Year with the Yeti

Gilderoy Lockhart stole the story from someone, so I figure I can steal the title of his book. This might also work since he isn't actually a person.

Tuesday was one of my favorite days because we went to Animal Kingdom. It is one of my favorite parks because it has the best rides, and you can do everything in the park at least once in less than a day. The first thing we did was get in line for the Kilimanjaro Safari on the Harambe Wild Life Reserve. It's important to do it pretty early in the day because the animals like to go back into the shade and take naps during the hot afternoon. Also, they feed them around 9, so they come running out to the savanna area quite literally. 

Also at Animal Kingdom, there are some of the better thrill rides in the Disney parks. They have both Dinosaur, originally known as Countdown to Extinction, and Expedition Everest. The former is a time travel themed adventure in which you are sent to retrieve a dinosaur from the very end of the Cretaceous Period minutes before the meteor shower hits. During the adventure, a Carnotaurus chases you. I guess if the world were ending, I'd want one last good meal too.

The latter is a roller coaster that is themed around an expedition to find the yeti in the snow covered caps of the Himalayas. It is by far one of the best roller coasters I have ever been on and is definitely the best one that Disney has to offer in Orlando.

That night Will, my dad, and I went to meet my friend Mallory who has been working in the Disney College Program since the summer. I was so jealous to hear how much fun she was having. If you get a good placement, Disney is a great place to work. She's a face painter/ pirate person ate the Pirate League in Magic Kingdom. I would love to do something with Disney, which actually sparked my most recent employment idea for post VISTAship, which will be discussed at a later date.

The next day we went to Magic Kingdom because we had lunch reservations at the Liberty Tree Tavern in Liberty Square. In general this restaurant has been a family style Americana place, but at lunch it's unforuntately not. My mother was also sad to see that they no longer have a sponsorship from Stouffer's. I just had to spend some time crying into my chicken mushroom alfredo because the Hall of Presidents attraction made me lose control of my emotions. I don't consider myself overly patriotic, but watching that show inspired some nationalistic feelings. From Abraham Lincoln talking about equality through JFK's assassination, Clinton crying over the Oklahoma City bombing vigil, and even Dubya speaking out of a megaphone at Ground Zero, I could not keep it together. Then it ended with Barack Obama speaking, and it just reinforced my love of him.

If you don't know, the Hall of Presidents is an attraction featuring animatronic representations of each President of the United States, but only the good ones get to say anything. My condolences to James Pierce and his fellow forgotten presidents for not getting lines in the show.

After lunch, Will and I rode the triumvirate of Mountains at Magic Kingdom, and our dad joined us just in time to ride the Carousel of Progress. This attraction was originally featured at the World's Fair to show the progression of the American family of the course of the 20th century. Now you can watch a version of that show in a rotating theatre featuring more animatronic actors. The best or maybe worst part of the show is that as the theatre rotates from scene to scene a terribly catchy tune is played. Since my family only goes to Disney World for vacationing, we have learned all the words to this song and choose to sing it during the show regardless of audience size.  

Our last day was Thanksgiving. We had to switch hotels for our last night, so that led to a pretty uneventful day. We went back to MGM to ride Star Tours again and Toy Story Mania. Then we had our final sit down lunch/dinner at the Rose and Crown Pub in the United Kingdom pavilion in EPCOT. I had a great shepherd's pie and a funny exchange with our waitress. I asked if they had sweet tea, and she said no because it's freshly brewed...

This is just even more proof that, save the panhandle, Florida is not a Southern state if someone living there doesn't even know how sweet tea is made. Disney didn't even have it as an option in the parks until about three years ago. I am so glad that has changed.

Part three about the Iron Bowl will be out soon!