Episode 24
Animal Kingdom Unveiled: Insights and Tips for Your Visit
Animal Kingdom, the final addition to the Magic Kingdom Resort, presents a myriad of experiences that transcend the traditional zoo concept, offering instead a theme park immersed in the natural world. As we explore this park, we delve into its unique attractions, including the renowned safari that showcases wildlife in a more authentic habitat, and the thrilling Expedition Everest roller coaster that captivates thrill-seekers. We also address the anticipated transformations within the park, particularly the forthcoming changes to Dinoland, which signal a shift towards newer, immersive experiences. Additionally, we provide invaluable tips for navigating Animal Kingdom effectively, ensuring that guests can maximize their visit while appreciating the park's intricate details and exhibits. Through this discourse, we aim to illuminate the essence of Animal Kingdom, underscoring its significance within the Walt Disney World experience.
Takeaways:
- Animal Kingdom stands as the final addition to the Magic Kingdom Resort, established in 1998, and offers a unique experience distinct from traditional amusement parks.
- The park's design emphasizes natural environments, showcasing animals in settings that mimic their native habitats rather than resembling typical zoos.
- Significant changes are anticipated for Animal Kingdom by 2025, particularly the transformation of Dinoland, which many visitors have found lacking in appeal.
- The effectiveness of planning is paramount at Animal Kingdom; visitors can efficiently tour the park in half a day, presenting opportunities for relaxation afterward.
- While Animal Kingdom may have fewer attractions compared to other parks, it compensates with immersive experiences such as the Festival of the Lion King and the Navi River Journey.
- Dining options at Animal Kingdom are highly regarded, with establishments like Satuli Canteen and Flame Tree Barbecue offering unique and flavorful meals.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Walt Disney World
- Magic Kingdom
- Epcot Center
- Hollywood Studios
- Animal Kingdom
- Universal Studios
- Busch Gardens
- Avatar
- Pandora
- Satuli Canteen
- Yak and Yeti
- Flame Tree Barbecue
- Tusker House
- Tiffins
- Zootopia
Transcript
Foreign of the Wands and Wishes podcast in our in depth series.
Speaker A:Thanks for joining us.
Speaker A:Lauren Mallard, from all the magic travel to myself going through the parks of Walt Disney World.
Speaker A:And if you haven't heard our reviews of Magic Kingdom, Epcot center and Hollywood Studios, I urge you to go to our library and check out past episodes.
Speaker A: at was Animal kingdom back in: Speaker A:And it is a.
Speaker A:It is a park that's got a lot of changes coming.
Speaker A:Got one of the hotter rides in all of the four parks at the resort.
Speaker A:And we're going to talk about some.
Speaker A:A view of that park and also some tips that'll help you navigate Animal Kingdom.
Speaker A:How are you, Lauren?
Speaker B:I am good.
Speaker B:How are you?
Speaker A:All right, so this is my wife's second favorite park, really, side of the Magic Kingdom, and I need to drag her to Epcot Center.
Speaker A:That's just not her park.
Speaker A:But Animal Kingdom she would run to in a heartbeat.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:What does she love about it?
Speaker A:I think it's the whole animal aspect.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:I think it's the animal aspect.
Speaker A:But as I was saying earlier, this is a park that when it was built, it was promoted.
Speaker A:It was trying to get people to realize it's, this is not a zoo.
Speaker A:This is a sort of a reserve almost.
Speaker A:This is where we put our animal.
Speaker A:You'll get to see animals in more of a natural environment other than their real natural environment.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But it's gone through some changes.
Speaker A: through a lot of changes for: Speaker B:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker B:And that, the start of that is we've started to see the demise of Dinoland.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And, you know, I think that's probably a welcome demise for a lot of people because there's not really a whole lot.
Speaker B:Even with nostalgia for me, for Dino Land, it's never been a part of the park that I have gravitated towards.
Speaker B:But, yeah, so we're seeing some, some changes there.
