Episode #185: Secrets of Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom holds many secrets that enrich the visitor experience beyond rides and attractions. The episode explores backstories, dining options, and hidden gems, encouraging listeners to slow down and appreciate the park’s unique offerings. 

• The evolution of Dino Land from the canceled Beastly Kingdom 
• The backstory of the Tree of Life and its significance 
• Dining comparisons between Flame Tree BBQ and Satuli Canteen 
• The importance of exploring Animal Kingdom’s trails and stories 
• Insights from listeners on park experiences and opinions on park duration

Transcript

Speaker 2 0:21

Hello and welcome to Circular Parks podcast episode number 185. Today we are back with the last of our secret series, with the secrets of Animal Kingdom. There is far too much to see and do. We are here to help guide you through, but before we do that, we must talk Disney merch. This week, disney merch If you go to DisneyStorecom, there is another new Minnie Mouse stainless steel Starbucks tumbler with straw. They're specific to either Walt Disney World or Disneyland, priced at $44.99. Or Disneyland, priced at $44.99. It's red, metallic, stainless steel cold beverage tumbler. All over print featuring polka dots, bows and Minnie's face, of course, you've got a Starbucks logo and then on the lid you have screen art with Minnie Mouse XOXO on it Super cute. Again another Starbucks tumbler, but this one may be one that to me just seems a bit more classy, maybe. Uh, the price, I feel like, has gone up slightly, but it is super cute. So go check that out at Disney storecom.

Speaker 3 1:39

What is XOXO?

Speaker 2 1:41

Like hugs and kisses.

Speaker 3 1:43

That's what it means.

Speaker 2 1:44

And at least back in my day growing up, that's what it meant. You never knew that no. Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 1:51

I always saw it and I was like I never knew what that meant. Oh yeah, it means hugs and kisses. Yeah, how do you get hugs and kisses out of XOXO?

Speaker 2 2:00

It's just that's. I don't know who came up with it, but I mean that's been around.

Speaker 3 2:06

Somebody's making millions off that.

Speaker 2 2:08

Yeah, someone had that idea, you're like having me second guess myself and everything right now. Yeah, abbreviation that means hugs and kisses, commonly used in media posts, text messages, friendship, yeah.

Speaker 3 2:21

Never knew that.

Speaker 2 2:22

Yeah, I've never used those abbreviations, know well, I mean, I did when I was younger okay a lot younger, all right thank you everybody for joining us.

Speaker 3 2:33

Episode number 185. We're snowed in here in tennessee today, so that means I've done nothing but research animal kingdom today you played in the snow some.

Speaker 2 2:45

A little bit we had a snowball fight.

Speaker 3 2:48

And so this I don't know how long this episode is going to be, but you know what Doesn't matter?

Speaker 2 2:53

Right.

Speaker 3 2:53

Buckle up. We're going to be in for a long ride and we're going to talk about all the secrets of Animal Kingdom. You may know some of these. Some of these I bet you don't know.

Speaker 3 3:03

I didn't know some of these right after doing research, and those of you that say it's a half day part maybe take some time to find what's gonna take you a half day to at least listen to this podcast, yeah, and so, yeah, I found out quite a few things I did not know.

Speaker 3 3:19

Okay, we're gonna talk about some backstories here, especially of dino, because of dino land, because, as of four days ago, there are construction walls up now around chester and hester's and triceratops spin and in the carnival midway games they're no more, they are gone, but we still have restaurant of stories and dinosaur in the bone pit, right. But we're going to talk about the backstory of that because I don't think people know the backstory of that probably not. And along with anything else in animal kingdom, it's got a very extensive, very well done backstory and I know I wasn't the biggest fan of the carnival games and in that area, but I I do really enjoy the the backstory that was here right and I can enjoy that without liking the carnival games we'll get into why we don't like those love hate relationship.

Speaker 2 4:13

There I had a hate hate relationship with them.

Speaker 3 4:16

But uh, yeah, so this is going to be a great episode. It's our favorite park. We're not ashamed to say it.

Speaker 2 4:22

This one and Epcot.

Speaker 3 4:24

Yeah, and so here we go. So let's go ahead. Let's start outside of the park, right? Okay, yes, if you look at the top of the ticket booth, you see the animal heads. Right On the left is a dragon's head, the middle is an elephant and the right one is a triceratops head. Right.

Speaker 2 4:40

Yes, dinosaur head yes.

Speaker 3 4:42

The dragon's head is there because there was supposed to be a land called Beastly Kingdom, where Pandora is now. It was going to celebrate the mythical creatures that are out there. I think there was supposed to be a roller coaster and all this other stuff but, due to budget cuts, got cut out. Apparently it costs a whole lot of money to properly maintain animals.

Speaker 2 5:08

Right, Right yes.

Speaker 3 5:09

And that's the main focus of Animal Kingdom is the animals and conservation of the animals, and that cost a whole lot of money.

Speaker 2 5:16

So they couldn't do Beastly Kingdom at the time it was.

Speaker 3 5:19

Dinoland or Beastly Kingdom and we got Dinoland instead of beastly kingdom and you know I really do like dino land. I'm not big into like mythical, like stories or stuff like that. Anyway, that's just not.

Speaker 2 5:36

I haven't been big into that so I don't know how successful beastly kingdom would have been yeah, and that would have been a tough call for anyone to to make, because you have your fans of dinosaurs, but then you have that many probably that like dragons and everything too dinosaurs are very marketable to kids, especially little boys, right?

Speaker 3 5:56

so it's very easy to sell that to a family, right? I don't know how many boys they probably know about dragons and usually unicorns and stuff like a little older yeah but so you know

Speaker 3 6:11

it happened, and you know, I don't know how much I would have really liked Beastly Kingdom, but we have Pandora there now, which is just absolutely phenomenal right, yes, yes, yes, I mean it all worked out, yeah. So the pavement is also a greenish color with some red, if you notice that as you're walking up to the turnstiles and the ticket booths.

Speaker 2 6:33

Yes, I don't know about the red green.

Speaker 3 6:36

Yes, yeah, so this is to start getting your mind ready for the world you are about to enter and also notice you can't see the tree of life from outside the park. This is the only park that the park icon is not visible from outside the park right?

