Hippos and Tigers and Flowers, Oh My! - A Solo March '18 TR - COMPLETED 7/13 - Final Thoughts+New TR

[mommaof3boys]

You were getting a lot checked off your list early. You had a very good safari. My kids weren't interested in really exploring the animal trails. We have a really good zoo close by, so they decided to do the rides and shows over the trails. Your experience on the trails makes me want to do them on our next trip.

 

[mesgram]

Sounds like a great start to your AK day. I definitely want to check out the trails when we visit in December.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

Animal Kingdom is my favorite park. I also know we were both at Animal Kingdom on the same day. So, I'm hopeful I might spot me in one of your pictures, but I doubt it since I think if I remember correctly that we were on complete opposite sides of the park at different times.

Looking forward to the rest of your AK Day!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Great early morning so far! I love watching the tigers and exploring both of the trails!

We never did see Augusta in April, we tried with several safari trips, oh well!

 

[Pluto0809]

I at first thought there were just so many colorful birds in florida!

while the teenage daughter was roaming around the area near the windows.

Looped around to the front side, where we saw the dad watching over the little boys.

I love the baby gorillas! I've been following them since Lilly was born in 2011 and Corey and Flint since 2014.

BABY TIGERS!

Loved the video especially when the one jumped on Mom's head. I got to see them in January but they were sleeping. Then in February, they had already gone in for the day by the time we walked the trail. So cool that you got to watch them play for a while.

 

[missangelalexis]

Awesome early morning photos!

Ahhh I LOVE your shirt!

Cool photo of you having the car to yourself on your 2nd ride on EE!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Awww, So cute! They were sleeping when I was there.

 

[Raeven]

I love the ostriches when we did the Wild Africa Trek they followed our vehicle everywhere it was hilarious.

Awesome safari! We also had a very active safari around sunset recently it was really cool.

 

[amazingact21]

Love your shirt from this day! Had to call Alex over to the computer and show it to him.

Two rides on EE first thing in the morning is great. One advantage to everyone making the mad dash to FOP is less people trying to go on EE!

It must've been a really cool experience, seeing all the animals on the safari right when they first get released from their enclosures. The African dogs seemed awesome! I can't believe they were all roaming around like that...I didn't even know there were that many there!

Oh man, I was starting to get worried the giraffes weren't out yet. And what safari isn't complete without them?!?

Ahh, those tiger cubs. I could see how you could easily spend 15 minutes watching them play.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Joining in! I've done a few solo trips myself and always like to read others because it gives me ideas for my next one (coming up in August). I've read your last TR but never stayed caught up enough to comment so I'm going to try to do it with this one. Just going to comment on the latest update though.

OH, I need to get this one! Flower is one of my favorite characters.

I swear the app does stuff like this all the time. The wait times never seem to match what is posted on the actual rides. If they can't get the times right, why even list wait times in the app?

Isn't that the goal for ride pictures?



Ugh, I know the feeling. I love EE but it's always a one and done for me. I have some motion sickness issues so it's always a fine line between fun and puking for me. Oh, I have to say the second ride photo is just epic!



Wow! This is amazing! I've watched the Gibbons so many times and have never heard this. Hopefully I'll get to experience in person someday.



Yeah, I always seem to be squished in with another group on this ride when I'm solo.



I wasn't able to spot him either in January or February. Not as easy to see as some of the other babies with the water.



I've had this happen too, that ostrich always seems pretty grumpy and ready to peck some eyes out.

Welcome! I need to catch up with your latest TR- I still have so many I haven't been able to get thru yet!

I have a lot of fun finding fun Disney shirts on etsy. Then, because of Big Brother and all, many of my facebook ads end up being various geeky and fun shirts! I usually screenshot them, then search later - I don't like clicking thru the ads directly, don't want them to win and all! I think I got the Flower one from etsy, but it could have been from another company. I just knew I needed a fun shirt for F&G!

