 Hey friends and a happy birthday to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Today it is Earth Day and it is also the anniversary of the opening day of Animal Kingdom, April 22, 1998. So I decided to come out, have a wild adventure and enjoy the park and help celebrate Earth Day and its birthday. So let's go do this. I think it's appropriate that we start off the day right here at the Tree of Life. Even though it's not technically a tree, it is an oil rig, but it's the symbol of Animal Kingdom and it's the Tree of Life. Since we're gonna be hanging out at Harambe, I know I'm gonna be visiting one of my favorite places to get a drink, the Dawa Bar. And I hear they even have a couple of new drinks that I haven't had before so that always gets me excited. Here it is, my favorite bar, the Dawa Bar and the special drink that they have is the Lion's Fury Red-stacked cherry whiskey and tropical jungle juice topped with a float of fireball cinnamon whiskey and a fiery glow cube. I'm all in on that. Oh look at it. It's so pretty. So I think I'm gonna have to mix this one around a little bit because there is the cherry stag in it, but the fireball on top and I kind of want to blend up all of the flavors. So that I can get it like in one sip, you know. And I ran into some friends, Triple P. What's up buddy? What's going on? And then Ryan, cheers you got the same drink. You already drank yours though, how is it? It's excellent, man. Man, since you drank some cinnamon whiskey. Oh, well happy birthday. Happy birthday Animal Kingdom. Oh it's good. No, it really is good. Yeah, I definitely mix it around, I bet. That's probably, that's the trick. That's how to get to the Lion's Heart. I was calling this the Lion's Heart for the longest time. It's the Lion's Fury, I think, but I like Lion Heart better. I really do enjoy this drink. It's definitely a little bit on the sweeter side, but with, you know, obviously a spicy kick to it. If you like the jungle juice, you'll probably like this drink, but my friend Triple P, who just told me that there is a Earth Day margarita, right? You said that's a margarita for Earth Day? It's a tulle. Oh, that's a tulle. And then there's a gin-based drink that's kind of like a long island iced tea at Nomad. I think I'm going to need to be getting one of those for educational purposes. Because it's, you know, Earth Day and it's a birthday. Of course, you've got to celebrate. Yeah, that's the only reason why though. For the people. For the people. After hanging out with some of my friends, like I said, Triple P, who has a YouTube channel and I'll put his channel on the description, he tipped me off that there was a special Earth Day photo opportunity behind the Tree of Life. So I want to go search for that and plus show you the pathway there because a lot of people don't explore it out there. It's really pretty. But before we make our way over there, I heard another cavalcade coming. Doesn't look like it's any of the rare characters, but it is a cool band. They're jamming out. Let's look first. We are the Discovery Island Day. If you wish me a happy birthday, I probably should have gotten a happy birthday button. I probably should have gotten an uncelebrating Animal Kingdom's birthday, but I'll make sure to pass on all those birthdays to Animal Kingdom. This is the pathway that I was talking about that not a lot of people actually come down through. It's a quick way to get from one side of like Harambe over to Asia as well. I do want to try the Mother's Earth like infused drink at Nomad Lounge, but since we just had the Lion's Fury drink, I think we should get something to eat first and I think I have a good spot. Oh, but the birds are coming in. Love coming out here just in time for this. So amazing, isn't it? They just come so close to your head. I got super distracted by the birds, but we're going to head on over to Flametree Barbecue. I think they're coming back. Uh-oh. Right here is almost all that they have. They have a Honey Bee cupcake and a Flamingo cupcake, a strawberry cake filled with strawberry compo right here at Flametree Barbecue. So I'm going to order that and then also get myself something to eat. Maybe some ribs and chicken. Last time I was here, they had a Raya sand castle. Now it looks like they changed it to the National Geographic Secrets of the Whales. That's really, really nice. One of the best things about eating at Flametree Barbecue is they have a lot of seating down by the water so you can stare at Expedition Everest and maybe we can keep an eye out for some of those rare characters on the cavalcade. I'm not too sure who it is. Now I've heard Pocahontas, Brother Bear, Flick, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Well, just as I said that, take a look at that. There's Chippendale and Goofy. So we've already seen them. So the other ones should be coming around soon, but also look at that view. I haven't eaten at Flametree Barbecue in such a long time. And I'm not too sure why. I love the food here. The ribs are up there as one of my favorite ribs on Walt Disney World Property. And now I'm just so happy to be dining here. And plus we just see a look at the cupcake I got here. Look at this. Isn't it beautiful? They keep on giving me these desserts that I don't want to open or cut because they're so pretty. I actually kind of just want to set it in the