Birt Family Focus

Disney's Animal Kingdom - Dinoland U.S.A. -- 07/24/03

Howdy all!

Today it's time to go back in time some 65 million years. At Disney's Animal Kingdom, ALL animals are celebrated, including the extinct ones, so off we go to visit Chester and Hester and the other denizens of Dinoland, USA.Dinoland U.S.A.Dinoland U.S.A.

The theming is wonderful here. There are some very nice displays of fossils and dinosaur bones dispersed throughout Dinoland. In fact, upon entering Dinoland, look up. You will find yourself under a 50 foot tall replica of a Brontosaurus. It is not just stuffy old bones here, though. In fact, there is quite a lot to do. In Dinoland, USA the very littlest of littles and the oldest dinosaurs will all find fun stuff to occupy their time.Dinoland U.S.A.

For the tiny ones to the kids at heart is The Boneyard. A big playground with great fossil theming, one can dig for bones,climb stuff, play music on some ribs, and safely run about expending energy. I find this of great help when littles begin to exhibit signs of boredom. Let them run themselves ragged and then they will sleep awhile in their strollers while the elders of the tribe enjoy the other entertainments. Be warned, this area gets quite hot- there is a water fountain, but I would have plenty of water available anyway.

Dinosaur-The Dino Institute is just the thing for the big kids and grownups. It is a thrill ride formerly called Countdown to Extinction. I rode this when it first opened and it was a humdinger. I'm sorry to say that it got revamped as well as renamed and while it is still thrilling to those who haven't experienced the first incarnation, it is a bit of a yawn, now. It's still worth a go at least once, and the exhbits in the queuing area are very interesting to dino-buffs. There are some very nice fossils and bones to see. One can visit that area and bypass the ride as well. Just ask the CM to show you the chicken exit when you are done looking. If the ride is not busy, you may exit by the front door. You may recognize the voice overhead doing the narrarating- it's Bill Nye the Science Guy. The ride itself is kind of rough, dark, and has loud noises and big dinosaurs. It may be too scary for littles. Child swap is available. The height requirement is 40 inches and it does support fast pass. It's pretty much a walk-on early in the day and late evening, and I have never used FP to experience this attraction.

The whole family will want to wander over to the Theater in the Wild for the very wild Tarzan Rocks!!! Show. This is quite a neat stage show based on the Disney Animated Classic- Tarzan. Many of the songs are performed by the very talented cast while feats of derring do are done for an exciting show. The "chorus" , if you will, is a huge troop of monkeys on roller skates that roll around and climb the sets and interact with the audience while also doing some amazing acrobatics on skates. Tarzan and Jane do a beautiful arial ballet with ropes that includes some very good acrobatics- while singing! This Tarzan is quite a piece of eye candy, too..... Of course, no salute to this film would be complete without Terk and she is there, along with her signature song, Trashing the Camp, which will get you and your family laughing and clapping and singing along with the cast. There is a great deal to see with this show and we never miss it when we go to AK. Tarzan does indeed, ROCK!

After getting your energy up with Tarzan and the gang, you will want to head over to the "cheesy-on-purpose" old fashioned carnival area known as Chester and Hester's Dino Rama. Can you say "Corny"? It's corny in a good way, though. Here you will find unusual dinosaurish sculptures to take your picture with, fun theming, a truly heinous gift shop, and lots of mid-way games to play. There is a pretty cool ride here called the Primeval Hurl er....Whirl. Don't eat before riding. It's short but spins a LOT. We rode it 2 times in a row and giggled the whole time. This ride supports Fast Pass. There is also one for the smaller ones called Triceratop Spin. This is just Dumbo with Dinos. The midway games are all the standard ones but presented with Dino themes. Instead of Whack a Mole, it's Dino Whamma, etc. You get the picture. These cost extra and you will drop many, many dollars here if you are not careful. Every game wins a plush prize, so you don't go away with an empty pocket AND empty handed, but the quality of the plush is the same as at any other midway and worth just about as much is my guess. I gave my DH $10 and told her she could play what ever she wanted but when she was broke, she was done. If I had more than one kid to finance, she would have only gotten $5. ;-) We ended up with 3 little plush dinosaurs for that ten bucks- a bargain at Disney prices.

Just so you don't go away thinking all is a farce at Dinoland, be sure and get a good close look at Dino Sue. She is an exact replica of the largest T-Rex found so far. She is 40 feet long and 13 feet tall. Scientists estimate that when living, Sue was about 45 feet long and 14 feet tall. She is named after fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson, who found her in 1990 on a fossiling expidition in South Dakota. Sue (the dino) is approximately 67 million years old. About 90% of Sue's original bones were found, and these original bones now reside at Chicago's Field Museum. Interestingly, when the museum purchased the bones in 1997, Walt Disney World Resort helped finance the purchase. I suppose that guarenteed that Dino Sue would get a permamant vacation- even though it's her doppleganger- at WDW. Lucky girl, that Dino Sue!

That's it for this week. Next time, I will wrap up Animal Kingdom with a look at the streetmosphere and other entertainments available here. Until then-

Sla`inte~