Harambe Nights

Tonight Molly and I attended Harambe Nights at Animal Kingdom.  We heard about this new event a few months ago and got tickets.  We decided to arrive at AK early and do the safari.  Since it was one of the last safaris of the night, the elephants were already headed to their night residences, but the cheetahs were out on display.  We also ran into a giraffic jam (joke courtesy of our driver) because the giraffes were all up close and personal on the road!  By the time the safari was over, it was sprinkling rain a bit (as it had done off and on), so we headed for the beginning of Harambe Nights.

The first part was the "Welcome Party" which was held in Pizzafari.  By the time we got there, the place was crowded.  The event is limited to 1000 or so, and since it was raining, everyone was jammed into the building.  Molly and I shoved our way in, eventually finding the food tables and the bar (as much as you can eat and/or drink).  A wandering band of musicians wandered through the throng, which added to the atmosphere (and also the crowd).  Anyhow, our pre-show meal was a lot of cheeseburger rolls (think eggrolls with cheeseburger innards), and jungle juice

 (with or without alcohol - you could also have your choice of wines and/or soft drinks).  After a while, somebody made an announcement for each group (we were cheetahs) to head for the show and where to enter.   We headed to the show (the rain had stopped) and got in line for more drinks and our lion chow - basically African Chex Mix - and headed to our seats.

Our seats were great - center (the other animal groups were to the right and left of the stage and the "premium" seats were on the floor).  Soon the orchestra came out, followed by the choir.  The show started, which is basically a retelling of "The Lion King."  The two screens show clips from the movie, the choir sings songs, and dancers come out and dance on a tiny bit of stage.  There is a guest narrator (ours was Michael Beach - google him). Our narrators were so-so, as the woman mispronounced Nala at the beginning and Michael Beach kept stumbling through his narration as if it was the first time he was reading it.  Other than than, the orchestra, choir, and dancers were fabulous.  Soon the show was over and we headed for the street party.

The street party was held on the walkways in Africa around Tusker House.  The rain had completely stopped, so although the ground was wet, there were no wet tables.  There were food tables all over the place, although very few sittin' and eatin' tables.  Molly and I got our food and basically hunched over the nearest flat surface we could find.  Because we had overeaten at the welcome party, we did eat plenty, including the free unlimited Mickey Bars (too bad we could only manage one apiece), but after awhile, it was clear that we were completely stuffed.

The rest of the party was face painting and character greeting and dancing and whatever other kind of partying one wished to do.  Molly and I decided that we were sufficiently full and partied and decided to return to the hotel.  We got on our bus, with a family whose baby needed to have been put in bed several hours before, and soon were back in our room - just in time for the Wishes fireworks at the MK!!!

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Today was a great day because:  HS and Brown Derby lunch with Molly; AK and Harambe Nights with Molly