February 21, 2025 • 26 mins
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
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Foreign of the Wands andWishes podcast in our in depth series.
Thanks for joining us.
Lauren Mallard, from all themagic travel to myself going through
the parks of Walt Disney World.
And if you haven't heard ourreviews of Magic Kingdom, Epcot center
and Hollywood Studios, I urgeyou to go to our library and check
(00:20):
out past episodes.
Today we are doing the finalpark that was built in the Magic
Kingdom Resort, and that wasAnimal kingdom back in 1998.
And it is a.
It is a park that's got a lotof changes coming.
Got one of the hotter rides inall of the four parks at the resort.
And we're going to talk about some.
A view of that park and alsosome tips that'll help you navigate
(00:42):
Animal Kingdom.
How are you, Lauren?
I am good.
How are you?
All right, so this is mywife's second favorite park, really,
side of the Magic Kingdom, andI need to drag her to Epcot Center.
That's just not her park.
But Animal Kingdom she wouldrun to in a heartbeat.
Okay.
What does she love about it?
I think it's the whole animal aspect.
Okay.
I think it's the animal aspect.
But as I was saying earlier,this is a park that when it was built,
(01:04):
it was promoted.
It was trying to get people torealize it's, this is not a zoo.
This is a sort of a reserve almost.
This is where we put our animal.
You'll get to see animals inmore of a natural environment other
than their real natural environment.
And.
But it's gone through some changes.
Going through a lot of changesfor 2025.
Yeah, definitely.
And that, the start of that iswe've started to see the demise of
(01:28):
Dinoland.
Right.
So.
And, you know, I think that'sprobably a welcome demise for a lot
of people because there's notreally a whole lot.
Even with nostalgia for me,for Dino Land, it's never been a
part of the park that I havegravitated towards.
But, yeah, so we're seeingsome, some changes there.
And I'm really excited forwhat's to come.
And to be honest, I don't evenhave a full picture of what's going
(01:52):
to be in that area.
But I'm excited.
I'm excited for, for what'snext for Animal Kingdom.
Yeah.
Dinoland is interestingbecause as a kid, you kind of go,
this is great.
There's, there's rides andthere'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'twant to go to the county.
I didn't want to go to thecounty fair.
I paid too much for this.
I did.
(02:13):
And I'm looking at these rides going.
I got.
I get this every summer at thelocal town.
Right.
And you're sort of throwingthis in there as some sort of.
Oh, yeah, we're just addingsome cool stuff to this.
Yeah.
But again, my, my son, who's23 years old, for years in his closet
had a orange dinosaur that hisUncle Philip wanted when he was like
3 years old at one of the games.
(02:35):
So.
So I'm, I'm with you.
I'm glad it's.
It's going away and I'm gladsome new things are coming.
But if you go back and wetalked about this with Hollywood
Studios, if you were MichaelEisner back in the 90s and you were
saying, okay, where are peoplegoing outside of this resort?
I got two parks here, I gotMagic in my Epcot.
People come down for a vacation.
Where are they going?
Well, if he's looking south atI4 from his park, he goes, well,
(02:59):
to the left of me is Universal Studios.
To the right of me is Busch Gardens.
That's right.
How do I keep those people whoare going there, those different
unique experiences at my place?
And he creates, you know, hasAnimal Kingdom created as well as
Hollywood Studios.
Yeah.
So it's a way again, to sortof say the complete vacation is here.
Everything that you kind ofwant to do from going to sort of
(03:19):
the iconic Disney Resort to aquote unquote zoo, however you want
to term.
Yeah, you throw the term around.
Animal Kingdom adds to thatsort of complete package.
Yeah, it definitely does.
And really, to be honest, youcan go to Animal Kingdom without
even focusing on the animals.
Like you can go there.
And to be, to be very honest,I don't usually focus on the animals
(03:41):
aside from the safari, becausethere's so much more to see and do
there.
The shows, if you are a showperson, Animal Kingdom is fantastic
for that.
But yeah, you don't have tothink of it as, oh, well, my kids
have been to the zoo before.
You can completely skip theExploration trails and Rafiki's Planet
watch and all of those thingsand just see it as a theme park and
(04:03):
get so much out of it too.
And that being said, said,let's let me ask you the question
from a planning perspective.