It does get annoying with the app not updating. At least now with the tech signage it's getting better (rather than the CMs just changing the time manually and not updating in the computer).

I think my motion sickness has gotten way worse as I've gotten older. I don't really get sick-sick (I stop myself before then), but I don't want to overdo it and not have fun on the ride itself! At least EE doesn't go upside down - those are fun and thrilling but definitely get to me!

It was very cool to hear them, and you could basically all thru Asia! I think even as far as the safari.

Nice start at AK!! Can't believe it was so cold - but I love cold days at Disney and it's a rare occurrence when I'm there when it's cold!
Fun pictures on EE! Wished you could have rode solo on the front row though but the back row pics are hilarious!
Awesome safari photos! I love Stella, she is so cute, I totally want a baby elephant!

It was definitely a Goldilocks day - hot in the sun, cold in the shade. Though it never got to the point where I put on my shorts, but I was very very happy for the sweater, especially at night. (I'll get to it in the TR), but there was a CM who was taking photos and just freezing! I honestly felt like going to a store and buying him gloves because I commented (I had gotten a couple photos from him) and he had me touch them, and they were like ice!

You were getting a lot checked off your list early. You had a very good safari. My kids weren't interested in really exploring the animal trails. We have a really good zoo close by, so they decided to do the rides and shows over the trails. Your experience on the trails makes me want to do them on our next trip.

I love the trails! Very relaxing and so many different types of animals. I think Maharajah was my favorite, but that happens when baby tigers are wrestling! They also both have plenty of shade, so are a good way to get away from crowds and heat (though I guess if it was that hot, most of the animals wouldn't be too active)!

Sounds like a great start to your AK day. I definitely want to check out the trails when we visit in December.

Definitely! I'd say 15 minutes is a good amount of time to budget, unless something awesome happens!

Animal Kingdom is my favorite park. I also know we were both at Animal Kingdom on the same day. So, I'm hopeful I might spot me in one of your pictures, but I doubt it since I think if I remember correctly that we were on complete opposite sides of the park at different times.

Looking forward to the rest of your AK Day!

Yeah, I think we were checking in via text but never close enough to meet! And I had a schedule to keep to!

Great early morning so far! I love watching the tigers and exploring both of the trails!

We never did see Augusta in April, we tried with several safari trips, oh well!

That's too bad about Augustus! Hopefully you'll get to see him before he gets too big!

I love the baby gorillas! I've been following them since Lilly was born in 2011 and Corey and Flint since 2014.



Loved the video especially when the one jumped on Mom's head. I got to see them in January but they were sleeping. Then in February, they had already gone in for the day by the time we walked the trail. So cool that you got to watch them play for a while.

I think it's so great when you can see the animals growing up! I think I was reading one TR where their kid was born at the same time, so every year they make sure to take photos of their kid with the gorillas!

Awesome early morning photos!

Ahhh I LOVE your shirt!

Cool photo of you having the car to yourself on your 2nd ride on EE!

Thanks! I have such a collection of fun Disney shirts! It was cool getting the car and I think there were 2 whole empty cars between me and the next people!

Awww, So cute! They were sleeping when I was there.

Sleeping kitties are pretty cute too! I think morning was a good time since they had just been released from their barn and the keepers had put out meat bones in the enclosure.

I love the ostriches when we did the Wild Africa Trek they followed our vehicle everywhere it was hilarious.

Awesome safari! We also had a very active safari around sunset recently it was really cool.

Stalkers! I really liked a morning safari, I think the times with Lauren it was always mid-afternoon.

Love your shirt from this day! Had to call Alex over to the computer and show it to him.

Two rides on EE first thing in the morning is great. One advantage to everyone making the mad dash to FOP is less people trying to go on EE!

It must've been a really cool experience, seeing all the animals on the safari right when they first get released from their enclosures. The African dogs seemed awesome! I can't believe they were all roaming around like that...I didn't even know there were that many there!

Oh man, I was starting to get worried the giraffes weren't out yet. And what safari isn't complete without them?!?

