0  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

Hubby and my 4 year old check out the fish on one of the walking trails at Animal Kingdom

This blog is a part of a series on a recent trip my family took to Disney World. You can click here for day one's review of Hollywood Studios, and here for day two's review of Magic Kingdom.

My parents live in Florida, so we weren't in for a week long trip to Disney.  Our third day was our last and a trip to Animal Kingdom.   I knew the kids would like it as they love our local zoo.

We arrived before the park opened so we could walk through as soon as they opened the gates.  The first thing we did was walk to Africa and take the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride.  It was great!   We rode in an open-sided safari truck around acres of land where animals roam free.  The kids really enjoyed seeing all the wild animals (elephants, hippos, giraffes and more).  I definitely recommend doing this first thing - it seemed like this was the most popular ride/attraction at the park as we already had a line and we walked right in.  It's set in "Africa" and what's nice is that they have walking trails to see the animals that you can go through after. 

So we only did a half day at Animal Kingdom - my kids were winding down after days of touring, so we missed a lot - including the Finding Nemo Musical and the Festival of the Lion King.  But I figure we have years to go back and do some of these shows - both seemed very popular.  The Festival of the Lion King is set in Camp Minnie-Mickey, which is also a great area to meet and greet the characters.  We happened to head over there right as a show was starting, so we had no line at all to meet the characters!  We saw Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy all within 5 minutes. 

Dinoland was a blast too - my four year old loved the TriceraTop Spin (just like Dumbo in Magic Kingdom) and exploring the "Boneyard."  This was our hottest day touring the parks, by the way.  And not because it was hotter temperature wise - Animal Kindgom is much more woodsy and humid - very humid with narrow paths.  If I ever gave someone a piece of advice with this park, I'd say go on a cooler day!  Either that, or prepare to ride the Kali Rapids water ride to get soaked and cool off. 

Lastly, hubby was dying to do the new rollar coaster, the Expedition Everest.  It's apparently quite the thrill.  You couldn't pay me to go on it but I'm sure my boys will be on it with my hubby when they are older.  (I can't wait to go back but I dread when my boys start going on the thrill-seeking rides!)