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Day 7 – Part
1 Gorillas & Giraffes & Rhinos – Oh my!
Rise
and shine! Fanlover
was going to join us after all. I
must confess I was a lot like a drill sergeant today. I
noticed that it had recently rained and I knew that meant the
animals would likely be quite visible in the Animal Kingdom. “Go
go go” I yelled to my crew.
Fanlover was reconsidering her plan to join us.
We
made it to Animal Kingdom just before the gates opened at 8am. We made a beeline towards the Safari
ride, along with everyone else. I
guess the secret is out that early morning is the best time to
see the animals. We were in for a treat today.
Goofy Guy and I have been on the Safari ride multiple
times before, but never, I mean never, has it been this good. Not only did we see a lot of animals,
they were also really close. They
were all coming out to say hello to the funny looking Canadians
I guess. I could have reached out and touched
a giraffe. I
could practically smell his breath.
Ew
We
were then introduced to a rhino. He
crossed our path, forcing our vehicle to stop completely. We assumed he was posing for pictures. Then, just in case we didn’t get
a clear shot, he walked down the side, within touching distance
of our boys.
Thanks for cooperating,
rhino – your cheque is in
the mail.
It
became an ongoing joke between ToT sis and I that things were
falling into place so unbelievably perfectly, that she thought
Goofy Guy and I had phoned ahead and ordered all this magic.
I
didn’t, but I’m quite willing to take the credit.
After the Safari ride, we took the Pangani Forest Exploration
Trail. Once again,
the magic was working overtime. I
really am convinced that the gorillas were posing for us too. Just as soon as we took a picture of
them, they scurried off into a bush. The
boys were so excited! Splashboy
loved having CM’s stationed by the different animals telling
us interesting facts about the animals. He’s
like a sponge in how he absorbs all the facts. If
you have any questions, ask Splashboy.
We
slowly made our way over to the Festival of the Lion King. I had been looking forward to this show
all trip. This is
without a doubt my favourite Disney attraction. I
was anxious to share it with my family.
We
made sure we sat down in the lion section because we were quite
certain that our boys would love being lions. They
sure didn’t disappoint. I
sat beside Boomer and he may have been the best darn lion I had
ever seen.
No
bias here of course.
The
show began and ToT sis and I were immediately struck by two of
the performers. The
first was the bass singer who sings, “Be Prepared” and
the other was the woman who sings “Circle of Life”. Again,
I’ve seen this show multiple times, but never have I heard
two voices that were so spectacular. I had chills.
There was no denying it. The
waterworks were coming. I
had hoped that after seeing the show 10 times or so, I wouldn’t
be moved to tears anymore, but apparently I was wrong.
Did
I mention I was a Drama Queen?
I
think I was moved by the whole experience. There
I was listening to fantastic voices singing beautiful music,
sitting beside my nephew who’s having the time of his life
roaring like a lion, sitting with my entire family who was having
the vacation of a lifetime. It felt like heaven.
I’d
say “pinch me”, but it really hurt the last time.
I
think I may have startled the boys a little by my sobbing. Thankfully their mother is a lot like
me, so they knew to quickly get over it. ;)
We
grabbed an ice cream as we walked out of the theatre. The plan was to go directly to Tarzan
Rocks, but I decided to make a detour, by way of Divine. We enjoyed a bit of an African music
show before we saw Divine.
Everyone was just enthralled. No one knew quite what to make of her. The boys said very little while they
were watching her, but later that day Boomer said that he really
liked “the tree lady”. Fanlover
described her as spooky but beautiful. After
a few minutes, we continued our walk towards Tarzan Rocks.
It
was a HOT one today. Fanlover’s
fan was working overtime again. I
guess it’s true what they say about Energizer batteries. They
really DO keep going and going and going. Just
ask Fanlover. ;)
Maybe she could become their new spokesperson. It was really difficult to eat our ice
cream in this heat. I
think most of it ended up melted on the ground. I
found solace in thinking it probably looked better on the ground
than on my hips.
We
arrived at Tarzan with only 5 minutes to spare. We
managed to get seats far right, about halfway down the theatre. Our reactions to the show were pretty
diverse. ToT sis
and I enjoyed the acrobatic scene between Jane & Tarzan. We
barely even noticed Tarzan’s physique…smile… We look over at Fanlover and she’s
not even watching the show. She
has the fan on her face, spraying water and has her eyes closed.
Did
I mention it was hot?
Poor
thing! She was positively
melting. I realized right then and there that
I can be insensitive. Yes,
I know that probably shocks you people. But,
I confess I found it quite amusing. I
think ToT sis did too which means we’re both ungrateful
brats. Hey, it could be worse – I could
have taken her picture! ;)
ToT
sis noticed that they were selling frozen lemonade in the theatre. She asked if it was included on the meal
plan, to which I replied “no”. Too
bad though – it would have gone down rather nicely right
about now! When the show was over, Dapper Dad said
that he understood why the show was closing. He
thought it was pretty un-Disney. I
liked the show more than he did, but my heart belongs to the
Lion King.
My
Kleenex does too.
We
decided to have a quick lunch before leaving Animal Kingdom. Between our two days here, we had finished
all that we wanted. The
boys were excited to have some pizza, so we decided to eat at
Pizzafari. Just as we entered the building, it started
to pour rain. Our
good luck trend seems to be continuing. But
wait. My brain must be a little fuzzy from
the heat – is there REALLY no pizza on the children’s
menu??? That can’t be! Who loves pizza more than children?
ToT
sis and Cocoa bil tried ordering pizza for the boys, but the
CM said no because it read, “2 adults, 2 children” on
their dining card. They could only order 2 adult meals and
2 kids’ meals. This
is the first time they were pretty strict about it. The
end result was an amusing scene of ToT sis and Cocoa bil eating
kids’ meals and the boys eating their beloved pizza. Give
these parents a prize! At
least they got to enjoy frozen lemonades for dessert. Yes – not
more than an hour after I told ToT sis that frozen lemonade wasn’t
included on the plan, we now discover it was included as a dessert
option at Pizzafari. Let
that be a lesson to you:
Never ask me a question and expect a correct response.
The
rain stopped just as we were leaving Pizzafari. The
new plan was for Fanlover, ToT sis and the boys to go back to
the hotel for a little down time while the rest of us continue
on to Epcot. I was anxious to take Cocoa bil on Mission:
Space. I was hoping
he’d scream like a girl.
Day 7 - Part 2 ...
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