water and just let it float away. I know that won't happen, but it would be pretty. Now I got this decision I need to make because I want to eat the cupcake before it melts. But at the same time I have ribs, chicken, fries and barbecue sauce. Now those things don't mix together well. So should I have dessert first or should I eat the ribs and chicken first? It's a tough decision. I think I'm gonna go with the cupcake first. Oh yeah, I'm being real brave here. And I'm gonna be very gentle when I'm opening this cupcake. Oh yeah, nice and easy here. It's so pretty on the inside. Look at this. This is gonna be great. Say goodbye as I cut right through you. I know that there is strawberry compo in the center. So we gotta show that first. Oh, look at that. Much too good. That's good. Almost like you're eating a strawberry milkshake. Wow, cupcake check. Now it's time to get down to the ribs and chicken business. Gonna get a little bit of barbecue. Gonna put it right there. Make it a little bit saucy. Oh yeah. Ooh, it's like I'm massaging the chicken with my fork and knife. That was so good. And guess what? Pocahontas is coming. I have been waiting for them to come this whole time. They're going by so quick though. I can barely get them. Bye, Miko. Back to the rib business though. I saved the best for last, the ribs. Look at these bad boys. I feel like I probably could have gotten a whole rib mione in it, but I didn't want to try the chicken. The chicken was great, but I love the ribs here. These are my favorite. Look at this. Oh, perfect. Put a little sauce on there. Absolutely amazing. Right there. Much too good for children. That was great. And I got to see Miko again. The ribs and chicken is phenomenal there. Always love it. And the flamingo cupcake was a perfect strawberry like dream. Honestly, it was like eating a strawberry milkshake. That's what I felt. So now I think we're gonna either head on over to Nomad Lounge or also see what the wait times are for like now Nabi River journey. Because that's a ride I haven't rode in a while, but the lines seem so long. So we'll check it out. Looks like there's a wait for the Nomad Lounge. So I was able to join the virtual walk up list on my phone. Says it's at a 60 minute wait. So we're on the list. So since we're on the wait list, we're gonna head right into Pandora. And that way we can actually see what the wait time is for Nabi River. That's one of the rides, like I said before, I haven't been able to ride in such a long time. Well, it says it's only a 30 minute wait. So we might have lucked out here folks. It's really cool because I'm wearing my Pandora mask and I haven't rode this ride and probably good like three months. For some reason when I was thinking Earth Day, this ride just stands out to me. I love all of the plant life and the boat ride is one of my favorite boat rides out of all of Walt Disney World. I just love all the bioluminescence that they have and the music, the shaman at the end. It's gonna be a great ride. And then afterwards, we're gonna be able to go to Nomad Lounge and get that Mother's Earth cocktail to help celebrate Earth Day and Anno King's birthday. Listen to all the wildlife in the woods back there. I love the smell of Nabi River. Kind of has its own distinct smell. All the boat rides have their distinct smell. Pirate smells different than it's a small world, Nabi smells different. What's your favorite though? Let me in the comments what your favorite Disney boat ride smell is. I mean, mine has to be pirates. Hands down. Oh, and luckily we got row number one. Oh, we're going right in. That was so fun, wasn't it? And it's such a great way to... I thought we were coming down. I had on collision there. I tell you what, Nabi River really cools you off. Such a relaxing slow boat ride through the dark. I love it. I don't know why I don't do it as much as I usually do. I think it's because they used to only seat one person per car. So that always made the line super long. I've seen it actually longer than Flight of Passage just because of the social distancing. But now they have the plexiglass up so they can seat every row. It goes a little bit quicker. So I'm happy they started doing that. While I'm over here, I wanted to check the wait time for Flight of Passage. It's 50 minutes. I don't really have time to wait for that because we're going to be going to the Nomad lounge soon, which I should check to see if they called us yet. Nope, no text yet. But we are coming up on that 60 minute time limit. So we're going to head on over there and just get ready. But I think I'm going to go the opposite way up through the Lion King because I got a fascinating story to tell you. If you haven't heard, the Festival of the Lion King is coming back in just a couple of weeks. They're saying mid-May, the show should start back up again. And I'm so excited. If you guys seen any of my videos from the past, I think it was the 20th anniversary. I had dinner inside the Festival of the Lion King on the show floor with all the animals out. And it was a dinner with Joe Rodey. And I'll never forget that. It was Earth Day, Animal Kingdom birthday. Maybe I'll try to find the clip and put it in right now. Or I will put the link for that video in the description so you can check it out. But it was such a fun day. Such an amazing day. Joe, you are the man. Oh, thank you so