Then we made it over to Animal Kingdom, where we ended up going on quite a few occasions because we were a bit addicted to the drawing classes! Now I have technically been to this park before when I was over for a conference way back in 2017 but I think my friend and I stayed for maybe less than 2 hours, we came, saw the line for the safari was over 2 hours wait, had a look at maybe the gorillas and the tigers, had a quick drink by the water, got absolutely soaked by a rain storm, and went shopping – so we didn’t get to make the most of it but we did enjoy our shopping^ Anyway, glad to be back and experience it properly, this time with the Christmas decorations too:
Now I didn’t find Animal Kingdom felt as Christmassy as Magic Kingdom, the tree out front was stunning and I loved the the theming, I also loved the Merry Menagerie themed decorations on the shops in front of the Tree of Life, super cute designs on those and I have regrets that we bought our mum a Merry Menagerie t-shirt and didn’t get one for me (and she wears it quite often!). A few changes in the park since our visit in the Christmas 2024 season, so will be interesting to see how different the park feels if we visit again. One thing I did really like was that Animal Kingdom felt the most chilled park, it didn’t feel like we needed to rush around, and felt nice and leisurely. It also never seemed too busy. We didn’t get the opportunity to see any of the character flotilla’s on the river which I would have liked to see, but we probably didn’t spend enough time around the water to give it a chance for characters to go by.
Discovery Island
Of course, the highlight of Discovery Island is the beautiful Tree of Life – just fantastic design and we liked the opportunity to get super up close to see all those intricate details. We also loved making us of the Photopass photographer with no line so we could get a very nice picture of the two of us, heading around the back of the tree was a great option for a photo with the tree without other people in the background, we love this one! We also loved watching the otters at the base of the tree, but we didn’t see many other animals in this section of the park. I do have a small regret about not going to meet Mickey and Minnie in their adventure outfits as I think these look so cute. We did also enjoy the shopping here and spent plenty of time there choosing our favourite Animal Kingdom themed merch. The Merry Menagerie was also here in front of the tree, so cute and we loved the range of animals and puppet designs.
Pandora – The World of Avatar
Pandora is one of the areas I did see last time, and it was just as impressive this time. Now we have seen the movies, but don’t remember a lot of specific details, however enough to appreciate the area design and theme. The lines for the rides here were always quite long, constantly above the 50-60 minute mark – we didn’t want to go on Flight of Passage, but did take the hit and wait in the hour-long line for Na’vi River Journey. We did enjoy the ride, again, really nice theming and design and lots to see, but it did seem a little on the short side, given how long the line was. We then enjoyed our lunch in the Satu’li Canteen – really nice noodle bowls here, I got the tofu and my sister got the chicken, and we liked the option to customise to remove the toppings that we didn’t want, would definitely get these again. I had seen online that this is the land looks amazing after dark, or at least as the sun is setting, unfortunately the park closed at 6PM during our trip so we couldn’t experience that, but a goal for a future visit!
Africa & Rafiki’s Planet Watch
Passing through Africa was our most common thing on our way to Rafiki’s Planet Watch where we thoroughly enjoyed the Animation Experience – Moana 2 had come out recently on our visit so there were related characters featured and we loved being able to draw Pua and the challenging Hei Hei! We also enjoyed the Affection Section and seeing the sheep and goats before and after our drawing sessions. There weren’t any procedures happening in the vet rooms while we were there, but they did have a Q&A session with one of the vet team which was very interesting. This whole area has been re-done since our visit, so none of this is an option anymore, I think this is a real shame as having a conservation focus should be key in this park and seeing a bit of a behind the scenes and having the opportunity to interact with some animals could have a huge impact on people.
We were quite keen to ride the Kilimanjaro Safari several times, but again the line was always around 60 minutes, so we just went on it the once. One of the main factors in this was the other guests on our vehicle, despite the guide asking people to remain quiet, there was a big family group who just kept talking loudly the whole time, and were barely paying attention to the animals we were seeing. I think we got very lucky and saw a good range of animals, highlights were definitely the giraffes and a little baby elephant, what a cutie^
We also enjoyed the snacks here, the seasoned fries were tasty and also had my first dole whip – so tasty!
And on our final visit to this park we managed to get in to see Festival of the Lion King, a great show, very entertaining and a good way to spend some time in the park. There was plenty of entertainment in this area overall, with performances of music and dance also happening on the stage outside the shops in this area.
Asia
We didn’t spend a lot of time in the Asia area – well, we did, we were waiting to hopefully see the tigers, but didn’t get lucky this time! My sister did head onto the single rider line for Expedition Everest and she really loved it – I’m not sure sure about backwards, but she enjoyed it and even bought the ride pin to remember the fun time. I did however stand in prime-position to get a photo of her coming down a steep slope on the rollercoaster. Kind of wish we’d also got one of the Yeti Sundae‘s to commemorate too^
Dinoland USA
The final land, and another one that has now completely gone – Dinoland USA. I think this is a super cute area, and I really like the dinosaur theming. I think it was fun for kids with lots of activities for them, so hopefully there will be enough for them to do in the new area replacing it. I do really like the artists impressions for the replacement (Tropical Americas), and it does include an Encanto ride and I love that movie, so I do think we might enjoy it if we return in the future. Whilst it doesn’t quite fit the dinosaur themeing, the Theatre in the Wild is in this land and we thoroughly enjoyed watching Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond! This was a great surprise, the quality of the show was fantastic with a great story and lots of funny moments along with great music. As a fan of musicals this was perfect for me, I preferred this over the Festival of the Lion King, but overall, the entertainment options of shows etc. was fantastic at Animal Kingdom, for me, the best of any of the four Disney World parks.
