Disney Day 3: Animal Kingdom

If you haven't done so already, please be sure to read my Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Disclaimer! Publishing this series of Disney posts is really scary for me, and I want you--my friends--to know where I'm coming from when writing these posts!

"We can go to a zoo anytime."

That's typically what we heard from the Animal Kingdom naysayers prior to embarking on our Disney trip. (Mind you, some of the cynics had never even been to Animal Kingdom and were speaking from zero experience.) Of course, there is wildlife. It is Animal Kingdom after all. But it's also Disney's Animal Kingdom, so we knew this wasn't going to be a run-of-the-mill zoo and was bound to be sprinkled with lots of Pixie Dust.

Animal Kingdom - busyness level 6/10

• 8:05 AM - Arrived at the bus pick-up area outside Beach Club. The bus picked us up around 8:15 to take us to Animal Kingdom.
• 9:00 - Arrived at the park. We missed rope drop, but it was OK because we weren't "rope-dropping" anything that day.

• We had planned to kill some time at Gorilla Falls Trail until our 9:15 AM FastPass for Kilamanjaro Safari. However, the trail didn't open until 9:30, so we wandered around the "Africa" area instead.

• 9:15 - FastPass for Kilamanjaro Safari. This was a great way to kick off our day at AK and a good use of a FastPass! We went for a bumpy ride in an all-terrain vehicle and saw lots of interesting wildlife up-close. A giraffe crossed right in front of our vehicle! We also saw lions, elephants, hippos, black and white rhinos, a baby giraffe, crocodiles (Logan's favorite) and much more!
• Theo was fussy on the ride and continually pointed to his ear. "Ear! Ear!" he repeated. At the time, I was concerned that he had an ear infection. (I've been a little paranoid about this since last winter when Theo contracted ear infection after ear infection and was one case away from "the tube conversation" with our pediatrician. See my posts Prevent Your Child's Ear Infections Naturally: Part 1 and Part 2 for more.) Spoiler alert: Theo actually didn't have an ear infection and was likely just tired from our adventure and, as two-year-olds do, had just discovered the fleshy protrusions on the side of his head AKA ears. But, of course, I didn't know this at the time and suspected an ear infection.

• Gorilla Falls Trail. This trail has a zoo-like feel. We could observe animals such as tamarin and porcupines. There was also a Research Center with skulls and a demonstration of feeding an earthworm to an enormous African bullfrog. What made this slightly better than your typical zoo experience, though, were lots of Disney guides providing information about the animals and habitats.

• 10:45 - FastPass for Expedition Everest. Dan went first with S and C, while I waited with L and T. I couldn't believe how quickly they returned from the ride!
• It was my turn to do Expedition Everest wtih S and C. This roller-coaster is soooo good! It is a nice, smooth ride that leads you up "Mount Everest." At the top, you pause and hear "the Yeti" and see his shadow as he tears up the track, and then you zip down the other side of the mountain. Honestly, this might be the best roller coaster I've ever ridden!
• Kali River Rapids was up next. Unfortunately, one of my children wasn't feeling well after his second round on Expedition Everest. (EE is not particularly nausea-inducing; my son just has a sensitive stomach.) In spite of not feeling well, he chose to brave Kali River Rapids. The cast members directed us to don our ponchos when we saw the umbrella. This was a fun ride in which we sat in a big inner tube. It reminded me of water rides at Wisconsin Dells and didn't strike me as anything overly special. Still fun though! (Note: We don't mind getting our clothes a little [or sometimes a lot] wet on rides at Six Flags Great America, so I think we would have been totally fine without our ponchos, especially since it was such a hot sunny day. If I were to do this again, I would skip the hassle of the ponchos. Mamas and girls, just make sure you don't wear a white top! Eek!)

• Dan's turn on Kali River Rapids! Theo napped in the stroller while Shane and I purchased a Mickey-shaped pretzel. It was just too adorable (and yummy) to pass up!

• Up! Great Bird Adventure. This was a cute outdoor show. Sitting down in the shade was a nice reprieve. Russel and his dog, Doug, travel to "India" and learn about different species of birds. The trainers have the birds do some neat tricks (including a parrot who sings "Old MacDonald!"). Logan was excited to see his favorite bird, the bald eagle. The combo of Dramamine (I remembered WAY too late that I had some in my purse) + rest + shade helped my squeamish kiddo feel much better.

• Animal Kingdom has a First Aid station near the park entrance. Wanting to see if they could do anything for Theo (I was still worried he had an ear infection), I brought him there. My hope was that a nurse would be able to take a peek with an otoscope, but the best they could do was give me a dose of ibuprofen to give T. I could also make arrangements to have urgent care pick him up from AK, but that seemed a bit drastic for the situation.
• Lunch at Pizzafari. Stressful! We bought 3 pizzas to share (each of which came with a little Caesar salad), a big Caesar salad with chicken, and a side of bread. I watched like a hawk for a table, but as soon as I found one, someone (who didn't have a toddler on her hip) swooped in front of me. We ended up finding a nice table outside, which in the end was probably better. 

Mistake alert! We originally had a lunch reservation at Rainforest Café, which I ended up canceling before we departed on our trip. While keeping our reservation at Rainforest Café would have been preferable to a cafeteria-style lunch at Pizzafari, if I could do it again, I would make lunch reservations at Tusker House Restaurant. If we wanted a quick-service restaurant, Flame Tree Barbecue would have been a better choice than Pizzafari.