Ahh, those tiger cubs. I could see how you could easily spend 15 minutes watching them play.

I'm glad you guys like it! I have so many fun shirts bookmarked to buy for December!

It really makes the rest of the park pretty empty, which is lovely! And I think the 7am start helped things out even more!

The dogs were just racing around. I think because they share the enclosure with the Hyenas, so the dogs had to get their scents on everything. I could even see the gate at the back which they would occasionally run over to see if they were supposed to go back in! Pretty cute!

I was worried too - but it was so worth it! And the tigers - oh so cute! It's crazy to see this big cats with the same actions my little kitties do all the time!

 

[chunkymonkey]

It was definitely a Goldilocks day - hot in the sun, cold in the shade. Though it never got to the point where I put on my shorts, but I was very very happy for the sweater, especially at night. (I'll get to it in the TR), but there was a CM who was taking photos and just freezing! I honestly felt like going to a store and buying him gloves because I commented (I had gotten a couple photos from him) and he had me touch them, and they were like ice!

Aww that is so nice of you! You seriously are the nicest person! - you carried a kid on your shoulders, gave your pizza to a stranger...etc.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Aww that is so nice of you! You seriously are the nicest person! - you carried a kid on your shoulders, gave your pizza to a stranger...etc.

Haha, well...not nice enough to actually buy gloves! Although I don't even know if he would have been allowed to accept them!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Day 3, Part 2: Pandora and a tour!

And now, it was onto my next order of business-Pandora!

I made my way back through AK and finally entered Pandora around 9:30. I think that actually worked out well, because so many of the early crowds were gone, and the later afternoon crowds hadn’t arrived.

Stopped for a photopass, including a “DMV” photo, which made the photographer laugh!

Then I really just wanted to wander around and look at Pandora in a relaxing manner. Last September I felt we were so rushed everytime we visited, this time I wanted to enjoy it!

I did make a pit stop at Pongu Pongu to also give the Night Blossum a try! I was hoping to try the Moara Coffee Cake, but it seems that was only on the menu for a couple weeks before they pulled it. But love all the detail, even just in a drink stand!

I ended up getting the Night Blossum in a souvenir cup, to add to my collection. Which came with a glowing seed.

SLUSHEE COUNT: 4

And I really liked it! It was definitely sweet, and I could imagine some people being able to cut the sweetness with the Rum Blossum, but I just wasn’t really feeling like a shot of rum at 9:30 in the morning!

So, I sat for a bit, under the floating mountains, sipping my drink, and eating the second half of my brownie. I definitely appreciated the few amount of ingredients in the brownie and would highly recommend it (I mean, I'm not a person who's anti chemicals in their food, but it is nice to have something entirely of ingredients I would use myself)!

It was time for my FoP Fastpass, and I knew I couldn’t bring the drink on with me, so I made a bathroom stop to toss out the last bit (about 25% left over), and rinse out the cup so it didn’t make my bag all sticky!

The new drum ceremony was going on, which I paused for a moment to watch, but I wasn’t feeling like staying for the whole thing!

I also got a PP picture. Remember, my motto this trip (and every trip) is to stop for every PP photographer unless the line is ridiculous!

Finally, around 10:05am, I got in line for FoP. About 150 minute standby wait…

I ended up being called up quickly (they funneled me into the center single rider line), and I think I was in the center bottom of the screen.

Um, by 10:11am I was watching the first preshow…

And by 10:20 I was sitting in my chair! 15 minutes-not bad at all! We had a delay getting started, I think someone didn’t fit right on the chairs in the next room, so I had time to do a selfie, where the CM warned me to not have my phone out during the ride because it was such a long drop!

Definitely my favorite WDW ride, and it never gets old! I also totally saw the hidden mickey in the cave Lauren had noticed, but I didn’t take out my phone to take a photo!

