Do you usually call it a day and head out of the Animal Kingdom after the daily parade? Me too. Well, I’m revising my June itinerary to include the new Sundowner Celebration taking place June 3 – 30, 2012!
From what we hear, celebrations will begin each day after the parade and take place until park closing time.
Look for Anandapur to celebrate with special food and beverages, tea brewing and cooking demos.
Royal Anandapur Tea Company
Stop by Harambe Village for food demos, a Wine Walk, and a Juice Tasting.
If the festivities are anything like the 2010 Taste of Africa Street Party, it’s sure to be an exotic and tasty adventure!
This news is sourced from WDWMagic.com!
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I liked the “2010 Taste of Africa Street Party” quite a bit and I’ve always wished that Animal Kingdom would host some sort of mini-festival(s) as the other parks do. I’ve just got to raise an eyebrow at the naming on this one. I’m fairly certain that the word sundowner originated in Australia (as in, a vagrant that came around for a free drink after the sun went down), and gradually worked it’s way back to Great Briton (meaning a single drink at sundown), hundreds of years ago. Sometime after that, it turned into a “kind” or type of drink.
Today though, (in the US anyway) the word sundowner is most often associated with sundown syndrome (sundowning), a form of dementia that 25-50% of Alzheimer’s patients suffer from. As in, I told my parents about the new Sundowner Celebration at Animal Kingdom and they said something to the effect of “that’s horrible, what are they thinking out there”. I told the lady that cuts my hair and she said “so, they’re raising money for Alzheimer’s patients… at Animal Kingdom?”.
At the end of the day, I’m just a simple guy that likes food and the occasional beverage. But I have to say, I think I’m going to stop telling people about this one… there’s too much explaining to do. I just wish they would have kept the title “Taste of Africa Street Party”, or heck… “Timon and Pumbaa’s Street Party”… anything that would make people say “oh, that sounds like something I might want to do”, rather than reminding them of Alzheimer’s.
That’s all just my humble opinion. I am curious as to why this post has no other comments though… you know what I mean? Oh well… which way to the curry chicken and mango chutney booth?
Can’t say I EVER heard the word sundowner before…I think it is reference to the sun goes down but the fun still continues….
Mealtrip — I got a similar note when I promo’d this on our facebook page yesterday. Agreed that some more thought could have gone into the name here.
Niki — I think that’s likely what Disney’s going for here!
Hey Mealtrip,
My guess is that the “sundowners” reference has everything to do with the practice of evening cocktails around a campfire while on safari. It’s a ritual that originated in the 1920s, and still occurs quite frequently.
Just recently I was reading a biography of Joy and George Adamson (of “Born Free” fame), and it mentioned that George was pretty fond of the custom! So no worries, it really does have African ties.
I just wish I could make it to Animal Kingdom to experience it myself!
Piper – Excellent catch on the Joy and George Adamson African tie-in!!! That’s actually quite brilliant, especially if they can highlight that connection somehow. I just think it’s curious that not a peep has been mentioned about the “Sundowner Celebration” on any sort of official Disney media outlet that I can find. It kind of makes me want to grab a camera and head out there tomorrow just in case the “Sundowner Celebration” disappears quicker than it was never announced (sic).
AJ – Sorry if I repeated anything from Facebook. I’m actually (gasp) not a member.