Some of the tigers, seen on the Maharajah Jungle Trek

Walking over to Asia, we took the Maharajah Jungle Trek. As with the Pangani Forest trail, we spent a great deal of time in the bird area, using the guide to identify all the birds we could. Not surprisingly, the tigers were sleeping, just like they always do. The bats are always fun to see, although they don't really do much. All in all, another enjoyable experience.

We then spent some time looking around the Tree of Life gardens at all the animals there. We decided to see It's Tough To Be A Bug, since Laura decided she could make it through, although it isn't her favorite attraction. The standby wait said 10 minutes, but we walked right in just as the next show was starting. Was Fastpass really necessary for this one? Although Hopper wasn't pleased about it, we were honored to be honorary bugs, even if just for a few minutes. We then looked around at some more of the animals before going back to Africa to see about another safari.

When we got to Africa, the standby wait for the safari was once again 15 minutes. We got in line, but this time the wait was even shorter than before, less than 5 minutes. We were hoping that the animals would be a little more active, but they were about the same as before. This time we had an American guide, and for some reason the Americans just aren't quite as interesting as the African guides. I don't know if it is the accent or what. Sometimes the Africans seem to do a better job of getting across the poaching storyline. Speaking of which, who let out those poachers after we caught them in the morning? Anyway, we captured them once again, but somehow I don't think it will be the last time. It was good to see the poachers truck pass us, since that hadn't worked before, but I was disappointed that the rocking bridge still didn't work. Maybe some day.

We went back over to Dinoland to see about another trip through time on Dinosaur, but both the standby and Fastpass times were longer than we wanted to wait, so we decided to skip it. We went to look at the pictures of us they had taken. The ones from the morning were good, but we bought one of the ones from the afternoon, because it was the best of the four. Turns out when we got home that the picture they took with our camera was just as good, but I guess we won't have to worry about getting it enlarged.

In review, we still really enjoy a day at Animal Kingdom. Some have complained in the past that there isn't much to do in the park, but we totally disagree. I guess it all depends on your definition of "something to do". It is true that you won't find all that many rides in the park. But the original intent wasn't for Animal Kingdom to be a park where you ride the rides all day. The way I understand it, Animal Kingdom was intended to be a place where you can go to discover animals. See them in their natural habitats. Learn about their habits. Learn what you can do to help animals in your area.

Part of finding things to do in Animal Kingdom depends on the individual guest. There are animals located all through the park. Stop to read the signs about them, to see what they are or where they live. If there is a Cast Member nearby, ask him about the animals. On the trails in Africa and Asia, stop to watch the different animals for a bit; they do move around, and can often be quite entertaining. Get a bird guide on the trails and see how many of the birds you can identify. Better yet, find out when the bird feeding times are, so that you can see the birds swoop out of the trees to catch the food. Instead of trying to rush from ride to ride, take some time to notice the beauty of lush vegetation. See how many animals you can identify in the Tree of Life. Visit Rafiki's Planet Watch, to learn more about how they care for the animals in the park, or about how the rainforests, home to many species of animals, are disappearing.

The adventurers enjoying their day at Animal Kingdom

You will find, if you take the time to look around, there is much to discover at Animal Kingdom!

Up next: The Disney-MGM Studios.

- Story and Photos Steve Burns
Posted

Steve is a three-time Disney Store National Trivia finalist and webmaster of BurnsLand, home of Steve's Disney Railroad Adventures.

E-mail Steve at steve@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

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