And another plus, I was finally in theater A or B, so I finally got to see the famous handprints! (in September we were always in theatres C or D)

By 10:30 I was off the ride, so a total experience time of 25 minutes! Probably the absolute minimum, considering there was no wait in FP line and as a single rider I got into the first available theatre, so skipped the ramp lineup. ​

 

[Lesley Wake]

Ok, it was now time to head to another new (to me) area of the park, Rafiki’s Planet Watch. I had found out about the mini-Backstage Tales tour, which was a 30 minute free tour offered from Feb-May. You just signed up in person, but I knew only the 3:45 tour would fit my schedule, so wanted to make sure I got in (turns out I didn’t really need to go in advance because they still were signing people up right before the tour left, but it took pressure off of myself!)

There ended up being quite a long line to get onto the train, and it took me 25 minutes from getting in line to actually reaching the conservation station!

I was the first one the sign up for the 3:45 tour. I was also able to check out the vet area where the bird expert was doing an annual checkup on a screech owl, which was sooo tiny!

Now that I had accomplished that, it was back to Africa, as it was getting close to my Wild Africa Trek tour time! (I also realized that day Mouseplanet was doing a park-wide scavenger hunt, so it was interesting to see these teams of people going around with matching shirts/lanyards/clipboards).

Rode the train back,

And checked in at Wild Africa Trek about 10 minutes before my tour at 11:45

I filled out all the paperwork and stored my bag, but of course I forgot about my outfit change! See, I had brought my Fiona the Hippo shirt, which I wanted to wear on the tour! So I rushed over to the bathroom to get changed (because there was a long line I was just going to do it in a corner, gym class style, but then I realize there was a second row of stalls that no one was using, so I stepped into one of those briefly.)

Anyways, got back to Wild Africa Trek with time to spare, and got all geared up! In addition to the vest, they make sure you have nothing that could fall out. So sunglasses got neck holders put on them and cell phones also got clipped to the vest. I had bought a special case with a caribeaner for this particular reason, but forgot it back in the room; turns out they are usually able to work with your phones. If you don’t have a case at all though, you may have to leave it behind in the locker, because they won’t have a way to attach the caribbeaner clip. You also get a Wild Africa Trek water bottle that is clipped to the vest, and you keep after the trek.

(There will be better photos of the hippo shirt later)​

 

[Lesley Wake]

I’m just going to say up front, I LOVED THIS TOUR! Our guides were 2 adorable young women who had been doing the tours for a couple years after finishing up an internship being Wilderness Explorers. They definitely both memorized everyone's names immediately, so it was a surprise as we were walking through the Gorilla Falls Trail to hear them calling me by my name when they were not even looking directly at my name badge. They were also super excited to see a fellow Fiona fan! So kept talking all about her and everything (though of course the three of us didn’t realize no one else knew who she was until we were about to go over the rope bridges)!

(some of these photos were taken by the guides - which you are able to download later - and some were taken by me)

My tour group ended up being three couples, one older (who I ended up eating lunch with and who I actually ran into at Epcot the next day), one probably my age or a little younger, and one a little older than me. Plus a family with 3 sons, who were so well behaved and helped our guides clean up lunch afterwards!

The tour starts at the Gorilla Falls Trail, and I know we discussed Colobus Monkeys and they teased the youngest boy about know his friends would be jealous that he knew Greek or Latin or something…

We did pause to glance at the dung beetles, but it was pretty crowded in the bug area, so we moved through it into the Aviary. Claire talked about the Yellow Weaver Birds a bunch. So the males spend all spring building nest after nest; if they are experienced then they only have to make 3-4, but younger guys have to make 7-8. Then the females come over and test the nests, tugging and pulling at them. If they are strong enough, then they’ll accept the nest and have babies with the male. If they are weak, then the females will just totally pull apart the whole thing. At that time of year, only the males were in the aviary, so we could see them going crazy building lots and lots of nests!

