The Summer heat is in full effect today. Regardless of the heat, let’s go on an adventure; Animal Kingdom, here we come!
If you take the busses, or the tram in from the parking lot, you bypass much of the construction going on just outside the park. It’s nothing drastic at this point, Â like in the other parks, but it’s noticeable.
They’re planning on building a new covered tram loading area, but the work hasn’t made it to that area yet.
They added these lovely photos to look at along the walkway.
It’s a busy morning at Animal Kingdom.
Thank the almighty for whoever invented the Annual Passholder entrance.
What’s that in the trees as you enter the park…?
It’s delightful, it’s delirious, it’s de-lovely– I mean, it’s Devine!
Something I noticed inside Riverside Depot on Discovery Island: they’ve taken to hanging “related merchandise” on some of the fixtures. It’s like an Amazon ad inside of a store. “If you like A, you might like B”.
This one confused me, as nothing nearby was battery-operated.
Summer Crowds
It was exceptionally busy today. Flight of Passage was quoted as a 195 minute wait at 10 AM.
I’d believe it, too, since the line went halfway down to Africa.
Later in the day, Expedition Everest was busy, as usual. It was only quoted at 50 minutes, but that one I don’t believe…
…because the FastPass+ return line stretched almost to the bridge (near Finding Nemo the Musical).
One place it wasn’t busy, though, was…
Dinoland U.S.A.
Primeval Whirl is still down. Someone must have broken something. It closed unexpectedly on July 17th and has been down since. Last we heard it’s supposed to reopen on August 3rd, but who knows.
I found the Dinoland hula hoop storage: for emergencies only.
I noticed this in Chester and Hester’s: is this accidentally left over from Christmas? Or is this normally here? You can’t really tell in a place as eclectic as this.
One of my favorite additions to Dinoland in recent memory is the Scrooge McDuck meet and greet. I hope he sticks around for a long time.
He’s even got a sundae named after him, just next door at Dino-Bite Snacks.
Animals
It’s Animal Kingdom, after all. Let’s look at some animals!
This guy was keeping watch over the hippo pool…
…while the hippo was chilling underwater.
The zebras were actually out today. I feel like I always miss them when I come through the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail.
The cotton-top tamarins were missing in action today on Discovery Island.
The gibbons were quite active today, considering the heat.
I walked by the ant eater exhibit just after Annie had her bath. I think all the guests wanted to jump into the water with her!
Et Cetera
I recently bought one of the Na’vi translators from Windtraders in Pandora. It’s a fun little gadget that pronounces Na’vi words for you out loud using the little collectible vocabulary cards. It’s been around since the land opened, but no one ever talks about it. For $19.99, you could do worse for a souvenir.
The discontinued the Helicoradian flower lamp recently, but they still sell the Vein Pod!
Also discontinued in recent memory were the Ikran kites. They’re still on display in the rafters of the shop, however.
Last but not least: they’re making progress on Club 33! I’ll just enjoy watching the process as they build it, because I’ll never be able to go inside once it’s open.
That’s it from Animal Kingdom for today. Come back next time for more updates from Walt Disney World’s most beautiful park.
Primeval Whirl is likely closed until the investigation at Lightwater Valley in the UK is completed for an accident involving the same model coaster as Primeval Whirl.
Great Update!! The C batteries beside the Simba stuffie made me laugh! The _Fur Real_ Simba needs C batteries, and does not come with batteries!! (Disneyland very kindly gave us some C batteries earlier this month because at the time they didn’t sell C batteries anywhere on property.)
I was glad to see a zebras in your report. I had read a number of times that they had zebras in Animal Kingdom but that they were too aggressive and had to be sent away. Do you know anything about this?