pounds. You can't see it in the photo, but I'm working on my own six hundred pounds, with the strawberry Haagen Daz I have in hand just out of this shot. I told you I was in a junk food kind of mood, and ice cream was my next junk food choice-of-the-day.

Winter follows autumn. Spring follows winter. There are drums. Ked plays them. It's a simple fact of nature.

Here are our last shots before we put the camera away for good this trip. Ked's on one side of one of those habitat "ruins" that Disney does so well. I'm on the other. We thought they merged together rather nicely.

Later: We just got back from our last dinner here at AK Lodge's African buffet restaurant, Boma, and I've gotta tell you, I have never been so disappointed to be a food lightweight as I am tonight. This might very well be my favorite restaurant of all time (at least top three), and definitely so in terms of the value related to other restaurants here at D-World. I highly recommend the experience if you are ever in the neighborhood (especially if you aren't prone to getting full after the first eight bites.) The cuisine is all interesting and exotic, without being the least bit strange, if that makes any sense. Yum. (Oh, the really good part--they hand out recipes!)

Well, that sums up this Disney adventure. We have to be up tomorrow at 4 in the morning to catch our early flight home. We should be cruising into Portland around 11:30, which works out to about a six hour flight once you adjust for the time change. If you are one of the people we love at home, and are kind enough to be here reading about our little adventures, we'll see you soon. If you are a stranger just cruising by the Meow, may your journeys be pleasant ones. Goodnight.

Disney World 2008 Pics Of The Day--Day 4

The flu attacked again in force today, slamming back down on me with swift and brutal determination. I tried to stay in the fight for a few hours this morning, but eventually succumbed to the increasingly urgent call of my pillow and bed, some orange juice and a couple of Nyquil Liquicaps. Hopefully a good night's rest will put my depleted body in a little better shape, and then we can pick up where we left off. Today's plan was to visit Animal Kingdom in the morning, and then Magic Kingdom for the afternoon and evening. We never made it past the animal part of the scheme, but maybe we can go see Mickey tomorrow. I don't have much to show you today. We only got a few snapshots taken before misery got the better of me, but what we did get I'll pass your way now, before I say goodnight again. There are a few lovely birds, most of which shall remain nameless, and another interesting creature or two. One thing you will not see, however, is the elusive Giant Red-Eyed, Red-Nosed Kat. It's dripping season for the Kat, and that's a time when the breed becomes particularly camera shy. The Ked too becomes scarce at such times, as it is only the lure of the Kat which draws him out into the open. Trust me when I tell you that right now the Kat is not very alluring...

We don't know what variety of bird this is. We just decided to call it "Pretty Birdie."

This is the same bird, but for lack of a better moniker, let's just go with "Pretty Birdie II."

Though not quite in focus, we thought the iridescence of this little beauty warranted its display here at the Meow.

This proud bird, all decked out in her (his?) Easter bonnet is an African Crowned Crane. Finally, a bit of actual information!!

This fellow (or lady) is a Military Macaw--the name having something to do with the color of Spanish soldiers' uniforms from some previous century or other. (While in my influenza-induced stupor, I take no responsibility for tracking down more specific information than that. If you'd like to research the topic more thoroughly and then educate us in the comments, please feel free to do so. Otherwise, we must all choose to live in unapologetic ignorance. Apologizing would be pointless.)

Here parades a Giant Anteater of some sort. I can't remember the entire name, but I do remember that it's the biggest variety of anteater. Giant is an accurate description, too. The brush on his back stood up about three-and-a-half feet, and he was probably seven feet strung out from tail to snout (or, tail to snot, as I originally typed it. I think I have a mental theme going here somewhere.)

Here's a Nile Crocodile, who looks so jolly we think someone must have cracked a funny right before Ked snapped the photo. Let's guess what it is, shall we? I'll start: "A crocodile and anteater walked up to a game warden and said, 'Did you see that Military Macaw that flew by? His tail was so green....'" This is where you come in... or not. It really is a lame idea, isn't it? I blame the Nyquil.