Speaker 3 6:52

yeah, you definitely can't see it to that more in a bit but there's a very specific reason, and a lot of this is just to slow you down and prepare your your mind for what is about to to happen. Also, did you know there is a hidden side entrance to the park?

Speaker 2 7:11

uh well, yes, we, we kind of did early on, but had it not been for our experience, we wouldn't have known yeah.

Speaker 3 7:16

So if you go through the gift shop at rainforest cafe and outside through the seating area, you'll find another little turnstile area that you can enter the park from.

Speaker 2 7:26

Pretty cool, it is pretty cool.

Speaker 3 7:28

And we ate at Rainforest Cafe our first trip here and I know we don't recommend doing that. But you know what Kids don't care, Right? Rainforest Cafe is great themed. Our nine-year-old still enjoys. 10-year-old now still enjoys going to Rainforest Cafe and it's an experience for the kids, right, Right? So I don't recommend.

Speaker 3 7:51

It doesn't have the greatest food for the prices that you pay. But the experience, the experience for the kids, I get it. I understand, do we recommend it? No, but I get it. It's what the kids they enjoy, right, and it kind of will get them in that mindset of animal kingdom for the day, right. Right, because it is jungle-ish inside, all right. So now we're in the inside the park, right we are.

Speaker 2 8:12

The oasis area is there for a very specific reason it is to slow you down, even though a lot of people speed through it they go right through it.

Speaker 3 8:17

It's uphill too, so it is a little bit of a challenge if you're going to go through it, but it's there to slow you down and prepare you mentally to slow down and get lost and explore what is ahead of you. There's a lot of little trails and paths in the oasis right yes, there are and there's some really cool animals and there's some really beautiful past pathways in there that if you take your time you will enjoy them.

Speaker 2 8:44

Yes, and I mean, and we understand like you're just trying to get to a ride, you know especially rope, drop time and everything I mean we have to. But we've been that family too that has rushed through this part to get to different rides. But now we try to take it in a little more.

Speaker 3 9:02

Yes, and then at the top you see the grand reveal of the Tree of Life on Discover Island. Beautiful, beautiful. It is a very beautiful opening and view of the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is the only park icon not visible from outside the park. This is because, again, the Imagineers wanted to prepare you to slow down and get you in the right mindset of nature and being in nature with animals and everything like that.

Speaker 2 9:31

Right right.

Speaker 3 9:31

So, that's why this is the official Imagineering backstory, when Animal Kingdom first opened, of the Tree of Life. Yes, there is an official backstory to the Tree of Life. So once upon a time, no vegetation would grow on discovery island. There were no trees, no shrubs, no flowers, nothing. It was a barren piece of land. Then, one day, a tiny ant planted a seed and made a wish. The ant asked for a tree to grow, a tree large enough to provide shelter for all the animals. Magically, the ant's wish came true and a tree began to grow, a tree large enough to provide shelter for all the animals. Magically, the ant's witch came true and a tree began to grow. And it kept growing until there was room for room beneath its limbs for all the animals, from a to z, ants to zebras. And as the tree continued to reach for the heavens, the images of all the animals that took shelter beneath its shade appeared on its trunk, roots and branches very nice backstory little backstory.

Speaker 2 10:28

That's probably why, uh, a bug's life is underneath that's what I was thinking when you said the word ant. Yeah, but it's not gonna be there much longer.

Speaker 3 10:35

No, no, not gonna be there much longer either we'll talk.

Speaker 2 10:38

We don't want to talk about that in this episode, but yeah I'm excited to see the zootopia show yes, so those of you that haven't heard at some point later this year, the show that happens under the Tree of Life currently is a Bugs Life theme, but it's going to switch over to Zootopia.

Speaker 3 10:56

Yes, so the Tree of Life is a hundred and four. Sorry, skip it ahead. The Tree of Life is modeled after the baobab tree because it stores water in its trunk and during times of drought, animals can get water from it, making it the tree of life. So the baobab tree is a real tree in Africa and you will hear about it more on the safari when you go to Animal Kingdom.

Speaker 2 11:17

Yes, you do.

Speaker 3 11:18

Yep. So the tree of life is 145 feet tall, 165 feet across, with more than 103,000 leaves made of kynar that were individually placed. God, could you imagine doing that? Time consuming On 45 secondary branches that lead to 756 tertiary branches, which lead to 7,891 end branches. That's a lot.

Speaker 2 11:47

Yes.

Speaker 3 11:48

That is a lot. And they also built the Tree of Life on an upside-down oil derrick to give it its sturdy base.

Speaker 2 11:56

Okay, yeah, interesting.

Speaker 3 11:59

The Tree of Life Gardens is a great place to explore and get lost. There are several different types of animals along the forward trails and a great, relaxing view of Discovery River along the back trails. These trails also give you a great opportunity to see the different types of animals carved into the tree and its roots.

Speaker 2 12:16

Yes, and you know we've been several times now and we've really spent time in this area and every time we go we still notice animals we've never seen before on the trunk, this area. And every time we go we still notice animals we've never seen before on the trunk and even in more recent trips found animals on these paths like the real life animals that I was like oh, I didn't know, kangaroos were over here yeah, there's kangaroos there.

Speaker 3 12:35

There are some lemurs I love the otters the otters. They're not like hidden, you can see them. But yeah, I love the otters.

Speaker 2 12:42

Yes, they're just awesome yes, yes, they are so cute to watch, especially when they're playful. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 12:48

Speaking of the roots, the only place to find dinosaur carvings are in the roots of the Tree of Life, since they are extinct, you know, and they're beneath.

Speaker 2 12:57

Beneath the surface.

Exploring Animal Kingdom's Secrets and Lore

Speaker 3 12:58

Beneath the surface I thought that was a cool detail. And there's so many animal carvings on there. We could talk more and more and more about them. But yes, we're going to move on to flame tree barbecue. Yummy. So did you know the seating area is themed to predator and prey? I did not, so when? So the the pagodas right where you sit underneath?

Speaker 3 13:18

look at the stories of them okay there's carvings on them and they will display, like the predator and prey cycle, again the tree of like circle of life, right? So they're? Yeah, go check them out next time you go. The very beautiful view of discovery island and expedition everest.

Speaker 2 13:39

So yeah, I mean, and the food is, it's really good it's pretty good.

Speaker 3 13:44

Yes, is it the best in this park? I don't think so, but it good.

