Disney World Animal Kingdom
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The last park we stopped at on our Disney trip was Animal Kingdom. (To read about our experiences at the other parks, click here, here, and here.) I wasn’t sure what to expect with this park because I’d read lots of comments about how some people thought it was no more than a zoo. However, we happily discovered that those comments were wrong.
Breakfast
Although it had nothing to do with Animal Kingdom, I would be horribly wrong not to mention our breakfast on this day. We saved up for one special splurge meal, and this was it.
I have always wanted to visit the Grand Floridian every since I was a little girl. While we couldn’t afford to stay there, we could visit! I was super excited to reserve the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at the Grand Floridian for our family. It had a buffet, so everyone could find something they liked. And it had characters we hadn’t seen at the parks yet but wanted to.
Our travel agent (get one…they’re FREE) had suggested asking for the check as soon as we sat down for breakfast so that we didn’t miss our Fast Pass later that morning, and that turned out to be excellent advice. We didn’t feel rushed for time and could still enjoy our meal. Tysen got gummy bears for breakfast (It’s the only time in his life I’ve ever allowed that, so it’s an extra special memory for him.), and the rest of us found all kinds of new breakfast foods to try.
The characters made their way around to the tables, and they even posed for fun pictures. The food and experience were totally worth our money! And did I mention I got to roam around the Grand Floridian when we were done? Yay!
Arrival at the Park
We took a bus from the Grand Floridian to Animal Kingdom. We were supposed to have a Fast Pass to the Avatar Flight of Passage ride, but I had read online the night before that if the Star Tours ride at Hollywood Studios made you sick, then you should avoid this ride. So we chose to err on the side of caution and release this Fast Pass.
We ended up just roaming and exploring the park until it was time for our Safari ride. And the Safari ride did NOT disappoint.
Kilimanjaro Safaris Ride
This was my favorite ride at this park! You get to ride in an open air vehicle and tour an African savanna that is home to real live exotic animals. I have never been so close to exotic animals in my entire life! The boys still talk about this ride to this day.
Tree of Life
After we finished up the safari ride, we headed over to explore the Tree of Life. I had seen it on TV, but let’s be honest, TV doesn’t always do things justice. I had no idea the amount of details on this thing! There were animals of all kinds carved into it, and every time I looked at it, I saw something new.
While we were in the area, we decided to check out the “It’s Tough to be a Bug!” show since it’s located in the base of the tree of life.
I remember watching the movie A Bug’s Life when I was a kid, and I remember there wasn’t anything scary about it, so I thought this would be an attraction we would all enjoy that would get us out of the heat for a few minutes.
Boy, was I wrong! I failed to realize that some of the interactions that would occur during this 3D film would be so life like that it would scare my 6 year old to almost a state of tears.
From feeling like you had bug spray sprayed into your face, to having black widow spiders descend from the ceiling onto you, it’s easy to forget it’s not real and freak out. The seats in this attraction include effects too, and at one point in the show, you feel like bugs are crawling behind you and under you. That was too much for my 6 year old! I was glad the show was about over, or else I’m not sure what I would have done.
Africa & Asia
After the show, we grabbed a quick lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. I guess we’re just used to BBQ from home because even though we’d heard great things about this place, we all agreed it was a one and done visit.
Then we were off to explore Africa & Asia. There were several trails that we walked with beautiful sights and animals that were native to each country along the way. I loved the leisurely pace you could take on these trials, and they weren’t overcrowded.
We really wanted to catch the Festival of the Lion King show, but every single time we headed that way, the line was already crazy long, so we added that to a list of things to do on another trip.
Dinoland
The boys were really looking forward to Dinoland, but about the time we headed over to explore, a rainstorm let loose. We were lucky enough to find shelter for the Finding Nemo-The Musical, as the show was just getting ready to begin. I hadn’t planned on catching this show during this trip, but I was so happy we did. The music and theatrical puppetry made it an unforgettable experience for everyone. And thankfully by the time it was over, it was just sprinkling rain. (Of course I was so enthralled that I forgot to take pictures. Oops!)
Because it had rained, most of the rides in Dinoland were shut down. The boys did get to meet Chip and Dale, and there were some fun pin trading stops along the way. Tristin got a really cool Star Wars pin when he tried out a mystery trade for the first time.
We rode the ride called Dinosaur. I had read that it might be scary, so I prepared the boys ahead of time. But it turned out to be just fine.
Evening
We had sit down dinner reservations at Pizzafari, and we couldn’t have been more pleased. We were served pizza, salad, dessert, and appetizers. And it was a nice cool place to sit and eat.
Afterwards, it was starting to get dark, so we headed over to explore the land of Pandora at night. It was AWESOME, and we felt like we were walking around in the movie. Sadly, the lines were too long for the Na’vi River Journey, so it had to go on our list of maybe another time. There was some fun shops and snack items in this area though.
We stopped by the Starbucks to get giant Mickey cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next morning. The employees were really helpful and put them in a big bag for us so we could carry them out of the park safely. Tysen even found a VERY friendly lady to talk to while we were waiting in line.
Rivers of Light
We ended our night with the Rivers of Light show. Sadly, I’ve read that Disney has done away with this show since we’ve gone. It was a beautiful show. The lights floated across the river to tell a story similar to the circle of life. However, I was kind of sad to have missed the awakening of the Tree of Life. I guess that will go on my next time we visit list.
Summary
Animal Kingdom is a park that I was certainly glad we went to because it wasn’t like the zoo, at least not the zoos around here. We were completely immersed in other cultures with their experiences and food, and seeing the animals of those cultures was an added bonus. If you do go, just be prepared to walk A LOT! This was the park I got the most steps in…18,000 of them to be exact!
There were lots of things we missed, so I’d love to go back and experience it now that the boys are older. And of course, I want to wait until this whole crazy COVID thing comes to somewhat of a close because I know things aren’t running normally, and I want to be able to experience as much as we can. And maybe if we ever go back, we can add Epcot onto our list of Parks to visit because the boys have suddenly started showing an interest in that park too.