much. I'm not really the man. I'm the boss of all the people that are in my life. That's the way. So I'm not going to lie, meeting Joe Rodey was probably the highlight of my life. Between him and Bob Gar, living legends. They all have pita and bread on them. Wonderful linens. And it's cool that you can just sit here. You got Pumba to your right. Giraffe behind you. I just want to dive in and eat. And I am definitely on Pumba's side right here. And I would ride the Kilimanjaro safaris right every afternoon, every afternoon. After we stopped working, nobody's there. All the equipment is gone. None of the animals have gone in yet. But all the grass is in it. It's like four feet tall with all the trees. I just got notification that our table's ready at the Nomad lounge. So we're going to head right over there. But there's another cabin cake coming. And I think it's Mickey himself. Oh yeah, look at that. They're saying hello. Hi friends. Look at that. Oh you. Thank you. I like to think every time Mickey points at me, he doesn't point at anyone else. He only points at me. But I know that's not true. I just want to feel a little special. I'm very excited to be going into the Nomad lounge. Just a couple days ago, I had dinner here at Tiffins. And you guys could check that video out because it was so much fun. And I ended up eating that Lion King dessert. Unbelievable. One of my favorite desserts I've ever had in any of the parks. So it's good to see what they got going on at the Nomad lounge now. They do have an option for outdoor seating and indoor seating. I don't know if I get the option since I'm on the walk-up list. But I'd rather wait there, drink or eat inside. You know, just to cool off a little bit. Outside, it's beautiful, but it's a very nice area. Here is a look at the Mother Earth cocktail. This looks so amazing, doesn't it? It's a gin-based drink. I'm not too fond of gin, but the way this is looking and since it is Earth Day, gotta go for it. We ended up actually getting a seat at the bar, which is kind of what I wanted anywhere. I love sitting at the bar places. Right now, it's actually hard to do that because for the longest time, I wouldn't even let you sit at the bar. But this place is so cozy and fun. I just really like the atmosphere in here. And take a look at the ceiling. Isn't that so awesome? And of course, the main reason that we came here was to try the Mother Earth. And that's exactly what I got. And it's right here. Look at this fancy thing. It looks so beautiful. It's not sliding too well, but there it is. And like I said, I'm not a big gin drinker. So we're gonna see how it goes. But you know, you gotta do it. When it's Earth Day, gotta go for it. It is definitely a very earthy drink. You can taste the lemon juice and the Thunderbolt tea syrup. Very strong in there. And the gin mixes pretty well with it. So if you're a big gin fanatic, you probably would enjoy this a lot. Call me crazy, but I think I'm gonna get something to eat. I know we just had the ribs and chicken at Flametree Barbecue, but looking at the menu here, I've seen they sell ribs. And it's only $10, which I thought was a pretty good price. So I'm excited to see what they look like. Double doing it on the ribs today, I guess. As you can see, they've got some squash soup, beef, sliders. Those are the smoked pork ribs for $10. A charcuterie, lobster macaroni and cheese. And at the very bottom, the Mother Earth. Look at these bad boys. Holy moly. Now it's gonna be interesting to see which ribs I like better. Is it gonna be the Nomad Lounge Ribs or the Flametree Barbecue? They both look amazing. These ones are definitely prettier. That is a tough decision. These ones definitely look prettier, but hands down, gotta go with Flametree Barbecue. I think the sauce on them kind of makes a difference. I don't like the sauce so much, but I love how just the smokiness of Flametree is. And I don't know, Flametree for the win. These are still very, very delicious though. I absolutely do love them. But in comparison, when you eat two different types of ribs a day, it's really hard to say. One thing that the ribs got going for them, that Flametree doesn't have, I feel like there's more meat on the bones in the price. $10, you really can't go wrong with that. I mean, it was only four ribs, but that's what you get with the chicken and rib combo, and that was $16. So very, very good on that part, but just the overall better rib Flametree. All I have to say is the ribs, the beer and the Mother Earth were so amazing. I love going into the Nomad Lounge and this has been a great day at the park. We're going to still keep on going and enjoying the rides. I know it, you know, I kind of feel like I'm a little bit off pace with my videos today. Like everything is just so much fun and I'm having a great time. It doesn't flow together well because I don't even have time to like kind of plan out the next step. I'm just going with the flow of things and then videoing it. And I just, I love it. Absolutely love it. Not too sure when the Kilimanjaro safaris stop running, but I think I'd like to squeeze that in today. Sometimes they close an hour early. We'll find out when we get over there. We still have a good hour and 45 minutes to go. As soon as we made our way over the bridge, there is a sign that lets you know when the last safari will depart. Right there