If, if you were to rank allfour of the parks, where is the,
the planning aspect?
How important is it for Animal Kingdom?
It's Last.
It definitely is because.
So you see, it's unique in thefact that on the lightning lane system
there are no tiers at Animal Kingdom.
Yeah.
Meaning that there is not asection of rides that you have to
(04:27):
choose between and only chooseone of those as a tier one attraction.
You can go ahead and choosethree of the, the headliners there,
along with the single pass ofAvatar, flight of passage.
But so basically with thatbeing said, it is so easily toured
that you can do it either witha lightning lane or without.
(04:47):
And I tell clients all thetime, it's easily a half day park.
Yeah, it's very much so.
And I, my wife and I lastvisited the park in September.
We went on one of the slowestdays on the calendar.
We got.
We were done by 2:00 in the afternoon.
Like literally at 2:00 in theafternoon, we had seen everything.
Yeah.
And that was with very, verylow CR crowds.
And even on its busiest days,you pretty much can get everything
(05:09):
you want to do.
There's no reason to do asecond day other than to repeat things
you loved before.
Yeah.
But you're not gonna misssomething if you do a full day at
Animal Kingdom, even if it'sjam packed.
That's right.
And my, my touring advice forAnimal Kingdom, there are two ways
to do it, really.
And I've said before, I liketo start with it on my first day,
especially if I've flown downthat morning, because I can get everything
(05:29):
done in one day and be donewith Animal Kingdom.
The other option that I tellpeople a lot of times is if they're
looking for a rest day in themiddle 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 withit by mid afternoon and be able to
have some pool time, maybe goout to eat that night, something
like that.
And that's really a good dayto kind of catch your breath in the
(05:50):
middle of your Disney vacation.
All right, let's start.
This is a uniquely designedpark compared to the other three
in that when you go to MagicKingdom, you can see Cinderella's
castle right away.
You can see you're right atthe entrance of Spaceship Earth.
As soon as you walk throughEpcot center, you can see Spaceship
Earth.
You can see Chinese theaterbuilding as you walk down the street.
But this is different.
(06:10):
You're going to go through theOasis, you're going to kind of meander
through some paths, you'regoing to see some wildlife, you're
going to be in engulfed intrees and then you're going to break
out and you're going to seethe Tree of Life.
That's right.
And one note there is, you'regoing to be, you're going to be poised
with whether you go left orright as soon as you go to the park.
And just so you know, there isno right or way, right or wrong way
(06:32):
here.
It's both going to lead to thecenter of the park where you're going
to see the Tree of Life.
That's right.
That's right.
Then once you get there, it,it's interesting to where people
give advice on if you want todo Flight of Passage at Avatar, do
you run over there right awayor do you wait until people start
going, I'm kind of done withthis, I'm leaving, I'm park hopping
(06:52):
and it's close to the end ofthe day.
Yeah, I think either way is fine.
And that goes back to do Iwant to get up early and do Animal
Kingdom the first part of theday or do I want to do it the second
half of the day?
Because that's when you'regoing to see, you're going obviously
going to see almost everybodythat is rope dropping is going to
go to Flight of Passage.
So keep that in mind.
If you don't have a singlepass for it, maybe start somewhere
(07:14):
else and maybe save that forthe last part of your day.
But middle of the day, that'sgoing to be a gamble because you're
going to see really high waittimes, especially if it's crowded.
You're going to see that lineall the way out.
There's going to be a personwith the sign saying it begins here.
Yeah, across the bridge.
That's right.
And let's talk about Pandora,because this was a land that broke
ground in 2014 and didn't getfinished until 2006.
(07:38):
And there was a lot ofcriticism about it because the movie
came out in 2009.
There wasn't the sequel thatyou just had a couple of years ago.
So in 2017, if you could goback in time, imagine selling the
idea of a theme park that isbased on a movie from eight years
ago and also a movie that,while it was planned to have future
(07:59):
sequels, didn't seem like itwas going to have future sequels.
And this was an IP that peoplethought were kind of dead.
I mean, eight years is a long time.
Yeah, I think they really tookpeople's head to say, oh, you remember
that movie from a long time ago?
Yeah, yeah, we got a wholeland based on it.
You know, I mean, children areapproaching, like their teenage years
going, I didn't see this whenI was four.
