DAY 12
SAT 8th JAN 2000
Up at 8:00, breakfast in the room and off to the Animal Kingdom.
We arrive
at 10:00 and go straight to Kilimanjaro Safari's which is
only about a 3 minute wait. It is a foggy morning and
there are quite a few animals out. One thing I have
noticed both times we have ridden - no zebra. Have they
gone or did we just miss them?
A brief walk through the Pangani Forest Trail follows. In
the bird enclosure we hear a lot of noise and look up to
see two fairly large birds ..... er ... mating. India
asks if they are fighting! They may have been earlier if
they are anything like humans as fighting is often
followed by mating.
It is still dull as we walk across to Camp Minnie- Mickey
for the Pochahontas show. It is packed. This is probably
more crowded than it has been in days, maybe because it
is a Saturday. The show itself is a bit cutesy. The
animals are nice but my main gripe is that Pochahontas is
not such a babe as the last time I saw this. I know this
is a bit shallow but I am very particular about my
Pochahonti.
We hurry across to Festival Of The Lion King and are
seated 3 minutes before it starts, perfect timing. This
has always been an excellent show but is even better than
I remembered. Overall I still prefer Hunchback of Notre
Dame, probably because I find the music so stirring.
Lunch is at the Tusker House, I remember Ronnie
recommending this. We have the fried chicken, the stew
bowl and the chicken salad between us along with beers.
The food is very good, Tammy is particularly impressed
with the stew. I have noticed something about the
restaurants in the Animal Kingdom. They seem to have
avoided large areas with loads of tables laid out in
rows. Most restaurants have smaller sections with areas
leading off them. It is easy to find a quiet and pretty
corner to eat in.
The weather has improved and it would be very easy to sit
here and enjoy a couple more beers, relaxing in the
sunshine and listening to the African band that are
playing. Unfortunately the rest of the party have
different ideas.
A brisk walk to Dinoland sees us seated and ready for
Tarzan Rocks, again arriving just a few minutes before
the start. This is better than I thought it would be,
high energy and all action. India is particularly
impressed. Tammy can have Tarzan if I can have Jane. The
fact that neither of them would want either of us does
not enter into it. The lovely Jane makes up for the below
par Pochahontas.
After the show we leave the park and return to Dixie
Landings for an hour around the pool. This time we choose
one of the quiet pools. Be warned that this is much
colder than the main pool, even the girls don't stay in
for long. Another thing, rather than getting a life
jacket for Georgia from Guest Services as we did at the
All Star Movies, you have to traipse over to the main
pool to fetch one and return it to the same location. OK,
I have to confess that we kept it in our room for the
rest of the trip, but even a saint is naughty now and
again. It is absolutely glorious again , pushing 80 with
clear blue skies.
We are going to the Grand Floridian for the afternoon tea
so we all shower and get ready. This always seems to take
longer than anticipated, 4 women, 2 sink units, not a
good equation, but we manage to leave the room at 4:50. A
bus comes as soon as we reach the bus stop (the buses
have been very good this trip, certainly no worse than on
previous trips) and we are off to the Magic Kingdom. We
get the launch across the seven seas lagoon and it is a
lovely trip in the warm sunshine of the late afternoon.
We are seated immediately for our tea in majestic
surroundings and our server is Wanda who is very friendly
and efficient. Tammy and I both have the Grand Tea while
the girls have Belle's Tea (peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches, two pastries and chocolate milk.) Tammy and I
are first served with a glass of sparkling wine with a
strawberry on it, followed by our large pot of tea (Earl
Grey) and 4 small sandwiches, no crusts of course. Next
is a jam tart (home made with lots of jam) and a scone
with jam and cream. Finally we have two pastries, I have
a chocolate eclair and a swan shaped cream filled pastry.
We all enjoy this very much. It is not cheap, $20 each
for the Grand Tea, but it is very good, served
wonderfully on beautiful china. There are lovely fresh
flowers everywhere and it feels very refined and
pleasant. We think that it is worth the money. By the
way, the girls have their chocolate milk served in china
tea pots so that they can pour their 'tea' as well.
On to the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks and the Main
Street Electrical Parade. As we enter the first parade of
the night is just starting so we go straight to the
station and ride round to Mickey's Toontown Fair where we
take the quiet path to Tommorowland. We intend to ride
Buzz Lightyear but the wait is too long so we go on the
TTA instead. This is much prettier at night and we even
see the end of the Main Street Electrical Parade going
around the hub. Back towards the castle to watch the
fireworks. There is some trouble with the sound and it is
late starting. When it does the sound is still not
working properly where we are standing and this does
lessen the enjoyment a bit. It just shows that you need
all the elements in place to get the complete experience.
We move down Main Street (along with half the population
of Orlando) to find a place to watch the parade. Most
places on the kerbside are already taken, so we position
ourselves behind two rubbish bins with about half an hour
to go. We let Georgia sit on one bin with India, Grandma
and me round one side and Tammy next to the other. We
have a fine view down Main Street towards Town Square.
Just as the parade starts a lady (?) and her daughter,
who must be about 12, push in front of Tam and the woman
struggles to lift the girl onto the rubbish bin. Tam is
leaning on the bin and tries to make it obvious that she
is stood there but the woman takes no notice. Tammy then
tells the woman that we have been waiting here half an
hour and to please move her daughter. The woman says
something to Tammy not in English and ignores her. Now,
Tam is generally a reserved and even tempered girl but
when she does get riled, look out! She starts to elbow
the woman, who shows no sign of moving. I can see things
are getting a little hot under the collar, so I tell Tam
to swap places with me. I think it may be better to
separate the parties concerned as a cat fight on Main
Street is probably not the best idea. I don't get that
good a view from then on but at least no one has to clean
blood off the pavement. I could not say with any
certainty that the woman was Brazilian, but she was from
South America.
Tammy is still fuming and has trouble enjoying the rest
of the parade. The stupid thing is that the girl is
perfectly old enough and tall enough to see clearly
anyway. Oh well, I suppose there are ignorant,
self-centred idiots everywhere.
The parade itself is very impressive, especially Pete's
Dragon and the Tribute to America float (why do I think
of Sam the Eagle when I write that?) but I prefer
Spectromagic. Maybe it was just the circumstances I
viewed it in. The woman disappears as soon as it
finishes, which is probably just as well as Tammy is
looking to scrape the heel of her shoe down her shin and
stand on her foot. (And you thought she was such a nice
girl, didn't you?)
We leave the Magic Kingdom and get on the bus to Dixie
Landings. I get India to sit on my lap to free up a seat
for a lady with a young baby. She is from South Africa
and we chat away on the journey back. It just goes to
show that you meet many more nice people than nasty ones
at WDW.