In this episode, I am joined by my daughter Julia, as we discuss our favorite things to do at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We dive into theming, what not to miss, and a little background into how Roaming Yeti got its name. Are you ready? Let’s Roam.

Transcript

Here is a transcript of the podcast. Please keep in mind this was done via AI, so there are typos and mistakes. I tried to catch as much as I can, but it is definitely not perfect.

Beth  0:05  

Welcome to the Roaming Yeti podcast where we share stories and tips to inspire you to roam your neighborhood and the world. I’m your host and head Yeti Beth Schillaci. In this episode, I am joined by my daughter Julia, we discuss our favorite things to do at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We dive into theming, what not to miss, and a little background into how roaming Yeti got its name. Are you ready? Let’s Roam. Welcome to this week’s episode of the roaming Yeti. We’re pulling in a different direction I mentioned previously that sort of be covering every park that we’ve our family has been to over the years. And so I brought in my my expert, my daughter, Julia. Hi. We, we sort of went back and forth and we created hopefully what make sense sort of the some this outline to go through. But we wanted to start in what I’m going to go ahead and say is our favorite park at Walt Disney World. And am I accurate on that one?

Julia  1:14  

I think that’s fair. I mean, Epcot holds a special place in my heart personally, but I think Animal Kingdom is subjectively a little better.

Beth  1:21  

Yeah. And what really, it went from a half day park when Julia was younger to a full day Park. And really, it’s because she could ride more rides and there were things to do. You know, we used to basically have a character meal at tusker house for breakfast. Then we go on safari, we visit with some customer customers characters. We visit with some characters and do a few other things. But now there’s, you know, we hit more rides, we like to take our timeout and get a little drink a little food at the Nomad lounge and really just sort of wander around looking at theming and animals. It’s it’s truly a different park experience from any other park. What what do you think?

Julia  2:11  

I definitely agree. That’s like, the main thing about this park is it’s like, yeah, I maybe have like, three to four rides that I’m like I have to ride. But other than that, it’s like it’s such a fun part to look around. Look at the theming just sit outside. actually enjoy nature for once. I love it.

Beth  2:30  

Yeah, and this the park opened in 1998 on April 22, which is Earth Day. So I mean, the Imagineers really just did a great, great job on this park. One logistic thing that go go over is getting to the park you either have to drive or ride a bus, there’s no there’s no boats, there’s no monorail. So, you know it’s it. It is a little bit out from everything else. And I think that’s one thing that discourages people, but please get on that bus or drive out there because it it really is worth it. We wanted to sort of go Land, land by land and areas of the park and tell you sort of what’s there. Julia has some great theming details for you to look at when you’re there and some things that we both think you should do. And the first one you walk through is discovery Island and it’s where you know the see the tree of life, which is the main icon of the park. And underneath. Tree of Life is a show called it’s tough to be a bug. We we have strong opinions on that one but um, yeah, I want everyone to to enjoy it. If anyone would you like to voice your, your concerns?

Julia  3:50  

I just want to say that I look this up it’s eight feet tall Hopper animatronic? Yeah, you know the villain from A Bug’s Life? Yeah, it’s terrified. That’s not the worst part. Bugs like crawl under your seat. And there’s like bees that sting you like, it smells like stink bugs at one point. It’s I don’t like it. Yeah,

Beth  4:19  

I would suggest if you have any issues with insects or, or like physical like, it’s probably not, not for you. It’s, it’s interesting. It’s worth a one time try but it’s not. It’s not a it’s not a repeat for us. That’s for sure. And then also, there’s the discovery Island Trails, which are basically the trails walking up to the Tree of Life and there’s animals when you get up to the tree of life. There’s sometimes a bird show going on. So there’s there’s a lot just going on around you. So what are Some of the theming things people can look for in this area.

Julia  5:03  

So the Tree of Life is 145 feet tall. It’s carved with 325, reptiles, mammals, and birds. And then each of those like animals and stuff, the artists only had about six to 10 hours to sculpt each one before the plaster triad.

Beth  5:21  

Which when you if you’ve seen them, you know, that’s amazing, because they’re so detailed, right?

Julia  5:28  

They’re so big, and they’re so detailed. And it’s, it’s really crazy. Because also, when you think about how long it truly takes to do an art piece like that, it’s, it’s, oh, my gosh, it’s amazing. And then the other part of the tree, which is really cool is that there are expansion joints on the tree. So the tree branches can sway in the wind, so it looks even more natural.

Beth  5:52  

Yeah, it’s, it’s hard other than the sheer size, it’s hard to believe that. It’s not, it’s not real, because it’s just built in such a way. So what in your mind? What are some things that people should do in discovery Island? Um,

Julia  6:10  

I am pretty sure this is where Nomad Lounge is, I would say there because also, it’s like, I think the character boats are still going on. And they do pass by Nomad lounge. So if you’re outside, they pass by you, you’re really close. It’s great. It’s a nice environment. So it’s a pretty cool place. And then during like the winter holidays, there are these little puppets have like, there’s penguins, there’s polar bears, there’s a fox, and they’re the most magical things ever. I love them. They’re, they’re such a pretty design, like you can see the people doing the puppets, but honestly, that makes it better. And I don’t know, it’s such a wonderful experience. And then there’ll be like, the little like lanterns near the shops in the area. I honestly, Animal Kingdom around the holidays, honestly, Disney around the holidays, it’s just magical. And I love those puppets.