Speaker 2 13:48

It's pretty good. Yes, Is it the best in this park? I don't think so, but it's good. But it's a good barbecue for theme parks, you know. And in the seating area. Well, now I have more to look for the next time we go. But the seating area, I think, is just set off in a good place.

Speaker 3 14:00

It is, and you get a lot for your money here too. Yes, a lot of food. It is pricey, but you get a lot for it. I, I think so. All right, so we're gonna move on to the story of dino land, usa. All right, so buckle up for this one. It's pretty good. So in 1947 an amateur fossil hunter found some dinosaur bones in digs, county get it. Digs county along highway 498. Do you know what that 498 stands for?

Speaker 2 14:30

when they became extinct. No birthday 1998 when, oh, oh, when uh, animal kingdom park.

Speaker 3 14:36

yes, yes. So after contacting some friends, they raised enough money to buy the site. Ever since then, scientists, volunteers and grad students have been living here in Diggs County, so let's talk about Restaurantosaurus, right? Yeah, there's a lot in there. Before the paleontologist arrived in 1947, it was a fishing lodge my kind of place.

Speaker 2 15:01

I like fishing lodges. Yes.

Speaker 3 15:03

The paleontologist bought the fishing lodge and turned it into their headquarters, right. So it served as a museum, school dormitory and mess hall for the scientists and tourists. That's why it just looks like a hodgepodge of everything in there, right?

Speaker 2 15:16

Right, yes, because you definitely see decor and stuff that would represent museum and mess hall.

Speaker 3 15:22

Yeah, there's so much in here to check out. That's why there's an Airstream trailer attached to it. It looks like a basketball goal. You're like why is it a basketball goal?

Speaker 2 15:30

Just random, random stuff.

Speaker 3 15:32

But when you know that this is where they lived and ate at and stuff, then yeah, okay, now that makes sense. So why all that stuff is there? Right, yeah. It was originally sponsored by McDonald's and served McDonald's burgers and fries until the sponsorship ended in 2008. So I used to be able to get McDonald's food at restaurant stores.

Speaker 2 15:53

So burgers to you, because I knew about fries.

Speaker 3 15:55

Yes.

Speaker 2 15:55

But okay.

Speaker 3 15:56

Yeah, the T-Rex before you get to the attraction. Dinosaur is named Sue and is an exact replica of the real one at the Field Museum in Chicago. This is the most complete T-Rex museum or fossil. No, the Field Museum in Chicago is real. It is the most complete T-Rex ever found in the world, but this is an exact replica of it, so I thought that was really, really cool.

Speaker 2 16:23

Yes, and her name's Sue.

Speaker 3 16:24

Sue Sue is her name. The queue of a dinosaur has many fossils inside and once through the pre-show, there are pipes inside the final queue that are colored and have formulas written on them and they are really there.

Speaker 2 16:37

Zach has pointed them out to me in the in the past, so the.

Speaker 3 16:39

The pipes are red, yellow, yellow and white and the formulas are the scientific formula for ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise Again, a former nod to McDonald's being in the area. So dinosaurs still around. It's going to be through the end of the year.

Speaker 2 16:57

That's what we've heard now.

Speaker 3 16:58

That's what they're saying so, don't panic on that. You still got time to go check out Dr Seeker and travel back in time and hopefully find the Carter Tours. Yes, so Chester and Hester, who were they? No idea, no idea, right, chester and Hester were two locals who wanted to capitalize on the newfound success of the Diggs County. They turned their gas station into a fossil souvenir and shop and turned their parking lot into a small carnival featuring triceratops, spin and midway carnival games. So that's why that gift shop as you exit from Dinosaur looked like a roadside Americana thing, Really cool stuff in there.

Speaker 2 17:38

There is yeah.

Speaker 3 17:40

I spent some time when I was there. When did I go? November? Yes, they had just announced that they were closing that portion, probably the day before the.

Speaker 2 17:52

Carnival area the Carnival area and that shop.

Speaker 3 17:55

And so I asked one of the cast members like so who's going to get all this cool stuff in here? And she was like I hope we get it Because there's some really cool stuff in there on the rafters and all the decor and everything. It was really really cool yeah so expedition? Oh, we'll talk about the midway carnival games. So I did not like these because I feel like you're getting nickel and dimed here right it did feel that way, that was the problem, I problem I had with this and that's the thing like.

Speaker 2 18:22

it is truly like carnival games. You know, know, you're spending money to try to win, but then you're not winning, so you're spending more. Your kids end up crying because they aren't winning and getting the stuffed animal or whatever it is that they're wanting, yes and so.

Speaker 3 18:36

I get it, it goes with the story, but maybe make it cheaper. Yeah, well, it's gone now so it doesn't matter, right? But we just had issues with that and a good life lesson our kids learned they would never play carnival games again for the rest of their life, no matter how fun they are.

Speaker 2 18:55

Yeah. But I just felt like it was just too nickel and dimey at that point, yeah, and then there was one trip, though I was mom and caved and OK, I'll spend this much more money, and you know, after I'd already said, this is it. And we did finally get like a Mickey Mouse from there and stuff and a little dinosaur. But I think even like ever since then, even though he did end up with some stuffed animals, this is our youngest.

Speaker 3 19:25

He didn't really have a desire to go back. No, and you know, I I know some of those games are like everybody's a winner. They could have done something like that right like pay the money. But with it being disney. I know, trust me, I'm all about winning and losing. We have two very competitive kids and I am extremely competitive when it comes to sports as well.

Speaker 2 19:43

Yes, he's not one of those like everybody's a winner. No, they are not.

Speaker 3 19:46

Sorry if I offend you.

Speaker 2 19:47

But anyway.

Speaker 3 19:49

I feel like in this instance, though, when you're paying so much money and only little kids like to go in there and play those games, because I'm always like you're wasting your money, Don't you do that?

Speaker 2 20:09

You can have like a little it could have been like everybody's a winner.

Speaker 3 20:12

You know right, yeah, and it might not be like the big grand, no, you know stuffed animal or something, but you could have like a smaller one.

Speaker 2 20:15

That's just yeah. Anyway, rant over moving on it's closed.

Speaker 3 20:16

Yes, sorry, sorry. Expedition everest, one of my favorite roller coasters, so we're leaving this.

Speaker 2 20:22

We've lost another land we've. We've left that dino land.