Speaker B:And I'm really excited for what's to come.
Speaker B:And to be honest, I don't even have a full picture of what's going to be in that area.
Speaker B:But I'm excited.
Speaker B:I'm excited for, for what's next for Animal Kingdom.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Dinoland is interesting because as a kid, you kind of go, this is great.
Speaker A:There's, there's rides and there's games, but if you're an adult and you sort of rethink it, it's like, I didn't want to carnival the county fair Yeah, I didn't want to go to the county.
Speaker A:I didn't want to go to the county fair.
Speaker B:I paid too much for this.
Speaker A:I did.
Speaker A:And I'm looking at these rides going.
Speaker A:I got.
Speaker A:I get this every summer at the local town.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And you're sort of throwing this in there as some sort of.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, we're just adding some cool stuff to this.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But again, my, my son, who's 23 years old, for years in his closet had a orange dinosaur that his Uncle Philip wanted when he was like 3 years old at one of the games.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So I'm, I'm with you.
Speaker A:I'm glad it's.
Speaker A:It's going away and I'm glad some new things are coming.
Speaker A:But if you go back and we talked about this with Hollywood Studios, if you were Michael Eisner back in the 90s and you were saying, okay, where are people going outside of this resort?
Speaker A:I got two parks here, I got Magic in my Epcot.
Speaker A:People come down for a vacation.
Speaker A:Where are they going?
Speaker A:Well, if he's looking south at I4 from his park, he goes, well, to the left of me is Universal Studios.
Speaker A:To the right of me is Busch Gardens.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:How do I keep those people who are going there, those different unique experiences at my place?
Speaker A:And he creates, you know, has Animal Kingdom created as well as Hollywood Studios.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So it's a way again, to sort of say the complete vacation is here.
Speaker A:Everything that you kind of want to do from going to sort of the iconic Disney Resort to a quote unquote zoo, however you want to term.
Speaker A:Yeah, you throw the term around.
Speaker A:Animal Kingdom adds to that sort of complete package.
Speaker B:Yeah, it definitely does.
Speaker B:And really, to be honest, you can go to Animal Kingdom without even focusing on the animals.
Speaker B:Like you can go there.
Speaker B:And to be, to be very honest, I don't usually focus on the animals aside from the safari, because there's so much more to see and do there.
Speaker B:The shows, if you are a show person, Animal Kingdom is fantastic for that.
Speaker B:But yeah, you don't have to think of it as, oh, well, my kids have been to the zoo before.
Speaker B:You can completely skip the Exploration trails and Rafiki's Planet watch and all of those things and just see it as a theme park and get so much out of it too.
Speaker A:And that being said, said, let's let me ask you the question from a planning perspective.
Speaker A:If, if you were to rank all four of the parks, where is the, the planning aspect?
Speaker A:How important is it for Animal Kingdom?
Speaker B:It's Last.
Speaker B:It definitely is because.
Speaker B:So you see, it's unique in the fact that on the lightning lane system there are no tiers at Animal Kingdom.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Meaning that there is not a section of rides that you have to choose between and only choose one of those as a tier one attraction.
Speaker B:You can go ahead and choose three of the, the headliners there, along with the single pass of Avatar, flight of passage.
Speaker B:But so basically with that being said, it is so easily toured that you can do it either with a lightning lane or without.
Speaker B:And I tell clients all the time, it's easily a half day park.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's very much so.
Speaker A:And I, my wife and I last visited the park in September.
Speaker A:We went on one of the slowest days on the calendar.
Speaker A:We got.
Speaker A:We were done by 2:00 in the afternoon.
Speaker A:Like literally at 2:00 in the afternoon, we had seen everything.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that was with very, very low CR crowds.
Speaker A:And even on its busiest days, you pretty much can get everything you want to do.
Speaker A:There's no reason to do a second day other than to repeat things you loved before.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But you're not gonna miss something if you do a full day at Animal Kingdom, even if it's jam packed.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:And my, my touring advice for Animal Kingdom, there are two ways to do it, really.
