It’s easy to miss Flights of Wonder…but don’t
It is easy to miss the Flights of Wonder while you are running as fast as you can from Expedition Everest to Kilimanjaro Safaris to hit your FastPass time. But do yourself a favor. After you are done experiencing the Animal Kingdom’s e-tickets, make your way back to Asia for this amazing and hilarious show.
Flights of Wonder is a 25 minute show that features dozens of birds from all over the world doing things that will amaze you and often make you smile. The show actually begins outside the theater where a handler is holding a Eurasian Eagle Owl named Bayo. Now all Bayo does is sit quietly on his handlers arm while the handler speaks in detail about this stunningly beautiful creature and takes questions from the audience. But even this small Q-and-A session explains the power of live animals and why Walt Disney loved them so much. During this whole session everyone, especially the little ones, have their eyes glued to Bayo and are absolutely fascinated with him.
When show time arrives the audience heads into the well-themed Caravan Stage Theater for the show. Flights of Wonder is not a typical Disney show. There are no singing characters or Broadway-style dancers. There is just a host, some comic relief from an actor-comedian named Joe who is playing a tour guide, and a whole mess of birds. The birds perform an array of amazing stunts, but they are mostly examples of their natural behavior and not learned tricks. They swoop down across the audience, snatch grapes out of the air, and generally amaze the audience.
Of course, it is hard not to enjoy a singing parrot named, I believe, Groucho. Groucho apparently has a rather extensive repertoire of favorites he sings for the audience, so you can never be quite sure what he will belt out during your show. Needless to say, I don’t think Groucho next job is going to be at the Festival of the Lion King, but hey, he tries hard and always gets a deserving round of applause.
As Disney’s Animal Kingdom continues to grow, most of the attention of fans will probably be focused on new attractions. Racing across the park to ride the new rides or see the new shows might cause you to miss some of the park’s best and most astounding offerings. The Animal Kingdom is best experienced by seeing the big draws and then taking your time to enjoy the animals and what the park is really all about. There is no better example of this than Flights of Wonder. Don’t miss it.











