Disney World Series Part 3B: Animal Kingdom Review

The fact that E1, E2, and E3 are all animal lovers, we knew that Animal Kingdom would be a big hit for them.

Favorite Rides & Places to Play: 

 

Kilimanjaro Safaris

E1's favorite animal.

Seeing live animals is something all 3 older E kids enjoy so we knew that this ride would be a big hit for them. We spent 1 1/2 days at Animal Kingdom and each time this was the first ride we went to. The first day we waited for almost an hour, we got there around the early afternoon time . The second day only 10 minutes because it was early in the morning.

A good thing about this ride is you are allowed to have your stroller with you till almost the end, so if there is a long wait the kids would take a nap in the stroller. But you do get "set back" a bit when you go to park your stroller parking towards the end, not a huge deal though.

Now on to the actual ride itself. About 20 people are loaded onto a jeep fashioned to look like one you would sit on in Africa. Granted I've never been on an actual safari in Africa but this is how I imagined it would look like. Each jeep has a guide that tells you about each location and the animals you will see there. There are a few staged "dangers" along the way and it is a rather bumpy ride but you do get to see quite a few animals much to the kids delight. If possible, I would recommend getting seats on the last row of the jeep because you get the chance to turn around and take some pretty good pictures without any obstructions.

The Boneyard

A great area for the kids to stop and play. Granted you didn't come all this way to Disney to play in a playground but this is a nice break from waiting in the long lines. Just beware it might be hard to keep track of your kids since some of these slides can go fairly high unless you want to go on the slides too. I did witness a few parents go down them. But don't worry kids won't be able to run off since it is in an enclosed area and there's a Disney employee at the entrance and exit. H even asked to go here again on our second visit to Animal Kingdom.

Favorite Shows: 

Festival Of The Lion King

A great interactive show that lets you be part of a wonderful festival for Simba and his friends. You will get to hear your favorite songs from the movie and enjoy some wonderful acrobatic performances.

The whole family will enjoy this show, even my hard to impress husband was pretty impressed with the flame twirler in the show. And the kids asked to watch the show again!


Finding Nemo - The Musical

One of the best shows I've seen! A 40 minute "condensed" version of the movie with spectacular singing and puppetry performances. It felt like we were watching a broadway production. The kids soaked up every minute of it. H&N were singing the tunes afterwards. Makes us want to watch the movie again.

It's Tough to be a Bug!
A 3D show where you get to experience what it's like to be a bug with characters from "A Bug's Life". While we waited inside a dimly lit ant hole, H&N wore their bug glasses. As N put them on he said "Ahh I can't see!" haha silly kid. There might be a scare factor to some young children but only for a moment. And if you don't like bugs then you might just jump out of your seat. But don't let this scare you away it's REALLY a fun show to check out. H&N were giggling and talking about what they liked as we headed out the doors.

What is your favorite Animal Kingdom show and ride?

Zi and Eva