Featured Writer : Mouse Explorer : Walt Disney World

Sunguard Summit
by Randall Alberts

So you decide to hold a convention. You decide that the best place to hold this convention is at Walt Disney World. With 7,500 attendees spread out across 6 hotels, how do you keep them entertained? You rent out a Disney Theme Park, Dah!

At least that’s what Sungard Higher Education did at their yearly summit March 19-22. Of course the only theme park available for evening enjoyment is the Animal Kingdom, and what an evening it was. The park was open to attendees from 7:00 to 10:00 pm with all rides except for the Safari open to guest. This included the new Expedition Everest, and the rare chance to ride it in the dark.

The park opened promptly at 7:00 and was quickly filled with convention goers. As everyone passed through the security checkpoint and the entrance gate, they were handed a guide map with two tickets to play the midway games in Dinoland. For people needing strollers, they were available at no cost.

For anyone that has ever visited the Animal Kingdom, you will quickly notice that it is very different than any other Disney park anywhere in the world. There are no manicured grass lawns or straight streets leading to the park icon. At the Animal Kingdom the grass is tall and the pathways are cracked and full of tire tracks. The pathway is to symbolize a dirt pathway that is leading into the jungle. There are twists and turns. Along the way you may see a McCall or other animal as you wind through the jungle. At the end of the path you will pass through a stone archway covered with plants. You emerge at a stone bridge and before you is the largest tree on the Disney property, covered with carvings of animals. You have reached the Tree of Life.

Since the Animal Kingdom Park is opened during the day due to the animals sleeping habits, lighting is not a big factor, especially with the Florida sunshine. When you rent out the park for the evening, lighting is another factor. On this night there were huge white light balloons that were at every corner to light the way and to make sure that you remembered who was throwing the party. And a party it was. What the host had done was to contract with Disney to hold dinner for guests in the park. Along the pathways were tables set up with a buffet of hotdogs, pasta, fruit and sausage. Also, located throughout the park were open bars serving beer, wine and sodas to all attendees. And if that wasn’t enough to satisfy your appetite, then Disney also opened several of their park restaurants with their full menu and made it available to park guest as no cost.

As you passed through Discovery Island on the way to DinoLand you had to dodge the bars and the buffets. In DinoLand there was a stage and a Rock-N-Roll band, Lisa Z and the Fun House Band. Dodging tables and making your way to Dinosaur was like moving through an obstacle course. At Dinosaur, the wait was non-existent. For the first one’s there, it was simply walk on and take a seat. Want to ride again, no problem; with no lines there is no reason to go back through the queue. This was better than being off-season, this was like private ownership.

For many of the first one’s in the park, many of the ride queue lines were like this. Of course there were also several characters moving through the park to meet and great, as were the area performers that appear in the areas on normal park days. It was truly like having ownership of the place.

Expedition Everest has been in a limited opening for about a month. The official opening is scheduled for April 8^th, but not for these convention attendees. The Yeti was also hired for the special occasion and came out with all of his rage. Imagineers and Cast Members at Walt Disney World all say that riding Expedition Everest is a totally different experience riding it at night as opposed to riding during the day. Due to the park closing at 5:00 every afternoon, few guest will know what it is like to ride in the dark. For the brave one’s at Sunguard’s Summit, the thrill of a nighttime journey up the mountain was a rare experience at the conference.

As you passed by the forbidden peaks and journeyed on into Asia, you again found more food, more beer, wine and softdrinks. And if you had your feel of real food and wanted something sweet, not to worry all of the Disney ice cream stands were open and handing out frozen treats to all who had a hankering for something cold.

Many people ate their frozen treats to the sounds of the “Mechanical Soul” Band playing on a stage in front of the entrance to Kali River Rapids. Of course you wanted to finish your treat before you headed up the river for a white water rafting trip. During the typical Disney day, the ride starts off going up a large mysterious incline covered with fog. This gives users the uneasiness of the unknown. At night, the fog is still there, but the cover of darkness adds to the excitement. The ride is based on conservation and what happens as deforestation happens. Just before the plunge, you encounter a logging camp with trucks, chainsaw sounds and fires burning up the underbrush. With a darken sky background, the fire is more vibrant and colorful. Of course this will also be the warmest that many of the riders will be once they take the plunge and are soaked by whitewaters ahead. While many chose to avoid this ride for the water (as the sign says, you will get wet and many will get soaked), several never left their raft and continually rafted through the evening.

The grand attraction at the Disney Animal Kingdom is the Kilimanjaro Safaris, but with night fall, the animals are fed and they go to sleep. While this may be a problem if there was just an African area, this was no problem for convention planners because while animals sleep, the band plays on. In fact not just the Wasah! African Band but also the Karuka acrobats. Yes, the acrobats amazed the crowds with African music and stunts that amazed the crowds. And that not an animal smell that drifted through the air, but fresh popped Disney popcorn that was handed out as fast as it could be gathered.

So what was happening in Camp Minnie Mickey someone familiar with the Animal Kingdom might ask. Well it was a good old fashion hoedown complete with a country DJ and line dancing. Of course if you really wanted to see some animals, then the Festival of the Lion King show had three showings for everyone. All of the characters and dancing seen during the day were available to everyone in attendance. The excitement of the show carried over to the crowd gathered at each of the three capacity packed crowds.

At the center of the Animal Kingdom stands the Tree of Life. The tree is actually a huge structure build by Disney Imagineers and covered with carvings of animals. The tree is built on the framing of an oil rig and stands as the symbol of the park. In side the tree is a 3D theater that host Flick and the other characters from “A Bugs Life” in “It’s Tough to be a Bug”. Of course the show continued through out the celebration evening pleasing guest of all ages. Around the base of the tree were buffets, bars, drink coolers and music. The park’s Village Beatniks and San Tropez entertained guests through out the evening.

The highlight of the evening was the ceremonial farewell. During the conference it was billed as the Kwa Herini! – A goodnight kiss as only Disney could provide. Living up to the billing would be no easy task for most parties, but then again this is Disney. At the end of the evening, Disney brought out their “Mickey’s Jamming Jungle Parade” and parked them at the park entrance, outside of the park gates. As each entered the courtyard from the park, they were handled an animal mask. Large tanks filled the yard with a cool fog that covered the ground while larger than life animal puppets and dancers worked the crowd as if the parade was in progress. Loud music from the parade filled the area as people, sporting masks of all types of animals, danced from the park to the busses.

So, if you find yourself holding a conference at the Walt Disney World Resort, and need some excitement, then maybe you can rent the Animal Kingdom for the evening. Of course bring your checkbook, as renting the park can’t be cheep. Of course if you do, then let me know. I will be glad to attend and bring my pencil along and capture the excitement for the next set of readers.

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