Beth  6:59  

Yes, those, the addition of those puppets was a real highlight for that park as well. I, I love walking, there’s a lot of little paths around the trunk of the tree of life. So you can get up and get a lot more details of, of the animals and, and, and even if you don’t want to sit through, it’s tough to be a bug you can walk through on that cue to see it and then they’ll let you out a different different exit. Because there really is a lot to see in the details. And a lot of those little paths a lot of people don’t walk so it’s it’s sort of a nice little quiet area that you can you know, hang out and enjoy a coffee or just catch your catch your breath during the day. So any any other things you should do there. It’s not a big area. So it’s

Julia  7:56  

sort of it’s not like their shops and stuff. So you can go visit the shops. There’s I think that’s where the Starbucks is. It’s just it’s sort of a hub for like that kind of stuff. But ya know, the tree is you got to look at the tree.

Beth  8:10  

Yeah. So if you go in and you head to your left, you end up in Pandora, which is the newest land, right? Yeah. Newest land in the park. And that really just has two rides. It has avatar flight, a passage, and the Navi river journey. Which are both both fun rides, which we’ll talk about, but what about some V mean? We have going on there?

Julia  8:42  

Oh, I forgot to say that Pandora is based on the movie Avatar. Oh, yes. Now now franchise by that. So it is based on that world. So it’s you sort of get to step into the movie. Um, first off. Yeah, we’re gonna start with this. So I’m in the bridge entering to Pandora. You’ll see this like, almost by it because there’s like a river type situation. There’s a water. And there’s on the other side. When you’re getting on the bridge. There is a stone dragon. And it’s it’s representative of this never built land called beastly kingdom, which was originally supposed to have like mythical creatures and stuff. So it’s like sort of Pandora, but it’s not like it would have had like dragons and unicorns and stuff, which is so much cooler. No. But it’s sort of that like thing, which is why there’s a dragon on the sign. That’s why at one point, I think it’s still there. I’m not sure they’ve been changed around parking spots, but there was a unicorn parking area. So that’s why that stuff is there of a land that was never built. Once you get into the actual land, there is a like a drink bar situation. You’d also get a few stacks of cargo, which translates to a part A party and there are there’s much of fun decorations up the holidays. There’s like a little knobby Nutcracker thing, it’s beautiful. But there are these dog tags and one of the dog tags is Joe Rody, who was like the head Imagineer for basically just Animal Kingdom in general and then also for Pandora. And then in the ride flight, a passage when you exit their feet three handprints on one of the walls and you’re like, I think on the bottom floor, and one of them is James Cameron, the director of Avatar. Then we have JL John Londo, who’s the producer, and then Joe Rody, who was lead Imagineer.

Beth  10:43  

Yeah, it’s, it’s pretty cool the things in there, I will say, it’s this. To me that land is much cooler at night. Because of the way they’ve used black lights, and it it shows sort of the bioluminescence and stuff. So if you go through during the day to do rides, or eat or drink or whatever, I would go back in the evening after dark just to see it because it’s a totally different experience, I think.

Julia  11:12  

Yeah. And also because it’s like it’s sort of near the exit. So it’s like just hop in real quick spend like five minutes there. It’s truly magical. And you’ll be so happy you did it.

Beth  11:21  

Yeah. So the things to do there’s there’s not much so there’s the two rides. And I think if the lines short, do the river ride there’s nothing super exciting on it. It’s the storytelling things. I don’t know I’m not even sure what what fully the story is. But there is this amazing animatronic of the shaman that you just you have to see. So definitely get on there if it’s the end of the night or the lions short you know take take some time and ride that flight a passage is super whole I don’t know how you would explain it it’s sort of like a combination of simulator big screen. But you’re also writing

Julia  12:15  

I would say saw ran on a motorcycle

Beth  12:21  

fair. I’ve been on it once because I had some motion sickness issues because you you sort of you feel like you’re diving you’re not I would just close you know I just close my eyes on those times to sort of avoid that that feeling but it’s a fun ride. I definitely recommend it. But again, if you’re motion sickness, just close your eyes because you’re not you’re not moving the screens moving. So it’s it’s an easy one to sort of deal with. What what do you have as your as your things you should do? Well,

Julia  12:57  

other than those two rides, because they’re both they’re both just pretty to look at. Let’s be honest here. They’re They’re beautiful rides. just exploring the land. There’s a lot of like fun like plants and creatures. There’s especially like there’s some pond areas where there’s like these weird like, creatures organisms, autumn and then like you can move your hands near them and like water will squirt out or they’ll make noises and stuff like there’s a lot of fun interactive things as part of the land. And then also the store is pretty fun. There’s some pretty wacky merchandise sometimes. I love looking at the little banshees on the shoulder. I love that windbreaker that just has a photo of the shaman avatar audit. It’s a beautiful windbreaker but I think it’s just fun to go in that store just to see what’s there.

Beth  13:49  

But yeah, that’s true there there is a forgot about the store. There’s interesting stuff in there for sure.

Julia  13:54  

I didn’t even turn yourself into a Nabi like you would make a little like action figure, Bobby.