Speaker 3 20:23

We're now in asia and another land. We've left Dinoland, we're now in Asia and we are at the Great Expedition Everest. It is a large hidden Mickey when you look at it from above it is one large hidden Mickey.

Speaker 2 20:35

Interesting yeah.

Speaker 3 20:37

And it has. At the time, this was the most expensive roller coaster ever built.

Speaker 2 20:43

Because of a certain Yeti.

Speaker 3 20:45

I I don't know, it's just at the time of it, of it being built. It was the most expensive roller coaster ever built. Speaking of the yeti, the yeti inside has been nicknamed disco yeti, so here's the story with the yeti. It is when it worked. Apparently it was just terrifying it looked like it was going to just reach out and grab you.

Speaker 2 21:08

I've seen an old video of it and, yeah, it would terrify me.

Speaker 3 21:13

I've never seen it work.

Speaker 2 21:14

No.

Speaker 3 21:15

And so that Yeti is massive and the amount of force that Yeti would put on its structure cracked like it couldn't sustain it because it was just so much stress on the structure itself that the animatronic and so it quit working probably about a year, year and a half it wasn't long, it was not long and they have tried to kind of get it open and kind of get it working and not there's a big myth that they would have to completely deconstruct Expedition Everest to fix it and that is not true.

Speaker 3 21:53

A recent interview we watched with Joe Rohde there's an access door behind the coaster that you can get into it right. Okay, so it's its own little separate thing can get into it, right. Okay, so it's its own little separate thing, but the the amount of money would take to fix it is is so significant and there's just no willpower from executives to do that right and so joe already said it can't be fixed, but it's a problem of money and willpower yeah right?

Speaker 3 22:22

yeah, I don't know if it'll ever be fixed, but it does look pretty cool, though, when you go and buy it right, I mean well, and sometimes if you don't know where to look, like you, you miss it.

Speaker 2 22:33

You do miss it so fast because I mean, I haven't ridden it as many times as you, but the couple of times I have ridden it, I think I'd say at least one time I didn't see it, but I just wasn't looking in the right area. Um, but no, I mean, that makes sense, though, like if the rumors or myths of it, you know, not being able to be fixed because it's so tied into the ride itself. It makes sense that that's not really the case, because they know they have to work on these animatronics and stuff you know.

Speaker 3 23:02

So how long would Expedition Everest be down as well, because they couldn't work on the audio animatronics and stuff you know. So how long would Expedition Everest be down as well, because they couldn't work on the audio animatronic and have the coaster still going at the same time?

Speaker 2 23:09

Right.

Speaker 3 23:10

They just couldn't do it.

Speaker 2 23:10

Yeah.

Speaker 3 23:11

So how long would it take Expedition Everest being down, especially when there's so much construction about to be happening in Animal Kingdom? That is a large attraction that would be down for a long time.

Speaker 2 23:21

Right, so yeah, and if as long as it's been down, then they're probably not ever going to fix it in my opinion?

Speaker 3 23:28

Probably not. Yeah, expedition Everest, in my opinion, is the best queue in all of Walt Disney World. All of the items you see in the queue are authentic and have been used on treks to Everest. I think that is just completely mind-blowing to me.

Speaker 2 23:46

That they're all authentic.

Speaker 3 23:48

I'm the guy in the queue that people are like you can move. I'm like no, no, no, just pass me. I'm just chilling. I'm hanging out, because sometimes that queue's not very long, the wait's not long.

Speaker 2 23:58

But I can see people behind you, because we get that way sometimes when people don't move and it's like like, why are they not moving?

Speaker 3 24:12

like pay attention, I just wave them like just just go, we're good, all right, we could talk so much about expedition everest, we really could.

Speaker 2 24:16

The backstory all the stuff, man, that's another episode. And even like, well, it's the whole park, but even this whole whole area around Everest. I mean, there's so much detail.

Speaker 3 24:28

Yes, the detail in these parks are just yeah, but I tried to find, pick and choose certain stuff for this For the episode, or we would be here for hours.

Speaker 2 24:38

Yes, I mean, I'm fine with that. We're not going anywhere, All right.

Speaker 3 24:41

So even though Beastly Kingdom never came to fruition, did you know you can still find a dragon in the park? Did you know that I did not? In the Mwahahahaha Jungle Trek there is a kimono dragon.

Speaker 2 24:57

See, I just don't think of that as dragon dragon, though, you know. Yeah, but it's a dragon, it is yeah.

Speaker 3 25:03

It's a dragon In the kimono dragon. I've seen a special on them. They are brutal. Yeah yeah, they can be Vicious. You wouldn't think like. When you look at them, you're like, oh, it's not that big you wouldn't think like.

Speaker 2 25:17

When you look at them, you're like, oh, it's not that big no, no, they can do some damage, man.

Speaker 3 25:19

Yeah, you can also find bengal tigers, which they just had, a baby tiger. You saw that like a month ago no, I didn't know an animal kingdom. Yeah, they had a baby tiger. You can find bats.

Speaker 2 25:29

They have a bat sanctuary in there and a bird aviary that you can walk through and there are a lot of pretty birds in there and these tigers, like you know, it's one of those just like at any park with animals, you know, in zoos and stuff that you know, sometimes you're going to get really good views of them and sometimes not. It just depends on where they are, you know, but there have been times where we have gotten really close views of the tiger.

Speaker 3 25:55

Views of the tigers, yes and again. This walking trail is so well detailed and themed. Take your time going through here yes it's just, it's beautiful, absolutely beautiful yes, all their trails are yes all right. So as we exit jungle trek, we come up to cali River Rapids. Did you know you can also find the pop star Michael Jackson in this area? I had no idea. No idea. In the queue of Cali River Rapids is a painting of Michael Jackson on the attraction Interesting.

Speaker 3 26:31

Pretty cool, huh? So Cali River Rapids was Michael Jackson's favorite attraction. Well, I don't know, but it was, and so, to honor him, after his death, they added this to the queue oh, I like that. That is really cool. Yeah, because he also did a lot of stuff for Disney too. He did a lot of promotional stuff, and you know that famous scene of him in that rainbow tunnel from the the 80s I think so that was at the imagination pavilion in epcot.

Speaker 3 27:01

Oh, okay, yeah, all right. So we're moving on to africa and harambe village, harambe, and there's so much detail here. I just so so much, with the posters and the buildings that look like they're falling apart and just like the modes of transportation around. So well done just love it.

