Our Last River Rapids Ride at Disneyworld
Written: Sep 08 '06 (Updated Sep 09 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: This Ride Might Leave You High
Virginia
Cons: But it Will Not Leave You Dry.
The Bottom Line: Your bottom line might get a little wet, but it is fun and educational.
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| Granniemose's Full Review: Kali River Rapids |
After our trip to the Kennedy Space Center, we decided just to take it easy on Thursday. We wanted to get our clothing all washed and packed, and sort of just mosey around Orlando a bit. We planned to make it home Friday, which I think is a ten or twelve hour drive, depending on the traffic.
Everything was pretty much done by late afternoon. Terry decided to get the car gassed up and some fruit and bottled water for the trip home. He did so, and when he returned we decided to go out for dinner. I know we went out somewhere, but I just don’t remember which restaurant we went to so I guess it wasn’t too memorable. I think it might have been a Friendly’s, but I am not really sure. I know we took quite a long time at the restaurant.
When we were finished eating, it was getting sort of late, but Emily and Leigh Ann decided we had time for one last visit to Disneyland. We still hadn’t visited Animal Kingdom, so away we went.
By this time, the place wasn’t crowded and it was shutting down fast. We wanted to take the Safari ride, but just missed the last ride. Then we quickly moved over to the Asian Jungle Trek, but again we were too late. The attendant suggested we try the Kali River Rapids Ride, for they usually stayed open a little later then the other rides.
This was quite a trek from where we were, and I had to hike up the power chair to five miles an hour in order to keep up with my family. There were no guides to escort us through the “temple”, but we did see the carvings . I parked my power chair, and we headed for the rafts. This was a round sort of rubber covered affair that looked like an enormous soup dish big enough to hold twelve people. The round rubbery sides were like the bumper car rides.
In the center there was a big round container, with smaller containers inside. The attendant handed us a big zip-lock bag to use. I think somebody leaving the ride had left it with him to distribute. Ordinarily the platform (deck) we were on would revolve at the same speed as the rafts, but at this time of the evening it was not revolving. I wasn’t unhappy about that. Having it stopped made it easier for me to get in.
Terry, Leigh Ann and Emily put their cell phones, wallets and watches in the zip lock bag , which went into another smaller canister, and then into the round covered metal tub in the center of the raft.
Once in the raft, we had to move around to distribute the weight, so we weren’t real close to each other. And we were off.
There was a certain amount of flora and green growth along the edges of the river at the start, but from the first it wasn’t a peaceful ride. It was sort of like riding the bumper cars when I was a kid. We would bump into something and bounce off and bump into something else. There was some splashing, and we were already getting a bit damp. It looked like somebody had been cutting down trees along the bank, or so I thought..
Then we came to a rise , It wasn’t real high and our raft moved right along, but at the top it looked pretty high to me. As I looked down it seemed that our boat was going to hit either an eddy in the middle of the river, or a water spout. We didn’t, though. It was a peaceful downhill slide.
It was about here that the landscape changed. There was an ancient rusty truck loaded with lumber that looked like it had crashed there, and been abandoned. Beyond the truck there were burnt tree stumps that indicated a big fire at one time,. However, “Old Man River, He just Kept Rollin’ Along” much to our pleasure. There was a slight bend in the river, and – oh no!!--
There was a water fall cascading down from the cliff. No way out of it. Our raft was heading right for it. We hit it, and the water came crashing down. All of us got a little wet, but guess who got soaked? Yep, it was me. But it was fun. Heck, when your family teases you, it means they love you, right? Anyway, after the heat of the day, that cold water felt pretty good.
Then the ride was over. But, look – there were people waiting. There was going to be another ride. So my smarty son asked if we could stay aboard and take a second ride.
The attendant said “Sure, but you’ll have to move over and make room for another family to ride with you.” We did, and another group joined us.
They were an AfroAmerican group from Chicago, and they were so nice and so much fun. The lady. probably in her late forties introduced herself, and her son. She was dressed in causal wear, and her son, probably in his mid twenties, looked like he could have been an athlete. He was carefully tending to his two little boys – about four and five – who were adorable. There eyes were big as saucers, and there wasn’t a thing they didn’t notice.
Then the lady introduced us to the other lady, who was her sister. In contrast to the rest of the crew she was dressed more formally. She obviously didn’t know what was in store for her, although her sister DID know what was coming, as you could tell from the naughty twinkle in her eye as she parried her sister’s questions.
The ride went as before, and again we approached the waterfall. And again, guess who got soaked? Yes, I did, but so did the lady’s sister, who was angry about getting wet.
The angrier she got, the more her sister laughed, and they were still fussing and laughing as we all disembarked. The son did just what my son would have done. He took care of his little boys and carefully refrained from laughing or getting into the discussion.
I no longer cared how I looked as I got into my chair and we took off for the parking lot. A lot of people looked as bad as I did, and nobody paid any attention – except for me. I was riding alongside Emily behind Terry and L.A. And I had to giggle.
Leigh Ann was wearing a pair of khaki shorts, and the way the water was in the raft it did look as though she had had an accident. I didn’t tell her about that, though, until just a couple of days ago.
OFF TOPIC ALERT
Once back in the condo, and because I was still kind of wet, when the family thought it would be fun to go in the pool, I went too. I had a bathing suit that I had purchased about fourteen years earlier. I had had some extensive leg surgery, and my leg had been in an ankle to hip cast for way over six weeks. When the cast was off, the doctor told me to get a professional massage, and recommended a masseuse who would come to the house with his portable table for me to lie on. So the first thing I did was to buy me a one piece bathing suit with an attached skirt. Again, I got teased a bit by my family, but I felt better about it.
For some reason I had tossed that suit into my suitcase, and so I went swimming also.
I was a good swimmer when I was a kid, and I loved it. I was never afraid of water, and I could hardly wait to show off a little. That was before the surgeries, and before I put on some weight. Anyway, I lowered myself into the pool on the handy-dandy ladder, and pushed off. I swam all right – like a rock. If Terry hadn’t been there to haul me up, I would probably still be there. Well, heck, swimming, I thought, is like riding a bike. “Once a swimmer always a swimmer”.
I pushed off again, and I still went down. I think it might have been because it was cold, and I was tense and simply couldn’t seem to relax.
Well, after splashing around in that pool a bit, Leigh Ann and Emily thought we should go in the HOT TUB, which was the next pool over. There was only one young man there, and he seemed a bit too interested in Emily to suit me, but I am sure it was only natural friendliness. Anyway, in the sauna I sat down rather quickly, and then the jets of hot water hit me. My feet came flying up. I think I could have swam there – maybe. It was fun, but by this time I was ready to take a shower, dry my wet clothes and get some sleep.
We got up early, found a place to eat breakfast, and made it home in time to pick up Terry and Leigh Ann’s little dog from the Doggy Care place. It was a wonderful vacation, and I thank Terry and Leigh Ann and Emily from the bottom of my heart.
Thanks for letting me share my vacation with you.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Sep - Nov
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Epinions.com ID:
Granniemose
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Member: Virginia
Location: Greenest spot in the land of the free
Reviews written: 207
Trusted by: 313 members
About Me:
I'm back. Waiting for Lorace to give me another piece of poetry
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