Beth  14:01  

That’s right. Yes, so definitely do not miss that that store. So then we would move over, depending on which way you go, but you can go there’s an African Africa area. And the rides and attractions there, the Kilimanjaro Safari, there’s actually a train that goes to a different land that goes to refugees planet watch. There’s a festival, The Lion King Show. And then there’s a gorilla falls exploration Trail, which is a walkway through to see different animals and stuff. So what do we got for theming details there?

Julia  14:39  

This one blew my mind. Every building in this section is an exact replica of an existing building of Africa down to like the scratches on the walls and stuff.

Beth  14:51  

Yeah, that’s the level of detail is amazing.

Julia  14:56  

Yeah, it blows my mind because it’s like I knew that they went to these places to see He didn’t get the field but the fact that their exact replica is insane. Ah, and then Kilimanjaro Safari great ride, it was actually based on the Walt Disney’s original concept for Jungle Cruise. Because originally, he wanted actual animals. But that was not possible. And they created animatronics for Jungle Cruise. But now getting the actual ride with real animals. Honestly, Walt Disney was sort of the main influence for the reason for Animal Kingdom because of his love of conservation and animals and stuff. And then in Kilimanjaro, Safari were like the lions are, they have like these big rocks and stuff. They’re actually air conditioned.

Beth  15:41  

Which is why the lions are always laying right next to it.

Julia  15:45  

So like, it’s hot days, we’ll just lay on it. It’s, it’s adorable.

Beth  15:54  

For the, the most things you should do here. I personally think the Safari is a must we write it. Every time we go to animal kingdom. There’s always a little something different. There’s an there’s some things that never changed. And that’s sort of fun as well. But um, yeah, I definitely think the Safari is is a must for everyone. The Lion King festival, The Lion King is a really popular show. And it is a really neat show. We’ve only been a couple couple of times, we usually don’t stand in lines for for shows and stuff. But we did. And remember when you actually ended up in the show?

Julia  16:37  

Yeah, that was fine. That was it’s it’s a fun show. They get both kids and adults involved in it. Yeah. So if you’re like, I don’t want to do that maybe sit in the back and disassociate but like, it’s fine, honestly. Yeah. And it’s,

Beth  16:52  

it’s inside. So that’s, that’s a nice break. If it’s, you know, wet or cold or too hot. It does get too cold sometimes at Disney. But it’s it’s a really popular and fun show. So, you know, definitely get in line early for that one. Um, what else do you probably have the same things, but probably for different reasons.

Julia  17:16  

No, I definitely agree. Honestly, I feel like you did not go to animal kingdom if you didn’t go on the Kilimanjaro Safari. I feel like that’s like the one thing that you have to do every single time because it’s like one of the only rides that changes because channels, they’re gonna be different each time. But that ride is just so great. It’s yeah, you have to do it. That’s, that’s my main thing is you have to do that. Right.

Beth  17:42  

Yeah, no, I agree. It’s, it’s, it’s a ride for everyone. So that’s the other nice thing. You can you can get every generation on that, that ride

Julia  17:51  

out. It is long, though, isn’t it? Like 30 minutes? 45 minutes?

Beth  17:57  

I think it’s 30. Probably 30 minutes, but But I mean, it’s, I guess, I don’t know that that’s ever been a complaint. Most people complain that rides are too short. So

Julia  18:09  

yeah, it’s just make sure you carve out your day for that. And then also go during the morning or night, that’s when the animals are most active,

Beth  18:18  

right? Sadly,

Julia  18:21  

or rain

Beth  18:23  

or rain? You’re taking all my life pro tips at the end, but that’s okay.

Julia  18:27  

Sorry, we can get more stuff later. I’ll stop. You’re fine.

Beth  18:33  

I’m just kidding. So, are there any other things that people should do? Well, while in Africa,

Julia  18:41  

I mean, admire the buildings. You know,

Beth  18:44  

that’s one thing that I didn’t put in here, but I remembered is, I’m not going to remember what the words say. But there is a painting of a Mickey Mouse on a one of the buildings, and I can’t remember. It’s over by the haraam Bay market. But um, that’s a really cool, cool feature to look at. And and look for as well.

Julia  19:11  

Try to see if I’d be quick on Google.

Beth  19:14  

That’s fine. People will find it. But yeah, it’s a handpainted Mickey Mouse. Yeah, and it it is your show enjoy your show me and I can’t pronounce it. So I think it’s a fellow show off. Yeah, I think it’s right. So it’s, it’s definitely worth sort of walking in that that area as well. And then, like we said, there in Africa, there’s a wildlife express train that goes to refugees planet watch. It’s not really so much of a ride but it as a transportation back and forth between the areas but the next lamb we’re talking about is Refik East planet watch. And that has the affection section, which is a petting zoo. So you can go hang out with the goats and other animals, chickens, and the conservation station, which is inside. And it has, and you can see some of the vets working on things and sort of the way you can view I know a lot of people watch the animal kingdom show on Disney plus, and you can see some of the animals and some of the things that happen there. And also, now they have the animation experiences is at refugees planet watch. And this is where you can sit down and learn how to draw a character from one of the cast members, which a lot of people like to do. And what do we what do we have for theming there.

