My daughter and I headed up to Disney yesterday for a day at the Animal Kingdom. We also ended up spending a few hours at EPCOT around suppertime because the AK closed at 5. What a great day!

As Floridians, we get great deals on tickets. We had a 3 parks in 6 months ticket. You can turn that in before the 3rd visit and get a ticket that allows you to park hop for the next 6 months for less than the cost of the original ticket. I had already done that but my daughter hadn't so, while she took care of that, I went in to rent a scooter.

We headed off to Africa. There were no real plans here except to take our time. If we found something we liked, we were just going to stay until we found it was time to move on. As things turned out, we never left the Africa section of the AK.

On the way in, we watched the Spoonbills for a while. They had this egg and were also in the process of making more babies! I'll leave that image to your imagination but here's a picture of the egg.



Harambe is the town you come in to.


The Spring breakers were just starting to show up. The Harambe band was grooving and these guys were getting instructions from the band's lead dancer. It was pretty funny stuff.





Down we went to the safari ride. The wait was 50 minutes. We grabbed a fast pass and got in line. Because the ride it always a bit different depending on what the animals are doing, you can ride it over and over and never be bored. All told we went on the safari three times. Here are some pictures from the various rides.

White Rhino






There's a section of the ride that has geysers. You don't get wet but the effect is pretty cool.

__________________

Oryx



I’m not sure what that is. Some sort of antelope I think.



More rhinos.



More “Who knows what they are?” animals.





And this giraffe stood right next to our truck. He was so close you could have touched him.

In between rides, we walked the Pangani Forest Trail. There is so much to see there! Everything from birds to meerkats to gorillas. We did this 20 minute walk twice… mostly because of the gorillas.



This little guy was the sentry. He kept an eye on everyone so that the others were safe.



Some of the scenery. It really does feel like you’re in Africa!

__________________

And now for the gorillas. I’ve seen them before but never like this. Spring is in the air and the 20 something year old males were trying to show how tough they were. The three in this picture were all challenging each other but there was never any contact.



Things calmed down after that and they all went their separate ways but they remained close to the observation area. My goodness… they are HUGE! We stayed there to watch them for at least 30 minutes.
This guy was very amusing.







Then he heard something that interrupted his thoughts and was not happy!



Another one was in a small cave like area.





And another one came up to the glassed in area and fell asleep.



In between walks through the forest, we had a delicious meal at the Tusker House buffet. The cost was $19.99 minus 10% off that came with the tickets we bought. They have lots of great African based food there and more traditional items too. The desserts were so good!

The room where all the food is has a unique ceiling.

__________________

By the time we finished our last walk through and our last safari ride, it was nearly 5 p.m. so we made our way to the exit. With our parking ticket, was a coupon good for a free pin so we stopped at the Island Mercantile store and picked it up.

The crowds had been moderate in the morning but, by mid-afternoon, they were very light. Our last ride and walk were almost like having the park to yourself.

We went back to the car and headed to EPCOT. I love all of Disney but EPCOT always does something to me. I started smiling the minute I saw Spaceship Earth. There’s got to be something in the air.

My daughter had never been on Test Track and, for some reason; she really didn’t want to go on it. This is the same person who will go on Space Mountain. I finally convinced her that the ride was a breeze but she wasn’t too thrilled about being coaxed on. Because the wait time was 50 minutes, we grabbed a fast pass and headed over to Nemo. We went in and stayed there for about 45 minutes.



Strange fish.

The next time I’m up there I’m getting the t-shirt with the seagulls on it that says Mine, Mine, Mine. LOL!

Then we staggered over to Imagination and watched the fountains for a while.





Finally it was time for our FP and on we went. To reassure my daughter, I told her all about the ride. Well maybe not everything but most everything. The part where you think the truck is going to hit you almost gave her a heart attack. She felt dumb for being so nervous about it once the ride was over and stated driving I-4 was a lot scarier.

Time to go but we did SSE on our way out.



It was a fabulous day. Now that we have these new tickets, we’ll be slowing down and taking our time. EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Show starts in a few weeks so hopefully our next few trips will all be there.

__________________

Just one last picture. This was a momma monkey with her 3 week old baby. The babies are white when they are born and he was so cute.

__________________

nice pix, thanks for sharing !

__________________
Live, Love, Laugh

I love pictures and I love DW!
Thanks so much for sharing!

__________________
Square dancing is friendship set to music!

I love the gorilla pics! I think gorillas are cuteeeeeee I would love to hug one.. but he would get mad and break my back Oh well!

__________________
Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!

If Vegetarians eat Vegetables. Do Humanitarians eat Humans?

'Vegetarian' is an old Native American word for bad hunter.

You are a true artist with a camera. Thanks so much for sharing.

Such wonderful pictures!!!! Thanks for sharing!

I like your pictures!

Great pics! How often do you go to Disney?

__________________
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

Have your photos ever been in National Geographic? They are truly of the highest quality. Thanks for sharing them with us!!!

Before we moved here I had been to WDW about 20 times. Then from the end of 2004 to the end of 2005, I went at least 25 times. That was our first year here. I'd go up for 4 or 5 hours and then go home. After that, because of health issues and other stuff, I didn't go at all for nearly 2 years.
Now I'm happy if I get up there every 2 months or so.

Wow! Thank you so much. No, never in the Geographic (I wish!) but I have had several shown on our local Fox channel out of Tampa, also Channel 5 in Boston and a weather site on the internet. The photo that was on the internet also ended up on a news broadcast in Minnesota.

More recently, one of my pictures appeared on the Audubon's Great Backyard Bird Count website.
2009 Photo Gallery — Great Backyard Bird Count
It's the 4th photo down in the right hand column. Muscovy Duck.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. It gives me great joy to be able to share my photos.

__________________

Wow, thanks for sharing!

__________________
Mary

Are you anywhere near spring training. I think if you are you should take a trip there and take some pic for us. Go Red Sox`s

__________________

When you don`t know what to do-Walk fast and look worried.

Unfortunately, no. I should have moved down here years ago. Winter Haven is the next town over from us and the Sox use to be there for Spring training.

In 2007 the Red Sox played a Spring training game with Detroit. The Tigers are located in Lakeland which is about 15 miles from here. I got a great ticket and was only 10 rows behind the Tigers dugout.

The stadium is really nice.



Terry and Detroit's manager.



Josh Beckett pitched.



There was a grand slam HR by Eric Hinske.



An almost fight.



And a couple even got engaged during the 7th inning stretch.



It was a great game with a wicked awesome ending.



I also saw Curt Shilling at WDW back in 2004 the day after the Sox won their first World Series.



Yup... Go Red Sox!!!

__________________

Your pictures are phenominal. I even dreampt of them last night. Thanks for the adventures to places thru potography that some of us would not see otherwise.