"Mario?"
"Yes, Luigi?"
"Remember how Peach had us leave the MGM Studios early yesterday, causing us to miss Fantasmic?"
"I told you already, we're going to go back and see that before we leave!" Peach elaborated, "It's a really good show, and I want to save the best for last!"
"Um, yes…" Mario answered, ignoring Peach's remark, "She also did that so we could go to bed early."
"Yes… And that was so we could get up extra early this morning for… This?"
Luigi motioned towards the still closed gates right in front of them.
"The park isn't supposed to open for another hour."
"Ah! That is true for most guests…" Peach explained, "But because we are staying at a Disney hotel, we are allowed to enter a certain park an hour earlier than the rest on a 'Magical Morning'!"
Sure enough, a cast member came out and opened the front gate, letting Mario and the group, as well as other Disney hotel guests, into the fourth park of Walt Disney World: Disney's Animal Kingdom.
"Okay, now that we're in," Peach began as they entered The Oasis, the first area of the park, "We need to figure out where to go first. Waluigi? This was your job!"
"Huh? It was? Oh, yeah…" Waluigi grunted, flipping through the guidebook Peach had given him, "According to the guide, the first ride we should hit is… Uh, how do ya pronounce this? Kill-a-Majora? What is this, a Legend of Zelda ride?"
Daisy snatched the book out of Waluigi's hands and looked at the word he was having trouble with.
"Waluigi… You really can't read this?"
"Uh… No?"
"Sigh… This says Kilimanjaro Safaris."
"Oh, I knew that. I was just… Testing you! Yeah, that's it!"
"Just keep reading…" Daisy requested, smacking Waluigi over the head with the guide.
"Okay, geez… Kilimanjaro Safaris is a ride through a natural looking African environment… bla bla bla… real live animals… yadda yadda yadda… And we should do it first because the animals are most active in the morning. Got all that?"
"Sounds good!" Mario said, "Let's-a go!"
Although the trek from the front entrance all the way to the back of Africa was rather draining (especially for Wario, who complained the entire way), but the walk paid off, as they were one of the first ones in line. After a very short wait, they were loaded onto a truck and set off on their safari.
"I hope you got your camera ready, Peach," reminded Luigi, "who knows what we'll see on this trip!"
Luigi was right. As Peach was on one of the ends, she was able to get clear shots of many different animals, including elephants, lions, and hippos! Even more interesting was that the truck's path was not blocked off from the animals, and on numerous occasions, the vehicle had to stop to allow animals to cross! Such things made the ride seem like it was a real safari. However, as was almost expected, Wario, who was sitting on the opposite end of the truck, appeared to not find the event interesting at all.
"Boooooring…" Wario groaned, "This is just a zoo on wheels. We've got zoos in the Mushroom Kingdom! Why did we come all the way out here to… Huh? What the?..."
Wario suddenly realized that his hat was missing. Looking around, he suddenly discovered that a giraffe had stuck his head inside the truck and was now munching on his cap!
"HEY! GIMME MY CAP BACK! Geez, first that stupid statue and now this stupid giraffe!"
"Well, the guidebook did say that the giraffes are the most curious creatures on the savannah…" Waluigi commented with a shrug, "Heh, heh, and here I thought this ride was gonna be lame, just like you! I guess we were both wrong, eh?"
Wario wasn't really paying attention, however, as he was currently having a tug-of-war with the giraffe to get his hat back! Eventually, the giraffe realized that fighting for the hat wasn't worth it, as it wasn't a tasty leaf as he apparently first thought, so he let go, causing Wario to tumble backwards a bit. After putting his cap back on his head, he discovered that, while the giraffe didn't tear through it, he did leave it very lumpy and wet.
"Grr… Stupid animal…" Wario grumbled, "I have half a right to jump out and drag that giraffe by the throat over to the lion den and toss him in!"
Regardless, the ride continued. One frightening moment was when the truck crossed over a bridge spanning an alligator pit. Suddenly, the bridge began shaking, and the truck almost fell off!
"Oh no!" Peach squealed, "My camera!"
As it turned out, Peach had her camera out while they were going over the bridge, and the sudden vibrating caused her to drop it! Fortunately, at the last second, Mario reached out and managed to get one finger around the wriststrap and quickly pulled it back into the truck.
"And this," Mario explained, handing the camera back to her, "is why we use wriststraps."
"Oops, tee hee… Sorry, Mario," apologized Peach, "I'll remember next time. I hope…"
As the ride went on, things suddenly turned serious. Two of the elephants, a mother and child named Big Red and Little Red, were captured by poachers! The tour guide quickly decided to help the wildlife preserve capture the poachers by blocking off their exit with the truck. As it sped through the savannah and into the forest, Mario and the gang cheered them on.
"Woo, hoo! You can do it!" Mario encouraged.
"Yeah!" Daisy agreed, "Teach those poachers a thing or two!"
"Oh yeah… wee… go you…" Wario mumbled sarcastically, "It's not like you go through this exact same thing every fifteen minutes or anything…"
Of course, being Disney, the group was able to stop the hunters and they were assured that Big and Little Red were okay. After this heroic turn of events, the ride ended.
"Well, that was fun!" Daisy cheered as she got off, "Did you get a lot of pictures of the animals, Peach?"
"Uh, huh," the other princess replied, "I got a lion, a rhino, some flamingos, and, of course, Wario, who could probably qualify as an animal, wrestling with the giraffe."
"I heard that…" Wario grumbled.
"You should have. I was talking to you."
"So, anyway…" Luigi asked, "What's next?"
"Well, let's see…" Waluigi replied, "It's a giant roller coaster through a snowy mountain that's guarded by an abominable snowman."
"Huh? I thought the Matterhorn was only in Disneyland."
"Who said this was the Matterhorn?" Waluigi said with a smirk, "I'm talking about Expedition Everest."
Author's note: Remember in the last chapter how I said a personal problem might push my vacation to WDW back? Well, it did, and I still haven't gone yet. However, there is some very good news: First off, the problem has been pretty much resolved, and it was certianly worth putting off the vactation to wait for it to settle down and, secondly, I am now, for certain, leaving tomorrow! See ya all in two weeks!
