A Day At Animal Kingdom
The last time Megan and I went to Disney World, Animal Kingdom was my favorite park. Now, if you read yesterday’s post, you know that I had a very different experience at Hollywood Studios this time, as opposed to our last trip. The same is true of Animal Kingdom. Megan and I both agreed that Animal Kingdom day was our least favorite day of the trip. Crazy, right?
So, why do we think this was? A couple of factors (in our opinion):
It’s the least “Disney” of the Disney parks.
There isn’t as much to do there.
AK closes earlier than the other parks.
Missed potential…
What do I mean by missed potential? I’m so glad you asked. I wish Pocahontas was walking around the park, and/or doing meet and greets. Maybe with Meeko (my very favorite Disney character)? Why isn’t there a Tarzan ride? Seriously, that would be perfect. Or, a Lion King roller coaster through Plymouth Rock? Just some thoughts.
Pandora is definitely the best part of the park, in our opinion. It’s also where we spent the majority of our time at AK. For everything this park may lack, it does have my favorite ride in all of Disney World - Flight of Passage. It is truly unlike any other ride I have ever ridden in my life. You get the thrill of a roller coaster with the beauty and experience of Soarin’ (located in Epcot). It’s FANTASTIC! The Na’vi River Journey, also located in Pandora, is a beautiful ride as well. We love a good boat ride, and this is one of the most beautiful, relaxing boat rides in any of the parks.
So…based on everything I’ve said so far, you might be curious how we managed to spend seven whole hours at AK. Here’s what our day looked like…
We entered the park about 11:30 am, and were greeted by this spectacular Christmas tree.
A friend had told me the parks would likely still be decorated for Christmas, even though it was approaching mid-January. I noticed some Christmas lights in Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios, but that was about it. AK was still completely decked out though. They even had Christmas music playing throughout the park. It was fabulous.
Outfit details: ears - Etsy, shirt - old from Target, skirt - Amazon (size up)
Our goal throughout this trip was to do as little backtracking as possible, for the sake of our feet. This is harder than you might think, unfortunately. But, nonetheless, with this goal in mind, we started our day at the front of the park in Dinoland. We grabbed a couple of dinosaur-themed cocktails at the Restaurantosaurus Lounge, and then headed over to our first ride of the day - Dinosaur. Yes, that is the actual name of the ride. I confirmed. Maybe it needs a more unique name, but this ride is very underrated in my opinion. It’s lots of fun, and a little scary at times. Highly recommend.
Since we got a later start to the day, it was time for our lunch reservation at Tiffins by the time we finished up in Dinoland. We had heard that Tiffins (located on Discovery Island) was THE place to eat at AK, and I have to agree. It was delicious! A little pricey, but very worth it. We split the bread service for an appetizer, plus a red and white wine flight and we both got Shrimp & Grits. This restaurant definitely has more of a dinner vibe, which we didn’t know. However, it was nice and quiet at lunchtime, which was nice.
After lunch, we did a little backtracking over to Asia for Expedition Everest. This ride was more fun than I remembered, and I remembered it being pretty fun. Definitely a must-ride if you like roller coasters. Warning: it does go backwards for part of the time, if this is something that bothers you.
Up next, we headed across the park to Pandora. We did make a quick stop at the flamingos, of course. If you didn’t know…I LOVE flamingos!
Now this part is important…pay attention. You’re likely to find yourself waiting at some point while in Pandora. Between the lengthy lines for both Flight of Passage and the Na’vi River Journey, trust me…you’ll have some downtime. THIS is why you need to know about Pongu Pongu - this place has the yummiest, most fun cocktails in all of AK. The Rum Blossom is an absolute MUST! We enjoyed several while waiting for Flight of Passage.
As I stated earlier, Flight of Passage is my FAVORITE. It is a ride that is 100% worth the wait, and you will wait.
After Flight of Passage we did a little more backtracking over to Africa for some snacks. We grabbed a churro and some grilled corn to hold us over while we waited for the Na’vi River Journey, our last ride of the day. Again…let me reiterate, it’s great!
And, that was our day! Still lot’s of fun, just not our favorite. We’ve discussed just doing Pandora the next time we visit AK, but we’ll see. We were out of the park by 7 pm, which was good because that’s what time this park closes. From what I understand, AK closes earlier than the other parks because of the animals’ schedules. So, make sure to plan accordingly!
-D
