Memory 107 – Pocahontas and her Forest Friends (Training Show)

** Stereo Audio **
Time: 15:17

Come and join us for another installment of the WDW-Memories podcast, where I try to make it possible for you relive your Walt Disney World Memories when you can’t actually be there.

So is anyone else confused? Did we miss Thanksgiving? Why are we already focused on Christmas? Maybe because there is so much money to be made right? Well I’m going to take this moment and be thankful. You know what I’m thankful for?

1. My God. 
2. My wife and children. 
3. My Friends 
4. My country and the freedoms it gives me. 
5. Music. 
6. A place like Walt Disney World where I can go escape from reality and surround myself with pure joy and happy memories. 
7. Listeners and friends like you that also love to talk and share your Disney magic wherever you are.

Thanksgiving is special in its own way and should not be missed I think. One more thing I’m thankful for are the Cast Members in the parks. Today we’re going to take down the curtain a bit and get to see some of the work that goes into creating a show. Today we’re going back to catch the Pocahontas and her Forest Friends Animal Training show.

So as most of you who are sending in requests are finding out, we’ve covered a lot off the attractions once already and I’d like to get a couple of these others in now before revisiting those yet. So today we’re going to catch a showing of the Pocahontas and her Forest Friends (Animal Training) show. Sadly the Pocahontas and her Forest Friends show ended in 2008 and is now a distant memory, and worse yet, I never got to record it. I did see it a couple of times and it was cute to watch. But who doesn’t love to see how they actually train those live animals to be in the show. Well a couple times a day, they would do rehearsals and allow guests to come in and watch and learn how they train those animals. This memory is from one of those times.

The actual Pocahontas and her Forest Friends show was short and sweet, but maybe because of the theater size was kind of self-fulfilling and didn’t ever really seem to draw a huge crowd. I overlooked it for years, but when I did finally see the show I thought this was yet another example of Disney doing the right thing here in the Animal Kingdom and featuring real animals. Animatronics are wonderful because the deliver a consistent performance, but in world designed to celebrate animals, you really need to show live ones and this was a great example of how to do it right.

As always, I tossed it out to social media, and got no responses. Guess this show wasn’t that popular.

Today we’re going back again to December of 2001. My family and I have driven over to Walt Disney World for the day from Tampa, and are getting ready to spend the day running from attraction to attraction. We’ve just finished Festival of the Lion King and were heading out of Camp Minnie-Mickey when we saw that this show was about to start. My dad, brother, sister, and I quickly slipped into the show and took a seat just as the show began. We’ll be joining this memory just as we’ve sat down and we’re welcomed to the show.

Today’s memory is in only in stereo, so while not required, I’d still suggest putting those headphones on to fully immerse yourself in the memory.

Now sit back. Relax. Close your eyes. And come with me as we get to learn how a raccoon learns to work with a Disney Indian Princess.