Speaker B:And I've said before, I like to start with it on my first day, especially if I've flown down that morning, because I can get everything done in one day and be done with Animal Kingdom.
Speaker B:The other option that I tell people a lot of times is if they're looking for a rest day in the middle of their, let's put Animal Kingdom on that rest day, you're still going to get up early, you're going to get done with it by mid afternoon and be able to have some pool time, maybe go out to eat that night, something like that.
Speaker B:And that's really a good day to kind of catch your breath in the middle of your Disney vacation.
Speaker A:All right, let's start.
Speaker A:This is a uniquely designed park compared to the other three in that when you go to Magic Kingdom, you can see Cinderella's castle right away.
Speaker A:You can see you're right at the entrance of Spaceship Earth.
Speaker A:As soon as you walk through Epcot center, you can see Spaceship Earth.
Speaker A:You can see Chinese theater building as you walk down the street.
Speaker A:But this is different.
Speaker A:You're going to go through the Oasis, you're going to kind of meander through some paths, you're going to see some wildlife, you're going to be in engulfed in trees and then you're going to break out and you're going to see the Tree of Life.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker B:And one note there is, you're going to be, you're going to be poised with whether you go left or right as soon as you go to the park.
Speaker B:And just so you know, there is no right or way, right or wrong way here.
Speaker B:It's both going to lead to the center of the park where you're going to see the Tree of Life.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:Then once you get there, it, it's interesting to where people give advice on if you want to do Flight of Passage at Avatar, do you run over there right away or do you wait until people start going, I'm kind of done with this, I'm leaving, I'm park hopping and it's close to the end of the day.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think either way is fine.
Speaker B:And that goes back to do I want to get up early and do Animal Kingdom the first part of the day or do I want to do it the second half of the day?
Speaker B:Because that's when you're going to see, you're going obviously going to see almost everybody that is rope dropping is going to go to Flight of Passage.
Speaker B:So keep that in mind.
Speaker B:If you don't have a single pass for it, maybe start somewhere else and maybe save that for the last part of your day.
Speaker B:But middle of the day, that's going to be a gamble because you're going to see really high wait times, especially if it's crowded.
Speaker A:You're going to see that line all the way out.
Speaker A:There's going to be a person with the sign saying it begins here.
Speaker B:Yeah, across the bridge.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A: s a land that broke ground in: Speaker A: because the movie came out in: Speaker A:There wasn't the sequel that you just had a couple of years ago.
Speaker A: So in: Speaker A:And this was an IP that people thought were kind of dead.
Speaker A:I mean, eight years is a long time.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think they really took people's head to say, oh, you remember that movie from a long time ago?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, we got a whole land based on it.
Speaker A:You know, I mean, children are approaching, like their teenage years going, I didn't see this when I was four.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:You know, but it was, it was a gamble.
Speaker A:But I think they nailed one of the best rides in the park and Flight of Passage.
Speaker B:They really did.
Speaker B:And it's one that I don't ride personally, but I think that the land itself is just a.
Speaker B:Just a home run.
Speaker B:It's just beautiful.
Speaker B:And, you know, we don't get a chance to see it at night that often because Animal Kingdom is not open late.
Speaker B:But when it is, it is absolutely gorgeous and everything.
Speaker B:There's such attention to detail in those two rides that are there.
Speaker B:And along with over there, you have one of my favorite quick service restaurants in the entire property in Satuli Canton.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:That's a great place.
Speaker A:Good place to get breakfast too, if you want to get that early start.
Speaker A:Navi River Journey is a boat ride.
Speaker A:I find the weight very.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Weird that I won't wait an hour for that.
Speaker A:But if I.
Speaker A:If I'm on a slow day and it's 20 minutes, I'm on it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:You know, I'm on anything in 20 minutes.
Speaker B:If you show me 20 minutes, it's a pretty ride.
Speaker B:It's one.
Speaker B:One that's great.
