Day 6- Disney World Animal Kingdom Park Review
Day 6- Disney World Animal Kingdom Park Review
On the 6th day of our Disney World trip (5th day in Disney Parks), we ventured into the enchanting world of Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. The first thing to note is that my son and I love animals and were very much looking forward to our enchanting extra Up Close with the Rhinos. When we first arrived at the park, we went straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris, which was such an interesting ride. It was a delight to see all the animals living in their habitats in the Savanna. After all the walking at Disney World, it is nice to be able to sit and observe the animals instead of walking. The African Savanna is set up so that you do not see any fences, it looks like each of the different animals is in their natural habitat. Since we did have an enchanting extra for 11 am and 2 pm, I purchased Geni+ for Animal Kingdom to ensure we got on Kilimanjaro Safaris before our 11 Rhinos reservation. With our lightning lane, the line was very short for the Safari. I would suggest going on the safari in the early morning, as more animals are active before the height of the day, minimizing you having a bad view of the animals on the Safari.
We didn’t want to venture too far away from Africa, as that is where the enchanting extras tours meet. After the Safari we had about an hour before our Up Close with the Rhinos reservation so we walked the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail where we got to see many animals including gorillas, hippos, and zebra. The gorillas were a bit hit, young gorillas were playing and running around, which was a delight to see. There was a cast member near the gorilla viewing area, answering questions and giving information about the gorilla family. By the time we finished the trail and wandered around Africa a bit, it was time to check in for Up Close with the Rhinos.
Up Close With Rhinos
Up Close with Rhinos was amazing! We got to pet a White Rhino named Ranger. It was interesting to learn about how they care for the Rhinos, and that rhinos are trainable and love to be petted. Who would have thought that Rhino’s like to be petted?! To be so close and be able to touch such a majestic animal was an amazing experience we will never forget. The Disney cast members were passionate about what they do, you can feel the love they have for the animals. As I mentioned, my son loves animals. This whole trip, he kept finding animal-related jobs that he wanted to do when he grows up. We got to see the backstage area of Animal Kingdom, which included the back of the building for the Lion King show, the Kilimanjaro Safari truck, and where they grew the food to feed all the animals at Animal Kingdom. It was so interesting to learn tidbits about animal care at the parks. Who would have thought that they grew all the food for the animals on site? Out of all the enchanting extras we have done at Disney World and Disney Land, Up Close with the Rhinos was my favorite. If you are an Animal Kingdom fan, I would highly recommend the Up Close with Rhinos tour. It was one of the best things about our trip. One caveat, there were no photos allowed on this tour.
Yak and Yeti Local Foods Cafe
After meeting Ranger we had some time before our next enchanting extra- Caring for Giants at 2 pm. So we went to Kali River Rapids and got lunch at Yak and Yeti Local Foods Cafe. The food at Yak at Yeti was good and set us on our way to seeing the elephants at Caring for Giants. We also walked through Discovery Island and saw It’s Tough to Be a Bug. My kids are not into thrill rides, so Animal Kingdom was more about seeing the animals than rides for us. They didn’t want to go on Avatar Flight of Passage or Expedition Everest, which meant we were able to avoid many of the Disney rides with long wait times.
Caring for Giants
There is no petting of elephants in Caring for Giants, but you do get to go to a separate viewing area (again going backstage) where you can see elephants closer and for longer than on Kilimanjaro Safaris. It was nice to be able to sit and watch the elephants doing their thing while learning about them from the tour guide. Our tour guide had lots of information about elephants and about Animal Kingdom in general. We got to see the baby elephant up close, walking around with her mom, aunt, and grandma. This tour is not guaranteed to see the elephants, as if they are in a different part of the habitat, you will not be able to view them. When we first arrived at the viewing area, there were no elephants to be seen. However, after about 5 minutes they came walking by and stayed in view for the remainder of our time on the tour.
