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Tag Archives: Asia
Quick Service Dining at Disney’s Animal Kingdom… Does it exist?
Disney’s Animal Kingdom may not be open as long as many of the other parks but they do pack in as much as they can in the hours that is available. While walking around I know I get hungry. We often get asked from fans, Are there many Quick Service choices for Dining in Disney’s Animal Kingdom? My answer would be, most definitely, and it’s some of the best food I’ve found in the Walt Disney World Parks.
Here is a rundown of what you can find throughout the park for snacks, a quick bite or a full meal. There are carts scattered all over the park, with often one item and beverages being the only options. Also a great choice are kiosks with no seating provided, but with plenty available nearby, usually 3 or more choices with beverages. Lastly there are full Quick Service plazas with dining, restroom facilities and plenty of indoor/outdoor seating.
Why include the carts and kiosks? Well, sometimes snacking around the Animal Kingdom is the best way. There are tons of nooks to grab a table and enjoy your surroundings.
- The Beastly Kiosk-Offers corn dogs, chips and beverage choices. Perfect if you are looking for quick eats as you enter the park.
- Safari Coffee-One of several kiosks near the tree of life. Perfect for an early morning stop, Safari Coffee offers coffee, espresso beverages, breakfast pastry and cupcakes. Seating is available nearby.
- Safari Ice Cream, Popcorn and Pretzels-Three kiosks located right before the entrance to Africa. Here you will find hand scooped ice cream, popcorn and stuffed pretzels. All serve water and soft drinks. The popcorn kiosk also serves beer.
- Flame Tree Barbecue- A Full Quick Service option near the road towards Dinoland, USA. The menu consists of house-smoked specialties; including ribs, pork and chicken. Salads and beverages are available. Seating is an outdoor, partially covered pavillion with amazing views of Everest.
- Pizzafari-Also a Full Quick Service option on the path towards Camp Mickey and Minnie. Both breakfast aand lunch are served here. Another benefit is indoor (aka air-conditioned) and outdoor seating. Breakfast options include Eggs, French Toast, Frittatas and Fresh Fruit. Lunch offers Pizza, Sandwiches and Salads.
The Top 5 Nap Spots for Little Ones in Animal Kingdom
Where to Go?
Back to my series on napping in Disney World. Sometimes those little legs just need a rest, so here are my top 5 Nap Spots in Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is a great park to find napping nooks, so keep an eye out. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:
- The Tree of Life-In and around the Tree of Life there are tons of benches, many covered by tree canopy. Find a shady spot and cross those fingers. Usually you will have no problem finding an empty bench, unfortunately you aren’t near any amenities like bathrooms or food.
- Rafiki’s Planet Watch-Hopefully taking the Wildlife Express Train will put your little one in the mood to nap. From then on, find a spot. Inside the Conservation Station can be a little noisy, but lighting is dim and there is air conditioning. Older children can explore with another adult in the Affection Station (aka Petting Area). While bathroom facilities are great, no food options are available except for a snack cart so plan ahead.
- Pangani Forest Exploration Trail-You will need to get through the more congested areas, but I find the Gorilla Trail to be a great nap spot. People are encouraged to speak quietly so as not to scare the Gorillas, so it can be a peaceful place to relax. Once in there you are cut off from amenities, but there are plenty of exciting sights.
- Walkway from Africa to Asia-You should be able to find a quiet corner along this walk. Look along the river for great benches and a beautiful view. Check the Flights of Wonder schedule and go in-between shows. It can be a tad noisy if the crowds are large, but you are centrally located and can walk off the main drag down the smaller paths. Warning, check the parade schedule as well!
- The Boneyard in DinoLand U.S.A.-This one is hit or miss depending on your child’s age. The Dino Dig area is covered and shaded, if you can get your baby to ignore everything else going on around them. Any older kids can explore the rest of the Boneyard. Bathrooms and food opportunities are available right outside, although you are not allowed to bring food into the Boneyard.
Major Victory for Environmentalists and The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is one of the world’s largest publishers of children’ books and with that means they use a lot of paper. Environmentalists have been working with Disney to help them sever ties with two of Asia’s most controversial pulp and paper manufacturers.
After several years of intense negotiation with the Rainforest Action Network (Ran), a San Francisco-based advocacy group, Disney has agreed to do everything it could to safeguard endangered forests and their ecosystems, which support the sorts of animals celebrated in Disney feature films and other arms of Disney.