it is. The last safari is at 7.15 p.m. So it's good to know. You know what I mean? It's important to know. So hopefully what we're going to do is ride Kilimanjaro safaris and then get off and be able to ride Expedition Everest a little bit towards night time because Expedition at night is my favorite. It's such a cool relaxing ride through the Forbidden Forest. I love it. Luckily it's only a 15 minute wait though. All day long this ride has been a very long wait and it's at 15 minutes, but we're walking right on. So lucky. As we sit here and wait for Simba 1, fun fact. When the parks first opened, I came here for cast member previews and did you know you were allowed to take your mask off? Isn't that insane? Like so when the parks first reopened after being closed, they used to allow you to get in and they'd be like, okay folks, now you can take those face mask off only because they had the separators on this whole time. And I just think back to like, wow, things have changed drastically. I also asked to sit in the back row because I feel like you have a longer chance to stare at the animals. Oh boy, it's going to be a little rocky here. It's a party in the USA. Wow, first things first, we get to take a real close look at a greater kudo. Look at that right there. That is insane. Oh, looks like we're coming up on some crocodiles. Anybody know why crocodiles are always angry? It's because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush to brush them. Sometimes the animals actually want to cross the street. So we have to stand still because they have the right of way. So we could be out here for hours. If there was an animal in front of symbol one, they would not force that animal to move. We could be here for hours. I'm sure they'd send a truck to pick us up though. But right now, we're just kind of hanging out here. In Disney, the animals always have them right away. That's not just on the safari. The ducks, anything. So it's just really cool just like letting them do their thing. Right there is the world of beasts that was holding up traffic for such a long time. Like we sat there for a good 10 minutes because of him and I like it. Thank you. Wow, look at that. An elephant right behind us. What's he doing back there? Something cool. We're going to be able to go over the squeaky bridge. I don't know if it does the effects anymore. No effects. That makes me so sad. It usually makes like this really tight, like creepy noise. Like we're about to fall. Oh, wow. Look at the lions up there. Wow. They're in the daylight out. From the day we arrived on the planet. Wow. That was really awesome to be able to see the lions up close like that. Normally they're sleeping and now we get to come up on the newest like exhibit, the goats. Where are they at? The goats are gone. The goats are missing. Please, if anybody knows what happens to the goats, please let me know. I'm very concerned. The safari is a long attraction. So we have just about under 40 minutes to get over to Expedition Everest. I think we're going to make it. Just about everything over in Africa closes a half an hour before the park closes. So mostly everything shut down. Now we're just going to make our slow walk over to Expedition Everest and try to catch kind of like a sunset ride. Hopefully. I mean the sun doesn't set to like 740 and it's still pretty bright out. I know I said it was a slow walk but we're really cutting it close. Luckily we're coming up on Everest though. It's just so beautiful out. So like when the park is this empty I just like to stop and look around a lot because you get to like just witness everything. Look at that. This is what I was talking about. I just keep on stopping and staring because it's just so beautiful over here. 754. Now I guess I didn't rush as I thought I would be. I mean we actually made it here in plenty of time. We could probably just sit out here for another like four minutes and still get in. Yeah five minute wait. Look at that. Thank you. It's not my birthday. It's the animal kingdom's birthday. Honestly if we just waited a little bit we could be the last ones to ride Expedition Everest tonight. Like it's that empty in here. I think I might do it. I mean it's only two minutes until they close the queue. I don't want to be the last person to ride but it'd be nice to just be on the last train. I just kind of feel fancy. Look at this. This reminds me of Tiffin's Restaurant. 758. No one's coming behind us yet though. Literally looks like it's just us. Come on hurry up folks. You got this. Welcome. I should board here. Last train. What a great way to end the night here. Happy birthday Animal Kingdom. I hope you guys enjoyed the video. I enjoyed making. I had such a fun day today. Just having a great day at Animal Kingdom and celebrating its birthday and celebrating Earth Day. I wish there were some things I could do like going to Rafiki's Planet Watch and I missed a couple photo opportunities because they stopped at three o'clock but I still had an amazing day. Can't go wrong. Any hoos. I hope you enjoyed the video. I enjoyed making it. We'll see you next time. Bye. If you guys suck around to the end here's a little sunset for you. I think you might like. No exception. The wildlife scenes in this research yielded an unexpected dividend. An idea for a new motion picture series we called The True Life Adventure.