Mouse Extra

WDW News Today, a terrific website for truly in-depth coverage of Walt Disney World happenings, has some tantalizingly cool information about Toy Story Mania, soon to open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  This apparently e-ticket caliber ride is nearly ready to launch and the details continue to trickle out. 

Last week, WDI canceled the cast member previews it had planned leading some to believe the ride was seriously behind schedule.  Annual Passholders began to worry if their May 10-12 previews were still going to happen.  But according to the report, cast members will have their look next weekend and so we can assume the AP previews are still a go.

But it was tantalizing details that I promised you, and WDW News Today provides just that…

It seems the original plans for a separate special track in the ride were right, as we are now being told that if you hit a certain special target, your Toy Story Tram will be sent down a secret bonus track of some kind.

The loading area for the attraction is themed to the underneath of Andy’s bed, a much more detailed experience then you will find at the Disney’s California Adventure version of Toy Story Mania. The attraction’s queue is going to take place on two levels of the show building.

The queue area sounds a little like that of The Sea with Nemo and Friends over at Epcot.  If that is true then I approve.  I know people think interactive is the way to go with queue areas, but I love the visually appealing and immersive queues like Pirates of the Caribbean, the Great Movie Ride or Expedition Everest.  They set the mood perfectly and by the time you board the ride vehicle you’ve already been reeled in.

And as far as the “secret track” goes, how long do you think it will be before detailed instructions on how to find this secret track hit the internet?  Days?  Hours?  Minutes?  It won’t be much longer than that.

We continue our spotlight on Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s greatest and wildest stars for the parks 10th anniversary.  Today contirbuting wroter mike takes a look at the stars the paparrazzi chases the most at DAK, the African Elephant.

Species: African Elephant
Habitat: Sub-Sahara Africa
Status: Endangered
DAK Locale: Kilimanjaroo Safari

Elephants are one of the most popular zoo animals and the largest land mammal on Earth. These highly intelligent behemoths are unusual and impressive in appearance yet are seemingly gentle. Of course, what the public does not realize is that elephants kill or injure more zookeepers than any other animal. This stems from their incredinle strength more than any real aggression. Plus, elephants require more hands-on care by the keepers than just about any other type of critter. The massive African bulls are the most aggressive and can weigh up to 6 tons, with females topping the scales at about 4 tons.

One of the most frequently asked questions about elephants is whats the difference between the African and Asian types. The Africans are much larger with significantly bigger ears. There is a smaller forest type of the African species but at Disney’s Animal Kingdom we see the savannah kind. Elephants in general use their large ears as fans, but they also contain numerous blood vessels close to the skin to help the cooling process. The distinctive trunk is used for breathing, smelling and as an extra limb which can grab food with its nimble end. The animals have 4 useful teeth which are huge and grooved. These can only be replaced 6 times in their lives and many an old animal dies from starvation after losing its last set. This usually occurs around the 70th year. The famous tusks (unlike Asian elephants, both males and females have tusks in Africa) are actually incisor teeth.

The most endearing quality of the elephants is its family life, at least among the females. These groups are matriarchal, meaning a group is lead by the dominant female. The rest of the herd is comprised of other females and the young. Bulls are driven away once they reach puberty and live on thier own or in a bachelor herd until they get their own group. Males join herds only briefly to breed. Females reach maturity at about 14 years of age and give birth after a 22 month gestational period, that is, their pregancy lasts nearly 2 years. No wonder the boys take off (Just kidding). The calf is about 250 pounds at birth and will suckle for up to 2 years. A female gives birth every 4 years or so and usually has 3 or 4 young with her at any given time.

The family members stay in constant contact with one another. In fact, at the Bronx Zoo, it was recently discovered that the 2 seperate groups were consistently calling one another at other ends of the 250+ acre park. These calls were too low for the human ear to pick up. However, we can sometimes hear elephants call one another in a low gargling noise.

The famed legend of the elephant graveyard comes from the behavior of elephants greiving over the loss of a family member. Elephants have been known to bury their dead with leaves and twigs- a behavior only shared by man. The herd will sometimes spend days at the corpse of a dead elephant often touching and caressing the body. This was first recorded by the Roman writer, Pliny. In fact, it has been shown that elephants once back at the site of a long dead family member may caress the bones left behind. This may also account for its legendary memory in folklore.

Elephants eat a lot. The diet consists of a large variety of grasses, foliage, fruit and twigs. They eat all day and night. They can digest as much as 500 pounds of vegetation a day and can drink as much as 40 gallons of water at a time. Despite this, man has long domesticated the animals. The first domesticated elephants appear in accounts in India around 5500 BC. In fact, elephants have always played an important role in that culture’s unique mythology.