We then went down a side path away from the general Gorillas Trail and got a better look at the zebra. Claire and I discussed and we both agreed this one looks like she’s pregnant, because they currently have a male and 2 breeding females in the enclosure. They have very long gestations though, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a baby zebra in AK soon enough!
Update: And we were right! Both female zebras were pregnant and had two baby zebra foals! I hope I get to see them in December!

Now, it was hippo time! As we came over the hill, Katie got excited because we could hear plenty of “wheeze-honks” which are the hippo noises! We would continue to hear them throughout our visit. (I guess with the new baby, the hippos are being especially vocal) We had a great keeper, Jeremy, who answered lots of hippo questions. This is also a point, where they hook up the vests to a system, so you go out on a ledge over the enclosure. Jeremy explained that this was where the male hippos lived. There are 2 male hippos: Henry and Hans. Henry is Fiona’s grandfather and Augustus’s father. (Henry is also Hans’ father.) Henry’s real name is actually Heinrich (he came from Germany when he was 3). Because he’s from Europe, his genetic material isn’t as widely represented in America, which is why he’s sired so many calves.

Augustus was the first baby hippo born at AK in 15 years. Way back, AK had a bunch of hippos, so the zoo accreditation board said, you have to stop. They tried giving the females birth control, but it was in a powder format, so they ended up snorting it out when they got air! And a bunch of surprise babies were born! So that’s when they separated the males and females, until they got permission for Henry and Tuma to go again, and then Augustus happened!

Oh, and Augustus’s nickname: Gus-Gus!

Anyways, on the tour, Jeremy was able to bring some lettuce and watermelon to throw to the hippos. I guess Hans is a big sucker for food, but Henry usually ignores it, but today Henry was the first one to come over.

It was pretty cool to be that close to the hippos!

We then went back around and followed the trail over to the rope bridges. Unfortunately the trail doesn’t have a view of the deep end of the female hippo pool where most of them were congregated that morning. The guides were hoping maybe Augustus would be out around the bridge end (when he was newborn he would spend most of his time over there, since that is the shallow end, but as he has gotten bigger and more adventurous, he had spent more time in the deep end). So, unfortunately no views of Augustus on this Trek!

The girls also said there is one female in the bloat (a group of hippos) that is particularly interested in Augustus. So she was acting as the “cool aunt” convincing him to hang in the deep end, which Tuma was not happy about!

It was then time for the bridges, which, even though I’m nervous about heights, I did fine! They do make sure you have nothing in your vest pockets, and take off your nametag (Katie kept mine in her pocket because I wanted to be able to keep my phone on me to take photos-normally they would just have one person in your party keep all nametags).

Claire went over the bridges first and got some cool hippo photos. I didn’t see Augustus though (and I know she was looking hard for him), so he may not have been out that early (and I know Zach was also at AK that morning and didn’t see him either). (Note: at this point in the tour they have another guide at the final bridge platform who is also taking photos.)

I ended up being the last guest to cross the bridge (I was really hoping for a view of Augustus), but it was cool, because one of the hippos decided to skim by the water underneath me!

One of the guys in our group also was hamming it up for the safari vehicles passing below, and decided to fake fall, which the guides were laughing at.

I was a bit more nervous to cross the crocodile enclosure, but also did well!

I tried looking out for the crocodile with his amputated leg, and asked Claire and Katie about it, and they quietly let me know he hadn’t made it; he survived the surgery, the vets don’t know what happened afterwards.

After we all crossed the bridge, we then did another ledge overlook over the crocodiles. Our guides (Jared had joined us for the crocodile portion) explained that most of the animals get an annual checkup and also come back to a barn overnight, but the crocs stay out there 24/7. They do get called back once in a while and all come racing in (he thought their sound was a triangle ringing), which is a bit scary to see! The kids noticed some of the crocs had colored markings on their backs and he explained sometimes its for the keeper to keep track of someone who could be injured or could have temperament issues or just someone to look out for.

