My Kingdom For A Macho Man!

With only a few more days left to enjoy Disney World, it was back to Animal Kingdom for me.  First thing, of course, was the Kilimanjaro Safari ride…twice…and had the best viewing ever of the three cheetahs (thought there were

only two!) and the lions.  I know we’ve mentioned before about how close the animals can get to jeeps, but look just how close this giraffe got!  Thought he was going to take a bite out of the roof!

Over the next few hours, I caught all of our favorite shows.  Festival of the Lion King is always spectacular.  Basically a theater in the round, this 30 minute high energy, musical stage show features live singers, acrobats, dancers, puppeteers, and parade-style floats.  As the performers fill

the theater, the 4 huge moving floats enter from the 4 corners, and the spectacle begins.  With the colorful pageantry, the antics of the acrobatic “monkeys”, the high-stilt walkers, the amazing fire juggler, and the beautiful choreography and music, this show is not to be missed.

 

Finding Nemo-The Musical is a fun and entertaining 30 min. original stage show that brings the “Finding Nemo” movie to life, merging puppetry with live performances.  Though flash photography is not allowed, I was able to get a couple of halfway decent pictures.

 

If you love birds, Flights of Wonder is a must see.  This 25 min. fun and educational program showcases birds from all over the world and even involves the audience at times.  For example, the cockatoo that has been trained to snatch a dollar bill from some-
   body’s outstretched hand, or the owl that comes flying from the back of the theater straight at the heads of a couple audience volunteers seated onstage as they photograph it from this unique position.  I just love the reaction of the young man pictured below right!

 

 

 

     A trainer and a fellow “guide” narrate the show, educating the audience on the importance of each species of bird seen.  It’s truly amazing to watch as these birds will appear from seemingly nowhere and fly directly overhead. 

   One of the most amazing was       the baby condor that flew overhead (above left), and then fed from the trainer’s hand as she spoke.  You can see just how big this “baby” is!
 

 

    There are so many birds seen during this short program, and these have been just a few pictures to give you an idea.  At the end of the show, additional trainers bring

out a bald eagle and another species of owl while several parrots and other birds fly around landing on nearby trees, all ready for those close-up shots.
 

 

       This was going to be the last weekend we would be able to enjoy the Flower Power Concert Series, and how best to end it for this disco queen than a performance by The Village People (http://officialvillagepeople.com/)! 

    Though they had no backup band and sang to canned music, it was still a fun and entertaining show.  Of course they sang their big hits Macho Man, In the Navy, and for the finale of each show, YMCA, teaching us beforehand the “proper” way to do the “M”.  J 

    Three of the guys are original members of the group from 1977…the cowboy, the construction worker, and the military man.  Though they all may look a little older, they still have the moves and put on quite an entertaining
       show.  We stayed for two shows, and all seem quite personable as they made a point after each show to greet their fans and shake hands, sometimes even posing for pictures (though I didn't get any taken with them).

 

The next day we’d be leaving for Yellowstone, our summer volunteer location, and one of our favorite places.

Hooray For Hollywood!

A couple of days later it was off to Hollywood Studios!  Originally called Disney-MGM Studios, this theme park is dedicated to show business ranging from the Hollywood of the 1930s to modern times.  We made sure to arrive when the park opened because it also has one of those attractions

that you have to get there early if you want to ride.  Toy Story Midway Mania! opened a few years ago, but it’s so popular that we’d never had the chance to ride it.  First thing we did was get a Fast Pass so we’d have a chance to ride it twice, and fortunately we really didn’t have to wait too long in line

for our first ride. However, as you wind your way through the queue to get to that point, you are immersed in a treasure chest of classic toys and games, i.e. a Candyland game box, Viewmaster discs, crayon drawings, dominoes, and so much more.  Really takes you

back in time!  While in line, you’re also entertained by a giant Mr. Potato Head, the Board Walk Barker, an Audio-Animatronics figure that introduces you to the attraction and interacts with the crowd.

 

    Toy Story Midway Mania! is best described as a virtual 4D shooting gallery of carnival games where guests wear 3D glasses and ride in rotating vehicles that take you through the fast-paced maze of carnival games featuring characters from the Toy Story films. As each game/section is
completed, your vehicle quickly rotates and slides into the next game.  Russ won the first time, but when we returned an hour later to use our Fast Pass, I was the undisputed champion (Player 2 in the photo)!  Well, until we get a chance to play another game. J

During that hour we passed the time checking out some of our other favorite places.  Of course we had to see Muppet Vision 3D which is just way too cute!  Then it was off to the updated version of Star Tours which is now called Star Tours – The Adventures Continue. I was a little apprehensive about this because it’s a 5 minute motion-simulated space flight that in the past I wouldn’t ride without first taking Dramamine.  Not having any with me, I took a chance and survived!  We didn’t realize that this
new version has 50 different story combinations so that each ride is a different experience otherwise we would have gotten right back on.  Outside Disney cast members were leading a group of youngsters through the Jedi Training Academy…just a fun activity for the kids.
 

We wandered through the Streets of America which recreates the streets of New York City and San Francisco.  The facades and false fronts of buildings are ideal for photo ops, and if you listen closely, you can even hear the sound effects of the busy city streets.

