Florida Trip- Animal Kingdom at Disney World

Day 5...
We were up and ready to go out the door at 8:00 AM to catch a bus to Epcot then on to the
Animal Kingdom.

 Opened in 1998, Disney's Animal Kingdom is newest of Walt Disney World's theme parks -

 and also by far the largest. 

The sprawling park, of course, doubles as world-class zoo, 

as well as packing in Disney's usual array of family-friendly rides and shows.

Sixty dump trucks filled with dirt were delivered to Animal Kingdom’s construction site every day for two years straight, equaling 4.4 million cubic yards of dirt. 

Fun facts about Animal Kingdom are taken from:
http://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20140321/17017/20-fun-facts-about-disneys-nimal-kingdom

 The iconic Tree of Life 

is topped with more than 103,000 leaves, 

each of which was individually placed on 8,692 branches. 

It took 10 artists and three Imagineers around 18 months

to create the 325 animals carved into

 The Tree of Life. 

The sculptors had around 6-10 hours to produce the final image before the plaster hardened.

The base of the Tree of Life had to be very strong

 in order to withstand the hurricanes that regularly hit Florida. 

To provide the necessary strength,

 an old oil rig was installed as the base skeleton for the tree's trunk.

 More than 4 million trees, plants, shrubs, vines, grasses and more from every contintent on Earth (except Antarctica) were planted during the construction of Disney's Animal Kingdom.

 At 199 feet tall Expedition Everest is the tallest of Walt Disney World's faux mountains. 

It is just below the Federal Aviation Authority's 200-foot limit, which would require it to have a flashing red light on its peak.

With a cost of more than $100,000,000, 

Expedition Everest is the most expensive roller coaster ever made.

To recreate the lowlands surrounding Mount Everest, more than 900 bamboo plants, 

10 species of trees and 110 species of shrubs were planted.

 Gross!

The most popular live show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is 

“Festival of the Lion King,”

 an explosion of colors, music and amazing talent. 

The spectacular finale includes a rendition of the

 “Circle of Life."

 An African Safari is on my bucket list.

This is probably as close to that as I will get.

So, I am crossing that off my list.

Yes!

 Planting Kilimanjaro Safaris was a challenge. With a ride-through attraction and live animals roaming about, planting patterns were based on what designers thought the animals would do, and what the guests will experience. Paul Comstock, principal landscape architect, laid out the plant bed lines on a motorcycle (using spray paint) riding at the same speed as the ride vehicle, “because guests will experience the landscape at that speed,” he said. 

 The savannah that hosts Kilimanjaro Safaris spans around 110 acres. 

That makes it larger than the entire Magic Kingdom theme park.

Like a snapshot from an African safari, towering acacia trees and tall grasses paint a familiar picture of the Serengeti on a vast stretch of rolling landscape, 

but this is Central Florida, not east Africa, and the acacias are really 30-foot-tall Southern live oaks with a close-cropped crew cut. 

http://allears.net/tp/ak/ak_fact.htm

 Feeding the 1,000+ animals that are hosted at the park requires around 4 tons of food per day.

Papa..

watching the kids play.

Doug with tiger.

We had an amazing day at Animal Kingdom with the park closing at 5:00 PM.
Our bus was not due to pick us up until 9:00 PM, so we had some time to explore.

We took the bus to Epcot and then decided to take the Monorail to the ferry to cross over to
The Magic Kingdom.

We arrived at The Magic Kingdom!

As "Magical" as the Kingdom is,
we did not get in.
It turned out that we just had passes for entry to one kingdom per day.
So, it was back to the resort via taxi cab.
Ouch!
It makes for a good story, though, to tell people
they wouldn't let us into the Magic Kingdom!
(And in all fairness to them, we could have gotten in for a mere $50 each.)