Sunday, March 17 2002

Good morning and welcome to Day 9 of the 9th Annual Spring Training Trek 2002!

Good night, and thank you for joining me for the 2002 Spring Training Trek - A New Beginning.  My bags are packed and I am at the gate, I am really tired and it's getting late.  Oh Mickey, I so hate to go...  But I am leaving on a jet plane!  Will be a whole year 'til I return again. Oh Mickey, I miss you so...

Well, enough of that.  The Braves have a split squad Sunday, with both games away.  So I am returning to my primordial roots and hitting Disney World's newest theme park, Animal Kingdom.  After packing until 3am last night, I delivered my bags to Bell Services to be transferred to the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  There is a reason, as all will be made clear.

Next I caught the bus to the Animal Kingdom and began my visit with the beasties.  I took my time, walking through the paths which sometimes are populated with new animals from last visit.  On to Discovery Island, the wait for Dinosaur (originally Countdown to Extinction) was 10 minutes. By the time I arrived, it was up to 40 minutes.  So I picked up a FastPass and went to see what was new in Dinoland USA.

Chester & Hester's Fun Park was under construction last year and now was 2/3 open.  The Triceratops Spin is a ride much like Aladdin and Dumb, with triceratops cars that ride up and down as they are lifted into the air and spun in a circle.  Next door is the dino fair, with arcade style games and hawkers, playing '50s music for a decidedly post prehistoric atmosphere.  The third attraction was the Spin-O-Rama, a coaster style ride with cars that spin around as you gently motor around a 3 dimensional horizontal plan track.  It was due to open in a few days.

While I waited for my time to ride Dinosaur, I trucked over to the Tarzan Rocks show.  This is one of the rockingest, action backed stage shows in all of Disney.  The cast includes a live rock band with dancers, Tarzan, Jane and Turk, and a group x-monkeys who rappel from the rafters, swing on the vines, and roller blade around the stage doing tricks.  It is 30 minutes of loud music and fun.  Best of all, the benches have seat backs.

Next it was to the dinosaur Institute where I prepared to travel back in time to the early age of the dinosaur.  But a greedy research assistant has ideas of bringing back a baby dinosaur and secretly changes our time vehicles coordinates to just before the asteroid strikes the planet Earth and wipes out most civilization.  Well, you can get the rest. Just suffice it to say the good guys grab our vehicle just before we are swallowed by a T-Rex or blasted to pieces.

From Dinoland USA I made my way to Karambe, Africa where I picked up a FastPass for the Kilimanjaro Safari.  Then I went to the Tusker House for some refreshments, a grilled chicken sandwich.  Then on the safari. Scheduled to last 2 weeks, we hit the Serengeti, saw lions, cheetahs, Thompson's Gazelles (Tommies), giraffes, and more.  Then we got caught up in a chase for some elephant poachers which cut our trip short by 13 days, 23 hours and 40 minutes.  We got the bad guys, however, and Little Red lived to honk his horn another day.

From there I headed to Anandapur in Asia to another discovery trail which featured tigers, bats, With no time to spare, I crossed continents back to Africa to the Tamu Tamu refreshment stand for priority viewing of Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade.  This parade featuring Minnie, Goofy, Donald and of course the Mouse of the Century, Mickey, banged out an adventurous rhythm that had all dancing.  When the parade was over, I turned around and watched it again.  Unlike other Disney parades, this one starts in Africa, then loops around Discovery Island (and the Tree of Life), hits Asia, then heads back into Africa.

The trip is winding down, so I head to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for my last Magical Moment.  The Animal Kingdom Lodge is built next to the Animal Kingdom, and from the balconies of the resort rooms, you can view the Savannah below, full of zebras, giraffes, and other animals.  There I ate the best meal of the trip at Jikos, an African themed restaurant. Under light fixtures in the shape of flying birds, I had a 4 course meal with a flat bread appetizer, a sweet corn soup, filet mignon with macaroni and cheese in a red whine sauce, and a Pistachio Crème Brule desert, along with a delicious glass of South African wine.

My brief observations are that the Braves are not yet ready for the 2002 season.  Pitching, the only pitcher to stand out was John Smoltz.  Defensively no one jumped out with spectacular plays.  Offensively, Helms and Franco looked pretty good while Chipper and Andruw Jones looked pretty bad.   Surhoff is making a good case for himself on the field even while distancing himself off the field.  If you asked me to define the 2002 Atlanta Braves, I could not do so.  They are not playing as a team, but it was only the 2nd week of Spring Training.  There are still 2 weeks to go before the season opener and the Braves may yet be quick out of the gate.

After dinner, I picked up my bags that had been transferred from the Coronado Springs resort, caught the Mears shuttle to the airport, and now as they are loading the plane, it is time for me to sign off and say for the last time,

Kungaloosh from the 2002 Spring Training Trek. 

Fuskie