Theme Park Rangers Radar: Overlooked at Animal Kingdom plus wardrobe words from ambassadors
The after party for the 25th anniversary of Disney’s Animal Kingdom keeps rolling, and we keep detecting features about creatures on the Theme Park Rangers Radar. We continue to search for DAK jewels and all that jazz.
Radar is a weekly wandering through the jungle of Central Florida attractions. It publishes on OrlandoSentinel.com on Wednesdays.
Ants and raves
There’s a menagerie living at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, to say the least. With all those feathered and four-legged friends out there, something’s bound to get less attention than others. During the theme park’s recent 25th anniversary celebration, I asked Zak Gezon, conservation manager, which species he thought was overlooked by guests.
To say the answer is right under our noses is a little on the nose, you know?
“There’s one that people almost always walk by, which are the giant anteaters,” Gezon said. “They are so beautiful.”
DAK visitors can see the anteaters on the way into the main section of the park. And passing through the ticket gate, bear left to go up the hill. Then, near the top of the incline, on the left-hand side, are anteaters, which Gezon said are “gems.”
“They’re magnificent, and they’re huge, and they’re beautiful, and you can really get a good look at them,” he said. “And they have the weirdest skulls you’ve ever seen in your life. Look it up online. They are remarkable.”
What to wear there
When you see Walt Disney World ambassadors Ali Manion and Raevon Redding working in their official capacity, odds are they are color-coordinated.
That’s no accident, Redding confirmed recently.
“It goes all the way back to when we were announced as ambassadors. We walked off stage after our ceremony, and I said ‘Ali, you don’t mind if we coordinate outfits?’ because I wore red that day, and she wore pink,” he said.
“I grew up with all sisters and I was the mastermind of fashion in the house,” Redding said. “And she [Manion] was like ‘I would love that because I don’t have to worry about it.’ So every night at 9:30 for the first six months, we always FaceTimed each other.”
Now it’s more like who gets dressed first tells the other one what the look is going to be.
“I know her closet like the back of my hand,” he said.
Both ambassadors, who are serving two-year terms of representing Disney World and its cast members, were on stage and participated in the celebration for Animal Kingdom’s birthday on April 22. They went with green ensembles.
Redding frequently sports a bow tie and distinctive socks. For the Animal Kingdom occasion, which aligns with Earth Day, he went with green socks and a honeycomb-patterned tie with a honey drip on its corner.
“We all know that our bees are pollinators. They are very, very vital to our ecosystem, so I wanted to pay homage to them,” he said.
Weekend outlook
SeaWorld Orlando’s Seven Seas Food Festival adds its Cinco de Mayo overlay, which runs Thursday through Sunday then picks up again next Thursday. The event includes a fiesta in Wild Arctic Plaza, live music and Mexican flavors on the festival menu. This weekend’s concerts include the Commodores on Sunday, followed by Scott Stapp on Sunday at the theme park’s Bayside Stadium.
The Garden Rocks concert series, the musical part of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, continues with Ambrosia with Peter Beckett, the voice of Player, on Friday and Saturday, then Kool and the Gang on Sunday and Monday.
The final day for the “Earth Matters,” an exhibit that looks at the interconnectivity of the planet, at Orlando Science Center is Sunday.
Icon Park’s Sip n’ Savor event is set for Sunday. It’s a private party on the lawn with tastings of craft beers, wines, hard seltzers and moonshine, food from 11 Icon Park restaurants and discounts on attractions. Passes are $49 in advance ($9.99 for ages 3 to 12). Hours are noon to 5 p.m. For tickets or more information, go to iconparkorlando.com.
What’s on your radar? Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com.