Speaker B:I tell people, if you've got little kids that aren't going to go on Flight of Passage, maybe take turns with your rider, swap and take the little ones on that.
Speaker B:There's a lot to see in there, but there's really not particularly a plot to that, to that ride.
Speaker B:But it is one that if you don't have to wait a long time, I say, yeah.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It goes in the same theme of Star wars in Hollywood series and Harry Potter, Universal, which is an immersive theme based on the land, characters from the movie, merchandise from the movie, food products from the movie.
Speaker A:Like, basically, it's an immersive land.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I always.
Speaker A:I sell this funny story.
Speaker A:My parents are pass holders and when, when the park opened, they went.
Speaker A:My father, who loves to tell stories over and over again, says, yeah, your mother and I walked over there and we just kept walking and then somebody stopped us and we're like, no, the line to get into the park is over here.
Speaker A:So they waited all day to get in.
Speaker A:They waited all day for both rides.
Speaker A:They ended up getting a T shirt and they left.
Speaker A:So they.
Speaker A: there on opening day back in: Speaker B:It's a story to tell.
Speaker A:It's definitely a story to tell.
Speaker A:The safari.
Speaker A:Now, the safari is, I think, the key ride in the whole park.
Speaker A:If you call a park Animal Kingdom, show me the animals.
Speaker B:I agree.
Speaker A:But I was there when I was in September.
Speaker A:It was very slow day, and I ended up talking to a cast member.
Speaker A:And we were just talking about the ride and I said, is it true that people should ride it twice if they can?
Speaker A:And she said, yeah, actually it is.
Speaker A:Because in the morning you'll see the animals doing one thing, and at night you see the animals doing something else.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So if you can go twice on this ride, you could get entirely different experience because, again, there's no animatronics here.
Speaker A:It's not like Jungle Cruise.
Speaker A:It's not like other things.
Speaker A:It is a ride based on animals doing what they're doing at that particular time.
Speaker B:You never know what you're going to expect.
Speaker B:And I also tell people, too, that your ride time on the safari is dependent upon the animals.
Speaker B:So sometimes if you're trying to make that festival of the Lion King show and there's a giraffe in the way of the safari vehicle, you can sit there.
Speaker B:And they will have to sit there until that giraffe moves.
Speaker B:So keep in mind, pack your patience because you never know what the animals are going to do.
Speaker A:And one little interesting note about the safari.
Speaker A:Those are real vehicles.
Speaker A:They're not on a track.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:Are really driving it.
Speaker A:Sometimes you can.
Speaker A:You might play, you know, when car.
Speaker A:When things are on a track, people play like they're driving it, but it's on a track.
Speaker A:This is not.
Speaker A:These are.
Speaker A:These are actual vehicles that are being driven by the guides who are telling you about the animals.
Speaker A:I think they lost a little bit of the story from.
Speaker B:They did.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:We don't have poachers anymore.
Speaker B:It's a little sad sometimes.
Speaker B:That was a fun story.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But, yeah, so we've kind of lost that.
Speaker B:But it is absolutely the one attraction in Animal Kingdom that everyone should do.
Speaker A:Everybody should do.
Speaker A:And the river rapids ride.
Speaker A:Yeah, you will get wet.
Speaker A:I'll dry later.
Speaker A:Kind of person.
Speaker A:I'm not either.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:I don't like my feet to be wet with socks.
Speaker A:If I'm wearing socks and shoes, would you have to wear.
Speaker A:And they're drenched.
Speaker A:I'm getting blisters and I'm gonna be miserable.
Speaker B:I can't do it.
Speaker B:And, you know, the ride itself is somewhat fun, but I.
Speaker B:I can't risk it.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:Now, one of the other main attractions of this park is Everest, which is a fantastic roller coaster.
Speaker A:But I'm guessing you don't do it.
Speaker A:Everest.
Speaker B:I do, actually.
Speaker A:Because I was guessing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, because it feels like every thrill ride.