Julia  20:46  

Um, there’s not, I couldn’t find a lot of information. But one thing is because most of the park is about sort of animals and then telling their own story. But the this area, especially the conservation station, is mostly directly about how humans can help animals and their survival. So there’s this beautiful, gorgeous, really big mural at the conservation conservation station. And all of the animals are looking directly at the guests in a way to sort of show their expectation of humans additionally, respecting and sustain their survival and the natural world survival. So it’s sort of that really cool type of situation of like, humans actually can help, not just hurt.

Beth  21:27  

And please do things in this area. If you can get into the animation experience, that’s a lot of fun. Again, you’re led through drawing a character with a cast member. So another sort of low key laid back activity, that whole area planet watch is, it’s sort of one of those nice escape to areas because it’s usually not really crowded. So if you’re crowds, you’re just sort of want something laid back, take the train out there and hang out with some animals for a while. Yeah. Do you have any other things we should do there?

Julia  22:05  

Yeah, well, first off the train is super cool, because you pass by like some of the animal enclosures, because at night, they go into little like housing, basically, because some of them don’t just stay out in Kilimanjaro Safari, so you get to see some of that and you get to see sort of that behind the scenes type of how they care for the animals, which is super cool. And then also, I mean, you get to go pet goats. That’s a big plus.

Beth  22:31  

That’s a big plus. Definitely, so and they’re super friendly. Like the goats are really friendly. They’re like dogs like they just come up to you. So it’s definitely worth them if you have the time. Time to go out there and check it out. So I would venture to say this next area is well it’s probably a tide ride wise though. This is probably your your favorite area. Asia, which has Expedition Everest, the roller coaster, Kali river rapids, feathered friends in flight show, sort of a bird bird show, and

Julia  23:16  

you don’t say

Beth  23:20  

you don’t like birds flying over your head. Don’t go to this. And then the Murrah mer Maharaja jungle track, again, another nice, we’d be walked to check out some animals. Think sort of zoo zoo like thing. I think the theming in this area is like chef’s kiss like this is this is definitely the area. So what do you got for us? Um,

Julia  23:53  

in order to not make this entire podcast about this, I only have two things. First off, one of my favorite details is if you look around Expedition Everest, there is firewood on rooftops of the buildings nearby. This is because in the area it’s based on in these mountains, wood is very sacred. So having a stock on your roof helps to indicate wealth. And the more you have, the more wealthy you are, which I just think that’s a really fun little detail and something that’s like you don’t notice, but it’s just really cool. And then how can I go on to the Romi Getty podcast without talking about the Yeti on Expedition Everest. First off, her name is Betty storable. And so she actually she used to move she used to do his big sweeping motion and stuff, but that ended up becoming too it caused too much stress on the attraction. So shortly after they ended up having to turn her off but they put a strobe light on it. So it looks like she’s moving and it really does it gives us great illusion of the fact that she is moving that she’s not but this has Come to the point in which everyone has lovingly given her this nickname of disco Yeti due to the strobe light and you’ll see like some posters out in your front where it’s like disco Yeti, like club or yoga club or whatever and it’s like it’s just great.

Beth  25:15  

Yeah, I mean this I don’t think I’ve ever talked about the origin of of using a yeti for for the site and podcast but it it comes from the dancing yeah from disco Yeti and all the Yeti theming throughout the Asia Park Asia land but it is it’s, it’s so just every little poster ties back to the ride and it’s, it really is is neat and someone who has spent a lot of time walking around that area as waiting for people on the road. I’ve seen a lot of the posters and a lot of details so it it did sort of and then knowing there’s a yeti at the Mater horn in Disneyland that that’s sort of is where the the Yeti from Romaine Yeti came from just as a little backstory for that but the details in this land are are probably my my favorite if not tied with the next land we’ll talk about but so I’m gonna ask you what what should people do there? Because you’re the Expedition Everest rider I’m not.

Julia  26:32  

Yeah, I think that that’s a great ride. If you don’t get motion sick, it does go backwards. You don’t really notice it. But there are definitely some forces to the point where one time I was like, are we going upside down? You’re not. But there’s some fun forces with that it is such a fun throw ride. It’s so good. I love the story of it, you can get some really amazing views. When you’re first going up the mountain. Look to both sides, you’ll get some really great views of like, I think you can see Epcot you can see like the swan and dolphin resort and even see Hollywood Studios. It’s I love that ride so much. There’s a single rider queue if you don’t want to wait and as long as the line but the actual like line queue. In the inside. There’s a lot of cool stuff you can see in that. It’s definitely worth it if you want to stick with your group. I just love that ride so much. It’s like it’s one of my top favorite Disney rides.

Beth  27:25  

It’s usually a you guys usually ride it multiple times in a day. If If the lines are.

Julia  27:32  

Yeah, if crowd permitting, it’s at least a two to three a day. Three rides in that day.

Beth  27:41  

I would say I don’t like I know people are probably like, Why do you even go to theme parks Beth? The Kelly river rapids Rapids is sort of cool, but I don’t like having wet clothing for the rest of the day. Now if it’s super hot, I know I’m going to dry off pretty quick. It’s it’s fine. But um, it’s you know, it’s it’s a rapid ride. It’s similar to a lot of parks. But um, you know, that’s that is one other thing to do in that area. And I do i i like the jungle tracks and walking around and checking out the animals.