Speaker 2 27:27

Yeah, and definitely all the buildings inside and out, you know, and they're like all the posters and signs like they're they're there for a signs like they're there for a reason. They put them there for a reason. Definitely a lot of detail. The food in the area is great.

Speaker 3 27:43

Yeah, that's another podcast though.

Speaker 2 27:44

Well, I know.

Hidden Details of Animal Kingdom

Speaker 3 27:45

The food is so good. So here you'll find lots of posters we're talking about scattered around Harambee with the name Captain Bob, which, if you know anything about Disney, this person may look familiar to you Like a certain.

Speaker 3 28:00

Imagineer Captain Bob is based on the legendary Imagineer, joe Rohde, who was the lead Imagineer for Animal Kingdom. That's pretty cool. Yes, there's a lot of Joe Rohde around in animal kingdom. There's like a roadie safari tracks and like there's just so many little puns towards joe roadie. It's really, really cool. I just, I just really really like that. You'll also see signs that reference a year in 1961. This is the year that kenya gained its independence, and harambe is kind of modeled after Kenya, a little bit like a village in Kenya.

Speaker 2 28:39

Right.

Speaker 3 28:40

There is also a hidden Mickey hiding in plain sight. Where is it? So you'll see a painting of Mickey with the words Fishwa Fellow, which means hidden Mickey.

Speaker 2 28:52

I think I have seen that.

Speaker 3 28:53

Yeah, I think it was one of my Disney trivias a while back On the safari. It may look like the animals can freely roam right.

Speaker 2 29:02

Yes, they do a really good job.

Speaker 3 29:03

However, there are large man-made dividers just out of sight from the safari truck, keeping all the animals from leaving the area. Also, if you notice, when you drive over those bumps I forgot what the name of them were but cattle and horses will just stare at those. They will not try to cross those and they have the springs across them. Animals will not go through there. Okay.

Speaker 3 29:27

And if you notice, a lot of the animal viewing areas are below the road you're on. Those are huge walls there. They're not moving away from those, Like the elephant's sanctuary right. You're like oh, the elephant's just right there. He's got that big pool in front of him, you know, and there's like this huge, like 20 foot gap that if you really look for it you can see it. You're like yeah, he's not. He's not getting through there.

Speaker 2 29:59

Yeah, but then you do have some animals that I mean they do still stay in a certain area, but like they roam across the path that the trucks.

Speaker 3 30:03

Yeah, so the uh, the savannah is probably the largest open space where the animals can roam freely, but again, you have those bumps before you get into it. And then you have those bumps you go over after you're going into the elephant area, right, so those animals are not crossing Into the area, into those areas. And then I've noticed there's doors that I'm sure they close after they close Safari as well.

Speaker 2 30:28

Right.

Speaker 3 30:28

So those animals aren't, and they put the animals up at night as well.

Speaker 2 30:31

Yeah.

Speaker 3 30:32

But if you'll see those, they're like oh look, there's tusk marks. Tusk marks on the side over here, you know.

Speaker 2 30:39

Mm, hmm.

Speaker 3 30:39

Yeah.

Speaker 2 30:40

They can't really get over there. The elephants can't get there.

Speaker 3 30:42

No, no, they can't get there.

Speaker 2 30:45

But if they could, they would do those markings. They would really do that, yes.

Speaker 3 30:48

And so yeah, and have you ever wondered why the lions are always laying on the rocks? I had wondered that, but you had told me this a long time ago they pump air through them. Yes, and so they lay on there because it's cooler.

Speaker 2 31:03

But they have a new family of lions now. I did know that. I forgot their names, because the other ones they retired them, they retired them to a sanctuary, but those old lions had been there since park opening.

Speaker 3 31:14

Right, that's a long time.

Speaker 2 31:15

Yes, yes, so we'll have to see the new ones, and if you notice the rocks.

Speaker 3 31:20

There's like big gaps between some of those rocks. Those lions are not leaving that.

Speaker 2 31:24

That certain area, that area they can't get across there?

Speaker 3 31:26

Yeah, no, all right. So after you exit the safari, we highly recommend that you go for a walk on the gorillas fall trails. You'll see a family of gorillas there that reminds us so much of our family yes, there have been several times.

Speaker 2 31:41

We've seen families where it's like toddler ages, you know, and bugging mom. She looks like she's trying to nap and the little ones keep going and poking at her, trying to get her attention or hopping in her lap and she has that mom look of oh here we go again, kind of thing. But then you also have a separate section where you see the bachelor gorillas.

Speaker 3 32:04

They can be bougie.

Speaker 2 32:06

Especially one that apparently likes to wash his food again after they give it to him.

Speaker 3 32:12

Yeah, yes, but the area where the bachelors are is beautiful. It really truly just I remember being there one time very early morning, just after park opening, and I was just amazed at how beautiful it was with the sun coming up I was just beautiful. I loved, loved, loved it now mentioning being there early.

Speaker 2 32:34

Um, I don't remember the time that they let the whole family of gorillas come out.

Speaker 1 32:39

It's a little bit later in the day. It's a little later.

Speaker 2 32:40

Yeah, it's not like right at park opening or after the first couple of safaris go through, it's like maybe like an hour or so later, probably like 9 or 10 o'clock yeah.

Speaker 3 32:49

Did you also know that you can draw with an animator?

Speaker 2 32:53

Well, we have.

Speaker 3 32:53

We do know that Well we have, we do know that you can take the Wildlife Express train to Rafiki's Planet Watch and Brittany you love this place, so why don't you talk more about Rafiki's Planet Watch?

Speaker 2 33:04

Well, I love the fact that you do get to draw with an animator and throughout the day. You know it's like every hour I believe, and it's not the same character necessarily every hour. They try to change it up, but it's not the same character necessarily every hour. They try to change it up. But it's just real fun. I mean, it's definitely step by step on how to draw and you know we've done things such as Simba and oh who's the dog from Coco.

Speaker 2 33:34

Oh, I can't think of his name I just forgot his name, but the dog from Coco, we've done.

Speaker 3 33:37

He's got a goofy name.

Speaker 2 33:37

We've done Scar and a few others.

Speaker 3 33:40

Tuk Tuk.