Speaker A:Well, I did it once.
Speaker B:I can do Everest.
Speaker B:I have to hold my breath.
Speaker B:When I know, spoiler alert.
Speaker B:It goes backwards.
Speaker B:So when I know we're going backwards, I have to breath to get through that gforce.
Speaker B:And then once that's done, then I'm.
Speaker B:I'm pretty much okay for that one.
Speaker A:It's one of my favorite cues as well, to walk through, just because of.
Speaker A:There's some level of.
Speaker A:There's a little bit of feeling of history.
Speaker A:This summit of Mount Everest and the expedition in Mount Everest.
Speaker A:If you ever watch a documentary on the making of Animal Kingdom, they put incredible amount of work.
Speaker A:They went over to Nepal and talked to people and brought home artifacts and things just to put into this ride.
Speaker A:It is a real labor of love for Joe, Rody and the designers of this park about how much attention to detail.
Speaker A:And I think I told you a story on one of the podcasts after my trip where we were all just kind of meandering in the queue and.
Speaker A:And people were like, you know, looking at stuff.
Speaker A:Look at stuff.
Speaker A:And this cast member came in and said, please keep up with the group ahead of you.
Speaker A:And everybody started doing that.
Speaker A:And the next thing you know, we passed like, a whole room.
Speaker B:So funny.
Speaker A:Everyone was just sort of, look at that.
Speaker A:Look at that.
Speaker B:It's like a museum.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker A:But I'm with you.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:It's one of my favorites.
Speaker A:I love the.
Speaker A:Backwards in the dark is kind of one of the more unique thrills.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But also, I don't want to spoil the theming of it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But when you get to the top, look around and you can see some.
Speaker A:Really?
Speaker A:Because Florida is flat.
Speaker A:You can see some cool stuff in the distance.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker A:It's really cool.
Speaker A:So other than that.
Speaker A:Now let's get to Dino Land again, because this is going to be changed into an Encanto house is going to be an Indiana Jones ride where Dinosaur is.
Speaker A:I don't think they're changing the ride.
Speaker A:I think they're just changing the things around it.
Speaker A:I think that's true because there is a Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland that uses the same mechanism.
Speaker A:It's the same track, but dinosaur.
Speaker A:Believe me when I tell you this.
Speaker A:Look at the warning signs and read them.
Speaker A:If you do have a neck issue.
Speaker A:That thing Will whip you around like no one's business.
Speaker B:I absolutely hate this ride probably more than any ride on Disney property.
Speaker B:For all of those reasons.
Speaker B:The neck, the back, everything, and the strobe lights and everything about it just gives me so much anxiety.
Speaker B:I cannot ride Dinosaur.
Speaker A:It is an incredibly anxious ride just to give you the theming of it.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:You're.
Speaker A:You're in a time machine.
Speaker A:You're supposed to go back to get this dinosaur, tag this dinosaur, and everything's on a clock.
Speaker A:And there's a.
Speaker A:Basically, it.
Speaker A:It doesn't make sense in that they have this time machine and the only time they can bring you back is literally seconds before a disastrous meteor hit.
Speaker A:They don't want to do it a week before or a month before where you might have some time to get this mission done.
Speaker A:They're like, we found a spot where we could take you.
Speaker A:And it's seconds before the meteor hits.
Speaker A:So everything is screaming and noise.
Speaker A:And for a lot of people, that's fun, but it does toss you around crazy.
Speaker A:I know they probably will not change that for Indiana Jones, but I kind of.
Speaker A:As I get older, I hope they do.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because I wake up, I get off that ride going, yeah, me too.
Speaker A:You know, just kind of turn.
Speaker A:But that's.
Speaker A:That is not closed.
Speaker A:When you enter the.
Speaker A:The sort of gate of Dinoland, you can still head over to the right.
Speaker A:That's right down and head over to the ride.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:So now let's talk about some shows.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Tough to be.
Speaker A:A Bug is going.
