Animal Kingdom

Visited: September 12, 2023

Attending: Brian, Steven

The fourth day of the trip promised to be a little different. I was switching over to the realm of Disney, where the coasters are less technically impressive, but superior in terms of theming. It's also logistically more complicated, with virtual queues, lightning lanes, and genie plusses. Fortunately, I had a guide in the form of Steven from Buzzed Bars, Orlando resident, season pass holder, and most important, Dis-nerd. I ended up doing a lot of things that weren't coasters, so this part of the report is gonna be a bit different.

Flight of Passage

I met Steven outside security just around opening. I didn't wait long, but long enough to see that the crowds were heavier than I had anticipated. I didn't really know what a light crowd looks like in Orlando, but this didn't look like it. Although Flight of Passage isn't a coaster, it's the most popular thing in Animal Kingdom, and I rather wanted to do it, so it made sense to go there first, even with a two-hour posted wait time. The line in fact was outside the normal queue and out onto the paths, with cast members keeping it straight. We weren't outside for too terribly long,and the floating boulders provided some shade. Once we got inside, it was much cooler. Steven and I are both enthusiasts, and we hadn't seen each other in some time, so there was plenty to talk about while we waited. Although the queue was long, it moved steadily, which was good. I might have even wanted more time to look at the theming decorations, although there were also long bare stretches.

Eventually we got divided into groups of 16, and got our training video on how to be a Na'vi avatar. Which is basically nothing; you just sit on a "chair," which is more like straddling a horse, which is certainly appropriate. You lean in so that the seat constricts your chest and legs, so you can feel your ikran breathe and flex beneath you, at least a little. There are 3D glasses, but they're pretty light and unobtrusive. It's not an individual experience as I'd hoped, but rather eight folks sharing a screen, not unlike Soarin’, but smaller scale. It succeeded in filling my range of vision nicely. The chairs tilt forward and back, possibly side to side, to give the illusion of flight, but that's not quite so convincing. I suspect it doesn't really tilt that far forward. There are smells pumped in, but they're mostly subtle. It's kind of hard to notice them. There are several spots where a water spray or mist would be appropriate, but there wasn't one. As for the story, you go for a flight. That's it. I expected the usual "something has gone wrong" plot that simulators often have, but they didn't. In fact, the absence of that trope was surprising in itself. The experience was satisfying without being mind-blowing. It was about as I'd heard it described. Having just seen the movie, I could wish for something a bit more immersive, but I’m not sure how that would be accomplished.

Expedition: Everest

Although Flight of Passage was my primary interest, the coaster I was there to ride was Expedition: Everest. I’m honestly not sure why I didn’t ride this in 2011; maybe I didn’t know it was there. With Steven to guide me, it didn’t take long to get over there, and the wait was moderate, maybe about 30 minutes. There were certainly a lot of things to look at in the line, and I might have wanted to examine them more closely, but the queue kept moving steadily. The trains are kind of funny, blocky, but thematic. They’re not what I would have expected from a modern coaster designer like Vekoma. Then again, there’s nothing about this ride that says “Vekoma” in any way. The lift hill is absurdly steep, almost like an alpine coaster. But the drop, well, there isn’t one, really. Just a lot of swooping around in the dark. Then, of course, there’s the dead-end track and the backwards bit. I knew that was going to happen, but I didn’t know exactly when or where. The backwards bit goes on for rather longer than I expected. Helixes are about all I remember about this coaster, because that’s what it’s got: helixes, mostly in the dark. It’s unexpected, because it’s telling a story, rather than adhering to any standards of “how a roller coaster should go.” From a strictly enthusiast level, it’s no more exciting than a mine train. As an experience, though, it’s pretty cool.

On Steven’s advice, we planned to leave for Epcot as early as possible, but we still couldn’t enter there before 2:00, so we found a shady spot and just hung around for a while. There’s a good amount of trees at Animal Kingdom, but it’s not always easy to find seating in the shade.