Julia  28:16  

There’s also some monkeys too, they’re usually very active. Sometimes they’re very loud. Yes, it can be it’s really entertaining.

Beth  28:25  

Yeah, they they’re another good thing to watch while people are on on in line for one of the other rides. So there’s a few good little, little cocktail bars to pick up a beverage while people are waiting as well.

Julia  28:40  

I know another thing that we usually find you after we’re done. You’re usually in the amp there’s this amphitheater area that’s like outside and the character boats will sometimes go through it and stuff so you can see the different characters and she usually has a snack or a beverage and she’s in that area and then we go out that we just chill there for a little bit longer to because it’s just it’s a nice area that a lot of people are there

Beth  29:02  

no one uses it like no one’s it’s just a nice area to sit and well you and you can actually sit like because it’s bleacher sort of sitting seating and yeah, it’s one of the few places you can actually sit down and, and rest so yeah, I can be found in there a lot. I miss kite tails, which was the sort of huge wind sock type kite characters that were pulled around by jet skis. And it was during COVID But that’s gone. I keep hoping. Please, Bob Iger, bring them back. Bring them back. They were so much fun.

Julia  29:43  

And the way they landed to watching them land was amazing.

Beth  29:48  

It was just so it was so good. So hopefully they’ll bring that back. But if not, I’m probably still sitting in the amphitheater area. That brings us To the last land dyno land USA and we don’t know how much longer we’re going to have dyno land there was some hints at the D 23 conference about what Zootopia or maybe Mallanna

Julia  30:17  

It was tragic tragic I did cry I was like Do not touch Dido land you already got Alberta primeval world I’m not happy with that don’t touch it

Beth  30:27  

well and yeah it’s it’s it’s lost its main probably attraction one of its main attraction rides primeval world and it’s it’s a very fun part of the park it’s very different. It’s just to give some highlights it’s based on a roadside town where fossils were found. So part of the land is built around the story of interns coming in to work the dig site. And there’s a carnival part of the area that was, you know, said to be created by a couple named Chester and Hester, who owned a gas station and they built this carnival to make money from the discoveries and, and the interns. So, you know, it’s very different from all the seriousness of the rest of the park. And I don’t know if it’s because the story hasn’t been told up, but people just don’t, they don’t get it. They don’t like it. They want it gone. And the more I hear the back story, it’s it becomes cuter and cuter. Like it’s just, it’s such a fun area. And there’s no you know, there’s a few things back there, but I don’t know, I don’t know how long we’ll have it but I’m going to enjoy it as long as we do.

Julia  31:43  

Yeah, cuz I mean, like, when you don’t know the story, it feels really disjointed because you have the weird carnival you got the chaos of the like college students at the like, restaurant a source and then you have the seriousness of like the Dido Institute. You’re like what but it actually makes sense within the story and it’s actually a really cute little story to it. I just I love it and I love the chaos of it all.

Beth  32:07  

And then they add more chaos but we’ll talk about when we talk about things you should do. So one of my favorite one of my favorite rides is their dinosaur. We’re still have Triceratops spin similar to a Dumbo ride. There’s a Finding Nemo show which recently reopened in a much shorter it was it used to be 45 minutes I think it was really low. I think it’s like 2020 to 30 now and it’s an abbreviated everyone loves it it’s a much better storytelling show

Julia  32:45  

like to say it’s a little off of where all of Dinah land it’s not like all of a sudden you have Nemo near dinos. So it’s Yeah, it makes sense.

Beth  32:53  

It’s the walkway between Dinah land and Everest so but technically they put it in Dinah land. But and then there’s a boneyard playground for kids. And then what I believe they called the fossil fun games, which is sort of your, your basic carnival games. And you can play I think, I think they still have like, you can get the little stuffed dinosaurs from from dinosaur. They change their prizes all the time. So you never know. But it’s like a basketball shoot. It’s one of those shoot water at the clown balloon things. There’s a ring ring or ball toss. I forget which one?

Julia  33:36  

There’s one where there’s a bunch of holes in the roof to like, put your ball and see if that’s all set up. It’s like a color pens on the prize.

Beth  33:43  

Yeah, so and they do they cost additional money. But you know, it’s something fun to do. And like we said it when you learn why it’s there that Chester and Hester have built this on a dig site. It’s, you know, you get the joke, and it’s more fun, for sure. So there’s a ton of theming ideas, but I are assuming details here. But um, give us a few of your favorites.

Julia  34:14  

Yeah, I also had to shrink this one down. Here. We got three. First off in one of the entrances not from Everest. I think it’s from like discovery island. There is this 40 foot Brachiosaurus and it’s called the Golden Gate Bridge. I love the pawns in this land, so it’s beautiful. And then so in the area where like the ride dinosaur is there is a skeleton of a T Rex. Her name is Sue. She is an exact replica of the largest most complete and best preserved T Rex ever found. I think it’s now in Chicago.

Beth  35:00  

Go Yeah, I believe it real thing is in Chicago real ones in a museum in Chicago.

Julia  35:06  

But she’s a replica. She’s beautiful. And then in the loading area of dinosaurs so like you go through the thing, you see your little show with Dr. Grant seeker and then you go down to the loading dock there’s some stairs there, but look up there are some pipes and they have chemical formulas on them. Now the red one is for ketchup. The yellow one is for busted and the light one is for mayonnaise. This is due to the original sponsor of this ride being McDonald’s.