• I had noticed that there was a Baby Care Center by the First Aid Station. I took Theo there to nurse. It was so nice! They had a family restroom, and I took T into a room that had child-sized tables and chairs and Moana playing. I sat on a cushioned bench on the wall and nursed Theo. I love when places like this take nursing mamas and babies into account!
• We walked Discovery Island Trails, and they were kind of disappointing. The trails were short, and there were not many animals to see.
• Next, we headed to the 2:00 show, "Festival of the Lion King." Wow, was the line ever long! At first, we thought we were arriving nice and early. Our bubble was burst, however, when we were instructed to park our strollers in a certain place, and it was quite far away from the show! By the time we returned, the line had lengthened considerably and we were the VERY last people admitted to the 2:00 show. (If we had been turned away, we probably would have skipped it, but, goodness, am I ever glad we were granted admission!) The show was so good. Each part of the audience was given the role of either warthog, giraffe, lion, or elephant. Monkey acrobats. Flaming-baton twirlers ("be prepared!"). Ballet-dancing "birds." And, of course, lots of "Hakuna Matata." Theo was squirrely at the beginning, but as soon as the show started, he was transfixed! Everyone agreed this was the best show of the day.
• Na'vi River Journey. We took a leisurely boat ride through the world of Pandora. The effects were stunning, but it's something that's best appreciated by Avatar fans. Dan and I have seen the movie once, and the boys haven't seen it at all, so they were kind of confused by the whole thing.

• Then we headed to Dinosaur Land. The boys played for a while in the Dinosaur Boneyard Play Area. Shane said he felt a bit too old for these kinds of places. (Waaaah!) But he was a good big brother and played with Theo. Conner and Logan had lots of fun running around. The boys had a blast. My only complaint is that it's a big space, and I felt nervous trying to keep an eye on the boys.

• We left around 3:35 to use our additional FastPass for Finding Nemo: The Musical. It was a cute show. Certainly more spectacular than the Up! Birds show. It reminded me of something we might see at the PAC. The actors held up puppet fish and acted out the entire plot of  Finding Nemo movie in about 30 mins. The boys especially liked the bubbles drifting down from the ceiling at the end of the show! (We were glad we saw Finding Nemo: The Musical once, but we don't feel the need to see it again the next time we visit Animal Kingdom... unless our tired feet need a break!)

• We received another FastPass to do the ride Primeval Whirl. Bad!! Even with our FastPass, it took FOREVER to load. The ride itself was very jerky and not fun. Dan went first with S and C, while I tried to entertain L and T.
• As I was waiting, I noticed Goofy was doing a meet and greet nearby! (Up until this point, the only classic characters' autographs we hadn't collected were Goofy and Minnie.) I took L and T to the line to wait and, of course, Goofy took his break shortly thereafter. Dan finally emerged from Primeval Whirl, so we switched places in the Goofy line, and Conner rode Primeval Whirl with me. If I had known how jerky it was, I would have skipped it. I felt like I needed a chiropractor afterward.

When C and I were done with Primeval Whirl, we returned to find that Theo had scraped his knee and was crying inconsolably. Dan and I had wanted to ride Dinosaur, but we realized it was a lost cause and decided to leave Animal Kingdom for the day. We exited the park and had to wait a good 20 mins. for the bus to pick us up and bring us back to Beach Club.

Final Thoughts on Animal Kingdom

Is Animal Kingdom just another zoo? No way! Although we experienced a lot of the amazing rides, attractions, and shows AK has to offer, I feel like there is so much we didn't get to explore yet: Dinosaur, the Rivers of Light nighttime show, and the-unattainable-unicorn-of-rides--Flight of Passage, for starters. I also only just realized that the Tree of Life houses a theater! We could have really experienced this icon of Animal Kingdom had we stuck to our touring plan (see Don't Be Dopey! below) and viewed the 3-D show It's Tough to Be a Bug. Here's something else to chew on. If you asked each member of our family for their favorite Disney park, none of us would name Animal Kingdom. However, Animal Kingdom houses BOTH our family's overall favorite ride (Expedition Everest) and show (Festival of the Lion King). If you skip Animal Kingdom based on the assumption that it's "just another zoo," you're mistaken and missing out! We can't wait to go back!

Stay tuned for my next Disney post... It's our first rest day. And it's not nearly as uneventful as it sounds. 😉

Don't Be Dopey!

One of the BEST things we did in planning our trip to Disney World was utilizing the resource Touring Plans: Disney World. It helped us organize our day in a logical way that made the best use of our time in each park. Almost every time we deviated from our touring plan in favor of being spontaneous, we regretted it. At EPCOT, our impulsive decision to ride Living with the Land cost us the time and ability to go on Test Track, something we wanted to do much more. At Animal Kingdom, our very long deviation to ride Primeval Whirl (such a time suck and not a fun ride) cost us going on Dinosaur. I won't go so far to say that you should never deviate from your touring plan, but I will advise that you should only do so if you know what you're doing!

Other Disney posts:

• Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Disclaimer
• A Disney Dumbo Plans Her First Trip - Part 1
• A Disney Dumbo Plans Her First Trip - Part 2
• Three Mistakes I Made (and Fixed!) While Planning Our Trip to Disney World
• Your Guide to Bags at Disney World
• Disney Day 0: Traveling to Milwaukee
• Disney Day 1: Arriving at Beach Club
• Disney Day 2: EPCOT