​

 

[Lesley Wake]

At this point we were able to take off our vests and head to a truck to sit down (phew)! They gave us wet wipes for our hands, as well as binoculars - I think at least one per group (though I never ended up using mine). And to make sure we didn’t lose track of our water bottle (since everyones was identical), they had us clip our name badges to it-very smart!

Our truck pulled out onto the savanna, and we followed mostly the same route as Kilimanjaro Safaris, though we got to pull off to the side and stop to watch animals more closely. The kids asked about the animals sleeping and Claire explained prey only really sleep every once in a while, since they have to be vigilant about predators. Meanwhile predators can sleep whenever they want!

I also asked about the giraffes and if they switch back and forth between the park and the lodge; the girls explained that they have 2 species of giraffes, the Reticulated Giraffe and the Masai Giraffe and used to have a few in each area. Then the zoo association came to them and said-you have a lot of space and could have some great breeding programs, why don’t you make 2 separate herds? So the ones at the lodge are Reticulated and the ones at the park are Masai and they don’t intersperse.

One of the young males came up pretty close to us and was really cool to see.

We also observed the herd of wildebeest

I felt like these guys were in a staring contest!

We came around to the elephant area and saw Luna (Stella’s older sister) just lying in the dirt! It was funny because I found her first and Claire didn’t even see her-thought she was a rock!

(I have a video of her but for some reason Youtube isn't letting me upload...)

Then, rounded the corner, and Stella! Right there in front of us! Katie was adorable and hopped up with a huge smile to take lots of photos! Claire explained that it took Stella a while to learn how to use her trunk, so now she likes to show off, but gets frustrated when none of the other elephants watch her!

We passed by the flamingos, and then headed up to the overlook for our snack (couldn’t come at a better time since I was starving)! They end up giving us 30 minutes at the overlook and have water, juice, and bathrooms (that's the only bathroom stop along the tour).

It was so beautiful up there!

Then we sat down for a meal. I don’t think I’d call it a full lunch, but it was a heavy snack.

On the menu (I took a video of Katie explaining it so I would know what they all were):

Fruit salad w/mint ginger and honey glaze
Meats – Salted beef, proscitto ham
Tropical chicken curry salad
Salmon roulade-salmon, cream cheese, and chives rolled up in African potato bread on a jicama and cucumber slaw
Tandori sauce shrimp
Sun dried tomato hummus s/pita

Now, I was worried about this, because I am so picky. But, OMG it was awesome! (It’s made by the Tusker House chefs, so that should be an indication). The fruit was nice and refreshing (though I really only ate the watermelon and pineapple). Meats were good. I did try the flower (it’s edible), but meh . The shrimp was good, not spicy. Salmon roulade was yummy too, though I wasn’t as much a fan of the jicama slaw. I’m not a hummus fan, but I did dip the pita in it and it was also good. And the star of the show, the chicken curry salad. OMG, I could have licked that bowl! And I hate curry! So I thought I’d just try a bite, but it was amazing! Oh so good! I’m honestly trying to find copycat recipes to make at home! I definitely was very happy with the food!

(also a note on my to-do list; the chocolate waffle was originally there in case I didn’t like the food on Wild Africa Trek and was hungry, but by the end I was fine, so I decided to skip the chocolate waffle!)

As I mentioned earlier, I ended up eating with the older couple (there are 4 tables on the overlook and 5 groups, so I would have ended up eating with one of the couples)! It was very nice and we chatted about Disney and animals and everything. (Turns out they were staying via the DVC timeshare partnership). Then when I was at Epcot the following day taking a photo, I heard a “Lesley!” and saw them again, so we said hi, but then were on our own ways!

After lunch, we had plenty of time to look over the savannah some more. I also admired all the wood carvings on the overlook.

One of the guides told me that there was one guy who came out and carved everything on site when they added the overlook. While he was working there was a particular giraffe who would always come over and was so curious as to what he was doing. So the giraffe carving is in his honor and the giraffe’s name is below the carving!

I did make a complaint though that there were no hippos!

