Mousekingdom Blog

Don’t forget about the animals in Animal Kingdom. They are great, fun to watch and when you talk with one of the cast members you can learn a thing or two. Most of the cast members apointed with an animal have some very good knowledge of them. I find it a shame to see how guests run from one attratction to another but just don’t want to take the time to visit the animals. Me, I could go to the Tigers and stay there for hours. But those are not the only once I will visit. I’ll go on the Maharajah Jungle Trek every time I visit the park to see the tigers, but I also love the Pagani Forest Exploration Trail To see all the other exotic wildlife. Plus visiting the animals is a perfect photo opportunity. Those Meerkats are very photogenic. A visit to the Conservation Station is also an absolute must, but unfortunately not visited by all those guests entering the park. There are some really nice encounters with animals over there. If your lucky they’ll have a snake out that you can touch. Kilimanjaro Safaris seems more accepted by the general public, maybe that’s because this animal encounter is considered more of a ride and attraction.

I love Animal Kingdom! I think it’s an Imagineering Masterpiece with even more amazing animal encounters. I never been e real fun of a zoo, but this is so different. So next time you visit Animal Kingdom, don’t forget to see the animals. Pick up your camera and make some great photos. There is enough time to do this between two Expedition Everest visits.

For those that followed my live trip reports, I hope you enjoyed them. Obviously there are a whole lot more of stories and pictures from the three weeks but I didn’t always have the time (or I was relaxing at the pool) to write them all down. So here is a first one from a new series I’ll be posting on the blog.

As a Disney fan it’s always nice to see and hear about Disney secrets. Disney tries to keep the magic by hiding all the technical part for the viewers. They don’t want to give away the illusion of the act, but sometimes things go wrong and we get to see something unintentional. This happened to us during the Nemo Musical show in Animal Kingdom. At a certain moment in the show a front curtain is going up so the next scene can be performed. However, revealed behind the curtain guest can now see the backstage area. (more…)

Walt Disney World guest can book their restaurants using the new online Disney ADR (advance Dinning Reservation) booking system. The system has been online for about one week. It should help people to plan their dining experience and make bookings from the comfort of their own home, without the long waiting times when calling Disney direct for reservations.

Sounds good! And it does, for those living in the USA. Unfortunately it isn’t that easy if you’re from abroad. After getting to know the tool and fighting to find a restaurant that still have some tables free you can go and “check out”. (That’s if you don’t get an error message that the system is not available, something that happened to me 4 times). It is now that the real problem start for those guest coming from abroad. Some restaurants need credit card verification. For example, if you want to dine at the Californian Grill you will need a credit card, otherwise a reservation will not be possible. But after trying multiple times to enter a card, with three different credit cards, the error kept popping up that the card cannot be authorized.

Without the authorization, no reservation!

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2008 has not been the best year for the theme park around the world. Parks have seen their attendance and guest spending drop. The 2008 Attraction Attendance Report from TEA ERA shows a clear picture on 2008 and it’s, mainly losses of guests for some of the big names in the business.

In the 2008 top 20 of highest attendance in Theme Parks of North America you have the Magic Kingdom on top again. It closed the year with 17,063,000 visitors. They should be happy about that, even if that number is no improvement from last year, during these dark times of recession that isn’t the worst result. On the second place we find Disneyland with 14,721,000 visitors, a drop of 1% from the previous year. Epcot, just like the Magic Kingdom, also didn’t loose or gained any more visitors then the previous year, with a count of 10,935,000 visitors. Epcot got third place.

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It doesn’t always have to be a restaurant or eatery, sometimes its nice just to sit somewhere and enjoy a picnic. At Animal Kingdom such picnics are offered to the guests. A great idea and something I’ll put on my list of things to do during our next family trip.

If you want to enjoy a picnic all you have to do is go to Animal Kingdom’s guest relation to order a picnic basket at least two hours before you plan to eat. Afterwards you can pick up your picnic at the Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery next to Tusker House, head to one of the 14 picnic spots and enjoy.

Via Orlando Sentinel.

Second part of our holiday in August 2009 has been booked. 5 Extra nights in Animal Kingdom Villas Kidani, Savannah View .

A total of 14 nights at the most magical place on earth. Now it’s waiting to book the Vero Beach part of the holiday and the extra days in greater Orlando. Tips for those days are always welcome.

The only worry I have is the 24 hour construction work that will be going on at the Animal Kingdom Villas. I hope they will not be to disturbing, otherwise this might have been a mistake! (I’m sure it will be OK).

