I talked about how I do an open to close Magic Kingdom Day and how I drink around the world at Epcot. Now I’m going to talk about how I do Disney‘s Animal Kingdom when I visit that park. It’s my third favorite park. Even though I rank it at third I still love it as much as the other parks. But if I had to rank them, it would be third. I love seeing the animals and I remember visiting when I was 8 years old and that’s the year it opened back in 1998. Usually, I park hop with this park because you can get a lot done in the beginning of the day but I’m going to talk about a full day there without being rushed. When I do park hop though hands down it’s the first park I always go to because the animals are out and active.
I always have fastpasses set up when I head into this park. These are my go to fastpasses I usually always get when I go to Animal Kingdom: Kilimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur, and Expedition Everest. I prefer to book these fastpasses right at open especially Kilimanjaro Safari because the animals are out and active.
Once I get into Disney’s Animal Kingdom first stop is a photo at or of the Tree of Life. Pretty much if you didn’t get a photo of this infamous tree did you go to Animal at all?
Then it’s time to for our fastpasses like I said before Kilimanjaro Safari is typically my first ride. Always keep your camera handy because you never know what animals you’ll see. Then I try to get Expedition Everest next so I’m not back and forth all over the park. (Fun fact: Animal Kingdom is the largest WDW theme park. It can fit Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios Inside it). So that’s why I try not to walk that much around the park since it’s so big. Everest is a fun ride but that drop gets me every time. My last fastpass is typically Dinosaur. It’s such a fun, dark ride it reminds me of when I was younger riding it nonstop.
After my third fastpass what’s left that I like to ride are Primeval Whirl, Kali River Rapids, It’s Tough to Be a Bug, and Avatar- Flight of Passage (if I’m lucky). There’s not only rides at Disney’s Animal Kingdom but also trails I love to walk there too. It gets me out of my head to be one in nature so I love walking the Jungle Trek Trail and Gorilla Exploration Falls Trail. I absolutely love seeing those tigers and gorillas and other animals too.
There’s a few shows that’s worth seeing like The Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo: The Musical. The performers at The Festival of the Lion King should seriously be on Broadway. Their performance is always amazing and a few times they caught me with some tears because it’s so beautiful. I like Finding Nemo: The Musical but it doesn’t comes close to Lion King.
I love to dance so there’s a few dance parties you have to check out while you’re at Animal Kingdom. One of my favorites is the dance party in Africa with the African dancers. It’s actually a performance they do for the audience but at the end it turns into a dance party for us all with the drums and African music. In Dinoland, it’s always lit when Chip and Dale come out in their Dino costumes and we party like it’s 1998. Then the newest dance party is in Discovery Island where you can party with Timon, Baloo, and many more characters.
I’ve been to some dining places at Animal but y’all know me; I’m all about the drinks. Dawa Bar, Thirsty River Bar, Pongu Pongu, and Nomad Lounge are some of my favorite places to get drinks at. They have special drinks and a full bar service if you want to make something up. By far the best quick service places are Satu’li Canteen in Pandora and Yak and Yeti quick service in Asia. The portions for both places are good and definitely worth the price.
As the day goes by and the sun begins to set. It’s the perfect opportunity to find seats for Rivers of Light nighttime show. It is a beautiful projection show on the water inside the amphitheater. No crazy fireworks but beautiful music, lights, and water that looks so pretty at night. When I’m exiting the park I love to get one more look at the Tree of Life where they have the tree all light up and have a projection show from all our favorite animal inspired Disney movies.
There’s even more to do at Disney’s Animal Kingdom like meeting characters, going to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, get badges as a Wilderness Explorer, explore Pandora so much more. This is what I typically do when I’m at Animal Kingdom. Stay tuned on my Hollywood Studios day coming soon.
Xoxo
The Pixie Gypsy✨