Speaker 2 33:41

Yes, Tuk Tuk from Raya. And so it's always just a fun experience because you know, just like anything, you start drawing and you're like how is this going to turn into that character? And before you know it it does to that character and before you know it it does, and so it's just really fun. But there's a lot of other things. Uh, over here as well, there's a petting zoo with like farm animals and everything and you can brush some of them and feed them and it's super cute. And then they also have an area that shows you Dante?

Speaker 2 34:12

Dante is the dog's name yes, from Coco. And then they also have an area where they show you how they prepare the food and what they feed the animals and if they were to have to do a special vet visit with the animals, and things like that.

Speaker 3 34:28

It's really really cool.

Speaker 2 34:29

Yeah, it's very informative, but me and our youngest Nolan, we always really enjoy the drawing with an animator part and on trips that are a little bit shorter where we don't get to go and experience that, we're kind of like aww, because he's been actually collecting all of our drawings and likes to hang them up.

Speaker 3 34:46

Yeah, no, it is definitely a very good time, and the Wildlife Express train is a great way to see some behind the scenes parts of Animal Kingdom. You see some of the houses that they keep the animals in, and the train itself is so well themed.

Speaker 2 35:02

Yes, I just love every bit of it, like there's luggage on top of it and all of that stuff. It's just awesome.

Speaker 3 35:07

Yes, all right. So, moving on to Pandora, satooli Canteen, one of the best quick service restaurants on property. Can't argue that. It's just so good. The building, however, used to be an RDA mess hall from the first Avatar movie those were the bad guys, yes and has since been repurposed as a peaceful dining spot run by Alpha Centauri Expeditions or ACE, which you'll see throughout Pandora. The food there is amazing. I know it's not a food podcast, but the food's amazing, the atmosphere, the music just love it.

Speaker 2 35:43

And some of their bowls and stuff. Don't let some of the items that they put in it, like the boba balls and some other things don't let that throw you off. When you're ordering you can specify with or without. You know you don't have to get everything that comes in those bowls.

Speaker 3 36:00

Or just get the cheeseburger pods and there you go, all right, heading to Flight of Passage. If you look way up at the top, you'll see the start of the waterfall, right.

Speaker 2 36:14

Yes, and it's very pretty.

Speaker 3 36:15

It is very beautiful Now the waterfall right. Yes, and it's very pretty. It is very beautiful now the waterfall is real.

Speaker 2 36:19

It is very pretty I know, I know, but the way you said beautiful, it sounds like it was beautiful it is at the very top where the waterfall starts.

Speaker 3 36:27

That's not real water. It's just a spinning wheel to make it look like and it really looks like water it really is. Now the rest of the waterfall is correct. It is actual water but way up top is Now. The rest of the waterfall is Correct.

Speaker 2 36:37

It is actual water, but way up top is not, it is not.

Speaker 3 36:39

Nope. Also, while in the outside portion of the queue for Flight of Passes, just before you enter the caves, look up and to the left at the floating mountains, you'll spot a sting bat sleeping upside down. Sting bats are a predator in the forest and the banshee's favorite food.

Speaker 2 37:00

I don't know if I've seen the sting bat.

Speaker 3 37:01

The sting bat. Yeah, We'll have to look when we go in February.

Speaker 2 37:04

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 37:05

Mm-hmm. Yeah, while you're in the lab portion of the queue for Flight of Passage, before we get to this part, the queue here is absolutely amazing. Yes. We do recommend getting the multi pat, whatever it's called now, lightning lane, whatever, yes, the pay lightning for this, but do it once to see the queue.

Speaker 2 37:24

It is beautiful yeah, if you can get there, like if this is your rope drop ride, or if you get in line before a park closes, then that those are the best times to go through and actually see the queue. But if you're riding any other time during the day it's long and it's worth paying for shortcuts through the line. So every time.

Speaker 3 37:46

We have gotten in line for this right before park close. It's still been. The whole thing takes about 45 minutes to an hour. I don't think we've ever taken longer than an hour to wait in the queue and do the attraction.

Speaker 2 37:57

Right.

Speaker 3 37:58

And a bonus if it's not during the summertime, you'll get out and get to see Pandora at night, which we'll talk about that more in a bit, but there's just a very short time each year where you truly get to see it at night.

Pandora's Secrets and Trivia

Speaker 3 38:10

So while you're in the lab portion of the queue for Flight of Passage, there's some really, really, really cool stuff in there, like really unique cool stuff in there. But what I want to talk about is you'll see an avatar floating in a tank Hank. He's been nicknamed Hank by the cast members. Also in the lab portion of the queue for Flight of Passage there are books on the desk there.

Speaker 3 38:33

Some notable things here. One of the books is written by Dr jacqueline ogden, the banshee expert you'll meet in the pre-show. Yes, what you'll learn a lot about jackie ogden in the pre-show. Also, quick little trivia thing she also voiced one character elsewhere in what disney world? Where was that in the queue for star tours? She was the luggage droid in Star Tours.

Speaker 2 39:01

Interesting In the queue.

Speaker 3 39:02

Okay, another one is written by Dr Grace Augustine, the botany expert played by Sigourney Weaver in the first Avatar. And my favorite one is written by world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall. She was instrumental in the design of the park and to honor Jane, they made a carving of her favorite shrimp, David Greybeard, in the Tree of Life.

Speaker 2 39:27

I love that yeah.

Speaker 3 39:28

It's as you exit. It's tough to be a bug.

Speaker 2 39:30

Okay, it's right there. Hmm, okay.

Speaker 3 39:33

It's very noticeable.

Speaker 2 39:34

Right Once you know where to look, it's very noticeable Right Once you know where to look.

Speaker 3 39:36

It does not blend in with everything else, okay. It's very noticeable, but wait, there's more. As you exit Flight of Passage, you'll see three red handprints on the wall with the initials JL, jc and JR. John Landau, who was the producer of the movie Avatar. Jc stands for James Cameron, who was the director, and JR stands for Joe Rohde, the legendary Imagineer. Nice, yeah, all right. Near the entrance to the Navi River Journey, you'll notice giant Navi footprints on the ground. I have not noticed these yet.

Speaker 2 40:14

No but. I'm sure they're there. I'm sure there's a lot of detail in the ground sometimes. Yeah.

Speaker 3 40:20

And the bioluminescence at night we just talked about is absolutely just breathtaking.

