Enoying The Magic

What better way to start off December than with a trip to one of our favorite Disney places…the Kilimanjaro Safari ride at Animal Kingdom!  Skies were overcast the day we went so the animals seemed to be out in abundance.  This saddle-billed stork is near the
      beginning of the ride and is the tallest stork in Africa standing about 5 ft. tall with a wingspan up to 9 ft.  If you look closely at the photo, you’ll see that it’s actually not standing but resting on its knees!

Shortly before we left the RV for the park, we had received an email stating that one of our FastPasses for the day had been cancelled (can’t remember why) and to compensate we could use it for any ride at any time that day.  Woohoo!  So of course we decided
      to ride the safari twice!  During the first trip, we had one of the best views ever of one of the cheetahs as this was the first time we had seen it actually standing on a nearby rock, and we had a slight
     delay on the second go round thanks to an ostrich who decided to stop and hang out in the middle of the road for a few minutes.  It was definitely in no hurry to go anywhere!

 

   Afterwards, though they don't have many Christmas decorations, we wandered around, passing the newest character addition greeting guests, Flik from A Bug’s Life, and also had a great view of Mt. Everest from the Expedition Everest ride across the park.  Did you know that at 500 acres, Animal
Kingdom is the largest Disney theme park in the world?!  The savannah in Kilimanjaro alone is about 110 acres making it larger than the entire Magic Kingdom.  Throughout the park there are over 1,500 animals representing about 250 different species.

 

  We also made a point of catching another favorite, the Festival of the Lion King which is always a spectacular event.  This 30 minute, Broadway-like production features live singers, acrobats, dancers, puppeteers, and parade-style floats that fill this theater in the round.  Of the 4 huge floats, the animated
Simba stands 12 ft. tall atop Pride Rock while on the other floats there’s an elephant, a swaying giraffe, and Pumba (Timon actually sings, dances, and wanders around the show…he’s the emcee).  The pageantry, energy, amazing talent, and colorful costumes make this performance a must see!



The following week it was back to Epcot for the Candlelight Processional with actress/comedian Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live, Suburgatory, The Good Wife) as the guest narrator.  She was really very good and expressive in her narration.  Only “complaint” we


Sign Language Interpreter

had is that her opening was a little too long (though funny) which impacted the end of the show when the park’s automated loud speakers announcing the upcoming fireworks talked over the ending of the narration.  (Each celebrity gets a few minutes at the beginning to welcome everyone and say a few words.)  
     However, she did pause till it was finished.  We stayed to enjoy Illuminations… never get tired of it this time of year, and as an added bonus we could see the Magic Kingdom fireworks in the background!

 

   Early one evening we rode one of the ferries across Seven Seas Lagoon from the Transportation & Ticket Center to the Magic Kingdom.  It gave us a beautiful view of the Castle, train station, and top of the 65 ft. high Christmas tree as we approached.

 

After using our FastPass on Buzz Lightyear (I actually beat Russ!), we scoped out a spot in front of Cinderella’s Castle to await the start of “A Frozen Holiday Wish”.  The beautiful icicle lights that cover the Castle are turned off in preparation for this 7 min. show
     featuring Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Olaf who initially appears on the Castle balcony.  He then joins the others onstage, and after a little skit of wishing there was some way to bring ice and snow, Queen Elsa whirls around the stage to the
music of “Let It Go” doing her magic, initially with snowflakes projected onto the Castle and then finally it’s covered with the gorgeous icicle lights.  (More than 200,000 tiny LED white lights are attached to netting that drapes over the castle creating this glistening icicle look.)  The background color on the Castle changes every few minutes, and the whole effect is truly stunning to see in person.

From there we made our way down Main Street and found a great spot to wait for the start of Disney’s Electrical Parade.  Yeah, this visit was more of a wait and see than actually doing much of anything. J  This 20 minute nighttime parade features floats and live performers covered in half a million lights all
   timed to a synchronized soundtrack.  It starts with Tinker Bell waving to the crowds from the basket of a hot air balloon and ends with a float "To Honor America".

Now it was time to find the perfect spot to watch the fireworks which only required stepping out into the middle of Main street.  It truly is the perfect spot!  But first is a 10 min. production called Celebrate the Magic.  The Castle is transformed into a paper canvas making it a piece of living art.  Choreographed to a musical soundtrack, classic and contemporary Disney films, characters, and a kaleidoscope of colors are projected onto the Castle.  At times it’s almost as if someone is drawing on the front of the castle walls.

 

Then after about another 5 min. it was time for the Wishes fireworks spectacular that happen above and around the backdrop of Cinderella’s Castle, and at this time of year they are called Holiday Wishes performed to classic Christmas songs.  The lights on the Castle change colors throughout the show reflecting the different stages of the Wishes’ narrative done by Jiminy Cricket, and at the end the lights are turned off for the finale of explosions. Just another fabulous day at Walt Disney World!