it is a beautifully built park, with a sense of place aesthetic that works completely to trick you into feeling like you are truly visiting the habitat of the animals in the park. temple ruins in a cambodian jungle double as the perfect place to view tigers in their habitat; the african safari ride is so convincing that it's hard to believe that you're just in a florida swamp.
plus, there are hippos,
temple ruins and tigers and gorillas, and so so so many animals,
cichlids,
drums,
a safari
dole whip treats in the shade,
and this big beautiful carved baobob tree in the middle of it all.
while the place is "ride-light" we still managed to terrify the kids by taking them to a 4D movie about bugs. we told them it would be easy, informative, and perfect for little kids. then some giant black widow spiders dropped from the ceiling and a 3 dimensional bug sprayed poison on us and james spent the rest of the movie on the floor under his chair. here we are in our 3D glasses before the terror started.
a dinosaur ride still had jamesy covering his ears.
david and i took turns going on the avatar ride which left me breathless and amazed. it is virtual reality at it's finest. i wanted to ride it again as soon as it was over. i cannot describe how completely the suspense of reality is in this ride. the kids could smell the terror in that ride from a mile away, and wouldn't get anywhere close to it. they're getting wise to the tricks of disney and their sneaky parents.
the animals, the dole whips, the sense of place and the infusion of professional magic and authenticity... i loved this place.
after animal kingdom, we got back to the hotel in time to clean up for the big luau feast. james heard there was going to be fire dancing, so after he ate some food, he spent the rest of the meal hiding behind this partial wall at the very very very back of the dining area to keep himself safe from the fire dancing and to not have to look, just in case mesmerizing and beautiful dancers in grass skirts are scary. poor guy.
back to the gorgeous polynesian,
and ready for the luau on the deck of our hotel room.
practicing dane moves on the way to the luau feast
and posing with this guy.
our luau table and feasty feast
the "learn to dance" portion of the evening
and the professional dance portion of the evening.
the fire dancer,
and the terrified 6 year old hiding in the back by the bathrooms.
post luau, 8pm, full bellies....obviously, we went to the pool
and watched one last electric light parade and fireworks over the lagoon.
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