Disney’s Animal Kingdom

After an “easy” day at Blizzard Beach, we were up and at ‘em for extra magic hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom!!

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Based on our FastPass+ selection times, we hit Dinoland first.

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Mickey and Minnie in safari garb were set to come out right at 9AM for regular park hours. We got in line right before then and were through in no time flat.

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For something new, we took the Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. The baby adored the affection station and could have brushed the baby pig all day. John enjoyed seeing the reptiles, learning about how all of the animals are fed and seeing the surgery room. We had to leave before the day’s surgery started but it is something I will definitely take them back to do again.

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(Mother, John insisted we take this picture for YOU.)

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We were in the right place at the right time when Chip and Dale came out to play a few games of Pass the Acorn (hot potato) and Follow the Leader.
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When we arrived back at Harambe Station, it was time for our FastPass on Kilimanjaro Safari. This ranks way up there among our very favorite things to do in Disney.

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After our safari, we headed right over to Donald’s Dining Safar at Tusker House. The food here was SOOOO yummy and beyond what is typically offered on buffets, with tons of dishes having African influences.
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Of course, the fact that Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey came by our table just put the meal over the top. These are the faces of pure joy…

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After lunch we squeezed right in to the next showing of Festival of the Lion King, another Animal Kingdom favorite.

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Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention our picking up Dole Whips at Tamu Tamu for a refreshing afternoon snack. I just adore these things…

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We were sad to find It’s a Bug’s Life closed for repairs. But we paid homage to the Tree of Life none the less.

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We stored our bag in a locker and hit up Kali River Rapids with our FastPasses next. The baby was so excited to be big enough to ride this time!! Afterwards we headed over to Expedition Everest to catch that darn Yeti.
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Whit was also big enough and, with a little encouragement, brave enough to give it a ride. We were sure to practice our best Yeti faces while waiting in line.

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And, as you can tell from the photo, the baby was less than impressed. He said, “I wasn’t even scared but my cheeks almost flew off and I really didn’t like that.”

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So, with a very short standby line, the PCP and I rode it again two more times…

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With our awesome day in the park pretty much wrapped up, we headed back to Animal Kingdom Lodge!
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Back at the resort, we threw on our swim suits with plans to hit the camp fire, take a dip in the pool, soak in the hot tub and to grab dinner at The Mara. Well, we ended up hooking up with friends again and then a fire inside the lodge kept us out of the building until VERY late. Luckily, we had no plans and we certainly enjoyed ourselves – swimming, cocktailing, hot tubbing, water sliding, animal watching, eating, talking and taking underwater pictures (the littles). It was a long but super fun and memorable day with friends and family!!

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Once we got back inside, we were out like lights after such a fun filled day (and night)!
xoxo

3 thoughts on “Disney’s Animal Kingdom

  1. we loved Tusker House- I think it was my favorite buffet meal while we were at Disney in May. The food was really neat and tasty and the characters made it a really worthwhile meal.

    We didn't spend much time in Animal Kingdom, though- that is something we plan to do on our next trip! :)

  2. Oh- We have always loved Animal Kingdom..but after a day or two we headed out for different food. lol We had a giraffe come up close to our balcony the last time we were there…xoDiana

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