Mysteries

We walk briskly through Africa. At the bridge, we admire the view of Forbidden Mountain across the water, and pause to remember the pictures we had from this same vantage point in March of 2005. At that time the mountain was nothing but framework. It had just been “topped off,” so the entire structure was there, but it had no exterior landscaping at all. Completed, it looks awesome.

Upon entering the queue for Kilimanjaro Safaris – wait time 35 minutes – I reply to Wallaby that we’re on our way. I don’t know if he’ll get the message before we arrive, since CM’s can’t use cell phones onstage, but I thought I would reply just in case.

As we wait, the topic of conversation in our group is generally about our “password” – "Safari 2 at Departure 3" – and our amazement at the “secret access” we have. We realize, of course, that to Big Wallaby and other cast members it's probably not that big of a deal, but hey, this is our third time to ride this attraction, and we’ve never had a phrase to use before. Not on any attraction, in fact. And so we feel pretty special, and whisper our secret phrase so as not to upset any of the guests around us who don’t have this inside information!

I do puzzle about what it means. It’s pretty obvious that Safari 2 is the number of the truck, but what is Departure 3? I seem to recall the queue splits into two lines at the loading area, but I can’t recall if there is more than one load zone for each line. And why would a truck go only to one specific load area? Don’t they just pull up to whichever one is ready to load?

It remains a mystery while we wait in line, but I'm able to solve a different mystery. We have Pal Mickey with us, the stuffed Mouse that tells jokes, plays games and, when in the theme parks, gives information about each location and the park in general. Whenever Pal Mickey has something to say, he giggles and shakes, and when you press of his tummy or either hand he tells you the information. We bought him on our last trip, and he is back to be our tour guide on this trip as well.

As we pass one of the video monitors playing the Warden’s welcome to the Harambe Wildlife Preserve (Hi, Wilson! Good to see you again!), Mickey giggles and shakes. While one of the boys listens to the information, I step back and look around. Ah ha! There it is. Mounted at the top of the monitor is a small infrared transmitter. I knew Pal Mickey got the info through an infrared receiver (in his black nose, of all places), but I’d never spotted a transmitter. Until now.