(08:20):
Right.
You know, but it was, it was a gamble.
But I think they nailed one ofthe best rides in the park and Flight
of Passage.
They really did.
And it's one that I don't ridepersonally, but I think that the
land itself is just a.
Just a home run.
It's just beautiful.
And, you know, we don't get achance to see it at night that often
because Animal Kingdom is notopen late.
But when it is, it isabsolutely gorgeous and everything.
(08:43):
There's such attention todetail in those two rides that are
there.
And along with over there, youhave one of my favorite quick service
restaurants in the entireproperty in Satuli Canton.
That's right.
That's a great place.
Good place to get breakfasttoo, if you want to get that early
start.
Navi River Journey is a boat ride.
I find the weight very.
Yeah.
Weird that I won't wait anhour for that.
(09:04):
But if I.
If I'm on a slow day and it's20 minutes, I'm on it.
Right.
You know, I'm on anything in20 minutes.
If you show me 20 minutes,it's a pretty ride.
It's one.
One that's great.
I tell people, if you've gotlittle kids that aren't going to
go on Flight of Passage, maybetake turns with your rider, swap
and take the little ones on that.
There's a lot to see in there,but there's really not particularly
a plot to that, to that ride.
(09:27):
But it is one that if youdon't have to wait a long time, I
say, yeah.
And it's.
It goes in the same theme ofStar wars in Hollywood series and
Harry Potter, Universal, whichis an immersive theme based on the
land, characters from themovie, merchandise from the movie,
food products from the movie.
Like, basically, it's animmersive land.
(09:48):
Yeah.
I always.
I sell this funny story.
My parents are pass holdersand when, when the park opened, they
went.
My father, who loves to tellstories over and over again, says,
yeah, your mother and I walkedover there and we just kept walking
and then somebody stopped usand we're like, no, the line to get
into the park is over here.
So they waited all day to get in.
They waited all day for both rides.
They ended up getting a Tshirt and they left.
(10:10):
So they.
But I love the fact that theywere there on opening day back in
2017.
It's a story to tell.
It's definitely a story to tell.
The safari.
Now, the safari is, I think,the key ride in the whole park.
If you call a park AnimalKingdom, show me the animals.
I agree.
But I was there when I was in September.
It was very slow day, and Iended up talking to a cast member.
(10:31):
And we were just talking aboutthe ride and I said, is it true that
people should ride it twice ifthey can?
And she said, yeah, actuallyit is.
Because in the morning you'llsee the animals doing one thing,
and at night you see theanimals doing something else.
Right.
So if you can go twice on thisride, you could get entirely different
experience because, again,there's no animatronics here.
It's not like Jungle Cruise.
(10:51):
It's not like other things.
It is a ride based on animalsdoing what they're doing at that
particular time.
You never know what you'regoing to expect.
And I also tell people, too,that your ride time on the safari
is dependent upon the animals.
So sometimes if you're tryingto make that festival of the Lion
King show and there's agiraffe in the way of the safari
vehicle, you can sit there.
(11:13):
And they will have to sitthere until that giraffe moves.
So keep in mind, pack yourpatience because you never know what
the animals are going to do.
And one little interestingnote about the safari.
Those are real vehicles.
They're not on a track.
That's right.
Are really driving it.
Sometimes you can.
You might play, you know, when car.
When things are on a track,people play like they're driving
it, but it's on a track.
This is not.
(11:33):
These are.
These are actual vehicles thatare being driven by the guides who
are telling you about the animals.
I think they lost a little bitof the story from.
They did.
Yeah.
We don't have poachers anymore.
It's a little sad sometimes.
That was a fun story.
But.
But, yeah, so we've kind oflost that.
But it is absolutely the oneattraction in Animal Kingdom that
everyone should do.
Everybody should do.
(11:54):
And the river rapids ride.
Yeah, you will get wet.
I'll dry later.
Kind of person.
I'm not either.
No.
I don't like my feet to be wetwith socks.
If I'm wearing socks andshoes, would you have to wear.
And they're drenched.
I'm getting blisters and I'mgonna be miserable.
I can't do it.
And, you know, the ride itselfis somewhat fun, but I.
I can't risk it.
That's right.
That's right.
Now, one of the other mainattractions of this park is Everest,
(12:16):
which is a fantastic roller coaster.
