Wrong Information

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One place we had never visited was Rafiki’s Planet Watch at Animal Kingdom (AK), located towards the back of the park between Africa and Asia and accessed only by the Wildlife Express Train. This non-stop train is a quick trip (less than 5 min.) to the Conservation Station that gives an in-depth look at the care given the animals through veterinary attention, nutrition, and research programs. We’ve always heard that Rafiki’s was never crowded but Tues. that was proven wrong. We just missed getting on one train going out there because there was a short line, and by the time we returned the line waiting to board the train was really long! This was definitely the most crowded we’d ever seen AK.

At the Conservation Station are several interactive exhibits with interesting facts about animal habitats as well as live animal encounters such as the small snake a cast member was encouraging the kids to touch as she described its habits. In the research area they were monitoring a live feed from an area in a separate building of baby woodrats that are on the endangered species list. These rare rats can only be found in Key Largo, having only 1 to 3 pups per litter, and have not shown to survive anywhere else. A couple years ago AK developed a captive breeding program to closely monitor their behavior and release them back into the wild. In the room next to the research lab was the veterinary clinic. Both areas have full pane glass windows for observation, and they were in the process of giving a Marabou Stork its annual physical. When we passed by later, they were in an adjoining area doing a routine x-ray and the film was being shown on a TV monitor in the exam room….very interesting. In yet another room a cast member was preparing food for the AK animals. There was no glass separation so people could ask questions as she weighed, mixed, and molded the various concoctions. We also saw a rare cricket sighting….Jiminy Cricket that is! In all the years we’ve been to Disney World, we had never seen a Jiminy Cricket character. As with other characters, he was signing autographs and posing for photos.

Also in this area just outside the main building is a petting yard called Affection Section, and what area of any Disney park would be complete without a gift shop, here appropriately named “Out of the Wild”. We saw some kids playing with a cool toy and Russ just had to go check it out. It was a tiger pincher with sound. You squeeze the handle at the bottom which not only opens and closes the tiger’s mouth but makes 3 growling sounds! We decided this was the perfect item for the Missouri Tigers football game in Sept.!!

After returning from Rafiki’s, we meandered along a couple off-the-beaten paths to avoid some of the mob and for the first time saw the back of the Tree of Life. As you may recall, the Tree of Life has hundreds of wildlife carved into its “trunk” and in this area behind it is also a waterfall and more real life creatures…a very peaceful and pretty oasis. In fact, we don’t think this cardinal lives at the park; just thinks it’s a nice place to visit, too.












Before leaving the park, we stopped to watch Tam Tam Congo perform outside the Tusker House in Africa. They were just starting as we passed by and are always entertaining.

Entertainment at the Flower Power Concert Series this weekend was The Turtles… featuring Flo & Eddie (http://www.floandeddie.com/). In case you didn’t know, Mark Kaylan and Howard Volman (aka Flo & Eddie) are the original founding members of the The Turtles. Due to contractual restrictions made early in their career, Mark and Howard were prevented from using the name The Turtles, as well as their own names, in a musical context so in 1984 they started performing as "The Turtles...featuring Flo & Eddie”. Evidently it’s ok to use “The Turtles” name in that context. We arrived for the 6:30 show and once again stayed for the 7:45 show as well. Though their voices are not what they once were, they still do a nice show…fun and full of energy. We actually thought they sounded better on the latter show plus it included their hit “Pied Piper” which was not in the earlier one. Both sets ended with their signature song “Happy Together”, which had everyone on their feet towards the end of the last set (that’s the back of me right behind the lady with the short blonde hair).

We caught the beginning of the fireworks and then walked from Epcot over to the Amphitheater at Hollywood Studios (about 1-1/2 miles) to catch a performance of Fantasmic. This show used to be performed nightly but has been cut back to only a couple nights a week. However, with the anticipation of huge crowds due to the beginning of spring break, it was being performed twice nightly, and we decided to catch the 10pm show.

To digress just a bit….there's supposed to be a recession, right? You definitely couldn’t prove it by the crowds at the parks! They’ve been packed! In fact we read that the Magic Kingdom was set to break attendance records! Disney is offering all sorts of specials, but it’s still not a cheap vacation. Plus people aren’t just buying a ticket and walking around, enjoying the rides; they are eating and buying stuff in the shops. Lines are long everywhere.

OK, back to Fantasmic…a 25 min. “nighttime spectacular with lasers, lights, dancing fountains, and special effects”. The premise of the show is Mickey’s wild imagination come to life complete with all the Disney characters and villains, music, fire on the lake, scenes projected on water screens, and so much more. Mickey is the hero, of course, who slays the dragon and wins the day. At the very end a steamboat comes from around the bend carrying all the characters and piloted by none other than Mickey from his Steamboat Willie days!

Now I’d be remiss without sharing some excitement that happened here at the resort in between those two fun days at the parks. I was walking the dogs Thurs. afternoon when two sheriff’s cars slowly passed me, driving slowly up and down the roads. As I started walking back towards our rig, I noticed that they stopped at the end of our row, one space over from ours. One cop put on some black gloves as the other one got out of his car, and as I got to the door of our place to tell Russ there were cops outside, an unmarked car pulled up behind them, right in front of our place looking towards the campers along the end row. I got the dogs inside; Russ came out, and asked the officer of the unmarked car who was opening his trunk if there was a problem. Initially he said no, and as the other officers were opening their trunks, our neighbor, Jack, said “hey, you two, get in here!” Just then the officer told Russ he should get back behind our rig as he started putting on his bullet proof vest! The other cops were following suit and from Jack’s window we could see them pull out assault rifles!! It seemed they were focused on a camper that had arrived earlier that morning. Russ had seen these folks when they arrived and said they were an older couple and the guy could barely walk. Russ decided to go back outside and from behind the back end of our rig, watched what was happening. Curiosity got the better of Jack (and me, too, I guess) that we went and joined Russ. From our viewpoint we could see all 3 cops at the door of the camper, rifles ready for action, and then saw a pair of bare legs come down the steps. Two of the cops went inside, another pair of legs using a cane came down the steps, followed by the cops, and we could see that the person with the cane had sat down in a chair outside. Finally the cop from the unmarked car came back to put his rifle away and remove his vest. Russ went over and asked if everything was ok, and all the cop said was “wrong information”. Soon the cops left and all was well again.

Now for the rest of the story…..as it turns out the man has a couple pinched nerves in his back and has been in so much pain he can hardly walk. He had been trying to reach his FL doctor to try and get some stronger meds, and no one was returning his call. The last time he had called earlier in the day, he got the answering machine and was so angry that he left a message saying that the pain so bad that if something wasn’t done he might as well shoot himself. Evidently when the doctor’s office got that message, they called the cops who have to come prepared for anything. When his wife opened the door and saw those assault rifles pointed at her, she said she nearly had a heart attack! They made her come outside and wouldn’t let her go back in to get her husband who she said was in so much pain he couldn’t get up from his chair. She told us her husband is such a pussycat and doesn’t even have a gun, but he was so angry that he wanted them to understand just how much pain he was in! So this is a valuable lesson for all of us…don’t offhandedly say you’re going to shoot yourself unless you want the swat team at your door!!