Animal Kingdom

I have decided to end my 30 Days of Disney series with the posts I wrote several months ago when we were visiting the parks. I wrote a post per park, so tonight it is all about Animal Kingdom.

I must admit my dad talked me into a trip to Animal Kingdom. I had visited twice previously, the first time I don’t really remember and the second time it was about 1oo degrees and not very fun. This time it was a cool day and we were joined by my sister in law, 3 nephews and my father.

My one tip for this park would be if you have a toddler, use a backpack carrier. If they are seated up high they will be able to see all of the animals. We ended up buckling and unbuckling our toddler out of the stroller constantly throughout the day so she could get a better view.

Animal Kingdom is a beautiful park. Most of the walkways are shaded and the landscaping is gorgeous! We arrived early and headed to the back of the park for the safari. Most of the animals are more active in the morning so we wanted to see as many as possible. There was no wait for the ride and we were able to see all the animals moving around except for the lions, but apparently they don’t move around much anyway.

As you are walking through the park be on the lookout for Divine (or Devine) the living tree. She is hard to spot, but basically it is a woman on stilts covered in leaves. She hangs out in the landscaping, and is really fun to watch.

Photo by thecrystalskull

Be on the look out for character spots as you walk through the park. Right after the park opens is a great time for meet and greet. The lines are short and the characters are plenty.

After the safari we picked up fast passes to Everest and explored Asia. We walked on a few nature paths and saw more animals. When it was time for the big kids to ride Everest I took the smaller ones to Dinoland. This place is like a fish out of water, it is loud, bright, and a bit obnoxious. We rode the TriceraTop Spin several times, so many I actually lost count. The park was so empty the attendant allowed us to stay on the ride instead of exiting and getting back in line.

Safari

TriceraTop Spin

Then our two year old and I stayed behind as everyone else rode Dinosaur. I do not recommend this ride for children under 10 or maybe even 12. My four year old was tall enough to ride so we let her go and all the kids were terrified. So much so that it almost ruined our entire day. We ended up buying ice cream for everyone in order to stop the shaking and crying.

A few of the kids would have been content to stay in the Fossil Playground for the entire day. I don’t have any pictures of this fun playground because I spent the entire time keeping up with the two year old. It is a great place to go and take a break with the little ones.

We saw the Lion King show and the Nemo show, which are both excellent. Nemo is an amazing puppet show and Lion King is a singing/ acrobatic/ dancing carnival. The kids and grown ups loved both shows.

Photo courtesy of armadillo444.

The only negative about the entire day was that Animal Kingdom’s hours were from 9-5. Although we saw almost everything it would have been easy to spend another day there. It was great fun and I can’t wait until our next trip!

More pictures from our day.