Chaq and Mal - 5/15 Animal Kingdom

The dreaded magical express envelope was hanging on our door handle this morning. I didn't open it. Instead, I enjoyed my very own concert. Chaquella plays the flute. I don't know what the proper term is, but he studied classical music in England. Prior to our trip, he dedicated Colors of the Wind to me on Soundcloud saying "Disney 2015, Chaq and Mal" at the start of the song. Thus, the name of my trip report. My favorite song he played this morning was"I See The Light" from Tangled, so he played it twice for me. The animals even stopped to listen outside of our balcony. I told him that would be my favorite moment of our trip.

We left our lodge and headed for our safari in Kilimanjaro. I missed the Natazu signs. I tried explaining to him how my hunter on WoW had been named Natazu after stuff in AK, but it lost its meaning without the word being used everywhere. We started out on our two week trek with our guide warning us to not swim with the crocodiles or the hippos. The okapi was a little shy, but the giraffes came out to welcome us. We even saw some baby birds. The termites were busy making their mounds and the baobab trees were storing the water in the trunks for elephants to drink later. The mighty Simba was perched above everyone else, while the lionesses lounged on a flat rock nearby.

An elephant had destroyed the bridge we needed to take, so our guide carefully took us over a rickety old bridge that he said was held together with duct tape. Duct tape fixes everything, so we made it safely across. We were lost, but our driver soon found the road back. Our safari was shortened by about 13 days 23 hours and 45 mins, but everyone was happy to be back safely.

I hit the bathroom while Chaq watched some drummers. When I came out of the bathroom, they were lining people up to dance. The show was entertaining, so we watched for a while. Soon though, our growling stomachs demanded our attention. We were right in front of Tusker House. The cast member said they had room for us, so we got our pager and sat amidst the buildings of Harambe. The photopass photographer there was great at his job, making everyone laugh. He even took a picture of us which made Tinkerbell magically appear. Chaq loved breakfast. He said Tusker House was one of his favorites of the whole trip. It was only rivaled by Crystal Palace which he declared the winner only due to superior character interaction. Yay for Eeyore scaring him! :thedolls:
Mickey, Goofy and Daisy came to visit us. I had to notify Simba that we would be late seeing his show, because we were eating breakfast. Thankfully, he had another show later in the day that he got us into.
Chaq had requested to go see the Maharajah Jungle Trek, so we headed over to Asia. Entering the Anandupar Royal Forest, we encountered a komodo dragon. We said hello to the bats and searched for the tigers. We found a wagon full of goods that Chaq had me pull around. Then we listened to the chirping of the beautiful birds until it was time for our white water rafting trip down Kali River Rapids.
We joined our other cohorts in our boat and began our journey down the river. One little girl was so excited that she could barely sit still. Her mom explained that they had watched the youtube video for this ride many times to prepare her for it, and all the little girl could do was squirm around and announce "We're gonna get wet!" Sure enough, she got WET! Her slightly older sister was disappointed and said "But I didn't get wet" :( Just then, someone who controlled the elephants that squirt the riders shot the water right at the older sister. It was perfect timing.
We wandered through Asia and stopped at the shop at the base of Everest. Neither one of us was up to fighting a Yeti, so we went searching for some dinosaurs. After seeing Primeval Whirl, Chaq said he didn't want to spin that much. Since the world didn't end, we went to find out how tough life is for bugs. Chaq had a friend who worked on the carvings in the Tree of Life, so we took our time going through the line to look at all the animals carved into it. Once we got to the waiting room, there was a bug face peering at us from the top of a pillar. It reminded me of an evil bug from the mmo that Chaq and I play, so we spent our time pretending that we were fighting the evil bug empress. In the game, I am a tank which means that I run around with a sword and a shield and make things beat on me to protect everyone else. Chaq is a healer, so he makes sure that my life stays up while I'm getting beat on. We held the evil bug off until everyone made it into the auditorium and the doors safely closed behind us.
Once inside, Flik told us that bugs can be our friends too, so we let the roaches exit before us.
Then we were off to learn about the Circle of Life with Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa. I love watching this. It is my favorite show in Disney World. I was a little apprehensive that things would have changed when they moved it, but it still made me cry. I don't know why, but I always cry during this show.
As I sat there listening to the music, I had "Pink Pajamas Penguins do Lambada" going through my mind. Yes, that intercot thread will be with me forever. I'll be 90 years old sitting in a nursing home with alzheimer's singing "pink pajamas penguins do lambada. Pink pajamas penguins do lambada."
On our way to the exit, we stopped in Pizzafari for a bite. The salad there is still delicious. When we reached the last shop before the exit, a cast member stopped us and asked if we would take a quick survey. We said sure. It didn't take long at all. When we were done, we headed out the gate and were stopped by another cast member. This one asked if he could have my email address to take a survey after I got home, so I gave him my email address.

We relaxed at the hotel when we got back, but I didn't go to sleep. I wanted to savor the time I had remaining at the resort. Chaq went down to the pool. I wandered around the grounds and did the "business stuff" like paying my charges. Then I relaxed on our balcony. I had stopped by the rocking chairs to relax, but they were all full.
When we started getting hungry, I suggested to Chaq that we head to Port Orleans Riverside and get dinner at the build your own pasta station. He liked the idea, so we hopped a cab over there. After dinner, we walked the grounds looking at the mansions, crossing the bridges, seeing the lights reflect on the water. Chaq took a picture of the river, and it is now the home screen on my phone. I love the beauty of this resort. We spent the rest of the evening making fun of TV shows and just talking about life in general with our balcony door open to hear the thunder and watch the lightning.