But I'm guessing you don't do it.
Everest.
I do, actually.
Because I was guessing.
Yeah.
No, because it feels likeevery thrill ride.
Well, I did it once.
I can do Everest.
I have to hold my breath.
When I know, spoiler alert.
It goes backwards.
So when I know we're goingbackwards, I have to breath to get
(12:36):
through that gforce.
And then once that's done,then I'm.
I'm pretty much okay for that one.
It's one of my favorite cuesas well, to walk through, just because
of.
There's some level of.
There's a little bit offeeling of history.
This summit of Mount Everestand the expedition in Mount Everest.
If you ever watch adocumentary on the making of Animal
Kingdom, they put incredibleamount of work.
(12:58):
They went over to Nepal andtalked to people and brought home
artifacts and things just toput into this ride.
It is a real labor of love forJoe, Rody and the designers of this
park about how much attentionto detail.
And I think I told you a storyon one of the podcasts after my trip
where we were all just kind ofmeandering in the queue and.
(13:19):
And people were like, youknow, looking at stuff.
Look at stuff.
And this cast member came inand said, please keep up with the
group ahead of you.
And everybody started doing that.
And the next thing you know,we passed like, a whole room.
So funny.
Everyone was just sort of,look at that.
Look at that.
It's like a museum.
It's.
But I'm with you.
I.
It's one of my favorites.
I love the.
Backwards in the dark is kindof one of the more unique thrills.
(13:41):
Yeah.
But also, I don't want tospoil the theming of it.
Yeah.
But when you get to the top,look around and you can see some.
Really?
Because Florida is flat.
You can see some cool stuff inthe distance.
Yeah, it's really cool.
It's really cool.
So other than that.
Now let's get to Dino Landagain, because this is going to be
changed into an Encanto houseis going to be an Indiana Jones ride
(14:02):
where Dinosaur is.
I don't think they're changingthe ride.
I think they're just changingthe things around it.
I think that's true becausethere is a Indiana Jones ride at
Disneyland that uses the same mechanism.
It's the same track, but dinosaur.
Believe me when I tell you this.
Look at the warning signs andread them.
If you do have a neck issue.
(14:25):
That thing Will whip youaround like no one's business.
I absolutely hate this rideprobably more than any ride on Disney
property.
For all of those reasons.
The neck, the back,everything, and the strobe lights
and everything about it justgives me so much anxiety.
I cannot ride Dinosaur.
It is an incredibly anxiousride just to give you the theming
(14:46):
of it.
It's.
You're.
You're in a time machine.
You're supposed to go back toget this dinosaur, tag this dinosaur,
and everything's on a clock.
And there's a.
Basically, it.
It doesn't make sense in thatthey have this time machine and the
only time they can bring youback is literally seconds before
a disastrous meteor hit.
They don't want to do it aweek before or a month before where
(15:07):
you might have some time toget this mission done.
They're like, we found a spotwhere we could take you.
And it's seconds before themeteor hits.
So everything is screaming and noise.
And for a lot of people,that's fun, but it does toss you
around crazy.
I know they probably will notchange that for Indiana Jones, but
(15:28):
I kind of.
As I get older, I hope they do.
Yeah.
Because I wake up, I get offthat ride going, yeah, me too.
You know, just kind of turn.
But that's.
That is not closed.
When you enter the.
The sort of gate of Dinoland,you can still head over to the right.
That's right down and headover to the ride.
Yep.
So now let's talk about some shows.
(15:48):
Okay.
Tough to be.
A Bug is going.
We're recording this in late February.
Yeah.
It'll be gone in a couple weeks.
It'll be gone by mid March.
I think that was when theysaid it.
They're gonna put a Zootopiaride in.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I like Zootopia.
I thought the movie was really cute.
Yes.
I think that that one will be welcomed.
And it's.
(16:09):
It's also going again.
Again with the grain of what.
What's hot, what's new?
What's relatively new in youngpeople's minds?
Zootopia.
People love the movie.
They love the characters.
Right.
But tough to be.
The bug was scary for young people.
Really was.
I can still remember the firsttime we took Graham in there when
he was an only child.
And.
And it was.
It was similar to the reactionthat he had the first time we took
(16:31):
him to a hibachi restaurant.