Beth  35:38  

Yeah, and and it was originally I forgot to look it up right to extinction. Countdown to Countdown to Extinction. Yes, that’s it. Thank you. And now it’s it’s dinosaur.

Julia  35:52  

It’s based on a movie actually.

Beth  35:55  

Oh, dinosaurs?

Julia  35:56  

Yeah, I like the Guana dawn or whatever is based on I think it might be a movie called Dinosaur

Beth  36:04  

I think it is not you mentioned that it’s the niches

Julia  36:07  

IP you’ll probably find in parks

Beth  36:11  

Well, hello now there’s picker spill in that’s fair. Magic Kingdom. For me dinosaurs is a must ride. i It can shake you up a bit. It’s dark. So I don’t depends. You know, if you have little kids with you, which you know, most of you probably don’t you know it can get but I there’s a lot of little kids on that ride. So it’s not you know, it’s not a height issue usually. But it’s it’s one of my favorite ride systems. There’s a similar ride in Disneyland it’s the Indiana Jones ride uses the same ride vehicles. And the wheels never move. It’s just the rest of the car moves moves around and feels like you’re you’re going over bumps and stuff. So it’s it’s it’s a fun story on the ride. It’s you know, depending on where you sit, you sort of see different things each time. And but it’s it’s one of my favorite ride vehicles for sure. And the other thing that you should do when you’re there is there is a Chippendale are two of my favorite characters to get pictures with because they are they’re just funny. They pick on each other they pick on people like they’re just they’re really fun. And in Dinah land not only do they have Chippendale but they’re in dinosaur onesie pajama costumes, and they’re just they’re so cute. It’s so good. Remember the time you still had braces on? And ship kept teasing Dale that he needed braces for his two little teeth that down and that I mean, they just they’re just so funny. And I would when we’re in line. There’s probably as many adults in line on their own as kids. There’s more adults. Yeah. It’s they’re a very popular adults. Picture. I don’t think the kids the kids are usually looking for Donald or goofy or someone else and Dinah land but Chippendale is fun. And definitely worth and then they’re tucked away near the dinosaur ride. So there’s usually not a huge line either because people don’t walk over there or they don’t see them. So that’s definitely a good one to go do. What are what are your must dues there? I mean,

Julia  38:48  

obviously dinosaur like you said, it’s one of the best ride vehicles. It’s, it’s so fun. Like it gives that thrill factor but it’s not like an insane roller coaster. No, it’s a great ride. And then yeah, Chippendale their iconic I once wore a Donald Duck shirt because it’s like Donald Duck. So like fasho going on and like he’s one of my favorite characters. So we’re in a Donald Duck shirt. And they’re like, that’s not okay. So they like got like, like a one of those like, bloody like the little stickers and the shield had woody on it, and they put it over Donald Duck. So it was super funny. They’re such fun to interact with and like you said, it’s a lot of adults who are in line so like literally no one will judge you. No one cares. No, it’s just fun. I mean, I obviously love seeing Donald because he’s like one of my favorites. Daisy Duck is a fashion designer and I obviously love that there’s this whole like plastic dinosaur near because I think it’s more like the there used to be like a playground and he has a little like scarf on and I think he might have glasses. It’s fabulous. Yeah, and then just in general because this is the one land supposed to be sort of nonsensical, sort of just like out there and crazy and outrageous. How fun. This is the main Land. How fun. Be a kid, go meet characters. Go play carnival games. It’s just

Beth  40:11  

It’s true. Yeah. Don’t take it so serious that some people do and they get confused. So you’re in on the secret now that you’ve listened to this. So go and enjoy being on the inside of that, that story. So that’s all the lands that are there now, but I have to take a moment to talk about a favorite that we used to have that Pandora took over. Camp Minnie Mickey, and it used to be where they had a lot of the meet and greet characters. They had Mickey Minnie Donald, I believe goofy. Daisy, Pluto. I can’t remember if I think Chippendale used to be over at Rafiq ease.

Julia  40:57  

Yeah, I think they used to be it were fakies. So this was there.

Beth  41:03  

Oh, right. And so they would just have sort of had little pavilions, and you’d line up and you could go to each one. And the characters just they had a lot of fun there. And there were times where it would rain in that park. And they’d group the characters together. So you would be able to get pictures that you wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere. So when, you know when you were young, and that was really, that was we spent a lot of time there going through those. We’ve been had, I’ll never forget who Donald was there. And a cast member snuck up behind him and yelled Aflac at him. And Donald ran, and then the cast member ran and Donald went running down the trail after him. And it was like, those are the moments that you know, you remember you don’t I don’t remember all the rides, but I remember those interactions and with characters and it’s just, it was just a fun area. Pandora is great. Pandora is beautiful. It was the right decision to make. But, you know, I I still hold a whole place in my heart that I just I had to bring up

Julia  42:13  

and then once upon a time where it rained and we I literally was able to walk up to meet what was it Mickey? Minnie and Pluto all together? Yeah. I haven’t got to scratch Pluto snoot knows it was magical. Like, just the fact that all three of them are together. Like that never happened. Like they might be in the same room, but it’s different lines like and to be able to just walk up to that. Yeah, there’s no like, yeah, so cool.

