I’m in Windtraders. So is this a kite or what?

Just looking while I wait to be notified that my Mobile Order is ready at Satu’li Canteen…

…where they’re working on a group order.

Ah! Here is my Shrimp tossed in a Chili-Garlic Sauce served with my choice of Base (Hearty Salad) and Sauce (Black Bean Vinaigrette). Down-washable with a Refreshing Balance of Tropical Juices blended with Powerade® Melon, aka a Pandoran Sunrise.

Digestion begins during a stroll from Pandora to Africa. Our first glimpse of the village of Harambe:

Visit the “Smile” Studio and see what develops.

But should they?

Upstairs pantry.

In Mombasa Marketplace, the iPhone’s portrait mode puts the squeeze on one giraffe’s most prominent feature.

Luckily, these two have found their niche and seem to be quite comfortable there.

This is what we’re currently celebrating more than anything else at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

The famous rhinos of a different color.

There are whole new Malimwengu at this guest house…

…where your clothes will be dry in no time.

I think I’ll have mine over easy with a cup o’ kahawa.

The Joy of Missing Out, the herbal way.

Now on to Asia. Along the path thereto, the iconically obligatory shot.

If I knew what this is, I would tell you.

Whereas I am confident that these are Russell and Dug, sculpturally speaking.

So things are looking

No phony arts, please.

Where do sugary soft drinks come from? The storks bring them.

So, anyway, the premiere part of this visit is the opening night of the freshly revamped Rivers of Light. Which involves, among other things, an expanded name, i.e., Rivers of Light: We Are One.

Performances this evening are at 9 pm and 10 pm. I have a FastPass+ for the second show. I get in line at 9:20 and as soon as the nine o’clock crowd clears the amphitheater, we are admitted for our circa 20-minute wait on unyielding, backless benches. Oh, the agony!

So for seventeen ironical minutes we are treated to pretty lights, music, and dancing waters in what is, for sexagenarians anyway, serious discomfort.

This show didn’t make a whole lot of sense back when it actually featured live performers (the version I preferred)… Now the takeaway is that it’s all about animals and that’s about all. Except for lots and lots of Lion King, naturally. (“Live-action” remake coming July 19th.)

I didn’t take pictures or video tonight; I’ll be back to do that some other night. There’s all kinds of video of it on YouTube already. But here is a shot of spectators outside the amphitheater ogling the nine-o’clock edition: