As a local my typical trips to Walt Disney World theme parks are a few hours with specific attractions and possibly a restaurant as the main goal. But with friends in from out of town this weekend I found myself spending most of the day in the theme park — arriving in the morning and leaving at evening.
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At the Pangani Trail they found the gorillas terribly entertaining and stayed for quite awhile watching them and also watching some of the animals in the meerkat lookout. While we were standing on the bridge within the gorilla display there was a loud rumble of thunder and one of the male gorillas stood and began to bang on his chest similar to the classic movie images of King Kong. It was a rather impressive and intimidating sound.
It began to pour down rain so we dashed back through the park and into The Festival of the Lion King. I'll admit that this show has grown on me. I haven't particularly been fond of it but knowing its immense popularity with most guests I always try to bring out of town guests to it. This time we were seated in the Lion section which affords us a view of Timon throughout the show. I had no idea of the antics the little meerkat is engaged in during the show. His pantomime reflects the type of songs being performed on the main stage — he is scared and shaking during the villainous Be Prepared, acting dramatically amorous during the love ballad "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and totally rocked it out with the celebratory "Just Can't Wait to Be King" and "Circle of Life". But after catching a bit of Timon's off-stage antics I started to notice more and more the performers are engaged in similar off-stage antics. One of the animal dancers was off with Pumbaa pretending to dig in the brush for bugs, eating some, feeding some to the warthog, offering the grubs to other performers. My eyes have typically been focused on the main stage but realizing these additional performances enhanced the show and now I look forward to going back and seeing what other kinds of activities have been going on that most of the audience may not ever see. Timon's antics were really helpful in calming a little one who was a bit nervous during the villainous "Be Prepared" I noticed that she had covered her ears and turned her head and instead watched Timon.
The rain had stopped by the time the show was over and our friends who only had one day here, wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom so we grabbed lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and headed out. I wish the Rainforest Cafe was not quite so loud. I like the food and the environment but its just simply too loud for me. Perhaps some areas of the place are quieter than others. At Downtown Disney in Florida (I think in Anaheim too) I've happily eaten outside. While at lunch our friends commented to us how impressed they were by the demeanor of the park's employees. Our American friend was impressed by the number of smiles. I told them that people who work for Disney for the most part know what's expected of them as far as a friendly demeanor so I suspect that those type of people are attracted to work there.
After lunch we went to the Magic Kingdom for Pirates of the Caribbean, Mickey's Philharmagic and shopping. On Main Street we saw something you don't see everyday, the train running backwards. I guess there was something up on the Westside but they kept the Toontown and Main Street route open. We caught a little of Dream Along with Mickey as we walked over to Pirates so they could see the articulated characters. While riding Pirates I realized the whole Johnny Depp addition is also growing on me. The first few times I found it quite jarring but now it doesn't stand out to my eye in the same way. I suspect someday it'll be such a part of the ride that if they remove it I'd find that jarring. And Mickey's Philharmagic… well, I still love that. I find it magical especially when Tinker Bell's pixie dust flutters off the screen and over us and I love the layering of images during Simba's "Just Can't Wait to Be King". It reminds me in a nostalgic way of beloved Viewmaster. While our friends shopped we enjoyed the rocking chairs by the entrance to Tony's at Town Square and people watched as the sun set behind City Hall and thinking about the days adventure I wondered if I would ever stop having new experiences at Disney's theme parks.