Beth  42:39  

It there was always sort of a special special interaction there. So we just wanted to bring it up. It’s not there. You know, we have Pandora which is cool rides. But it’s, I don’t know, just had to bring it up. Nostalgia. So what about best thrill rides in the park? I’m gonna let you. You take over there.

Julia  43:05  

Well, obviously Everest, like I said, it’s by far one of my favorite rides and Disney parks. It’s so good with the means great. It’s such a fun thrill ride. It has a good kick to it. It’s but like, it’s not too much. Like, it’s not like a lot a lot. But it’s like, it’s good. It’s definitely like a lot for a Disney ride. Love it. And then there’s sort of a debate. We don’t know if dinosaur counts is a thrill ride. It’s not a roller coaster. But there’s a thrill factor to it. Also, it’s scary because like dinosaurs are chasing you so it’s don’t like it’s dark or through the ride. Yeah, it can be a little disorienting. Like it’s so I’m gonna count as a pearl ride. I also love that ride. It’s one of my favorites.

Beth  43:51  

Yeah, I definitely agree. And as someone who hasn’t been on Everest. I put it there because I won’t write it. We already mentioned Everest and dinosaurs is like not to skips. What other Do you have any other ones that I think we have the same ones but

Julia  44:11  

I mean, Kilimanjaro Safari, like I said, is it a day at Animal Kingdom if you didn’t go on the Safari? Agreed it it’s a quintessential ride that you need to and then I would say flight a passage is just such a technologically cool ride and it’s really pretty. The lines can be pretty long. So I would it’s not something that I have to go on every time but if any chance I get to go on it’s pretty exciting. But I’ve it’s it’s a good ride.

Beth  44:37  

I feel like at the end of the day, you can usually get on it a lot smoother than Yeah, because a lot of people rope drop it in the morning. So I think then, in the evening, you can sometimes walk on a little easier.

Julia  44:51  

Yeah, the rope drop lines for it are insane.

Beth  44:57  

Snow move to my favorite parts of the park. work which is food and drink. We there’s it’s interesting because there’s a lot of options I would say there’s a lot more snacking and quick service at at Animal Kingdom that has really good food and options that you can sort of snuck through the day. Tiffins is their high end restaurant we have not eaten there, but I’ve heard really good things. It may be hard to get a reservation, but you know, go for it try. Julian mentioned Nomad lounge. This is a great place, it’s right next to Tiffins and it’s a great place to take a break, get a drink and some snacks and foods. They don’t they don’t take reservations but they have a what they call their walk up waitlist. So you can be you have to be in the vicinity of it on the app to be added to the waitlist. Sometimes that’s a little glitchy. So you just walk up to the counter and they can they can help you get on the waitlist. And then they’ll text you when when it’s your time to come back. So usually, you know it’s sometimes it’s quick sometimes it’s a few hours, but it’s it’s just a nice area to just sort of relax and hang out and enjoy

Julia  46:15  

some good snacks. Yes, there’s definitely make that a meal. Like we’re not gonna judge you. We’ve done it.

Beth  46:21  

We’ve done it. And if you can eat churros, that’s where in in Walt Disney World that’s where you eat churros. We’ll probably have a true debate once we get to Disneyland and a few more. No. So totally canteen is in Pandora. It’s a quick service. People love and they are good. We’ve tried them. They’re the cup cheeseburger pods, basically, it’s like a Asian bun stuffed with cheese burger ingredients. And they’re good. They’re fun. And then they have a lot of rice and noodle bowls. We haven’t had those. They always seem it’s always too hot for me to sort of dig into a nice broth and noodle kind of bowl. So one day we’ll we’ll try those. But also who has bowls is haram Bay market when they had one and last when we were there in November, we had I had a grilled chicken bowl with cilantro rice. And it was so refreshing and good. Like it wasn’t heavy in the heat. So that’s, that’s a nice quick service to sneak into and get tusker house is a really fun character meal. And the thing is it has really good food. There’s some you know, African inspired inspired food and a buffet so you can sort of try what you want. And there’s a little bit for everything. Not for everyone. But it’s it’s a fun character meal. And one of the the they’re in Safari costumes, they’re so cute.

Julia  48:03  

It’s adorable.

Beth  48:04  

It’s adorable. And like I said, there’s so many places to grab snacks. There’s there’s a seasoned french fry that people really like. I know there’s like waltz, chili Frito Pie somewhere. So

Julia  48:19  

you can pretty much straight corn somewhere.

Beth  48:22  

Yeah, I mean, do you feel like you can sneak sneak, you can just snack your way through the park all day, which I would actually suggest it’s it’s a fun, fun way to do that. If you are into beers, they there’s three, three exclusive beers to the park, which means you can’t get them anywhere else. So there’s a Kunkel loose ale. And it says it’s at Nomad lounge. I think it might be a few other places in the park, they sort of move it around, I don’t know. And then there’s two beers at Pangu Pangu, which is the sort of bar area in walkup bar windows in Pandora. And there’s a hawks grog Ale, which is a green, it’s green colored, and it’s a wheat beer. And then there’s the muladhara High Country Ale, which is a red ale. I prefer the Hawks wheat, it’s just a little lighter, and goes better in the heat. And it’s green, so it’s fun. It’s a good Instagrammable so those are the exclusive beers there. There’s also like a slushy drink. Night blossom

Julia  49:33  

night whilst it’s so good. It’s a non alcoholic slushy type drink it like it said, like I first thought the flavors are I think one of them’s like Apple and there’s like a purple one, but it’s not great. I don’t know. Like it sounds others boba balls. It sounds like it should not be good. It’s really good. It’s really refreshing. It’s a nice fun drink. There’s also like a version with alcohol in it too. Which is good. And then they have snacks at pongo pongo today with giant pretzel

Beth  50:00  

They have a giant pretzel and then they have a pineapple limpia which is a pineapple and like, almost like a cheesecake cream cheese sort of filling. And it’s, it’s really good. So that’s a great place to grab a snack and a drink as well. Do you have any other food food drink? Suggestions?

