Day 10
On this day, we went to the second of the three Disney parks that we had booked - Animal Kingdom. The forecast called for rain again and after what happened the day before, I didn't want to get soaked again. We brought with us ponchos that Auntie Sally had in the vacation home.
Life's funny in that when you don't want something to happen, it usually happens. One of the first rides we went on was the Kali River Rapids. It's just like the White Water Canyon in Wonderland, but it seats 12 people instead of 6. Similar to White Water Canyon, everyone gets a little bit wet, but one or two people will get soaked, depending on where they are sitting. So of course, I was the one in the lucky seat that got drenched! I could have worn a poncho on the ride but I didn't want to be the silly-looking Chinese guy who was afraid of water.
We went on guided safaris as well self-guided tours to see various animals - giraffes, monkeys, elephants, zebras, rhinos, cheetahs, bats, crocodiles, flamingos, ostriches, and more. We were able to take lots of pictures and M2 did some silly pictures where it looked like she was kissing or eating a giraffe. The one group of animals we didn't get to see that I really wanted to see were the tigers. They were crouching (like in the movie) behind some rocks to stay cool from the heat - that was the explanation we were given by the guide.
We also went to an "Animation Experience" where we learned to draw Ed, the hyena from The Lion King. My drawing skills are so bad that when I play Pictionary, I draw a dog, a horse, and a monkey the same way. And no one is able to guess any of them. So I was curious to know what I would draw. But it turned out okay. The sketch paper had lines and ovals pre-drawn to help us.
Another highlight was the "A Bug's Life" 3D short film - or maybe it was 4D, because water and mist was actually sprayed on us. Then there was a part where bumps in our seats moved around making it feel like bugs were crawling on our bums! The girls were equally amused and disgusted by that.
In the afternoon it rained really hard so we got out our ponchos. M3 said her poncho was stinky and seemed to have sand all over it. M1 said her poncho smelled funny too and was a little wet. But they were still in the package and didn't look used. M2 said hers was fine. I opened the last one and found that it was greasy! So we threw those out (even M3's) and bought new ones - matching ones. We had been looking for matching hats or t-shirts to buy but couldn't find any we all agreed on. So now we have something matching. Later Auntie Sally explained that the ponchos could have been there for many years and she did notice that the closet they were in had an oil spill of some sort.
After this, I was getting a headache - from being wet (2-day streak), the alternating between the heat and A/C, and just general fatigue. So one of our last rides for the day was going to be the Avatar ride. It was another virtual reality ride and I thought it would make my headache worse. But it was the opposite. It was a refreshing ride, with lots of good scenery and the drops felt real - not just like my chair tilting. This actually made my headache go away.
None of us like animals particularly so we were skeptical of how much we would enjoy this park but I think in the end it exceeded all of our expectations.
Big Oh
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