Speaker A:We're recording this in late February.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It'll be gone in a couple weeks.
Speaker A:It'll be gone by mid March.
Speaker A:I think that was when they said it.
Speaker A:They're gonna put a Zootopia ride in.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I like Zootopia.
Speaker A:I thought the movie was really cute.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I think that that one will be welcomed.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's also going again.
Speaker A:Again with the grain of what.
Speaker A:What's hot, what's new?
Speaker A:What's relatively new in young people's minds?
Speaker A:Zootopia.
Speaker A:People love the movie.
Speaker A:They love the characters.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:But tough to be.
Speaker A:The bug was scary for young people.
Speaker B:Really was.
Speaker B:I can still remember the first time we took Graham in there when he was an only child.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And it was.
Speaker B:It was similar to the reaction that he had the first time we took him to a hibachi restaurant.
Speaker B:When every.
Speaker B:When the fire's coming and everything, he looks at us and this is in the hibachi restaurant, not in the.
Speaker B:Tough to be A bug.
Speaker B:But he looks at us, he's like, we gotta get out of here.
Speaker B:And so when the bugs start coming and you can feel them all under your butt and stuff, he's like, we gotta get out of here.
Speaker B:And so I have a similar reaction in there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Now I, I think that, that one of the aspects of the Zootopia show that I'm glad they're keeping is, is the 4D effect.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I, maybe it's milder than it was when the big, you know, grasshopper came down and all that.
Speaker A:But they are going to keep.
Speaker A:There's going to be animatronics, there's going to be a feeling of some sort of 4D effect.
Speaker A:You're going to be participating in the show.
Speaker A:But I'm glad that they've, they've changed that this is going to be, we're going to end up doing a whole different podcast on this when it's all completed.
Speaker A:This is going to be an entirely different part than what we're talking about now.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:In terms of attractions because like you said, said for the amount of land that they have to use to keep up the, with the animals and their habitat and all of that, it is the least attractions of any of the parks.
Speaker A:And I think for a lot of people, I think it's, it's hard to.
Speaker A:If you don't go in with the expectations of what it is.
Speaker A:And it's one of the reasons if you're new, I'm glad you're listening to this podcast because it can either be disappointing or you can end up coming away going, okay, I got it now.
Speaker A:You know, Lauren was right.
Speaker A:We did a full park, but now we got time for dinner, pool, relaxation while we continue on our Disney vacation.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:You're gonna run a whole day.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:So you know, that's one of the things about Animal Kingdom dining.
Speaker A:Bet.
Speaker A:Where do you rank the dining in Animal Kingdom?
Speaker A:If Hollywood Studios is not high on your list, where is this?
Speaker B:So it's above Hollywood Studios for sure.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And you know, honestly, I might put it above Magic Kingdom because great dining.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I love Satuli Canteen.
Speaker B:Like I've said before a million times, I really, really love no lounge, which is not going to be a full meal, but you can go in there for some snacks, either alcoholic or non alcoholic drinks in there just for some time to relax.
Speaker B:You've got Flame Tree Barbecue, that's another favorite Go to.
Speaker A:Every time I'm there, we go to Flame Tree barbecue.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:Every time I go, I want to go to yak and yeti, but I never do.
Speaker A:I ended, I end up at Flame Tree almost every time.
Speaker B:On my last trip with Graham, we did yak and yeti, quick service and I was a little bit disappointed.
Speaker A:Were you?
Speaker B:Okay, good.
Speaker A:That makes me feel better because everyone told me how great it is and I, I just don't go there.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was a little underwhelmed.
Speaker B:I would like to do the table service and see if there's much difference because I have heard really good things about it.
Speaker B:But I was a little bit underwhelmed with the quick service.
Speaker B:But another good option if you're not looking for a full meal.
Speaker B:Here I go talking about all the dining at Animal Kingdom, but if you're not looking for a full meal, you can always get the grilled corn with, with the curry spices.
Speaker B:It's so delicious.
