Sleep Deprivation, Part 2

The second day we were in Florida was the day that Disney's Animal Kingdom was having the "Extra Magic Hours" in the evening, so when we finally got up after our late night, that was where we headed.




The park is divided up into various Continent areas, with a dinosaur land added in for good measure.


The first ride that we headed for was the Expedition Everest roller coaster, which my older boy noticed was the number one thrill ride on the Disney channel at the resort. It looks pretty cool, but it had a huge line. I figured we'd go there first and get fast passes, then come back and ride later.



When we got to the ride, it was far enough along in the day that they were no longer issuing fast passes for the ride. Oh well, I figured we would come back in the evening when all but the resort guests were out of the park.



In the meantime, there was a river raft ride that the younger really wanted to go on. It also had a sizable line, but we waited anyway. It was also no longer doing fast passes. A pretty typical river raft ride, we all got nicely soaked.



We then went on one of one of the animal exhibit walking tours. That was where I got the shots of the tigers, and the huge fruit bats. That was quite cool.



Not long after that, we went on an animal safari ride. It was near to the end of the time that they did those because the sun was going down. Got to see several animals on that, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, lions, gazelles, and many others.



After that, we headed over to the dinosaur land. They had a spinning wild mouse type roller coaster called the Primeval Whirl. The line was pretty short, and it was a decent coaster, although it didn't spin until the end, and before that it was pretty jerky.



By then the resort guests were the only ones left, so we went back to the Expedition Everest ride. The line was still pretty long, but not as bad as it had been. My wife and the oldest got into the line, and the younger and I went to go do other stuff (back in Dino land, where there was an elaborate play area), but on the way we found out that they had shut down Expedition Everest due to weather reasons. Huh??? Humid and warm keeps them from running it??? We met back up, and just a bit after that a lightening storm started up. OK, that makes some sense, I guess.


OK, one other ride that looked pretty cool, called "Dinosaur!!! The Ride", a time travel and motion simulator. All enclosed, it should be fine to ride on. Nope, it was closed down, too. Not long after that, the rain started up pretty good. Working our way through the park, we came upon the "It's Tough to be a Bug" show that they also have at Disney's California Adventure. It was exactly the same, but it was about the only thing open, and it was also indoors, out of the rain.

After that, we left. Everyone else had the same idea, and the wait for the shuttle bus back to the resort was pretty hellish. I was hoping to make it back to the park on one of the days to hit the two thrill rides we'd missed out on, but that never ended up happening.