“Disney is adding its voice to the growing chorus of companies demonstrating that there’s no need to sacrifice endangered forests in Indonesia or elsewhere for the paper we use every day,” Ran’s executive director Rebecca Tarbotton said in a statement.
Or, as another activist for the organization put it: “The Jungle Book will no longer be destroying the jungle.”
Mixed tropical hardwoods harvested in the Indonesian rainforest Disney will now avoid and they also will seek alternative resources things such as recycled paper and wood harvested in a more environmentally conscious way.
Disney will also sever ties with Asian Pulp and Paper (APP), the third largest paper manufacturer in the world, and with the Asian Pacific Resources International Holdings (April). Both companies have reputations for exploiting the rainforest.
Disney said in a news release accompanying its new written policy that it would “work with non-governmental organizations to identify and prioritize regions with poor forest management and high rates of deforestation”.
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Disney Animal Keeper Combines Art and Care to Help Endangered Rhinos
As a rhinoceros keeper at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Chad Harmon tends to some of the toughest, strongest animals on the planet. He recently channeled that passion into an arts auction that raised approximately $6000 for the endangered animals.
For the Horns to Heroes project, Harmon used one of the rhinos he cares for as a model to make 40 horns by hand using a process known as rotational casting. The pieces are made of foam-filled resin and stand 16 inches tall and 7 inches wide.
He then recruited Central Florida painters, tattoo artists, sculptors, graffiti artists, illustrators, photographers and special-effects artists to create original and unique works of art. Each one was auctioned off with proceeds benefitting the International Rhino Foundation which funds research programs and helps protect threatened rhino populations in Africa and Asia.
“By supporting the International Rhino Foundation, The Horns and Heroes Project will help fund programs that support the courageous and dedicated rangers who risk their lives to stop poaching and give rhinos a chance at survival,” said Harmon. “We’re hoping that these works of art will help spark more conversation about how to protect these species.”
Though at one time there were 30 living species of rhino, only five species remain today, and those populations are facing the severe threat of extinction. Without immediate action, some rhinos could be extinct within the next 20 years, due to poaching, forest loss, habitat conversion and encroaching human settlements.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom currently includes a herd of white rhinos. Since the park opened in 1998, nine rhinos have been born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as part of a white rhino breeding program coordinated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The program focuses on sustaining the white rhino population in North America.
White Rhino Gives Mother’s Day Special Meaning at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Mother’s Day may be a little more memorable this year for a Disney “mom” that recently gave birth to a white rhino calf at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
After a 16-month gestation period, Kendi delivered her fourth calf Friday, May 4. The healthy male, which has not yet been named, is the ninth white rhino born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom; his mother, 13-year-old, Kendi, was the first.
“The birth of a white rhino calf is certainly something to celebrate since the population of this species is endangered in the wild,” said Jackie Ogden, Ph.D., vice president of Animals, Science and Environment for Disney Parks. “It’s encouraging that with protection and careful management, the global population of white rhinos continues to grow.”
The calf and mother doing well and are currently off the savannah bonding at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Guests will be able to see them when they return to the herd in the coming weeks.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom participates in a white rhino breeding program coordinated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The program focuses on sustaining the white rhino population in North America.
At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the success of the rhino breeding program has directly contributed to the conservation of other white rhinos in the wild. In 2006 two rhinos born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Nande and Hasani, joined four others at Ziwa Sanctuary to help reestablish a white rhino population in Uganda. So far, Nande has been responsible for two offspring — a male calf born in 2009 was the first rhino born in Uganda since the 1980s followed by a female white rhino born in 2011.
Disney’s commitment to conservation and rhinos goes beyond breeding. The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund and the Disney Foundation have provided more than $1 million in support to programs in Africa and Asia to protect the last five remaining species of rhino. For more information on the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund visit www.waltdisneyworld.com/about.
White rhino fun facts:
- White rhinos are named not for their color, which is gray, but for the shape of their mouths. The word “weit” in Afrikaans means wide.
- The white rhino is among the world’s largest land mammals, second only to the elephant. A male rhino can grow to more than 5,000 pounds as an adult.
- A rhino can move its ears independently to pick up sounds but it depends most on smell.
- The receptors responsible for the rhino’s sense of smell are larger than the animal’s entire brain.
- The white rhinoceros has the widest set of nostrils of any land based animal.
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