The girls also took some savanna photos for everyone

We also made the observation that the flamingos are actually not confined to their pool. At any time they could hop over to the savannah, but they choose not to.

Once our time on the overlook was up, we headed back to the truck. I did chat with the driver and he said he does both the tours and the safari, but prefers the tours because he can just sit and watch the animals more, rather than having to drive the whole time!

We continued on the main safari route, I thinking making one stop on a side path.

Got to see the rhinos lazing around! I did ask about how the white rhinos are left to roam, while the black rhinos are separated. But I can’t remember what the answer was! I know it was something about how black rhinos are more solitary, so actually they are all in separate enclosures, even though it looks the same. The girls also said the white rhinos really end up having pairs. I know the two laying on the right are mother and daughter and are one pair.

We did have a stall when some zebras decided to cross the road (quck-someone make a joke), so were stuck between 2 safari vehicles, but that was fine by us.

We made our way over to the cheetahs, where we got to see 2 resting. I actually was the first to see the one further in the back (behind the tree a bit). The guides explained AK has 4 cheetahs. Normally cheetahs are solitary, but they have 2 pairs of sisters who have grown up together, so they are ok. But the 2 pairs are kept in separate enclosures and don’t mix.

We came around to the lions and, well, they were sleepy! But at least in view! Katie told us a couple interesting things. First, the females are actually spayed. The male lion is not neutered, because if he was, he’d loose that beautiful mane! So, they won’t be having any baby lions. In theory, he could always inseminate another female, but they don’t think he will be part of any breeding programs.

Also, there are 2 females, but they aren’t particularly friends. One likes the male lion more, while the other stays to herself.

And, this is especially interesting, the lions could, in theory, jump over to the rocks right by the safari vehicle! Yeah, they could get to the zebras and ostriches and humans if they wanted! But, because they are fed, and not heckled, they never have wanted to, so don’t bother! So if you ever happen to be on the safari and one looks like he’s about to jump across that gap…maybe stay extremely still!

The guides also pointed out the ostrich eggs and confirmed, they are “Disney real”. But they are there for a reason! The ostriches don’t lay fertile eggs at AK, but they still lay eggs. So, by putting a nest of eggs in one spot, that encourages them to lay their eggs in that spot and keepers can easily collect them. Of course, sometimes they lay in the bushes or wherever, and if those aren’t found, then they can get gross and smelly, but most of the time they are able to be found.

Also, the shells from the eggs-they actually hollow them out and are carved and for sale in the gift shops! I didn’t have time to stop and look though!

Ok, so the tour is finally over! Wow, I had a lot to write about it! But as I said at the beginning-I LOVED IT! I think I will absolutely be doing it again in December. And I would highly recommend it for anyone visiting; maybe not on a first visit (because it does take 3 hours), but is great! At the end of the tour you're given a rock and they have a box with several different species and you can choose to donate specifically to that species. (The boys asked for me - hippos were not one of the species because they aren't threatened as much as some others!)

They don't have any specific souvenirs from the tour, but the girls did tell me about this pin they've sort of co-opted as their souvenir, so I picked it up on my way out of the park!

Coming up - Another tour and evening at AK!
​

 

[disneyAndi14]

Sounds like a wonderful tour, makes me think we should do this one of our trips. My sister loves animals and she is coming with us in March 2019 so that would be a good time.

Thanks for all the details about the animals, very interesting

 

[buzzrelly]

Wow! Sounds like an amazing day at AK! Even before your tour started, you saw more animals than I ever do. I think sometimes I'm more focused on getting to the rides, shows, etc., that I kind of forget about the animals…like they are there as background. Aside from the safari, of course.

Maybe I'll look into your tour for our next trip. Mike (DH) would probably really like it.

Your photopass and tour photos are beautiful!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Stopped for a photopass, including a “DMV” photo, which made the photographer laugh!

Wow I didn't realize they did that! That's cool. I have to tell my sister, she's on a mission to get all the special photopass pics.

OMG I just realized what your shirt says and it's SOOOO CUTE!