 

As we made our way back to Toy Story Mania!, of course we had to stop for pictures with two of Russ’ favorite characters….Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater!  He can really be such a big kid!

Now it was off to The Great Movie Ride, an 18 minute tram ride that takes you through scenes from some of the most memorable moments in movie history.  Led by a tour guide, this relaxing ride features nearly 50 Audio-Animatronics replicas of legendary movie stars and scenes from some of the greatest movies ever made. It’s very dark inside and hard to get really good pictures but here are a couple.

Throughout Hollywood Studios you’ll find Disney/Pixar characters in designated areas for photo taking at specific times or just mingling with the crowds, posing for pictures and signing autographs (like this Army Man).  You’ll also find impromptu street theater which many times will involve someone from the crowd.  I got

“ticketed” by a street cop a few years ago, and though this photo looks as though the lady is giving Russ a dirty look as he passed by,   I believe she was really reacting to someone else in the crowd.  Most of the characters are from the 1930s/1940s genre.

 

Last thing on our list for the day was watching Beauty & The Beast’s live stage show.  This 25 minute production is performed in the outdoor 1,500 seat Theater of the Stars and is currently the longest running stage show at any of the Walt Disney World theme parks.  We had arrived a few minutes after the performance started so had to find a seat in the back bleachers but had no problem seeing or hearing.  As with everything Disney, the production and talent were top notch.

 

 

 

In the past we’ve ridden Tower of Terror and Aerosmith’s Rock ‘N Roller Coaster, but without Dramamine that wasn’t going to happen this trip! Of course this does not cover everything Hollywood Studios has to offer, but highlights some of the fun we had over a few hours.

Ka-ching!

First off we’d like to share some info with our fellow RVers. Generally when we have work done on the RV we are pretty pleased with the outcome, but that’s not the case with Hotties Detailing Mobile Service here in the Orlando area.  We normally wash the RV ourselves, but this time decided to save time and energy and pay to have it done.  Let us just say that they did a poor job (Russ even checked with a couple of neighbors to make sure we weren’t being too picky, and they agreed).  He called to complain and they came back a couple days later, but the result was still not satisfactory (had to wait till it dried to tell and Russ could go up on the roof).  We chose not to call a 3rd time but rather to advise others not to waste your money using this company.

This weekend’s concert series featured Paul Revere & the Raiders, and though we’ve seen them at the Festival before, they’re always entertaining (even if it’s the same old jokes…we all still laugh). We arrived for the 6:30 show, and Paul, who is 75, seems to have endless energy. Of course he had
    the old folks jokes and one of my favorites was that at 75 he’s not really old in Florida…in fact Florida is where old people bring their parents! He crammed many of his hits (ka-ching!) into the 30 min. set, and every time he’d announce a song, he’d say “I think that was a solid gold hit, let me check”, then
hit a button on his keyboard, and a cash register ka-ching! would sound, and he’d say “yeah, it was!” If you’ve never seen him, he is a riot! His guitarist and bass player have been with him 40 years and are accompanied by a keyboard player (with him 33 years) and the newest addition (4 years) is the drummer who played for 27 years
with The Buckinghams (he’s fun to watch!) Rounding out the group is “baby Raider” (meaning younger guy) who handles the lead vocals. Since we had decided to hang around for the fireworks, we decided to also attend the 8:00 show.  Both shows are pretty much the same with slight variations but still entertaining.

 

Since our time in FL was winding down, we were trying to fit in as much Disney as possible.  A couple days later we returned to Epcot but got there when it opened so we could ride on the re-imagined (Disney for refurbished) Test Track.  There are 2 rides at Epcot that you want to get on first thing (or get a Fast Pass) if you want any chance of riding:  Soarin’ and Test Track.  This ride now starts in the

Chevrolet Design Center where you create your own virtual custom car including handling, maneuverability, fuel efficiency, power, color, and body design while you wait to board.  Now this is a virtual car you’re creating so you ride in a standard open air “car”, but along the way at each “checkpoint” you see how your design would have handled on the track as you fly through straight-aways, curves, and hills before reaching a peak speed of 65 mph!

Afterwards you exit through a showroom with hands-on exhibits where you can create a commercial, see your car’s test results, or pose for a picture with either a Chevy car or the one you created against a backdrop of your choice and they'll be emailed to you.  Since this was our first time, not sure we did such a great job with our design as we were trying to figure out the screen, but you can see how it turned out in the photo above left.

Now that we were done with that, we headed over to get a Fast Pass for Soarin’, which meant we had a couple hours to kill before we could ride.  We checked out the butterfly garden again, and this time there were more butterflies flitting around than I’d ever seen before at one time!  We also rode Journey Into Imagination With Figment

(really geared more for little kids but cute), cruised over to The Seas to catch that super dude Crush in “Turtle Talk” (always a hoot!), and then went upstairs to check out the aquarium.  While there we got to observe a 10 min. demonstration of some research the staff is doing with the dolphins teaching them a

symbolic language.  I love dolphins and found it very interesting and fascinating.                                                                                     After riding Soarin’, we strolled over to Ellen’s Energy Adventure (a 45 min. presentation and ride starring Ellen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Alex Trebek), and then we finished with a ride on Spaceship Earth (known to most people as “the big golf ball”.)  It's really too dark in either of these places for decent pictures, but there really is so much to do at Epcot, and this only touches the surface!