DISNEY: CAN I RIDE THAT RIDE AGAIN PLEASE? REDO!

Kyle and I usually spend one full day in the Animal Kingdom through the duration of our trip. There aren’t many rides (maybe three majors that people hit) so it’s easy to do. A lot people don’t like this park because they think it’s boring but I, personally, really enjoy Animal Kingdom. Since I love animals and would own a hippopotamus if I could the park fits my personality. Also, there are a bunch of fun, live shows that run like the Lion King and Finding Nemo.

One of my biggest attractions in Animal Kingdom is the Tree of Life. Carved into the tree you’ll find all different types of animals to encompass the “great circle of life.” If you look at the tree and then watch The Lion King, it looks like the tree Rafiki lives in… but I don’t have confirmation of a connection.

Here I can see an owl, meerkat, hippo, bear & iguana. What do you see? The tree is gigantic and they actually have a 3D attraction underneath it called “It’s Tough To Be A Bug.”

Animal Kingdom is also known for it’s safari that is reflective of the Serengeti. They have all sorts of animals on-site from flamingos to elephants. The lions are the most boring animals though because I’ve been on this safari three times now and have yet to see them do anything but sleep. The guide said lions sleep 18 hours a day, laaazy.

Bird Island - woo!

This is what the safari car looks like. During peak season and peak times you could easily wait over 3 hours+ to ride through the safari. The line gets so incredibly crazy – luckily, we go while kids are in school and wait about 10 minutes.

This elephant excited me because he threw the hay on his head while I watched. Haha! I get so excited when animals do stuff like walk, or lay, or anything…  =)

 

After the safari we decided to wander around the park for awhile with no direction and what happened? I found my BFF Stitch again! I, of course, had to get my picture AGAIN with him because he’s my favorite but also because Lilo was there too.

They are my Ohana.

This, unfortunately for Kyle, got me all excited to get character pictures again.

 

This is one of my favorite pictures from all of Disney.

Also, during our wandering around we found a few “Hidden Mickeys.” Hidden Mickeys are interesting because they can be found in the weirdest places and 99% of the time you probably saw them but never realized. Hidden Mickeys are a big fascination for all Disney fans including Kyle and I. There is even a book dedicated to finding every single one.

During our trip, I found a few:

I'm really proud of the one on the right because it's so totally random.

I just happened to stumble upon these while we walked around. I’m not crazy enough to buy the book and make my life on vacation about finding Hidden Mickeys. There is one in the last post too; it's in the picture where I'm sitting on the arabian nights-style pillow.

Anyway…

I wish I had taken more scenic pictures of Animal Kingdom because it’s really well done. Should I talk about how much I love the detail Disney puts into the parks again? Hahahaha.

This is a picture of Expedition Everest which is a rollercoaster. The rollercoaster runs the track forwards and backwards. I know I’m getting old and not able to handle this anymore when the motion sickness hit me mid-ride. Ugh!

The sun was a little bright but totally worth the picture.

Like I said, Animal Kingdom hosts some pretty amazing shows with great stage sets. The Finding Nemo show is, in my opinion, the best show although I’ve always been partial to bright, colorful shiny things. =) They also turned it into a musical which makes is one skillion times better.

LOOK AT THAT PELICAN!! AWESOME.



I haven’t seen the Lion King show in about two years so I’m not sure if it was updated but I still think Finding Nemo wins.

Animal Kingdom is the earliest park to close, at 5:00pm, because they have to move the animals from the fields to their compounds. All of the animals are housed nightly in homes where they can rest, eat and sleep. There are also enough animals of each species to make sure they get days off; so the giraffe I saw that day might not be the giraffe I’d see the next.

Another interesting story is that Animal Kingdom is the only park that has doors on the bathrooms. This is in case there is an animal escape people can hide inside of them safely.

Our dinner that night was booked in the Yak and Yeti which is in the park. It’s an asian fusion type of restaurant and I had the best roasted duck ever! I also had a Safari Amber Ale; this is a beer that is made exclusively for Animal Kingdom and you can’t get it outside of the park. Of course this made me purchase the 22oz but in hindsight I should have bought two 22oz. Yumm!

To wind down the day and move into the night we got a little silly with flowers of Simba and Rafiki. Naaahhhhhh twaaaawenyaahhh vavaisiashaha shittaaa hoooome! (that was me singing Circle of Life, did you catch that?)

And then hit Epcot for their fireworks show and some beers.

KA-BOOM!