Haha FoP contraband photo!

And another plus, I was finally in theater A or B, so I finally got to see the famous handprints! (in September we were always in theatres C or D)

I never realized this before! I think we're usually in C.

By 10:30 I was off the ride, so a total experience time of 25 minutes! Probably the absolute minimum, considering there was no wait in FP line and as a single rider I got into the first available theatre, so skipped the ramp lineup.

Nice! That has usually been our experience too! Can't wait to ride again!

Ok, it was now time to head to another new (to me) area of the park, Rafiki’s Planet Watch. I had found out about the mini-Backstage Tales tour, which was a 30 minute free tour offered from Feb-May. You just signed up in person, but I knew only the 3:45 tour would fit my schedule, so wanted to make sure I got in (turns out I didn’t really need to go in advance because they still were signing people up right before the tour left, but it took pressure off of myself!)

Ah I didn't know they did this!
Will have to look into it!

Anyways, got back to Wild Africa Trek with time to spare, and got all geared up! In addition to the vest, they make sure you have nothing that could fall out. So sunglasses got neck holders put on them and cell phones also got clipped to the vest. I had bought a special case with a caribeaner for this particular reason, but forgot it back in the room; turns out they are usually able to work with your phones. If you don’t have a case at all though, you may have to leave it behind in the locker, because they won’t have a way to attach the caribbeaner clip. You also get a Wild Africa Trek water bottle that is clipped to the vest, and you keep after the trek.

Nice getup!

They tried giving the females birth control, but it was in a powder format, so they ended up snorting it out when they got air! And a bunch of surprise babies were born!

Haha this is so funny!

Oh, and Augustus’s nickname: Gus-Gus!

I LOVE it!

This picture is everything!! It's so perfect!

Then, rounded the corner, and Stella! Right there in front of us! Katie was adorable and hopped up with a huge smile to take lots of photos! Claire explained that it took Stella a while to learn how to use her trunk, so now she likes to show off, but gets frustrated when none of the other elephants watch her!

I love Stella!! She's so cute!

Now, I was worried about this, because I am so picky. But, OMG it was awesome! (It’s made by the Tusker House chefs, so that should be an indication). The fruit was nice and refreshing (though I really only ate the watermelon and pineapple). Meats were good. I did try the flower (it’s edible), but meh . The shrimp was good, not spicy. Salmon roulade was yummy too, though I wasn’t as much a fan of the jicama slaw. I’m not a hummus fan, but I did dip the pita in it and it was also good. And the star of the show, the chicken curry salad. OMG, I could have licked that bowl! And I hate curry! So I thought I’d just try a bite, but it was amazing! Oh so good! I’m honestly trying to find copycat recipes to make at home! I definitely was very happy with the food!

Yum that looks delicious! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Also, the shells from the eggs-they actually hollow them out and are carved and for sale in the gift shops! I didn’t have time to stop and look though!

Neat!

Ok, so the tour is finally over! Wow, I had a lot to write about it! But as I said at the beginning-I LOVED IT! I think I will absolutely be doing it again in December. And I would highly recommend it for anyone visiting; maybe not on a first visit (because it does take 3 hours), but is great! At the end of the tour you're given a rock and they have a box with several different species and you can choose to donate specifically to that species. (The boys asked for me - hippos were not one of the species because they aren't threatened as much as some others!)

Thanks for the tour info! It's definitely something I want to do!! It sounds awesome!

 

[amazingact21]

The Wild Africa Trek sounds amazing! You got so much information and a lot of time to stop and observe the animals. It's a shame the hippos were hanging out in the deep end that day, but at least you got to see the males munch on some food.
Love the giraffe carving in the overlook and the story behind it. You did an awesome job recording everything you learned; so many interesting tidbits in this update!
You convinced me to do the HEA fireworks dessert party, now you're making me figure out way to work this tour into my next trip! (Fortunately there's plenty of family who'll take my kiddos off my hands so I can do the tour.)