mshanson3121
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
Well today was our first Animal Kingdom day. First off, let me say, wow - those who say AK is a half day park only... are either skipping a lot or just blowing through it, focusing on the rides only. There is absolutely NO way to see everything there is in this park in half a day. Quite literally impossible. I'm sure some are just disappointed there's not more rides,or perhaps aren't into animals, so don't really take the time, but IMO, Animal Kingdom's beauty is that it's not a ride-centric park. It's a nice break from the hustle and bustle of rushing from ride to ride. This is an absolutely beautiful park, and I have to say a photographer's paradise.
So we arrived for RD, walked in and very first thing we found Divine!!! She is amazing. Wow. The kids were absolutely enchanted. Oh, and my touring plans were shot today as well. I spent countless hours planning those touring plans - and in all honesty, what a waste of time, lol. Seriously. Now that I'm here, I wouldn't tell anyone to worry about touring plans too much, because your kids are going to dictate what you do. I mean, if your only concern is getting every single ride done, then yes, it's probably important. But, if your main goal is to enjoy yourself, take time, enjoy unexpected moments and to follow your children's leads - then please do not waste your time! lol. And this coming from a woman who drove this board nuts with incessant questions about touring plans questions.
So, from Divine, the kids immediately spied the Wilderness Explorers, and we signed them both up. What a GREAT program. This is a time-eater, I will say that. But - amazing. The children both loved earning badges, and my animal-loving son especially loved talking to the experts, learning more. If you have an animal fan, I really recommend this.
Our first ride was Kali, our DD did this, DS stayed off. We hit it at about 9:20 or so in the morning, standby was only 10 minutes, we walked on with DAS. DD (5, ASD) was a bit timid - but oh man oh man, she LOVED it. And boy did we get soaked. I mean 100% drenched, lol. She got off the ride raring to do it again immediately, lol. But we had a FP+ for the safari, so we carried on. We moved into the Maharajah Jungle Trek - and here's my advice - do Kali, then Maharajah. There are many powerful fans in the trail and the breeze on the damp clothes, IMO, felt heavenly. Just don't wear shoes that absorb water. The children loved this trail and we spent quite awhile here.
We went on the Safari which was excellent. We saw many, many animals, and while they weren't very active, they were out. We had a giraffe cross the road immediately behind our truck, and we had another animal (I forget it's name) walk beside us, so close we could have touched it.
After the safari we went through the Pangani Forest trail, though a bit quickly since DD was starting to get hungry. But we did spend awhile watching the gorillas - and we even got to see the little baby one! Again, the children loved this trail. Both trails have are free-flight for birds, which I didn't realize, and which our bird-loving son was so excited about.
From there we went back to the market, catching the end of the Tam Tam Drummers - who are great. We had to laugh at them trying to teach the men to do the African dancing
We bought some cookies at the sweets shop, which were delicious. Though eat them fast - on a hot day the icing doesn't last long.
We were all pleasantly surprised by the heat in this park. Everyone said it's the hottest park - we didn't find it so at all. Instead, I found that there were numerous fans, misting sprays, fountains to cool off in, and lots of shade. More than the other two parks we've been to so far.
By this point, DD was rather insistent that we ride Kali again. She was so excited about going on it again, she was stimming (we've been lucky, the only time our daughter stims is when she's really excited), flapping and clapping, and dancing and skipping, and just quite frankly adorable in her excitement, lol. Once again, we got DRENCHED! And she loved it.
From there we went to Dinosaurland to ride Triceratops spin. I admit, I wish we hadn't. Now, I'll say this - the kids loved the Triceratops spin ride, and the games (we didn't get to the Boneyard). But... it's just so out of place. It felt like nothing more than the local county fair, which I know is the idea, but, heck, I can get the county fair at home. I mean, the theming is well done, like all things Disney, but... IMO, the theming just doesn't work for Animal Kingdom. But, all that said, I can see the appeal for kids, so... it is what it is. But, I wish that they would let AK stay as a more natural, relaxing place, instead of trying for ride-central "theme park" feel.
We left around 1:30, and plan to return Friday (with another FP+ for DD for Kali!). While all the theming at the Disney parks is great, AK really blew me away. It was just so unique, so beautiful.
As far as crowds so far - going by the Touring Plans crowd calendar, Epcot was a 9, but as I mentioned, it in no way felt crowded at all. Wait times were high, but crowds were low. Yesterday, Magic Kingdom was an 8, and definitely felt more crowded than Epcot, but that said, it was still very manageable, and didn't feel even as crowded as going to our local fair each summer as far as navigating around. Construction was hardly noticeable at all. Animal Kingdom today was a 7, but by far felt the most crowded so far. I'm sure it's because it's smaller, but also because of the construction - which is definitely noticeable, and seemed to be everywhere, even out on the safari ride. I wouldn't skip the park because of it though.So the lesson here is -I also wouldn't stress yourself out about the crowd calendars. Oh, I think they're good for a general guideline, and probably important on holiday weekends etc... but, so far, we have found the crowd levels have really meant nothing - the park with the highest level felt the least crowded and the one with the lowest felt the most crowded.
