TR: 400/50 and more 2006 day 2 - Animal Kingdom and Jikos

[Rastuso]

Day 2 continued– Animal Kingdom

 

After my Segway tour, I hightailed it out of Epcot and drove over to Animal Kingdom to meet my family. I had thought I would be there at 10, but the tour lasted until after 10:30, and I got to the gate at about 11 to an upset son and wife, since I had all the tickets. We went in, and decided to head to Everest first.

 

I’m sure the title of this trip sounds weird, but Expedition Everest would mark a milestone for me and my son. It was to be my 400th coaster and his 50th. It was my wife’s 37th or so. As we walked to Everest, I noticed the lack of coaster sounds. We saw that Fastpasses were already up to 2:30 pm. And, yep, it was DDM at the time. So, we got the FPs, and headed back to Kali. It posted a 20 minute wait that was really 10. My son wondered why the trees were all burned down, solidifying my opinion that Disney dropped the ball on the theming on this ride. We did, however, see an empty train going up the second lift of EE, which was a good sign. My wife got pretty wet, much to my son’s approval.

 

We decided to hit the safari next. A posted 30 minute wait ended up being almost an hour. That rarely happens. Some Mexican girl thought she was so cool by sneaking up past a lot of people in the queue house. Too bad the rest of her party wasn’t going to get past me, so she waited at the end to rejoin them. My wife was particularly snarky that day and made a few comments to her. Of course, the girl pretended to not understand. Luckily we did see quite a few animals, although no lions. The dumb story line is a bit better now, without the worst job at WDW, the guy standing there saying the same line to every passing jeep about the poachers. I noticed some sort of tour jeep that was getting VERY close to some of the animals. Anyone know the story on this tour? I’d guess it’s pretty expensive.

 

We saw one of the cool tree walkers. She was doing some very impressive stances lifting up one leg and holding a pose. She even walked over me as she went backstage.

 

We were still almost an hour from our EE FP time, but I thought we could wait for one ride, then use the FPs. Standby was only 20 minutes, so that’s what we did. Some white preppy jackass with a phone grafted to his ear walked passed the entire line, and ignored my comments. We asked for the front row for the special occasion, and to be sure no hands were in front of my son’s face in the photo.

 

SPOILERS*************

 

Off to number 400! The first lift is sorta strange. It leads to a nice terrain section that made my wife think this was like BTMRR. I knew this ride would push her limits a bit. Then to the big, fast lift. The dead end comes quickly, and you sit there quite a bit before heading backwards. I don’t like going backwards much, and add total darkness, and a long helix, and I really didn’t like the backwards section at all! We finally stopped to see the really cool projection of the Yeti’s shadow tearing up the lift hill. Then we were launched down the big drop. It’s really not much of a drop, very gradual. Following that is more stinking helii. I was really unimpressed with the actual roller coaster portion. If you are going to leave the mountain, add a few small hills. I also think it is weird how most of the track is in non-snow covered sections. I realize they scaled the snow right with the real mountain, but you really lose the snow effect, so the Yeti’s appearance well below the snow line is a bit of a miss, imho.

 

After the helix, you enter the main show room where you finally see the Yeti. The setup is pretty good, and you get a good long look at the Yeti before going up an unseen hop to get quite close to his outstreatched arm. His movements were perfect, and he looked great. This room was pretty much pefect. So, the coaster itself is not my cup of tea, but the effects are excellent.

 

END SPOILERS*****************

 

Since my wife had enough, my son and I took a second ride, and I used the third FP for a final solo ride. After that, I had had enough of the backwards section.

 

I went to Dinoland to rejoin my family who were wasting money on the games. We won a few things, and went to the spinning mice. My son got a bit of a whiplash head know near the end, and did not like it. I’m not a fan of them either.

 

I went to get FPs for Dinosaur as my son played in the dino playground. My wife had a bit of an altercation with the guardian of a little kid who needed one hell of good ass-whipping based on how he was treating other kids. I was hungry and actually got a free chocolate banana. I don’t know if it was part of the celebration or not, but the girl said she was waiting for someone to order one so she could give it away.

 

We went to Dionsaur, didn’t need the FP, and got in. I can’t believe what follows the preshow. They actually have a section of queue that you walk down, and back to the stairs SOLELY to hear an announcement of how McDonalds sponsored the ride. Unbelievably bad show.

 

My son didn’t know what to expect. I was surprised that the movements seemed to be ramped up a bit. The first red dino was sleeping. The ending is still quite cool, although the ride is too friggin loud.

 

We got the son’s approval for a reride. This time, I gave an Isaac for the onride photo.

 

The last thing to do was Bug’s Life 3-D. My son had yet to see this, as we thought the show was a bit intense for a 4 year old on the last trip. The foreground characters seemed a touch fuzzy. But, this is a fun show with two great animatrons.

 

We headed to the gate to go change at the Caribbean Beach resort, and return to the AK Lodge for dinner at Jiko’s. They were supposedly now strictly enforcing their dress code, although we saw t-shirts and jean shorts. This was another double table service meal. This one, however, at least offered a real kids menu that was worth the double points, unlike the Brown Derby.

 

For appetizers, my wife had a squash soup, my son had a VERY good looking fruit salad that was yummy, yummy. I had the BBQ chicken flatbread pizza with coffee and apple shavings. It was friggin awesome. Lots of strange bedfellow tastes that really did work together.

 

For entrée, my wife had the pork tenderloin, my son had the filet, and I too had the specialty filet mignon on macaroni and cheese. This was one of the 5 best steaks I’ve ever had, and held its own with top tier steak houses like Ruth’s Crist. A very good cut of meat on some great white cheddar mac and cheese. The red wine reduction sauce was VERY strong and flavorful. Adding in some mushrooms from my wife’s plate, and it was fantastic. I savored every bite. My son inhaled his steak too. My wife’s pork was very good, but I didn’t like the sweet (not yams) mashed potatoes.

 

For dessert we both had the pistacio creme brulet and my son had make-your-own smores.

 

The bill came to over $150, and was free on the dining plan. A fabulous meal. I don’t know if I’d pay for it, but if we do the dining plan again, there’s no doubt I will return.

 

Rastus O'Ginga