There are four can't-miss attractions at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Countdown to Extinction, Kilimanjaro Safaris, IT'S TOUGH TO BE A BUG! and the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail.
My favorite was Countdown to Extinction, where you enter the Dino Institute and are told that scientists (Phylicia Rashad, on film, plays Dr. Helen Marsh, "director" of the Institute) have developed the Time Rover, which can transport you 65 million years back in time, to the Age of Dinosaurs. Turns out, though, that you signed on just as a fiery asteroid is ripping into the earth. Down in the load area, you board a time machine amid strange sounds and lights and, uh-oh, pretty soon you're riding through a meteor shower, being lurched and careened every which way (people with heart trouble or bad backs are warned not to try this one) and encountering--oh my God, it's a man-eating Carnosaurus! Will you make it back safely? This goes on for what seems a lot longer than four minutes, at least to this sissy. Kids under 46 inches aren't allowed on. Too bad, because they'll miss the Styracosaurus, the raptor and the Cearadactylus.
The Kilimanjaro Safaris are 20-minute rides in the 100 acres Disney has set aside for the African bush, with baobab and acacia trees, geysers, rocky trails and assorted underbrush. If you're expecting a real safari, you'll probably be disappointed. This is a ride, not a $5,000Find trip to Kenya. But you do travel in open-sided trucks with canvas awnings, much like those used on real safaris in East Africa, and you're likely to see elephants, rhino, giraffes, lots of birds, a lion or two and whoever else has deigned to loll on the savanna that particular time of day. The scenario--that you run into elephant poachers--was a little too overdramatic for my taste.
But for 20 minutes, it's as real a safari as most people will ever experience and short enough for small kids. But be aware that for really good animal sightings, you have to do what seasoned safari-goers do: Plan your game rides early in the morning or late in the afternoon. The midday sun is snooze time for all wise animals.
Once you've been on a safari, it's just a step away to Gorilla Falls, an exploration trail where you can see gorillas swinging from trees, foraging or otherwise enjoying themselves. The day I was there, the biggest gorilla was sleeping like a pussycat, which wasn't heart-stopping, but it sure was cute. The same trail lets you see hippos underwater and some colorful East African birds, fish and--yuck--snakes.
IT'S TOUGH TO BE A BUG! is a 3-D show in the style of Epcot's HONEY I SHRUNK THE AUDIENCE. You enter a theater tucked into the Tree of Life to view the show, where special effects make you feel like one of the bugs. This also rates high with kids for the yuck factor.
Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated June 2005.