And so next stop is Hollywood Studios tomorrow!
So we arrived for RD, walked in and very first thing we found Divine!!! She is amazing. Wow. The kids were absolutely enchanted. Oh, and my touring plans were shot today as well. I spent countless hours planning those touring plans - and in all honesty, what a waste of time, lol. Seriously. Now that I'm here, I wouldn't tell anyone to worry about touring plans too much, because your kids are going to dictate what you do. I mean, if your only concern is getting every single ride done, then yes, it's probably important. But, if your main goal is to enjoy yourself, take time, enjoy unexpected moments and to follow your children's leads - then please do not waste your time! lol. And this coming from a woman who drove this board nuts with incessant questions about touring plans questions.
So, from Divine, the kids immediately spied the Wilderness Explorers, and we signed them both up. What a GREAT program. This is a time-eater, I will say that. But - amazing. The children both loved earning badges, and my animal-loving son especially loved talking to the experts, learning more. If you have an animal fan, I really recommend this.
Our first ride was Kali, our DD did this, DS stayed off. We hit it at about 9:20 or so in the morning, standby was only 10 minutes, we walked on with DAS. DD (5, ASD) was a bit timid - but oh man oh man, she LOVED it. And boy did we get soaked. I mean 100% drenched, lol. She got off the ride raring to do it again immediately, lol. But we had a FP+ for the safari, so we carried on. We moved into the Maharajah Jungle Trek - and here's my advice - do Kali, then Maharajah. There are many powerful fans in the trail and the breeze on the damp clothes, IMO, felt heavenly. Just don't wear shoes that absorb water. The children loved this trail and we spent quite awhile here.
We went on the Safari which was excellent. We saw many, many animals, and while they weren't very active, they were out. We had a giraffe cross the road immediately behind our truck, and we had another animal (I forget it's name) walk beside us, so close we could have touched it.
After the safari we went through the Pangani Forest trail, though a bit quickly since DD was starting to get hungry. But we did spend awhile watching the gorillas - and we even got to see the little baby one! Again, the children loved this trail. Both trails have are free-flight for birds, which I didn't realize, and which our bird-loving son was so excited about.
From there we went back to the market, catching the end of the Tam Tam Drummers - who are great. We had to laugh at them trying to teach the men to do the African dancing
We bought some cookies at the sweets shop, which were delicious. Though eat them fast - on a hot day the icing doesn't last long.We were all pleasantly surprised by the heat in this park. Everyone said it's the hottest park - we didn't find it so at all. Instead, I found that there were numerous fans, misting sprays, fountains to cool off in, and lots of shade. More than the other two parks we've been to so far.
By this point, DD was rather insistent that we ride Kali again. She was so excited about going on it again, she was stimming (we've been lucky, the only time our daughter stims is when she's really excited), flapping and clapping, and dancing and skipping, and just quite frankly adorable in her excitement, lol. Once again, we got DRENCHED! And she loved it.
From there we went to Dinosaurland to ride Triceratops spin. I admit, I wish we hadn't. Now, I'll say this - the kids loved the Triceratops spin ride, and the games (we didn't get to the Boneyard). But... it's just so out of place. It felt like nothing more than the local county fair, which I know is the idea, but, heck, I can get the county fair at home. I mean, the theming is well done, like all things Disney, but... IMO, the theming just doesn't work for Animal Kingdom. But, all that said, I can see the appeal for kids, so... it is what it is. But, I wish that they would let AK stay as a more natural, relaxing place, instead of trying for ride-central "theme park" feel.
We left around 1:30, and plan to return Friday (with another FP+ for DD for Kali!). While all the theming at the Disney parks is great, AK really blew me away. It was just so unique, so beautiful.
As far as crowds so far - going by the Touring Plans crowd calendar, Epcot was a 9, but as I mentioned, it in no way felt crowded at all. Wait times were high, but crowds were low. Yesterday, Magic Kingdom was an 8, and definitely felt more crowded than Epcot, but that said, it was still very manageable, and didn't feel even as crowded as going to our local fair each summer as far as navigating around. Construction was hardly noticeable at all. Animal Kingdom today was a 7, but by far felt the most crowded so far. I'm sure it's because it's smaller, but also because of the construction - which is definitely noticeable, and seemed to be everywhere, even out on the safari ride. I wouldn't skip the park because of it though.So the lesson here is -I also wouldn't stress yourself out about the crowd calendars. Oh, I think they're good for a general guideline, and probably important on holiday weekends etc... but, so far, we have found the crowd levels have really meant nothing - the park with the highest level felt the least crowded and the one with the lowest felt the most crowded.
And so next stop is Hollywood Studios tomorrow!
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