For our first day at Disney World we decided to go to Animal Kingdom. Originally we weren’t even going to attend this park because we only had three days at Disney, and we were keen to get out and go on the more ‘exciting’ rides, having said that, we are so are so glad that we ended up going to Animal Kingdom, because, in my view, it is one of the best parks at DisneyWorld.
We were up fairly early as this morning as this park was having its morning Magic Hours which means that resort guests can get into the park before the general public. We made our way out to the front of our hotel to wait for the shuttle bus to the park which is free to resort guests. The trip took about 20 minutes and by about 8.30am we were in the park.
As we had planned what we wanted to do the night before we immediately headed to the Everest ride which is considered one of the top rides at Disney World. This was a lot of fun and definitely not for the fainthearted.
We didn’t purchase the picture of us coming down the on the roller coaster as there we were, mouths wide open, screaming, hair all over the place. It didn’t take long for us to get over this ‘look’ and later rides will be shown in all their gruesome glory.
Here I am with my 1st visit badge. We really aren’t into this sort of thing as a rule but decided – why not. The Mount Everest Ride is looming in the background. It was awesome and once we had broken the ice with the latest and most thrilling rides we were set to tackle anything.
The next ride was Dinosaur, another roller coaster ride where you are sent back 65 million years to save the last dinosaur. Again a thrilling experience with lots of twists and turns. The picture says it all. This was one scary moment for this big kid, lol.
We really enjoyed the ride and then it was onto the Kali River Rapids ride. We hopped into a round rubber boat and set off down the waterway and as we twisted and turned through the rapids we got wet, well actually we got soaking wet, but it seems to be the norm to get wet on most of the Disney rides.
Next stop was a 3D show titled ‘It’s Tough to be a Bug’. This was a lot of fun. It was almost 4th dimensional as they emitted aromas in the hall to match what was on the screen and also sprayed water at us at appropriate times. This was very well orchestrated and is well worth the experience.
The highlight of the day was the Kilimanjaro Safari where we got into a jeep and headed out on safari. Disney has real live animals in the park so we got a close up look of elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, rhinos and deer.
We returned from the Safari ride which was quite exhilarating as apart from seeing the animals close up we crossed a narrow bridge that was designed to act as if it was going to collapse, so the safari was quite realistic and not just a casual ride around the park. We were supposed to be going after poachers in the park. And a lot of jostling took place as we raced over uneven ground. It was a lot of fun and really an experience not to miss.
After hopping off the safari vehicle we went for a walk through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and found these amazing creatures. Well we didn’t find them as such as they were never lost, but we had the opportunity to observe them close up at rest and at play. Meerkats are such beautiful creatures and really entertaining.
Here I am being photo-bombed by an enthusiastic bunch of onlookers.
The final attraction of the day was the Festival of the Lion King. This 45 minute show was filled with music, dance and beautiful costumes and characters. This show is a definite must see.
So do we recommend Animal Kingdom. Yes we do.
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