World's Largest Flying Bird now at AK

[fillerup]

Went to Flights of Wonder today and they have added an Andean Condor to the show. Sorry, didn't have a camera.

For those of you familiar with the show, she appears at the point when Guano Joe agrees to let a "baby bird" land on his finger.

The female condor appears at the top of the building, flies back to the the sound booth roof and then back to the stage for feeding and a talk about the species.

I talked to the handler after the show and found out that this bird was hatched at AK about a year ago from an egg obtained from the Pittsburgh zoo.

She's been performing for about a month but only in 1 or 2 shows a day. They hope to one day have a breeding program but she won't be ready for that until she's 6 or 7 years of age.

It's an absolutely awesome display, but for those of you scared of birds (not that I'll ever understand that), this bird has a wingspan of about ten feet and looks pretty intimidating.

Check it out if you can.

 

[drew81]

Awesome! Thank you very much for letting us know!

 

[Mansion Butler]

Excited! Thanks for the update!

Could an Andean Condor breeding program 6 or 7 years down the road dovetail perfectly with the rumors of a South American area in DAK perhaps?

 

[CLandrum]

I am one of those people that are scared of birds. It all dates back to when I was a child playing in the sand box and a crow landed on my head- oh wait I will save that story for my therapist. :ROFLOL:

Even though I am scared of birds I can handle the show. It has been a few years since I last saw the show. I will put it on my to-do list. Thanks for the update. Less than 24 hours and I will be at the airport on my way. :sohappy:

 

[marihalfen]

I might be wrong, but I think I saw this back in February... :shrug:

 

[dave&di]

I've never seen the show, I keep forgeting it exists! It sounds right up my street but my BF is not a bird fan, he ducks whenever a pigeon flies over his head! So there's a chance I won't get to see it anyway! Sounds amazing!

 

[juniorthomas]

My only bird experience in The World was when a bird stole a french fry from my hand as I walked in Frontierland.

I vowed it would never happen again, and it hasn't.

 

[RSoxNo1]

This is the most underrated show in all of Walt Disney World. People often regard this as your standard bird show that you'd find at any zoo, but outside of the "dollar trick" it's anything bet. Guano Joe makes the show lighthearted, and the animals are amazing.

My only complaint is that the last show is at 3 PM. I often find myself missing the show for timing reasons. Right now the schedule is 10:30, 11:30, 1:00, 2 and 3. I'd almost prefer that they make the shows every 90 minutes:
10:30, 12:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30

 

[SewIn2Disney]

Thanks for the heads up! I haven't been to the show in my last few trips, I'll have to check it out in 15 days when I'm there! :sohappy:

 

[Mansion Butler]

This is the most underrated show in all of Walt Disney World.

Correct.

 

[IWant2GoNow]

My only bird experience in The World was when a bird stole a french fry from my hand as I walked in Frontierland.

I vowed it would never happen again, and it hasn't.

My only experience was when one poo'd on me while walking to ToT a few years back. Hit directly center of my visor... aka my hair. :hurl:

Luckily it was not much and a napkin and some drinking fountain water did the trick.

 

[R W B]

This is things I like reading about, I didn't know they had a bird show at all. I will definitely be checking this out in a few weeks when I'm there. Thanks for the update!

 

[WondersOfLife]

I saw Flights of Wonder last year, I saw the bird. I saw it again two days later, and it wasn't in the show, go figure.. :hammer:

 

[Scuttle]

This is the most underrated show in all of Walt Disney World. People often regard this as your standard bird show that you'd find at any zoo, but outside of the "dollar trick" it's anything bet. Guano Joe makes the show lighthearted, and the animals are amazing.

My only complaint is that the last show is at 3 PM. I often find myself missing the show for timing reasons. Right now the schedule is 10:30, 11:30, 1:00, 2 and 3. I'd almost prefer that they make the shows every 90 minutes:
10:30, 12:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30

As many times I have been to AK I have never done this attraction. I always wanted to. Tell me the guy's name is really guano joe!? hilarious if true.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I saw it for the first time in years back in 2008 and have made it a point to see the show at least once per trip, and yes Guano Joe is the head of a tour group and he comes complete with tour flag. They should sell action figures or vinylmation of him.

They have a few different guys playing Guano Joe, I've seen what I assume to be the regular guy multiple times over the last few years and he's excellent.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

Here's a video (not mine) of baby Audrey's performance in Flights of Wonder that was posted March 21st on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBYEQFhnO-E

 

[wizards8507]

The Andean Condor is NOT the world's largest flying bird. It's the world's largest flying LAND bird. The Wandering Albatross has a wingspan of up to 11.5 feet. Several other species of Great Albatross also reach above 11 feet. The largest Andean Condors reach 10.5 feet, making them the largest flying LAND bird, but not the largest flying bird.

 

[bhg469]

My only experience was when one poo'd on me while walking to ToT a few years back. Hit directly center of my visor... aka my hair. :hurl:

Luckily it was not much and a napkin and some drinking fountain water did the trick.

I got from several separate offenders (on my shoulder) within 5 minutes while sitting outside the tomorrow land terrace restrooms. Also on my back by flame tree in DAK. I guess its lucky?

 

[docandsix]

The one and only!

They have a few different guys playing Guano Joe, I've seen what I assume to be the regular guy multiple times over the last few years and he's excellent.

Our family has seen this show at least a half dozen times since the park opened and we've never once seen anyone other than the guy you're talking about playing Guano Joe. It's so remarkable that I actually asked one of the other cast members if he ever takes a day off. She answered that he does, rarely, but also whispered that none of the others is nearly as good at that role as he is.

P.S.: It's a highly underrated show and one of the top three attractions in the park, far ahead of Dinosaur, for instance, in my opinion.

 

[Scuttle]

Our family has seen this show at least a half dozen times since the park opened and we've never once seen anyone other than the guy you're talking about playing Guano Joe. It's so remarkable that I actually asked one of the other cast members if he ever takes a day off. She answered that he does, rarely, but also whispered that none of the others is nearly as good at that role as he is.

P.S.: It's a highly underrated show and one of the top three attractions in the park, far ahead of Dinosaur, for instance, in my opinion.

Far ahead of Dinosaur? That is a ballz statement. With all the flaws with maintenance and stuff it is still a very exciting ride. I actually rate Dinosaur and Test Track as 2 of my most underrated attractions in all of WDW. Can't wait to see the show next month when I get our annuals again. It sounds very good.