Speaker B:So that's another really good option in Animal Kingdom.
Speaker B:And then if you're looking for sit down options, you have Tusker, which I still think is one of the best character meals.
Speaker A:It is, it is.
Speaker A:It's one of the top character meals from.
Speaker A:I've yet to go there, but I know it's a buffet style character meal restaurant.
Speaker A:But I, I've gotten so many people saying it.
Speaker A:It was such a great experience of talking about all the different caramels.
Speaker A:They write Tuskarous is one of the tops.
Speaker B:It's one that a lot of my clients will revisit year after year.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Now Tiffins is another restaurant I've never been.
Speaker A:Yes, I haven't been either.
Speaker A:I've heard it's pretty good.
Speaker A:It's a little bit more pricey than other places, but Tiffin's is out there as well.
Speaker A:And I think the overall theming of Africa, Asia, there's going to be some different food there that's not going to be able to get in other parks.
Speaker A:It's not like burgers and fries.
Speaker A:There's gonna be a lot of great, you know, food that honors the heritage of what they're trying to portray.
Speaker B:A lot of things taste so fresh at Animal Kingdom and that's just.
Speaker B:I, I enjoy it.
Speaker A:All right, let's talk about now the animals.
Speaker A:Because like we talked about earlier, the safari is something you can go see Rafiki's Conservatory, the train ride that you can go out back, see some more animals.
Speaker A:You can do Maharaji Trek, which has got a new baby tiger.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'm obsessed with.
Speaker A:And I don' why I'm obsessed with this baby tiger.
Speaker A:Backs go.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:I am.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I watch, like, I just flip through.
Speaker A:I'll see, like, videos of them.
Speaker A:So this baby tiger, Sumerian baby tiger, was born in September, late September.
Speaker A:Made its debut not that long ago.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And if you are planning on going to Animal Kingdom anytime soon, this is what people are going to run to as soon as the thing is open.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Because they're going to line you up and then they're not going to let people in right away.
Speaker A:So then there's gonna be a guide that will come and let you go through to see the new baby tiger that is out there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I don't know why I've been obsessed.
Speaker A:My wife and I are going on a cruise in March and I said, should we stop at Animal Kingdom to.
Speaker B:See baby tiger always?
Speaker A:She goes, really?
Speaker A:And I go, yeah.
Speaker A:She goes, well, I'm in.
Speaker B:Of course.
Speaker A:I'm in.
Speaker B:Of course.
Speaker A:I kind of want to see this thing.
Speaker A:It looks adorable.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker A:But there are so many different animals to see.
Speaker A:If your kids love animals is so many different.
Speaker A:The gorillas, there's a whole gorilla walk through that you can go through.
Speaker A:There's so many different ways to see these animals.
Speaker A:There's birds, there's.
Speaker A:Like I said, there's the whole habitat on.
Speaker A:On a ride.
Speaker A:So again, there's a lot.
Speaker A:There's not a lot of attractions, but there certainly are a lot of animals in Animal Kingdom.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:And also now they're going to start with more meet and greets now.
Speaker B:Yeah, they're.
Speaker A:They're kind of.
Speaker A:They used to do them on barges.
Speaker A:Now I think they kept it after.
Speaker B:Covid for a long time.
Speaker B:They did for a long time.
Speaker A:And now you're going to get more meet and greets.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm excited about that.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:So overall, when we talk, we talk about the crowds and, and the timing and the planning in terms of how somebody says, okay, I want to get everything in.
Speaker A:Is it a rope drop sort of.
Speaker A:Sort of park?
Speaker A:I mean, is it something you have to be there right away because.
Speaker A:Because of just the lack of attractions.
Speaker A:If I were to tell somebody, Magic Kingdom, you want to see everything, you better get there early.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it totally.
Speaker B:This is one that's dependent upon whether you have lightning lanes or not.
Speaker B:If you are going to tour it without lightning lanes, which I've said before is doable for this part, then I do suggest, let's get there at rope drop.
