Have you heard? Monday, April 22nd is Animal Kingdom’s 15th anniversary! I wanted to quickly re-post for you what Disney has sent out so far about the occasion.
But first I need to let you in on a secret. If you are looking for more information on the entire Animal Kingdom Park in general – you really need to join Safari Mike at the MOST comprehensive site I have found so far on the web!
Read all the way to the bottom of this post to get the stuff from Disney and then head to:
The information from Disney about the anniversary begins below.
Special opening ceremony – Meet at the Tree of Life at 8:40 a.m., to hear from Josh D’Amaro, Vice President of Disney’s Animal Kingdom; Dr. Jackie Ogden, Vice President of Animals, Science and Environment; and Joe Rohde, Senior Vice President of Walt Disney Imagineering Creative. Make sure you arrive early for this!
Earth Day “Party for the Planet” festivities – Special interactive activities that focus on animals and nature will take place throughout the park from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Artists and other vendors will present their work on in Africa and on Discovery Island, with their work available for purchase.
Opportunity to purchase special 15th anniversary merchandise, available in limited quantities.
Special food & beverage.
We’ll have more details on Party for the Planet fun, food & beverage and merchandise closer to the event date – stay tuned!
To join the conversation about the park’s anniversary online, use the hash tag #DAK15 on Twitter.
Experiencing a “DiVine” intervention during your visit to Animal Kingdom!
While walking through Animal Kingdom near Bradley Falls – on the pathway between Africa and Asia – you may see a curious site. A small crowd of park guests looking up, pointing and others walking by who will do a double take once they realize what is going on. Have they all lost their minds? Perhaps. It is more likely however that they are admiring one of the most fantastic characters inside Animal Kingdom. Her name is DiVine, and she has been entertaining at Animal Kingdom since 1998. She’s a character who is hired by Disney to help convey the park’s theme of teaching us that nature is invaluable. She’s painted green, walks on stilts, and is wrapped in leaves and ivy to camouflage herself into the rest of the park’s foliage. In fact, if you get near her before the crowd gathers – you may find that DiVine blends so completely with Animal Kingdom’s dense flora that you may never notice her until she moves. These are photographs I took of her from a beautiful February day in 2013.
Look closely, I promise there is a person in every single one of these photos.
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Do you want to know more DiVine secrets?
1.Truth be told there is more than one person who portrays DiVine, and she actually does not work directly for Disney. She is contracted by Disney through a company called Living World Entertainment. Not only does DiVine appear at Disney’s Animal Kingdom she can also be booked for parties or other special occasions and events outside the theme park. Imagine the laughs you could get watching your friends and family react to this amazing creature appearing in your own back yard!
2. Everyone who portrays DiVine must have a background in dance and fine arts, and is expected to meet certain height and weight requirements. How does she stay so fresh in the hot summer months? Well, she uses a special body spray so the leaves and ivy don’t fall off of her. It is amazing to think of the time and attention to detail DiVine must go through in order to entertain guests.
3. DiVine can typically be found near the pathway between Africa and Asia inside the Animal Kingdom. But did you know she also has appeared on occasion near the front entrance to the park? Normally you will want to look for her between 10:00AM and 2:00PM. She is not always listed on the Times Guide, but on this particular day I really lucked out and she was there.
4. DiVine does not make eye contact. In fact she often keeps her eyes closed and the expression on her face looks much like she is enjoying pure nirvana. You will never hear her speak. Like most plants – she is a great listener I suppose. She obviously cannot sign autographs, but I found her to be very accommodating to my camera and almost it was almost as if she were posing just for the entire crowd. She continues her contortions and movements while entertaining the crowd.
5. DiVine is on stilts so her height can vary between 7 and 16 feet depending on what she is doing with her hands and legs. She was so gorgeous and graceful, I could not resist filming her as well, and you can see the results of that below.
DiVine is fabulous and really something special. Next time you are in Animal Kingdom, I hope you’ll take the time to see her if you can.
This was the most adorable behavior I have ever seen from an animal at the Kilimanjaro Safari Tour at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This Eland is making herself a grass hat. At least – that’s what it looked like she was doing. Watch her as she puts her antlers in the tall grass and turns just enough to entangle the grass so she can wear it on top of her head! Then she sort- of swings her tail and sticks up her nose as if to say, “I know I look HOT!” Everyone was cracking up. It was the cutest thing!
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November is a great time to do the Safari Tour because the weather is so nice! These photos were taken around 4PM and the animals seemed to be enjoying the beautiful day. I have more Safari pictures coming – I just felt that these were deserving of their own post.
Disneyways 