As we all know, the elephant is highly endangered. Hunting has been banned but, as Little Red can tell you, poaching is still a major problem, especially with the price of ivory being so high. Gamekeepers are now heavily armed in order to protect the herds from even heavier armed poachers. In Kenya alone, the population dropped from 150,000 to 30,000 in 10 years. During the 1980s, it is estimated that nearly half of Africa’s 1.2 million elephants were killed almost exclusively by poachers.

For part two of our tribute to the stars of the Animal Kingdom, contributing writer Mike takes a stroll over to Asia and onto the Maharajah Jungle Trek to get a look at some really big cats.

Species: Bengal Tiger
Habitat: Forests/Scrublands of Indian Subcontinent
Status: Endangered
DAK Locale: Maharajah Jungle Trek

The Bengal Tiger is one of the most distinguishable animals at any zoo with its reddish gold and black stripes. Yet, in a deep forest or amongst a reed bed, its well camouflaged. The tiger is generally a solitary animal and doesn’t like to share territory. At a zoo such as Disney’s Animal Kingdom, however, family members can be kept in the same enclosures safely. In the wild, males only stay with breeding females for 20 to 80 days. Mothers keep cubs around for 2 to 3 years.

Bengals hunt almost exclusively at night. They are powerful and quick only over short distances. They use their camouflage to get close to prey. They tend to kill small animals by breaking their necks, but larger animals require them to bite throats. A tiger can eat the equivalent of 30 buffaloes a year and will eat as much as 65 pounds of meat a night. For some reason, they always eat the hindquarters first.

Currently, the Bengal Tiger is most numerous in the mangrove forests of eastern India, but they can be found elsewhere in the country as well as in Burma and Nepal. They require large tracts of land with single males occupying as much as 20 square miles and females using 17 square miles. Males are also significant;y larger than females. They can be as long as 9 feet from nose to tip of tail and can weigh as much as 570 pounds.

Habitat destruction is a major problem in the growing nation of India as is overhunting. In 1900, the tiger population of that country was between 40,000 and 50,000. It dropped to a mere 1850 in 1972. Now, the tiger has rebounded to about 4000 animals in India. In zoos, the tiger is being kept from breeding as the capacity to house the animals is reaching the limit.

Tigers rarely attack humans. In India, the myth of maneaters is probably overblown. Yet, it is true that an occasional animal will develop a “taste” for humans. Plus, the massive amount of people in India most likely contributes to the fact that approximately 3 dozen people are killed and eaten annually by tigers.

As you imagine, the tiger in that region is a strong part of folklore and mythology. Its reclusive nature as made them less associated with royalty which is the role often played by the lion. Still, it is often given supreme supernatural power. The Hindu goddess, Durga, rides into battle astride a massive tiger. Shamans in Malaysia feel they can shapeshift into tigers to protect the tribe. The mystical king of tigers, Raja Yah is said to inhabit the center of the World.

Contributing writer Mike begins our tribute to Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s 10th Anniversary by looking at some of its biggest and wildest stars.  Today we have a look at one of the park’s best exhibits and the gorillas that make it a must see.

Species: Western Lowland Gorilla
Habitat: Rainforests of Central Africa
Status: Endangered
DAK Location: Pangani Forest Trail

For many years, the common perception of the gorilla was that of King Kong- a massive, vicious man-like monster of the deep jungle. Yet now, thanks to Diane Fossey, “Gorillas in the Mist”, channels like Animal Planet, and exhibits like that at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we are beginning to see the gorilla for what it really is- a gentle close relative of the human. To watch a gorilla go about its day can be engrossing and perhaps even unsettling as many of its actions are so familiar.

Gorillas live in family groups consisting of a silverback male, breeding females, and the young. These animals are highly social and can often be seen grooming one another in an effort to bond within the group. Each evening the band settles down in nests made of leaves. These nests are either on the ground or in the trees depending on the region. Often a researcher’s first clue that gorillas are nearby is the discovery of a fresh set of nests.

The impressive male gorilla, the silverback, gets its name from - you guessed it- the silvered hair growing on the upper portion of his back. He’s also distinguished by his size (perhaps more than twice the size of the females) and the bony ridge on his head that creates a dome-shaped look. All gorillas have human like thumbs that are opposable assisting in gripping and climbing. Females produce one offspring and raise them for three years or more. Young adult males eventually move out on their own living solitary lives until they establish their own troop on their own territory, which is often small. Gorillas eat only vegetation-no meat. They are especially fond of bamboo shoots, ferns, and wild celery.

The image of the ferocious gorilla stems from its reaction to outside threats, most notably a silverbacks reaction to another grown male. They will scream and pound their chests king kong style. This display is often enhanced by charging nosily through the thick jungle foliage. The silverbacks will occassionaly have fierce fights with males looking to take over their group.

The picture we have now is that of a gentle giant who sits calmly by while scientists and tourists mingle with the group. This has allowed a great deal of study of the gorillas as well as bonding basically unheard of with any other animals. Yet, the gorilla faces extinction head on. The gorilla has been hunted for bushmeat for centuries. Its hands are sold as ashtrays. But, of course, the biggest problem is deforestation as well as the added threat of trying to live in an area dominated by civil war and politcal upheaval. The mountain gorilla which may number less than 500 lives only in the Virunga Volcanoes region the Congo. The Western lowland subspecies, the kind most often seen in zoos including Disney’s Animal Kingdom, lives in the lowland watershed regions of the Zaire and Ubangai rivers. The total population of all three gorilla subspecies (the eastern lowland being the third) is less than 50,000.

At the Animal Kingdom, the gorillas are divided into three distinct troops. One troop located near the swaying bridge is made of older animals. Another area contains the bachelor group. Finally, in the research camp, the visitor will see Gino, the silverback, with two females and perhaps even some young.

The Disney internet community is filled to the brim today with tributes and kind words for Disney’s Animal Kingdom on this its tenth anniversary.  Blogs, podcasts, and websites are turning their attention to Disney World’s fourth gate which up to now has largely gone unappreciated, ignored and often downright maligned.  And I do expect the usual suspects to issue some snarky and thinly veiled jabs on this anniversary.

It is certainly true that the Animal Kingdom opened as something much less than many had hoped.  We all heard rumors for years leading up to its opening of things like a mind-blowing dragon rollercoaster, but they were not there when the rope dropped.  Instead we had only a few attractions and lots of promises for the future.  I can not argue with the feeling that DAK opened as something less than it should have.

But where I disagree with the DAK-haters is in how things have progressed since then.   Even when I first entered the park back in 1999, I liked what I saw.  The feeling and atmosphere was perfectly presented.  I was blown away by the authenticity of the Africa section and I couldn’t take my eyes off the Tree of Life.  Not to mention that Kilimanjaro Safaris was perhaps the most exciting new attraction I had seen at Walt Disney World since the opening of Epcot Center.  Unlike the somewhat neutral feeling I had when the Disney-MGM Studios first opened, DAK hit a chord with me.  The potential was there.

Then the additions began to trickle in, and I became hooked.  The Festival of the Lion King is Walt Disney World’s best live show and I can stay for hours in the Maharajah Jungle Trek watching tigers romp around.   But it was Expedition Everest that put this park over-the-top for me.  It is an experience that is nothing short of amazing, combining everything that separates Walt Disney Imagineering from the rest of the theme park world.

These last ten years have certainly not been disappointment free.  But what we are starting to see is a park that can really be incredible.  Sure it needs something for the after dark hours and perhaps another e-ticket or a new land to make it even better.  But Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as it currently exists, is worth the trip.  It has incredible live shows, terrific thrill rides, and beautifully presented wildlife.  “Jambo Everyone!”

We will continue our tribute to this great park, and to help mark Earth Week, with a special article each day on one of the great animal species found at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  Check back tomorrow for a look at DAK’s most celebrated four-legged star, the African Elephant.

Disney Vacation Club members have recently received some very good news.  According to DVCNews.com, the club will now be offering free internet access to members who are using their points.  Here is a section of the release…

Based on Member feedback, the daily charge for wired high-speed Internet access for Members staying at Disney Vacation Club Resorts at the Walt Disney World® Resort will be discontinued effective May 4, 2008. Guests renting Disney Vacation Club accommodations will continue to pay the daily rate for access, and high-speed Internet access charges still apply to Members staying at non-Disney Vacation Club Resorts.

There are two reasons why this is a good thing.  The first is that this is hopefully the first step for Disney to get with the program that hotels do not charge for internet access anymore.  I can not remember the last time I went to a hotel, most far less expensive than Disney’s, and had to pay for internet access.  It is now the norm to have free wireless access.  Considering how much marketing Disney does to try and get businesses to have their functions at the Mouse, you would think they would have done this already.   So they really need to expand on this concept way beyond DVC members.

The second reason is purely selfish.  The entire staff of Mouse Extra will soon be spending over a week at Walt Disney World and now we will be able to blog live from the Boardwalk.  Should we get on a Toy Story Mania preview, or anything else that simply can not wait, we will post it that night.  Stay tuned…