Disney World 2008 Pics Of The Day--Day 1

Hello from the Magic Kingdom, or thereabouts. We caught a red-eye flight late Wednesday, so that we could hit the ground running on Thursday morning. Trouble with that plan was that both Ked and I have the flu, so it was more like we hit the ground limping. We were still going to stick to the plan, though, because our room here at the Animal Kingdom Lodge wasn't supposed to be ready until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Our plane landed at 6:15 a.m. and we got to the hotel around 7:30, got checked in and all set up with our park passes, when what miraculous thing should occur? Our room was already available! It beckoned loudly, and thither we went. We slept for about 4 hours, and then wandered around Animal Kingdom for about three hours. You'd think after the long nap we'd have been up well into the night, but after a lovely dinner at Boma we crawled into bed at 7:30am. I didn't wake up again until 8:30--that's thirteen hours later for those of you who don't like math. Any of you who know me know that it takes a good bout of the flu to keep my eyes shut that long. Hopefully today we'll be a little more energetic.

Well, you didn't come here to read my drivel about sleeping and fluing. You came here for pictures! We will oblige. The sucky news is my camera was in a lousy mood and deleted most of the photos I took yesterday (most likely caused by my flu-induced stupor--I was not a happy camper when I discovered my own ineptitude). Believe me when I say some of the pictures I took were INCREDIBLE. It will make me feel better if you do believe me, and neither of us has any way to disprove the theory, so let's just run with it, okay? Despite my photographic mishaps, the good news is that since we are both snapshot junkies we are a two camera family, and we have lots of Ked's snaps to pass your way. Without further whining and other assorted forms of ado, I give you Disney World--Day 1. We'll start with the view from our balcony:

We didn't get one of the spendier rooms here at the Lodge, so imagine our delight when we found the pseudo-Savanna right outside our balcony (we have a balcony!), populated by giraffes, zebras, nyala antelope, ankole cattle, ostriches and various other bird life. At one point this morning we saw three zebras chasing an ostrich, while the giraffes looked on with amusement and the ankole cattle shook their heads in dismay. (You want to stay out of the way when the cattle shake their heads.)

This is one of the ankole cattle I mentioned. Those giant horns are common to both the males and females. They look like they can hold their own in a brawl, don't you think?

These were also outside our balcony. (We have a balcony! Sorry. I'm just very taken with the fact we have our own little nature observatory right here in our room.) We're not sure what these are--maybe some kind of crane? Any bird watchers out there in the know? Anyway, we figure it must be mating season around here with all the bird ballet that's going on.

From here we move on to the Animal Kingdom park. These Hyacinth Macaws were among the first residents to greet us. They, like the birds surrounding our lodgings, seemed awfully affectionate as well.

This East African Crowned Crane only seemed interested in food.

These Scarlet Macaws seemed both affectionate and hungry at the same time. We distinctly heard one of them say, "Hey! My beak is not your food!!"

This tiger looked quite self-satisfied and regal. Definitely not a cat with troubles on his mind.

Apparently, these macaws thought that tiger's look of satisfaction meant he wasn't too hungry.

"So, anyway Joe, I says to him, 'You don't scare me Old Stripes. I'm fast. I can out-fly you any day of the week. Come on, try and get me! Just see how far you get.'"

"I wouldn't mess with Old Stripes if I were you, Red. He's a lot smarter than he looks."

"Mmmm, once you get past the feathers, those red things are delicious. I wonder what other tasty morsels are wandering around this place?"

"Oh Lord, please don't let the tiger out of his pen. Please don't let the tiger out of his pen..."

"Hey Baby, leave it to me. I'll protect you. I think I can take the tiger.... maybe."

"Sorry I can't be more helpful, old chap, but I find hiding to be the best way to avoid death-by-tiger."

"Just send a little fire my way, and old King Louie here can fix it for ya."

"Hey, don't look at me. I may look scary and evil, but I'm just a fruit bat."

Well, that's it for today. We're off to Epcot for some low-key adventure. We won't be riding into space, or anything stomach-churning like that, but I'm sure we'll have fun just the same. Oooh, maybe there'll be science stuff to do. We love science stuff....

Disney World Pics Of The Day--Day 7

Those of you who have been following our Disney World journey will have noted that there was no day 6. That is because on the sixth day, Kat rested. Actually, we switched our plans and decided to spend that day at Magic Kingdom, and we found that any blogging we did would end up being mostly a laundry list of comparisons between the Land and the World. We didn't think a California/Florida theme-off would make for particularly interesting reading, so we decided to get a good night's sleep instead. Today, however, we headed back to the Animal Kingdom. The two days we spent there have turned out to be the most photographic and wonderful days of our vacation. (Although, the days at Epcot made it a pretty close contest.) Once again, we'll head straight into the photos and tell you what we saw.