Picture Copyrights Disney

If asked what my preferred park is I have difficulties choosing between Animal Kingdom (even pre Expedition Everest) as this park is a Imagineering marvel and Epcot. I don’t want to choose but for reason Epcot has the edge. I love Illuminations (those reading the blog regularly will know this), but also enjoy some of the attractions and can wander hours and hours around the World Showcase.

The World Showcase has a lot to offer, while some might say there are not enough rides, there is so much stuff to see and do (and eat). On this trip however I noticed that the one place I hang out the most is Japan. It could be the Drums of the Matsuriza, the amazing candy artis Miyuki, the small but beautiful gardens or the whole Japan pavilion that keeps me there every time. Whatever it is, I can’t seem to get enough of that place and am already looking forwards to my next visit (even if that will not be before 2009)

… 2009? That a long time away. I guess browsing some of my Japan Pavilion pictures will have to keep my happy,… for now.

Today, April 22, 10 years ago Animal Kingdom opened its gates to the general public for the very first time. The park opened with 5 attraction, 9 exhibits and 12 live entertainment show on a 500 acres location. The main attraction of the resort are its inhabitants, the many incredible animals.

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It is not often you think Disney are selling themselves short, but a recent tour of their Orlando parks leaves us thinking they ought to do more to promote some of their live entertainment.

Entering the Animal Kingdom last week, we picked up the usual park map and entertainment Times Guide, and headed out into the park.

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When going to Orlando for holiday you’ll have a lot of choice when it comes to theme parks. Obviously there is Walt Disney World, for the most of us the reason to go to Orlando, but some of us might also be tempted to visit some other parks like Universal Studios (including Islands of Adventure, a place I love) or Seaworld.

There is nothing wrong with some healthy and good competition. It will keep the owners of the parks busy, looking for improvements and new rides that will convince the visitors to come to their park. Animal Kingdom (a theme park misunderstood by many, but in my opinion an Imagineering masterpiece) is a very good example of this. Expedition Everest has put it on the map of the Thrill Ride fans that might have stayed away otherwise.

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If you’re one of the Disney fans that would like to know everything about the Walt Disney World parks you might be one of the guests that either has done some of the backstage tour, plans to take a backstage tour or would like to take the tour some day.

The Washington Post has a 4 page article revealing (some) of the backstage tour secrets.

The tours in this article are “Keys to the Kingdom, Magic Kingdom ($58, 4 hours)”, the “Backstage Safari, Animal Kingdom ($65, 4 hours)” and the “Epcot Seas Aqua Tour, Epcot ($100, 2 1/2 hours)”. The tour was taken by Steve Hendrix, the writer of the article, during a 4 day trip.

When we step over a bright yellow “sight line” on the road, Matthew (the tour guide) declares us out of any possible view of guests in the park. “Now, what do you really want to know?”

It has always been on my mind if animals should be kept in prison for the pleasure of mankind. I thought about it a lot and thought that animals should be kept in the free. It was a program about a couple of eagles, close to extension, caught by the San Diego zoo that changed my mind on this. Not only did they took good care of the animals, but they made sure that their species would not get lost. After a while they could release a whole new “nest” of eagles in the wild preventing the lost of these unique creatures. I still believe animals should be kept in the free as much as possible, but I do understand that keeping some of them in (good) zoo’s they still can have a quality life. I am sure this is something we could debate about for a very long time, but might never come to a clear answer that is good for all animals.

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Disney, more than any other venue, know how to throw a party. The last evening of the travel trade show, Pow Wow, featured Disney’s Farewell Party, an event every media member looks forward to, for the food, drink and all-out fabulous entertainment. The park takes on a completely different feel in the evening, especially when it becomes a nearly-private playground, the queues are non-existent and the food is several steps above even the best theme park fare.

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This past week Orlando played host to Pow Wow, the United States’ annual travel trade show, with a whole lot of Pow and even more Wow! The convention is an opportunity to hear about nearly every travel-related location, accommodation, event, etc all over the country, as well as offering a chance to preview what’s new in the theme parks, specifically Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld. If you have ever wondered what happens at a big Disney Event, consider this your personal invitation to Disney’s Pow Wow Farewell Party.

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Susan and I are just drawing breath again after the big International Pow-Wow travel convention in Orlando, which is America’s biggest annual travel trade forum, with all manner of conferences, media events, travel shows, exhibits, tours and receptions (plus the occasional party!). The focus is obviously only on the US – hotels, attractions, car hire, cities, travel organisations and more – but that is still a huge area of interest. And, as it was in Orlando, there was a big focus on Florida, and the theme parks. And that’s where our Encounter with an Imagineer came in.

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