Animal Kingdom
are you guys ready for all of my disney world re-caps and pictures?! well, I have 1.2 billion pictures I want to share as well as some first-timer tips! you can stop reading now if you’re sick of hearing about so much disney around these parts, or at least come back in a week! ;)
this was my first time being to Disney world since i was about 8 years old. so this really felt like my first time! there would be moments where I would say “I remember this!” but really, it was all new and I loved every minute! we did four parks in two days which worked out nicely but I would definitely recommend and prefer doing one park a day. i didn’t realize just how spread out each park would be (it’s not like going from Disneyland to California adventure); animal kingdom was almost 20 minutes away! it’s way out in the boondocks!
so, on our first day, we did animal kingdom and the magic kingdom. the animal kingdom was such a nice surprise! it felt just like Disneyland but in a wild jungle/animal theme! i felt like i was in another country with how well done it was. it was really cool that they are able to make this park different but still alive with the Disney magic!
my first tip and probably the best one you can know is about fast passes. we got a few different answers when we asked different cast members but this is the truth right here! unlike disneyland, you can reserve your fast passes in advance before you even get to florida. you have to purchase your tickets first (hopefully a month or more in advance) and then from their website, you can reserve three fastpasses a day. however, you can only do that for one park a day. for example, we only had three fast passes in advance for animal kingdom on our first day, even though we were also going to magic kingdom the same day. but don’t worry, once you have used those three fastpasses, you can get as many more as you want throughout the day at the fast pass kiosks! so i recommend spacing those three pretty close together so you can have more time for more fast passes! just remember, you have to use the three first before being able to get more inside of the park.
i loved that the animal kingdom was like a big zoo as well as an amusement park! i didn’t expect that and it made it probably my favorite park of them all! our first fastpass and ride of the day was expedition everest. we had no idea what to expect but i imagined it would be similar to the matterhorn. oh boy was i wrong! it was the most fun ride ever and it was extra good because it was new to us! it is pretty terrifying when it goes backwards in the pitch dark and the giant yeti is just feet in front of your face! we made sure to do that one again before we left animal kingdom :)
^^^i have never seen bats like this and didn’t know bats this big even existed! I was so grossed out and fascinated!
^^^the 3D glasses for “it’s tough to be a bug” were pretty funny :)
^^^those flamingos in the front there are fighting ;)
^^^these trees hold tons of water in their trunks!
^^^this is literally how close this guy was to us! They were just leading their families across the road! It was so cute. 
^^^one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. A momma gorilla nursing her baby! Wow! It’s amazing how human they are.
^^^this little guy was taunting the silver back, pounding his chest and putting his arms ups like “hey! Over here!” :)
^^^staring contest with this territorial guy
we did kali river rapids and got drenched (there’s no way around it) but it was nice in the florida heat! we watched the bug’s life 4D show which was surprisingly good and funny! went on the kilimanjaro safari during the daily downpour and a herd of giraffes came right up to our truck!! went on dinosaur in dinoland which was pretty good actually! it was a little bit like indiana jones style where you’re in a bumpy jeep dodging dinosaurs :) i wish we had watched the lion king show, but it was 30 minutes long and we decided against it. the rest of the time was spent walking through the trails of asia and africa and animals exhibits which were really impressive! i’m mad at myself for not eating more food at all of the parks! the first day, i wasn’t ever really hungry, plus a lot of the food places in animal kingdom opened later than breakfast time. and i didn’t know about any food places here like i do at disneyland! so, the only thing i ate at animal kingdom was a chocolate chip muffin haha! wah wah :(
animal kingdom was seriously my favorite! who doesn’t love animals and crazy rides?! oh how i wish I was back there now in the ridiculous humidity! seriously, after this trip to florida all I want is to be traveling every day of my life!