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Disney's Animal Kingdom

Orlando, Florida, United States

Disney's Animal Kingdom is one of the parks at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It's a little different from the typical Disney parks, it is more like an upscale zoo or safari. Many of the attractions you just walk through at your own pace, which means you're not waiting in line as much as most theme parks.

Cost

Adult entrance fees are $71 per day. Multiple days are slightly discounted. The cost is the same as all the other Disney parks, which seems a bit overpriced for this park.

Parking

Parking is available just outside the park, with shuttles to take you to the park entrance. Parking was an additional $11 per car.

Estimated Visiting Time

Kilimanjaro Safaris

You can easily spend an entire day here and not see everything. However, you probably don't want to see everything. A few of the attractions at the park are only suitable for certain age groups. We arrived shortly after the park opened, and were quite tired by the end of the day, leaving about an hour before the park closed. We saw everything that we wanted to see.

Food

There are many restaurants, fast food, and snacks available around the park. They are mostly overpriced as is expected in a theme park. We chose to eat at the Yak & Yeti.

Attractions

Animals

Animals on the Kilimanjaro Safaris

There is a wide range of animals to see here. Take the safari adventure in which you ride a large "tour jeep" through an African safari landscape filled with hippos, zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions, rhinos and more. Walking around the park you can see various types of birds, monkeys, gorillas, tigers, kangaroo, meerkats, bats, okapi and many many more animals. They are all set in a natural habitat and are fun to watch.

If you're able to, arrive at the Safari Adventure attraction early in the day. Make use of their FastPass system, so you can schedule a time to go on the ride later, and bypass most of the line. (If there's no line while you're there, go on it anyway - since there are real animals on the Safari Adventure, no two experiences are the same).

Rides

There are three big rides at the park: Kali River Rapids, Expedition Everest, and Dinosaur. The river rapids is a water ride where you will get wet. Expedition Everest is a roller coaster ride with a mountain theme. The Dinosaur ride is a slow moving vehicle that takes you through a Dinosaur land passing several impressive robotic Dinosaurs.

Many of the larger rides have a FastPass system available, where you can reserve a times lot, and then show up at that time to bypass the line. For the more popular attractions, the FastPass is very convenient.

Tree of Life

Tree of Life

The tree of life is a man made tree at the center of the park. It is larger than a typical tree and is covered in animal carvings. The carvings are quite amazing. You can spend quite a bit of time walking around the tree looking at all the carvings.

Shows

Rhinos on the Safari

There are several shows, some of which seem to be for the younger audiences. Be sure to line up early for the shows or you may be stuck waiting for the next one. Most shows only run every 1.5 hours. We saw two shows: Flights of Wonder and It's Tough to be a Bug.

Flights of Wonder

The Flights of Wonder is a live show with a couple of actors and several birds. The show is informative, giving some information on the different birds and showing them in some of their natural behaviors. There were a couple of neat tricks, like a bird that could sing songs. Mostly it was an opportunity to see some neat birds up close.

It's Tough to be a Bug

It's Tough to be a Bug is a 4D movie (3D with glasses, plus some interaction from your seat). The movie is fairly short and runs quite frequently. The interaction is quite funny, but the bug theme may be scary for some younger audiences. A number of kids had to leave the theater during the show.

Parade

A Float in the Parade

Once a day a parade runs through the park with several floats and characters. The floats are very artistic and bright in the shapes of different animals. Some of the floats were man powered and interactive. Be sure to search for a place to sit early or you'll be standing for a while as the parade goes by.