The Disney Traveler » Animal Kingdom

Name the Best Walt Disney World Theme Park

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:00:02 +0000

Time for a new poll on The Disney Traveler. This time, share your vote for the best Walt Disney World Resort Theme Park by voting below then leave a comment and tell The Disney Traveler readers why that’s your favorite park.

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Many Restaurant Changes at Animal Kingdom

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:47:26 +0000

Last month, I wrote a post about the new Anandapur Yak & Yeti restaurant that is scheduled to open in the Asia section of the Animal Kingdom later this year. It looks like that won’t be the only restaurant change scheduled for the Animal Kingdom in 2007. In fact, several changes are on the way.

Much to my father’s dismay, Tusker House Restaurant in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom will close for refurbishment on August 20, 2007. When it reopens on November 18th, it will have changed from a quick-service restaurant to a buffet restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Let’s hope for my father’s sake that they keep the salmon.

Tusker House will also become the new home of the character breakfast that was held previously at Donald’s Restaurantosauras in Dinoland. As of November 5th, Donald’s Restaurantosaurus will only be open for lunch and dinner quick-service meals.

That’s a lot of changes! If you will be visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom during the refurbishment dates, plan accordingly.

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Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends Falls Flat

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 01:55:51 +0000

For the first time, my family and I watched the Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends show at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom this past weekend. My triplets are nearly three years old now, and it seemed like the perfect time to take them to a show where they could see forest animals close up. Unfortunately, we left the show with the consensus among us that it was boring.

The story starts with Pocahontas singing the theme song from the Pocahontas movie, “Colors of the Wind” and falls flat after that. Pocahontas discovers the forest is in danger and refers to various forest creatures as she talks about the impending danger with Grandmother Willow. An animatronic tree comes to life onstage to represent the Grandmother Willow character from the movie.

Warning: A small child behind us was so frightened by Grandmother Willow that he began crying hysterically. I had to agree with the child that the tree and the voice of the character were unsettling.

Next, a variety of animals take turns running across the back of the stage or poking their heads out of a hole in a pretend tree. The animals are not very exciting (e.g., ducks, an opossum, a raccoon, and a skunk) and make such brief appearances on stage that the children watching don’t even get a chance to enjoy them. The most exciting part of the show occurs when Pocahontas carries a snake across the front row of the audience. The first four rows of the center section of the theater are reserved for children under 10 giving them a great view of the snake, but the premium seats don’t enhance the quick glimpses of the animals appearing on stage.

Bottom-line, I would not recommend this show to families except those with children who truly love Pocahontas. There are much better opportunities to see animals close up at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I expected this performance to be similar to the reptile show from Walt Disney World’s now closed Discovery Island including an opportunity to be educated about the interesting animals in the show, audience interaction and great close up views of the animals. With those expectations, it’s not surprising I was so disappointed with Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends.

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