How Many Days In A Row Will We Wear Tie Dye (or Disney 2009 review): Part 8.2featured

It was a quick and uneventful ride over to the Animal Kingdom park and we met up with Mom after we went through bag check. We were out in the sunlight for maybe two or three minutes, but the sun was already scorching my skin through the thick layer of SPF 50 Stephanie had sprayed on me before we got on the bus.

Thankfully for us, most of the Animal Kingdom park is shaded under a lush canopy of green trees. On the minus side, though, the open spaces were insanely hot and the park is ginormous. Unlike the other parks, where you can get off one ride and be steps away from the next, everything at Animal Kingdom is spaced out. There isn’t much substance to the park (which is why most people, including us, only spend a half-day here), but what’s good here is done well and the negatives are few and far between. Is it as magical as Magic Kingdom, as enchanting as DHS or as interactive as Epcot? No. I don’t think it’s magical or enchanting, or even particularly interactive (the exception being Kilimanjaro Safari, which is, perhaps, the most interactive ride in all of Disney), but it’s beautiful, it’s themed beautifully and if you like thrill rides, Animal Kingdom certainly has those (we didn’t get on Kali River Rapids this time, but the memories from the last time we were here still haunt us….don’t wear jeans on Kali River Rapids unless you have a change of clothes with you or you don’t mind the uncomfortable cling of wet denim on your skin in 100+ degree weather).

We hadn’t been to Animal Kingdom in eight years and while I was comforted with the familiarity I found in the park, I was awed by the differences. The theming has gotten so much better and though it faces stiff competition from the other parks, dare I say that Animal Kingdom has the best theming of all of the Disney parks. The essence of the park can be felt from the moment you walk in. It’s in every ride, every tree, every sculpture.

We had a scant few hours to enjoy the park today. The plan was to do a few rides, grab lunch, head back to the resort and take grandma to Magic Kingdom and then have dinner at the Yacht and Beach Club and then decide whether or not to do magic hours at whichever park was offering them. Given our time constraints and our limited knowledge of the park retroactive to 2001, we grabbed a map and found bench in a shady spot and mapped out our plan of attack.

We all agreed that we wanted to see “It’s Tough to be a Bug” and go on Kilimanjaro Safari. I wanted to go on Dinosaur since I’ve never been on it before, but couldn’t convince either Mom or Stephanie to go on with me and none of us felt like walking around in wet clothes, eliminating Kali River Rapids. Stephanie really wanted to see the Nemo show and Festival of the Lion King.

With that, we walked over towards “It’s Tough to be a Bug” and found the Fast Pass experiment. Disney was experimenting using a centralized FP distribution center. It was only at Animal Kingdom and, to my knowledge, it’s gone now. We found this highly helpful for us, since we could get tickets for the safari here instead of trekking all the way over to the ride, but it would be so easy to take advantage of the system, as when we went to get FP’s, it was simply a cast member handing them out and asking how many we needed. This meant, if we wanted to, we could immediately get FP’s for another ride (if you use a ticket to get a FP, you’ll need to wait a few hours or until the time passes on your current FP to get a new one) and we could have fibbed how many we needed and rode twice. As it was, we just got three FP’s for the safari and went on our way to ITTBAB.

It was basically walk-on at ITTBAB and so we made our way into the queue. I forgot how dim and musty it was in there! It was crowded with rowdy kids from a local day camp, which made it difficult to navigate our way into the theatre for the show. The show was just as I remembered it (I even remembered to sit a few inches forward from the back of the bench) and we enjoyed our respite from the heat in the cool, dim theatre.

We missed the next showing of Finding Nemo and our FP time for the safari was approaching, so we leisurely strolled towards the safari, taking in the scenery and browsing the shops. Mom was hungry so we used some snack credits and she got a Mickey bar, Stephanie got a popsicle and we all split some warm candied nuts.

The park was surprisingly uncrowded (rendering the Crowd Calendar from Touring Plans correct…we found it to be correct for most of the week) and it was nice not fighting our way through crowds, finding walking space or waiting in lines for too long.

The standby line for Kilimanjaro Safari wasn’t that long, but we didn’t have time to ride it twice before lunch so we just headed for the FP line and were quickly heralded towards the loading area.

I’ve had many…interesting…experiences on Kilimanjaro Safari’s and commented to Mom that I would not sit in the last row again (the last time we did, we had a near-miss with a shower of bird crap and the vehicle was chased by an overeager ostrich) when, you called it, they assigned us to the last row. I politely asked the cast member if we could wait for the next vehicle since I didn’t want to sit in the last row and she, thankfully, obliged. The next vehicle to come was the handicap modified one (I had no idea these existed…next time we go to Animal Kingdom, maybe we’ll be able to convince grandma to come with) and since there were no wheelchairs waiting in line, they boarded us in the front two rows of that (the first seat is a solo with space for a wheelchair and the second row seats two…the rest of the vehicle is unmodified). This was PERFECT for me since I now had unobstructed views on both sides of me and I could take as many pictures as I wanted without sticking my zoom lens in someone’s face.