Speaker 2 40:26

It is. It is beautiful, yes, Now back up, though for just a second, to Navi River Journey. I know it's a ride that we don't talk about a lot and we've only ridden it once, mainly because it gets a long wait too. But it is a relaxing ride and it has a very well done animatronic in there as well.

Speaker 3 40:46

The audio animatronic is maybe one of the most technologically advanced ones ever done. The movements on the Shaman are just seamless. Yes, it is great.

Speaker 2 40:57

It is really, really good. So I just wanted to mention that, because you just kind of coasted over.

Speaker 3 41:02

This is a step up from it's a Small World.

Speaker 2 41:07

Oh well, it's different from that, but it just for the wait times.

Speaker 3 41:15

It's not worth it for us.

Speaker 2 41:16

For us, it's not worth it. For us, it's not worth it. No, but you know, if it were like a like a 30 minute wait time or something, then yes, yeah okay, and so the body luminous is at night.

Speaker 3 41:27

I often think if walt was here today and I could take him to any park, where would I take him?

Speaker 3 41:32

and you would do animal kingdom, I would take him to animal kingdom one, because he's finally seeing his dream of animals in the park come true, because he originally wanted walt disney, originally wanted live animals on the jungle cruise right. And then I think, showing him pandora at night I think would just blow his mind because he loved the parks at night, that was his favorite time of night. And just to see the imagineering, andering and the hard work that went into Pandora to make it look like you really are immersed in Pandora.

Speaker 2 42:06

Yeah.

Speaker 3 42:07

It's truly amazing.

Speaker 2 42:09

It's true, and I don't know how they're going to continue to do the park hours. In the past there were more months out of the year that I feel like you could experience it at night, but now for most of the year they just they close it so early that you really don't get to to see it yeah, yeah, that's a shame it is, but all right.

Speaker 3 42:31

So no more disney trivia.

Speaker 2 42:33

No, but I was gonna say since we don't have disney trivia, do you want to talk about some comments for something we put out there today?

Speaker 3 42:43

so we're gonna, instead of disney trivia, we're gonna ask questions every week about what we're talking about this week, right? So the first question was would you rather eat at flame tree barbecue or satouli canteen? I don't want to name listeners names on instagram because these are private messages, but I will say we have cut me off sorry you do it to me, I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 43:06

I'm sorry, go ahead, no go ahead.

Speaker 3 43:08

No, you're not that important nope, go ahead so the it was split 50 50 on our listeners on satouli Canteen and Flamish Barbecue. I just love Satouli Canteen. It's my happy place. I can just sit in there, listen to the music, have my cheeseburger pod and have my what's that? Beer, the green, beer, the green beer Grog. The Grog beer.

Speaker 2 43:36

Grog Ale or something Whatever, you can only get it there in Pandora.

Speaker 3 43:41

And that's my happy place. Yeah, it's so peaceful.

Speaker 2 43:45

So Zach put that question up and I was even like, ooh, that's a tough one, because I don't know, because they're both their own, you know.

Speaker 3 43:52

They are different experiences.

Speaker 2 43:53

Different experiences. Both have great seating areas. So, thule, I prefer sitting inside than outside, especially in the animal kingdom. You make it hot, yes, and they have unique foods, but then Flame Tree, of course, it's barbecue and we talked earlier about. You get a great portion for what you're paying and it's got great seating as well. So I was like, ooh.

Speaker 3 44:15

You just got to fight off the birds, yeah, so that one's tough.

Speaker 2 44:18

It really just comes down to what do you feel like eating?

Speaker 3 44:20

I think that day, or do you want to be inside or outside?

Speaker 2 44:22

Right, that too, yeah, inside, outside. And do you want barbecue or do you want a bowl or the cheeseburger pods?

Speaker 3 44:30

You know, the Satoula Canteen will win me it often does.

Speaker 2 44:34

That's why we've only been to flame tree once so hey, when it's good, it's good yeah, but then, uh, today. So the recording of this episode is a little differently than how we normally do. But today, um, I posted a question about animal kingdom specifically. Is this park a full day or half day park?

Speaker 3 44:53

hey, you better be careful. You better be careful woman You're treading on some dangerous grounds right now.

Speaker 2 44:59

So it's only been posted so far for 10 hours, but in the 10 hours it is exactly 50-50, right now with the comments.

Speaker 3 45:06

Really 50-50?

Speaker 2 45:07

Yes, I just got another comment.

Speaker 3 45:09

So what have they been? Now, don't say that, listeners. If you want us to say your name, let us know. No, I'm not gonna say names but I'm saying if, if you, the listener wants us to oh, we'll do it, but if not, in the future. But just what have they been saying? Yeah, so I mean it's definitely this is fighting words here, so I'm just saying half of them said half day, half of them said full day.

Speaker 2 45:30

So I know who I'm hanging out with so you one comment was exactly worded as full day all the way, and then other comments were that were half day. Then I reached out and said OK, well, do you mainly do the rides, or go on different walking trails and eat there too? And so sometimes the responses were the rides in a show or two, or ride Expedition Everest as many times as we can show, or two, or ride expedition everest as many times as we can, and then walk around pandora, eat food at satuli canteen, grab a drink at tiffin's lounge and then nomad lounge, yeah, which is nomad lounge, um, and you know, and that's that's what they do so that's a pretty good I pretty good way to do it, except they don't take time for the trails.

Speaker 3 46:17

it sounds like Right, yeah, I mean, if you get on board with doing Expedition Everest and going to Pandora. I'm on board with that. I'm completely on board with that. Yeah, but I'm going to spend more time there.

Speaker 2 46:27

That said, half day was mostly rides. They didn't even eat there last time, but you know it just depends on what you have planned. But you know it just depends on what you have planned. But again, there have been other responses that were like full day, full day, full day, and they just didn't go into detail of what all they did. But a lot of times when it is a full day you know you are eating in the park, you're doing the trails, maybe riding a couple of the rides multiple times, taking it all in sitting, relaxing, maybe going to Nomad Lounge. You know things like that.

Speaker 3 47:05

I can spend a half day in Nomad Lounge yeah. Yeah, but if you do go to Rafiki's Planet Watch and you do these trails and you do all the shows. Festival of the Lion King is an amazing show yeah. The Finding Nemo one's kind of eh Like I didn't really care that much for it.

