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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

A Day at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom

I remember when my wife and I were planning our very first trip to Walt Disney World. I watched every video I could find online trying to see the parks, the rides, the resorts etc. I wanted to see and learn about it all. I keep that in mind now as I visit the "Happiest Place on Earth" and I try to record things of interest so the next person can see and learn and get as excited about their trip as we were.

If there is a park at Walt Disney World that is somewhat misunderstood, it is The Animal Kingdom. We actually overheard someone telling a first time visitor that it is really just a big zoo. I so wanted to jump in on that conversation and make sure the new visitor knew that she was being given wrong information. I have been to a lot of zoos including the world famous San Diego Zoo and, trust me, Animal Kingdom is WAY more than a place to just go and see animals.

Disney's Animal Kingdom has at least 5 major rides and 2 of the best shows in all of Walt Disney World. Some would now say that one of the rides (Expedition Everest) is now probably the best thrill ride out of all the parks. It is the largest park out of the 4 and some would also say the most scenic. So go with an open mind. Take a walk through by watching this short video of ours and see what fun lies ahead at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

5 comments:

El Rata said...

I would have to agree with your statement: Animal Kingdom is WAY more than just a "big zoo"! And every time I visit it, it always manages to amaze me just how beautiful it is! Not only that, it simply has to be the best themed of all the theme parks I have ever visited (whether on Disney property or elsewhere).

Its only drawback in my mind is that it's still quite "small" (not in square footage, which actually makes it the biggest of the Disney parks, but in terms of rides). There are some park areas that seem kind of sparse, but I'm sure that's something that will change with time as more rides and attractions are added.

Still, no one should ever discount "Animal Kingdom": it's still a great park!

Bryan H said...

Thanks so much for your feedback. I thought the same thing about the number of rides etc, but then I stopped this last time and compared the number of rides in the AK to Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios has: Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster, Toy Story Mania, Star Tours and The Great Movie Ride. Those are the only "rides" in the whole park for a total of 5 rides. AK has Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Kiliminjaro Safari, Kali River Rapids and Primeval Whirl for a total of 5 and that doesn't count the other "Kiddie" ride in Dinoland USA. Then you add in the Train ride to Rafiki's Planet watch, It's Tough to be a Bug and the 2 great musical shows and it has as much to offer as Hollywood Studios and Epcot.

I actually set back on this last trip and added everything up just to see how it all compared and surprised myself when I saw how much there actually is to do at AK.

Thanks again for your feedback.

El Rata said...

Yeah, I have to agree with that: Hollywood Studios is lacking in rides, and probably has TOO many shows (and I say "TOO many" because it's actually a challenge to figure out how to make all the showtimes and still have time to ride all the rides themselves). In terms of number of rides, no park is even close to beating Magic Kingdom: that's why even though I'm 32, it's still my favorite of all the parks! :-)

Wendy said...

Hey, I was delighted to find your blog. We've been talking about going to Disney in FL in another year. A friend of ours says there is a disney "savings plan" that he uses, but I haven't found anything about it yet online. I hope you'll right about that one of these times!

Bryan H said...

Hi Wendy,

I am not sure what type of savings plan your friend might have been referring to. There are a lot of posts and references on the internet related to advice on how to save towards a Disney vacation etc. Some families open a entire separate account that they put money into in order to set aside money just for Disney. He or she might have been referring to that or something similar.

Disney has a payment plan for those who purchase annual passes and it is possible that some are calling that a form of savings for Disney since payments are spread out over 12 months.

Then there is the Disney Vacation Package payment options themselves which some might call a savings plan. All someone has to do in order to book a Disney Vacation is put down $200 initially. Then someone can make payments along the way before the final payment date which is 45 days from the trip date.

Thanks so much for your comment and let me know if I can help in the planning of your vacation.