Episode 26: A Safari & a Wild Raft Ride – Walt Disney World – September 2016
Over at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park, there are two things we love… a safari and a wild raft ride! I mean of course, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Kali River Rapids!
A Safari in Florida?
Fresh out of Festival of the Lion King, we decide to stop by to check out the line for Kilimanjaro Safaris. It was at a manageable level so we decided to cash in our FastPass and go for a ride… Jambo everyone!
After a shorter than expected wait we board our expedition vehicle for our three day… I mean 18 minute safari. What I love about this ride is that it is never the same twice since you cannot guarantee what the animals will be doing or where they will be… like oh say standing in the middle of the road blocking traffic… yep this can happen.
What animal is that?
Some animals you may encounter during the tour include: antelopes, baboons, black rhinos, cheetahs, crocodiles, elephants, flamingos, gazelles, giraffes, hippopotamus, hyenas, lions, okapis, ostriches, warthogs, white rhinos, wildebeests, wild dogs & zebras. The giraffes and elephants are our favorites and those trees that look like they are upside down and their roots sticking up in the air… I like that if you see an animal and are not sure what it is you only have to look up at the picture guide above your seat.
With cameras ready, we start snapping photos. There were many in fact as I had one on the left of the ride and Jason had one on the right of the ride and Ethan was snapping pictures with his iPhone. We made is safely over the ‘scary’ rickety bridge and avoided the poachers and took in some great sights along the way!
We found Flik!
The meet and greets around the parks are great and we were so surprised to see Flik from A Bug’s Life! He was so much fun and was a bit ‘confused’ by the twins and we had a good time visiting with him while he signed the boys’ hats.
But now we are hungry… hmmm where to eat? I know, Flame Tree Barbeque! This is our favorite quick service location in Animal Kingdom. It is very tasty and the portions are huge, definitely big enough to share. But hey where are the ribs??? Well after we found the ribs (they just forgot to put them on our plate) we dig in! There are large covered pavilions with picnic tables to eat which are right by the water and if you are really lucky you can score a table with a perfect view of Expedition Everest.
Time to get wet!
So what do you do after a hot ride through Africa on a safari expedition and now have full tummies? Well you get drenched of course to cool off! Next stop Kali River Rapids. This ride is so much fun we rode it twice… because we just didn’t get wet enough on the first go round! Depending on where you are on the raft you may get completely soaked or you may remain relatively dry… but here’s the thing, the raft spins around with the current of the river so on one ride that seat you are in may be dry but on the next it is the one where you get the wettest! It all depends on luck… And are you lucky and stay dry or on a really hot day are you lucky and get wet and cooled off??? Between two rides down the river we were all pretty soaked, but we didn’t mind at all because it was so much fun!
Drying off on a roller coaster!
And what’s the best way to dry off? Well ride a roller coaster of course! It was time for our FastPass at Expedition Everest and… wait for it… we convinced Cameron & Colby to ride! Gasp! After begging this morning to no avail, bribery finally worked in the end… They were both almost out of money and had their little hearts set on a pair of Mickey slippers. So mom and dad agreed to pay the difference in the slippers if they would get their scaredy cat butts on the ride! Colby even enjoyed it enough to give it a second go! I think this brings us to a grand total of seven trips for today on our favorite coaster!
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Thanks,
Alisa
EECC Travels
