News Disney announces plans to celebrate 20 years of Disney's Animal Kingdom

GlacierGlacier

Well-Known Member
I did not think ak was going to be that great. On my first vist, then by the end of the day i, found out i was wrong . All the work joe. And every put in, wow. On one of my Safari trips. The truck had to stop as a big, rhino rolled in a mud puddle in front of the truck. To get mud on him, as it got hotter out just like a puppy. That was, no anima Tronics there! Ak rocks!
I agree with your sentiment but not your typing skills.

I got a wonderful safari trip on the 20th, right as the sun was setting. Hyena flopped on the ground like my black lab does, saw Augustus (I think that's his name) the baby hippo resting on momma and then fall backwards into the water, saw the lions just relaxing in the clearest I'd ever seen, and a wonderful giraffe run back and forth in the simultaneously most silly and most beautiful thing ever. Nothing can compare to the wonder of seeing living animals not only comfortable but content in the closest to their natural habitat that can be provided.
 

Prototype82

Well-Known Member
Wow. Just wow! The 22nd was the perfect example of less-is-more. The decorations were beautifully subtle, the photo-ops were kind of fun, not going to lie(only cause I couldn't pass up the banshee one)...But onto substance - I missed the re-located ceremony only because I was misinformed that it was cancelled, which is kind of a bummer... However, I got to see the photo op with the original Cast Members from opening day which was followed by a MASSIVE macaw flyover; a huge highlight! I got to meet Joe Rhode without a print(I was told I was not guaranteed we would meet him, but it was standby.) - There was a mega-fan with a Joe Rhode action figure he made from scratch to have autographed. haha, Joe's reaction was amazing! Tiffins Talks with Dr. Joe Soltis was super interesting. Guys, the food...corn coconut soup, a raw venison pate(yeah I didn't realize it was raw until I re-read the menu afterwords. I love how adventurous Tiffins is!), lamb sausage, and to tie in with the bee-conservation theme; they had a honey-soaked pear with honey-flavored ice cream. Even the white chocolate garnish had a honeycomb pattern molded into it which was pretty darn cool. The event wasn't only informative, but some really neat perks came with it: a complimentary pin and Disney Conservation fund book were included. Planet Watch played host to some super-old macaws that have been around since their debut as opening day residents.

The utility-suit conservationist in Pandora put on a great debut show in the morning. It was kind of a rush to see the new additions, however subtle that they were - One of the Discovery Island cast members showed me the new stained-glass inspired costumes that they debuted that day - each shirt shows a different ecosystem of animals. The weather was clear until the evening when it started pouring. As you can imagine, the Rivers of Light crowd was small. I was passing out some Earth Day prints of turtle and banshee watercolors I created for the event - When I presented one to one of the RoL hostesses, she was super-moved and thanked me and my sis by allowing us to view the show up on a special-viewing balcony. The day was less-is-more, and it's kind of neat that Earth's unpredictable weather situation granted my party with an unforgettable view at the end.

When asking Joe what the greatest challenge of building Animal Kingdom was: "we needed to create a place that felt as real as the animals that were going to live in it." You can criticize how Disney chose to celebrate this event if you want, but I won't easily forget Earth Day 2018.
 
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CTXRover

Well-Known Member
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Really cool Tiffins talks tonight. Had the opportunity to meet and listen to Joe Rohde talk about some of his travels to Nepal, Bali, etc. and how they influenced the design of parts of Animal Kingdom. Dinner was fantastic. Between each course he would come and sit at each table and talk a bit more personally to everyone. Very nice and genuine person. At the end, everyone got the conservation fund book and the honey badger card he designed already signed. The honey badger became the official 'mascot' of the original design team after an encounter with one in Africa during their research trips. The story is on the back of the card. Such a cool experience
 
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