Julia  50:21  

I think that’s a, I think you hit all of them, I do have to say, because you brought up the cheeseburger pods, you can get that in both kids and adults sizing I think adult has two and kids has one. Get the kids one. So then you can stack more if you’re gonna get them if the kids side soon snack more.

Beth  50:38  

They’re filling. Yeah,

Julia  50:39  

they fill it, they’re, they’re good. I wish they had a little bit more of like the cheeseburger affiliate inside. But I understand that you only have so much in the bud. Not by like I would say go get other stacks over it. But if you really want to try it gets the kid size you can get other snacks.

Beth  50:53  

That’s true. You want to pace yourself. And just some other in general Park tips that we have. There. If so if you’re at tusker house, or you’re at festival, Lion King, there’s actually a walkway that goes along the waterway from Africa to Pandora and not a lot of people use it. There’s a nice bathroom restroom area there. But you can see some of the character boats go up the waterway and it’s it’s usually not too busy. So you can just sort of take your time and you know, you can even sit on either some wall area to sort of sit on and take a breath and watch things go by. So it’s definitely a better way to get from Africa to Pandora than going out into the mess. The middle of the you know the the tree area and all that fun stuff.

Julia  51:50  

So the characters get really close with the boats. Really crazy. Like you’re probably like, I don’t know, maybe six feet away like it’s crazy. Yeah, you can

Beth  52:01  

get some great pictures, they can see you and wave and and please wave at the animal. I’m the animals the characters, please, please don’t like you’re in a theme park you’ve already given up reality. So just just wave and have fun because they, you know, they they like to wave back and they dance on their boats. And it’s a good time. We’re sick. Yeah. Well live music on the boats with him sometime. We talked about doing the safari earlier in the day, the animals tend to be more active. Also, if it’s raining, go on the Safari. There’s a covering on the truck. So you’re not you know, when you’re on the truck, you’re not going to get wet. And the animals are often more active we actually had what elephants rolling in, like playing in the mud one day when we went on the rain. And the lines are short, like a lot of times for the rain we we actually had a driver like you want to just stay on and go again. We’re like No Well, we have to be somewhere else but it’s definitely a good it’s a good rainy that you’re gonna get wet in the park. No matter what but it’s a good rainy day Park there’s there’s some things going on. Because it has to shows that you can get out from the rain. You know, so those, those are a few tips

Julia  53:24  

and then call a river rapids because you’re already wet. Yes, if that’s open,

Beth  53:27  

you might as well go you’re wet and it won’t matter. And you know, we’ve mentioned before like walking around and just taking the fee mean and follow the animal trails people get in a hurry in these parks and I think Animal Kingdom is really great because it makes you slow down like there’s so many things the path from land to land can get a little confused you know, sort of windy and stuff so it it’s just a park that lets you slow down a little bit. I feel like that in Epcot and the world showcase their the to slow down areas,

Julia  54:03  

you’re gonna get lost to Animal Kingdom and that’s okay. If you just keep walking, you’re gonna somehow get into a place where you know where you are. It’s okay, we’ve all done that. Yeah, exactly.

Beth  54:15  

Just keep walking you’ll you’ll run into find the tree.

Julia  54:18  

It’s one point.

Beth  54:22  

But I mean that those are my pro tips. Do you have any other ones? No, I

Julia  54:27  

think you I think you hit on all of them.

Beth  54:31  

So I mean this, hopefully you get to see why we love animal kingdom so much and how you can easily spend a full full day in there. It’s not a half day Park people. But, you know, we hope you check it out. And we’re gonna try one about once a month. Again, go through the different perks we’ve been to over the years and share this information. So if there’s anything else you want us to talk about Let us know hit me up on social media, send me an email, and we’ll include them in future ones. But thanks for helping me out today. And I know I’ll be bugging you for a few more parts.

Julia  55:14  

Not wait. I love talking about Disney parks so much. I don’t normally because I’m like this is going to scare people away. But any moment I can’t I love it because I know too much.

Beth  55:26  

Yeah, well, this is a safe space. All right. Well, that’s all for today, guys. Thanks. Bye. Thanks again to Julia for joining me on this episode, we will do an episode for every Disney park we have visited. So stay tuned over the next few months. And thank you for listening. I hope these episodes inspire you to get out and roam even in your own neighborhood. Please subscribe so you don’t miss any future episodes. And if you like what we’re doing here, please leave a review and a rating. Also to help support us please head to Yeti to shop.com to pick up some Roaming Yeti merch, talk to you soon and keep roaming.