It's the end of our trip, so we really needed to catch some Zzz's. (No groaning allowed.)

Cute little baby elephants at play--of course, little is a relative term.

These acrobats were amazing. They just exuded energy. We saw the same troupe at Disney's California Adventure several years ago, and I don't think these guys have aged a day. It must be all that exercise!!

Here's a Black and White Colobus Monkey. These guys have no opposable thumbs, and use their tails--which can be up to three feet long--to swing from branch to branch.

Check out these chompers. This is a Nile Crocodile, which has 1,200 psi of jaw-crunching capacity. We thought it best to stay out of his way, and suggest you do the same.

The big guy's an Okapi. The little guy is a Yellow-backed Dyker. That about sums up our total Okapi-Dyker knowledge fund. Aren't you impressed?

"Now where did I lay those eggs?"

"Mmmm, those eggs were delicious."

(Trivia moment: Our trusty guide informed us that the open mouth of a hippo is not a yawn, but a sign of aggression.)

These cute tender animals are ring-tailed lemurs.

"I just love that Tiki Room, don't you?"

(Actually, we did really enjoy the Tiki Room. They've updated the show recently, which it desperately needed, and updated the sound as well. I swore twenty years ago that I'd never go in again, but I'm glad I changed my mind.)

"How come cows get cuds and antelope don't? I want a cud. What is a cud, anyway? Oh, wait a minute!! Wikipedia says antelope do have a cud, and it's a good thing too--otherwise we couldn't digest all that grass we eat. Well, okay then--I better get chewing."

"Rhino-schmino. I'm HIP!"

"Sure, I look tender and juicy, but you're gonna have to make it past the horns."

Warthog self-esteem: "My mom thinks I'm cute."

Elephants
(If you want a better caption you're going to have to come up with it yourself. We're getting rummy.)

This is the first in a series of gorilla shots. We've entitled this one "King of the Planet of the Apes." This big guy--all 550 pounds of him--is the dominant male in the troop of bachelor gorillas that all live together at Animal Kingdom. They have a very definite pecking order, and when we were there we saw some really interesting behavior, including chest beating and blanket stealing. (They have enough blankets to go around, but all of them want the blue blanket for some reason, and the boss man here made a big show of parading around with the coveted blue treasure.

Here he is again with the blue blanky. We call this one "Linus." If you look closely at the side of his head, you'll see a wound he received last week when one of the slightly smaller males decided to challenge him. The guide we talked to said the fight didn't get horribly heated, because, really, all these guys have to fight over is blankets, but if they introduced a female into the mix things would get both dangerous and interesting. Needless to say, they are not planning on bringing in a female anytime soon.

This is the oldest bachelor in the pad. He's about 25. He may look aggressive here, but he's only having a really big yawn. He's the smallest gorilla in the mix, at only about 425 pounds (poor little thing) and he doesn't like to get too involved with the more aggressive younger males. He stayed off to the side the whole time we watched, and occasionally gave a "please don't hurt me" cower.

Here's our champion again, triumphantly toting the blue blanky. We had to throw in this picture just so you could see how much arm he has. Astounding aren't they?

Here's our last photo. This is a golden-breasted starling. We decided to put this picture at the end because we wanted to end our trip journal with a cute little birdy instead of a big mean gorilla.


We did other things throughout the day besides finding photo ops. We went on rides. (The Dinosaur one is great, but the Safari is the best.) We saw a parade. (We couldn't help but see the parade. We were trying to get back to the safari ride, and had to wait for the parade to pass by before we could cross the street. We were a captive audience.) We took a train to the veterinary station and saw a tortoise get a checkup. All of these were diverting, interesting, and educational. If we had to pick the best non-animal-related amusement of the day, however, it would have to be Finding Nemo The Musical. Loads of fun, and very creative in its production techniques. The only thing we both thought was a little weak about the show was that some of the songs seemed a little contrived, mostly when they tried to convey in words something that got conveyed in longer, more visual and less expository ways in the original movie, but that was our only less-than-flattering critique. Other than that small quibble, it was fine family fun, and an excellent way to pass forty minutes of our precious Animal Kingdom time.