After the tour, we stopped for some Dole Whip. At this point we were tired and hot, so we returned to the hotel. There was so much at Animal Kingdom that we didn't get to see like the Lion King Show and many of the rides. Next visit to Disney World, if we have enchanting extras on our Animal Kingdom day, I would schedule 2 days at Animal Kingdom. Without enchanting extras there likely would have been enough time in the day to see much of the park. There is so much we didn’t get to see including the Lion King show and Na'vi River Journey, but the enchanting extras were well worth the time. They created some wonderful memories. A lot of people say Animal Kingdom is not a full day park. I would say it is a full day park, but being that the park closes early, it allows you to park-hop to other Disney theme parks on the same day. Disney's Animal Kingdom Park truly lived up to its reputation as a place where magic and nature collide, making it a day I will never forget. It definitely won't be our last visit to Animal Kingdom, as it is a great place for animal lovers. Since we already did the enchanting extras we wanted to do at Animal Kingdom, next time I hope to get in more of the sights and rides in a single day.
Storybook Dining at Artist Point
After some time relaxing at the hotel, we made our way to Disney’s Wilderness Lodge for our dining reservation at StoryBook Dining at Artist Point. We checked in about 20 minutes before our reservations and had a chance to walk around the beautiful grounds of the Lodge. The dwarves and Snow White are absolutely charming. Dopey, Grumpy, and Snow White made their way to each table taking their time for photos, signatures, and interactions with the kids. My son, who isn’t always thrilled to meet characters, loved meeting Dopey and Grumpy. My daughter was so happy to meet Snow White. The adult meal was wonderful, the mushroom soup was delicious. My only complaint was my son is technically an adult per Disney (he is 10), and there were not many options for him to choose from on the adult menu. Every detail, even the serving dishes and appetizer displays was themed to look like you were in the woods. The detailed theming at the Storybook dinner was on point. At the end of our meal, we got a token to line up for a photo op with the Evil Queen which was amazing. We got such great shots of my daughter and the Evil Queen!
Magic Kingdom
From the Wilderness Lodge, we made our way to Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks again. We arrived at Disney's Magic Kingdom with enough time to go on Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor again (we did it on our Magic Kingdom day already). Both my kids got put in the spotlight and on the big screen this time, which made their evening! They were so happy to be picked by the Monsters. After Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, we made our way to the Castle and settled on a spot to watch the fireworks for a second time, and it did not disappoint. This time around, we didn’t attempt to leave Magic Kingdom right after the fireworks. Instead, we made our way to Main Street Bakery for a late-night snack. When we attempted to leave right after the fireworks on our first night at Magic Kingdom, the line for the Monorail was huge. It took a long time to get onto the Monorail (we drove to Magic Kingdom so we needed to get back to the parking lot). This time around, we grabbed some treats and sat on the curb on Main Street enjoying our snacks and watching the people go by. After we finished eating we made our way to the exit and the Monorail and were pleasantly surprised to find a much shorter line.
I was so glad we got park hopper tickets for this trip. If you are staying at a Walt Disney World property that is a deluxe hotel with extra magic hours, park hoppers would be a great choice to keep the Magic of Disney going. We could have kept going after the fireworks since it had cooled off a lot and we had a mid-day break. Since we were staying off-site (Marriott Palm’s Villa), we drove to and from the parks each day. It made getting to and from the hotels and park hopping a breeze. It was so easy to get around without having to wait for buses when we were tired from walking all day. Between the park hopper tickets and the use of a car, we park hopped many evenings to see different nighttime shows.
To learn about how we scored our hotel, airfare, and 7-day park hopper plus tickets for $1400 total check out "Plan a Free Trip to Disney World Using Credit Card Points." To learn about the rest of our Disney World trip check out:
Our Magical Experience on a Disney World Vacation
Starlight Safari at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
Day 2 of Disney World Magic- Magic Kingdom Review
Disney Day 3 - Amorette's Cake Decorating and Epcot
Day 4 and 5: Disney World Hollywood Studios Review
Day 6- Disney World Animal Kingdom Park Review
Disney World's 1900 Park Fare Character Dinner Review
Amorette's Patisserie Cake Decorating Experience
Typhoon Lagoon Review - Our Disney World Trip Day 7