Kilimanjaro Safari isn’t Disney’s most thrilling rides. It isn’t themed and it’s a crap shoot, depending on the time of day and weather, what animals you’ll see and how active they’ll be. That said, it’s unlike any other ride. It’s interactive. It’s intimate. It’s different. I’m so glad it’s still led by a live guide (unlike Living with the Land, which is now guided with an audio track instead of a live guide) because the guide interjects so much substance into the ride. We lucked out that even though it was hot and mid-day, most of the animals were out and active (only the lions were taking a cat nap).

We took a look at the show schedule and we just missed the next showing of Nemo, and we clearly weren’t going to make Festival of the Lion King. Our lunch reservation at Yak and Yeti was quickly approaching, and it was a short trek away from where we were, so we decided to do some shopping. My leg cramps were getting worse (and the heat and dehydrating probably wasn’t helping), so we took it slow and I stopped to drink a bottle of water. It’s so important to stay hydrated when you’re on vacation in a warm climate. So many people were getting sick and passing out at the parks and I think, in part, it’s due to everyone having so much to do and getting caught up in touring plans or maybe even the fun of it all that they forget to drink. We bought an entire case of water and many bottles of Vitamin Water and Smart Water and we went through all of them before our trip ended.

The line was out the door to check in at Yak and Yeti, nearly all of them being turned away for lack of reservations. We had a 1:00 pm reservation and we checked in early and were seated 10 minutes after our reservation time.

Our server was Jessica and she was a little too over the top. She was very enthusiastic, but she went off into many tangents and everything came with a long spiel. We were hot and thirsty (even though I had just downed a bottle of water a half-hour earlier), but not every drink was covered on the dining plan at Yak and Yeti. I had a Hi-C fruit punch and Mom and Stephanie had iced teas.

For our starters, Mom started with the lettuce cups (Minced chicken breast, chopped vegetables, maple tamarind sauce and crisp lettuce cups) and she thought they were nice, light and refreshing. They were better than the Wave, but not nearly as good as PF Changs (few are). I thought the portion of chicken was pithy in comparison to the number of lettuce cups that were served. For $13, it was a small cup of chicken served with a lot of lettuce, which means you’re either eating many wraps with a very small scoop of chicken or wasting a lot of lettuce.

Lettuce Cups

Stephanie started with the pork pot stickers (pan seared or steamed, soy lime dipping sauce), which were five nice-sized dumplings served with some soy sauce. I thought they were a bit on the bland side, but Stephanie enjoyed them.

Pork Pot Stickers

I started with the Pork Egg Rolls, which were served with a tangy chili plum sauce. It came with three normal sized egg rolls, which is a more than ample serving (I had one and gave the other two to Mom and Stephanie…the benefit of the larger appetizers is being able to share and try a few starters. Same goes for desserts). They were just okay. The wrappers were too oily. The filling was bland and I was hoping for a bit more heat from the dipping sauce.

Pork Egg Rolls

Mom ordered the Seared Miso Salmon (Miso glazed Atlantic salmon, jasmine rice, baby bok choy and shiitake mushroom stir-fry) on Jessica’s recommendation. I hate the smell of all fish (especially salmon), but this one wasn’t too stinky. Mom thought it wasn’t as good as Jessica made it sound.

Seared Miso Salmon

Stephanie had the Chicken Lo Mein (Lo Mein noodles, carrots, cabbage, green onions and bean sprouts). She only had a few bites and said she was full. It was an ample portion of noodles and veggies with some chicken sprinkled in, but it wasn’t all that authentic and was no where near as good as the kind we get at our local chinese place.

Chicken Lo Mein

I was stuck between the ribs and the beef and broccoli and I ultimately went with the beef and broccoli (Flank steak, broccoli and brown sauce). My entree was the clear winner of all of them. The beef was the most tender beef I’d ever had in a beef and broccoli dish, the broccoli was crunchy and I appreciated that it wasn’t swimming in sauce. It was served with some brown rice, which was a bit underdone and nutty, but matched well with the dish. It was fantastic and I wished I wasn’t so full because I left probably half of it on the plate.

Stir-Fried Beef and Broccoli

Mom went with the mango pie for dessert (Shortbread cookie crust, fresh whipped cream and raspberry sauce) and thought it was a bit too heavy but overall very good. I wish that I tried it, but at the time, I was entirely too full and it seemed entirely too heavy.

Mango Pie

Stephanie had planned on ordering the wontons, but given the heat and the heavy meal we’d just eaten, she and I both ordered the trio of sorbets (mango, lemon and raspberry). The mango one had a heavy drizzling of a berry sauce and the raspberry one was creamier and topped with coconut (of which I’m not a fan), but the lemon sorbet was perfectly plain and the cool texture and bright citrus flavor was the perfect end to the meal.

Sorbet

The bill came to $121.94, and we used three meal credits. Overall, I think Yak and Yeti was good (especially considering the limited table-service options at Animal Kingdom), but no one should go into it expecting authentic Asian food.

We contemplated trying to see one of the shows, but we ultimately decided to just go back to the hotel, cool off a bit and then go with grandma to the Magic Kingdom so we headed back towards the front of the park.

We just missed our bus and had a lengthy wait for the next one. We saw many people having picnics outside the park (perhaps they don’t allow outside food into Animal Kingdom?) and since it was mid-day, many people were leaving the parks for an afternoon siesta at the resorts. The line for the bus got really long, but thankfully we were at the front and found seats and took comfort in the air conditioning of the bus.