Well, that about wraps things up from Florida. Tomorrow we'll be heading home. We have a few hours to fill before our shuttle picks us up, and we hope to spend them taking pictures (shocking, I know) on the Boardwalk near Epcot. There were some beautiful hotels that we only got to glimpse the other evening and we'd love to see them in the daytime, and snap a few final pics. If we get any good ones, I'll probably post them after we get back home--and get some rest--we've got a long flight ahead of us. We've been primed for the trip home by the restaurant where we ate dinner tonight. We ate at Artist Point, in the Wilderness Lodge. It's a stunning, lakeside hotel, modelled after one of the lodges you would find in Yellowstone National Park, or other points West. It got us in the mood to see our beautiful Pacific Northwest again, and since it's been so cold here for most of our visit (it barely made it above 50 degrees yesterday, and we actually had to buy me gloves), we're already focused on getting back on the ski slopes. I'm looking forward to checking in on the rest of the world, too, and seeing what I missed while we've been playing here in Orlando. I hope you enjoyed our photographic adventure together. Ked and I certainly did. See you in a couple days.

Disney World Pics Of The Day--Day 5

Today was absolutely fabulous! We went to Disney's Animal Kingdom and can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was. (Actually, I could tell you, but I doubt you have an hour to spend reading my raptures.) So, I'm just going to let today's pictures show you a little of what we saw...

Hyacinth Macaws

African Rhythms

A nice place to call home

Gators, or is it crocodiles? How about "big reptiles with really scary teeth?" Works for me!

We don't know the official name of this little guy. We just know he's pretty (or she's pretty. We don't know that either. Aren't we just a wealth of information?)

Carnivore

It was very clearly dinner time in the tiger zone. Tigers are naturally solitary creatures, but these tolerate each other because they are well fed. We could tell when the three tigers that share this habitat all started pacing around together over by a couple of low archways that they all had the same thing on their minds--digestibles!!

Although this fellow too must remain nameless, because we didn't take good enough notes, we can say with authority that he's cute, and really, isn't that all that matters?

Judge G

According to the kind and informative Disney employee, this is a Gernook Antelope. The spelling is phonetic, since even our Disney guide couldn't be certain of the proper sequence of letters. I'd look it up, but it's late, and I'm tired, and I think it would be good for you to take some initiative toward your own spelling and vocabulary education. For added incentive, you can come back and correct my spelling if you'd like. I'll give you a gold star in the comments section and bonus points on the spelling test for the extra effort.

This was just a pretty birdhouse that stood in a very beautiful little aviary. Disney is so very good at the details.

Tiger basking in the sun--These "ruins" make for a pretty classy napping spot, don't you think?

Storky and Hutch

"Hear me roar!!"

"Let's see. I'll start with the endive salad with raspberry vinaigrette, and then I'd like the roast duck with mango salsa. If you don't have any fresh duck, I'll just chew on this bit of palm leaf, but I'd really like some fresh ground pepper."

Local color

"Let's have a conversation."

Gee Mom, the water's so blue."

Cattitude!!

Sometimes God works in Technicolor.

These were just a few of the wonders we saw today. We're definitely going back tomorrow. There was a lot we missed, and a lot we couldn't capture with our cameras, but we sure had fun trying to see and record it all. We're really hoping for tomorrow to be another day like today. Everything we did was a delight, from the Safari ride and the walking tours, to our "journey back in time" to see dinosaurs, to our terrifying encounter with the Yeti on "Expedition Everest." Oh, I almost forgot!! One of the high points of the day was our dinner at Boma--an African buffet at the Animal Kingdom Lodge that a friend suggested we try. The food was amazing, and unique, and much of it was new to us. If you've read the Meow before, you know that food really isn't my thing, but I actually had a second plate from this delicious buffet, and that's saying a lot!! One extra cool bit of Disney magic--when I asked if there was a cookbook, the waiter had to say no, but he had me write Ked's email address and the recipes I wanted from dinner down on a paper that Boma provides for guests, and the restaurant is going to email us the recipes. Now that's what I call service!! If you ever make it to Boma, we highly recommend the Fufu.