Speaker B:I still suggest going ahead and buying that single pass for flight of passage.
Speaker B:That's going to save you a lot of headache of waiting in that line.
Speaker B:And go ahead and rope drop things like with early entry.
Speaker B:You're not going to have the safari that's going to open with early entry.
Speaker B:It does not open until posted park opening.
Speaker B:So instead you can rope drop things like Expedition Everest and then come back over to Navi River Journey and then, then hit things like Safari Festival, Lion King, Finding Nemo.
Speaker B:Those are the five things that I suggest that you do in addition to flight of passage.
Speaker B:So if you're going with lightning lanes, you can definitely sleep in a bit.
Speaker A:We have a saying in our family now that I created and I'm very proud of creating, which is.
Speaker A:And everybody in my family gets it, which is love.
Speaker A:Something like that guy loved Lion King.
Speaker A:There was a guy, we went there and there was a guy who clearly was a pass holder because he, he was just, he knew everybody and he was saying, hi everybody.
Speaker A:But he was as into the Lion King show and he loved it.
Speaker A:And we all kind of were in awe of this guy's love for the festival of the Lion King, which is one of the best shows on Disney property.
Speaker A:So I say that a lot and everybody in my family gets it.
Speaker A:But that is, that is a premiere show that you need to see.
Speaker A:It is also the Nemo show is really fantastic.
Speaker B:So well done.
Speaker A:That is a talent.
Speaker A:That is when you're talking about people who do.
Speaker A:Puppetry is a real special talent.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker A:And it's on full display.
Speaker A:Play on the Nemo show.
Speaker A:They pretty much give you the entire movie.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:With puppets and, and, and guys acting, guys and girls acting out these parts and it is fantastic.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So you're right.
Speaker A:As far as it's.
Speaker A:It's got really good dining options.
Speaker A:They've got great entertainment.
Speaker A:There may not be a ton of rides, but it has two or three if you want to count the safari of the more unique, better attractions in the Walt Disney World.
Speaker A:Property.
Speaker A:Property.
Speaker A:The problem is, is 6:00 comes awfully quick and you're done.
Speaker B:And you're done.
Speaker B:If you don't have that park hopper, then use that time to relax.
Speaker A:And that leads me to another question.
Speaker A:Look, my wife and I, we go down all the time for me to buy a one day ticket.
Speaker A:Even though it's expensive.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's.
Speaker A:No, we, we would do it anyway.
Speaker A:I don't know if I would recommend a one day runoff if you're going there for a day.
Speaker A:I think for the value.
Speaker A:I don't think it's as good of a value as parks that are open till 9, 10, 11 o'clock.
Speaker B:I agree.
Speaker B:It's a better part to do with a multi day ticket.
Speaker A:That's you have a multi day ticket.
Speaker A:Again, it's not going to be a full day.
Speaker A:This is one of the reasons people will say if you're going to spend, if you're going to go open to close.
Speaker A:Meaning I I'm not going to park hop.
Speaker A:Maybe I don't have a park hop or it's not my intention to do it.
Speaker A:Stick around.
Speaker A:Because a lot of people park hop this week.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, they will start leaving at 1, 2, 3 o'clock.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:And you will start noticing a lot of wait times going down.
Speaker A:So if you loved Flight of Passage when you stood in line forever in the morning, try it again later in the afternoon when you're if you're going to be there full day.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:Because you might see it.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Any more thoughts on Animal Kingdom, our fourth and final of the theme parks at Disney World?
Speaker B:I think we've covered it.
Speaker A:I think we have too.
Speaker A:So remember, please like and subscribe to this podcast.
Speaker A:Please look check out our library for again, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, our guides to both of those and all sorts of other guides that we have done so far in Wands and Wishes, including the cruise line, navigating the parks with children, dining options, etc and please, if you'd like to reach out to us, you can reach Lauren at lauren@allthemagic travel and you can reach me, travelwithtonydmail.com we'd love to hear from you.
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