Speaker 2 47:14

Right.

Speaker 3 47:15

And the Birds of Flight flight one, whatever it's called. Our boys loved that one. Yeah, I didn't think they would like it, but they they loved it and then we just hang out, like we just hang out at the tree of life. This is. You're so rushed, go, go, go go during your vacation.

Speaker 2 47:30

This park is meant for you to slow down it is this is supposed to be your relaxing like chill out yeah, and then the most recent comment was you know, a full day, especially since they close early especially when they close early.

Speaker 3 47:41

You can still park, hop to somewhere else, but take this time and slow down. Yeah, look at the animals, listen to the music, read the posters, go draw with an animator you know, and take in the cues that the like the dinosaur cues are so much. Every time it's a short way for dinosaur, I'm like because I want to see some of the stuff that they have. Right, expedition everest. I will let people pass me. I'm like.

Speaker 3 48:08

No, I'm good you can go past yeah the the queue at pandora sorry flight of passage. It's so good, it is so well done that I think the queues themselves can be attractions, if you take the time to slow down and look at this stuff right they put a lot of time and effort into these queues, especially at animal kingdom. They I mean they took it up a whole nother level, animal kingdom when it came to the cues they did, but you know in all the parts except sorry, go ahead now you're the one interrupting now in all the parks.

Speaker 2 48:43

Not, you know, not every single ride is going to have great cues, but the ones that do have cues, you know there's. There's a lot more in those cues than you think and sometimes it enhances the overall experience of the ride it really does you know, um like I'll throw an example out. It's not our favorite, I know it's quite a few other people's, but, like in magic kingdom, um, when we did not experience the cue for peter pan, it was like, oh, we felt like stuff had had been missing from the ride.

Speaker 3 49:13

The cue helped us enjoy it more thoroughly yeah, and I will say, the one queue that is the exception at animal kingdom is not every river journey.

Speaker 2 49:23

That queue just sucks yeah, they could have done a better job.

Speaker 3 49:26

It's just not good and then as far as food goes, the food here is phenomenal, except for pizza fari oh yeah, don't get it out of there, don't go, don't go there with the exception of those two things. They knocked this park out of the water and it still continues to just be amazing, and I think the main secret of Animal Kingdom that people don't get is to slow down.

Speaker 2 49:49

Right.

Speaker 3 49:51

Take the full day here. I'm not saying rope, drop it, which we don't do that anymore. But when you do, do don't leave early. Take your time. See the tree of life awakenings at night, see pandora at night, like, take the time here and explore what is here to offer?

Speaker 2 50:07

that was the whole intent of this park was to help you slow down and explore and get lost yeah, and if you don't want to like eat like a full meal, like at a sit down or quick service place, there are so many snacks we still got a couple things to get when we go in February yeah, there are so many snacks here and snacks that you're not going to find anywhere else.

Speaker 2 50:26

Now, some, yes, you're going to find elsewhere, but some that are so specific because of the theming and everything you know you've got Asia, africa, you know, and so there's a lot of unique things you can try and I think so we're eating.

Speaker 3 50:44

So friday, when we get there, we're eating at jico for dinner, but I think we're just going to snack at the park, right?

Speaker 2 50:49

yes, but I want to be able to thoroughly enjoy jico, so I might not snack as much.

Speaker 3 50:52

no, that's a yeah, but I think on our last day, on Sunday, we go to the bar at Yak and Yeti and see what the secret menu has.

Speaker 2 51:01

Possibly, maybe, we will see.

Speaker 3 51:03

Because I want to revisit Yak and Yeti from when we first went. I did not have the best dining experience there, right. Because this is what I got. I got steak Right right, right you don't go.

Speaker 2 51:12

Had was wonderful, yeah so I want to.

Speaker 3 51:13

I want to revisit this, all right, anything else you want to say about this? Or what do you think we've been talking about with animal kingdom or anything with the closures, or anything like that?

Speaker 2 51:23

no, you know, I mean for us. Personally, I think the current closures that are happening in dino land we won't miss no uh, you know now when it comes time for the the dinosaur ride.

Speaker 2 51:34

Yes, you know, because that's always been a ride that we've enjoyed as a family and have gotten some goofy pictures of the boys when waiting in line beside like a dinosaur statue and stuff like that. You know so, so that one will be missed. But at the same time, just like with anything you know, things change and it's got to revolve and you got to evolve. Yes, sorry.

Speaker 2 51:57

Evolveve and you've got to Evolve yeah, sorry, evolve and you've got to just kind of stay with the times and pay attention to your audience and what they're going to want to see in the parks, and so I think that's what we're seeing now, with what's going to be coming with Encanto and Indiana Jones and some other things.

Speaker 3 52:15

Well, my opinion on Indiana Jones was that was just a cheap fix because they can just. I know it's not going to be the same as in Disneyland, but they already have most of the same stuff.

Speaker 2 52:24

Right.

Speaker 3 52:27

Walt said the parks would never be finished ever, and I'm a true believer of that. I just really hope they do the re-theming justice. I really hope that they keep to the attention to detail and the great theming as the rest of the park. I hope they do not cheap out and just put it up. Just to put it up.

Speaker 2 52:52

I really hope they don't do that Before knowing the backstory. I almost feel like that's what the carnival area felt like, though, is that they?

Speaker 3 53:02

they cheaped out.

Speaker 2 53:03

You know the backstory, right, they're not cheaping out no, but most people don't, and I think that's how most people take have taken that area in the past but don't you have a more? Better appreciation of it now, once you know it. Yes, yes.

Speaker 3 53:18

All right, so well. Thank you everybody for joining us. We hope you've enjoyed this episode. I don't know what we're going to talk about next week. Ooh, I do know what we're going to talk about next week. Okay, surprise, it's a secret.

Speaker 2 53:28

Okay, I'll find out soon podcast.

Speaker 3 53:32

The best way to do that is to share the show with your friends. Leave us a five-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Really appreciate it. It really helps us to grow the show and we have been getting new listeners and we really do appreciate you joining us. If you want to contact us, you can email us circleofparks at gmailcom. Our website is wwwcircleofparkscom. We're on Facebook, instagram and X, all at Circle Up Parks and just thank you so much for listening. Can't wait to talk to you next week.

Speaker 2 53:59

Talk to you soon, thank you.