Welcome to Part 4 of my Disney Series. Today I’m taking you into a place that you can have a wild time!
We’re going to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Animal Kingdom is the youngest of the 4 Disney Parks. It’s only been open for a little over 10 years now. The parks goal is to give you a theme park and a zoo. It also gives us the opportunity to celebrate all our Disney films dedicated to nature and wild life. Because if you haven’t noticed, Disney kinda has a thing with animals!
The park is beautiful! It has lush plants and amazing trees that you might be surprised to find here in central Florida. In fact, because of all the foliage the park is always 10 degrees hotter than the actual temperature of the day. So that means, when y’all decide to go to DAK (that’s what Cast Members call the park) make sure you’re extra prepared to deal with the heat.
Now lets get to the goods.
ATTRACTIONS:
There are really only 3 rides that are a MUST.
-Expedition Everest
-Dinosaur
-Kilimanjaro Safari’s
The coolest of the three in my opinion is the Kilimanjaro Safaris. Because it gives you an up close and personal look at different area that you might find in Africa. For example, the African Grassland is an area where you will find 2 different species of giraffe and antelope. The theming around the attraction is the idea that you are going on a two week safari. There have been a ton of times when a giraffe has out his head inside the truck while I’ve been on the ride. You can also see elephants, lions, rhinos, hippos…you get the picture.
*If you life water rides (which I DO NOT), then another ride that you should make time for is Kali Rive Rapids. I am not a fan of getting wet on rides so I usually steer clear of this one!
RESTAURANTS:
–Yak and Yeti has Asian inspire dishes (let me be honest, it’s Chinese food). I really like it. Their Lo-Mein is super yummy!
–The Tusker House is the character dining location in DAK. It’s a buffet with a mix of Indian and African flavors. Character you can find are Donald, Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. I’ve eaten here too and it’s pretty good as well.
–The Rainforest Cafe is the same as all the other Rainforest Cafes in the world.
EXTRAS:
This park is full of shows inspired by some of everyones favorite Disney Films.
–Finding Nemo: The Musical is a live stage show. It’s very well done and I really recommend seeing the show because it’s a mix of actors and puppeteering. Makes for a pretty neat show!
–Festival of the Lion King is one of my all time favorites. It’s had some amazing singers, dancers, and acrobates. And of course it stars Simba, Timon, and Pumba! (If you only have time to see one of these two shows, see this one! It’s better than Nemo!)
As I mentioned earlier, Animal Kingdom is at it’s core a zoo that tells a story, as a theme park does. Not only that but it’s a conservation zoo. Disney even had their very own conservation fund. Some of the proceeds made by certain items in the park even go to said conservation fund. The zoo portion of the park appears at the park entrance and in two other locations.
-The Pangani Forest Exploration Trail where you can find gorillas, hippos, birds, and the Endangered Rehabilitation Center.
–Maharajah Jungle Trek where you’ll find tigers, kimono dragons and bats.
*I had to share this picture. It’s on the Pangani Forest Trail and it’s looking into one of the hippo enclosures. We were standing there looking at all the fish, when out of the blue we see these two huge figures come into view. It was two humongous hippos going at it! They were literally fighting right in front of us. (They may have been playing but it looked like they were fighting) Anyway, I snapped a couple of pictures.
Animal Kingdom is definitely under-rated. I’m not sure why, because I for one could spend all day there. If only to look at all the gorgeous flowers and cool animals.
And you’ll come away with some pretty sweet pictures to share with your friends and family!
Next week, I’ll be taking you to my home away from home….The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow! 🙂
Places I Will Go 
THATS WHAT EPCOT MEANSSSSS??????? MIND BLOWN. I have excellent memories of Animal Kingdom. Once I got a butterfly painted on my face… that is when I found out I was allergic to the paint… FUN MEMORIESSS. Also I was obsessed with the whitewater rafting ride thinggy. And then of course you cant talk about the magic kingdom with out my moms super awesome story about Mufasa. The man running in our neighborhood in short shorts. SWEET.
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SOOOO next week I get to READ about EPCOT and go to EPCOT?! OH MY GOSSSSH :)Anyway, I remember going to Animal Kingdom with my family way back when it first opened – we had a blast!But I can't believe it's 10* hotter in there…HOLY CRAP!. Good to know!SEE YOU SOOOOOON!
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