When every.
When the fire's coming andeverything, he looks at us and this
is in the hibachi restaurant,not in the.
Tough to be A bug.
But he looks at us, he's like,we gotta get out of here.
And so when the bugs startcoming and you can feel them all
under your butt and stuff,he's like, we gotta get out of here.
And so I have a similarreaction in there.
Yeah.
Now I, I think that, that oneof the aspects of the Zootopia show
(16:55):
that I'm glad they're keepingis, is the 4D effect.
Yeah.
Right.
I, maybe it's milder than itwas when the big, you know, grasshopper
came down and all that.
But they are going to keep.
There's going to beanimatronics, there's going to be
a feeling of some sort of 4D effect.
You're going to beparticipating in the show.
But I'm glad that they've,they've changed that this is going
to be, we're going to end updoing a whole different podcast on
(17:18):
this when it's all completed.
This is going to be anentirely different part than what
we're talking about now.
Yeah.
In terms of attractionsbecause like you said, said for the
amount of land that they haveto use to keep up the, with the animals
and their habitat and all ofthat, it is the least attractions
of any of the parks.
And I think for a lot ofpeople, I think it's, it's hard to.
If you don't go in with theexpectations of what it is.
(17:39):
And it's one of the reasons ifyou're new, I'm glad you're listening
to this podcast because it caneither be disappointing or you can
end up coming away going,okay, I got it now.
You know, Lauren was right.
We did a full park, but now wegot time for dinner, pool, relaxation
while we continue on ourDisney vacation.
Because these other parks,they're, they're closed at 9:00,
10:00.
You're gonna run a whole day.
(18:00):
That's right.
So you know, that's one of thethings about Animal Kingdom dining.
Bet.
Where do you rank the diningin Animal Kingdom?
If Hollywood Studios is nothigh on your list, where is this?
So it's above HollywoodStudios for sure.
Yeah.
And you know, honestly, Imight put it above Magic Kingdom
because great dining.
Yeah.
So I love Satuli Canteen.
(18:21):
Like I've said before amillion times, I really, really love
no lounge, which is not goingto be a full meal, but you can go
in there for some snacks,either alcoholic or non alcoholic
drinks in there just for sometime to relax.
You've got Flame TreeBarbecue, that's another favorite
Go to.
Every time I'm there, we go toFlame Tree barbecue.
I.
Every time I go, I want to goto yak and yeti, but I never do.
(18:43):
I ended, I end up at FlameTree almost every time.
On my last trip with Graham,we did yak and yeti, quick service
and I was a little bit disappointed.
Were you?
Okay, good.
That makes me feel betterbecause everyone told me how great
it is and I, I just don't go there.
Yeah, I was a little underwhelmed.
I would like to do the tableservice and see if there's much difference
because I have heard reallygood things about it.
But I was a little bitunderwhelmed with the quick service.
(19:04):
But another good option ifyou're not looking for a full meal.
Here I go talking about allthe dining at Animal Kingdom, but
if you're not looking for afull meal, you can always get the
grilled corn with, with thecurry spices.
It's so delicious.
So that's another really goodoption in Animal Kingdom.
And then if you're looking forsit down options, you have Tusker,
(19:25):
which I still think is one ofthe best character meals.
It is, it is.
It's one of the top charactermeals from.
I've yet to go there, but Iknow it's a buffet style character
meal restaurant.
But I, I've gotten so manypeople saying it.
It was such a great experienceof talking about all the different
caramels.
They write Tuskarous is one ofthe tops.
It's one that a lot of myclients will revisit year after year.
(19:47):
Yeah.
Now Tiffins is anotherrestaurant I've never been.
Yes, I haven't been either.
I've heard it's pretty good.
It's a little bit more priceythan other places, but Tiffin's is
out there as well.
And I think the overalltheming of Africa, Asia, there's
going to be some differentfood there that's not going to be
able to get in other parks.
It's not like burgers and fries.
There's gonna be a lot ofgreat, you know, food that honors
(20:07):
the heritage of what they'retrying to portray.
A lot of things taste so freshat Animal Kingdom and that's just.
I, I enjoy it.
All right, let's talk aboutnow the animals.
Because like we talked aboutearlier, the safari is something
you can go see Rafiki'sConservatory, the train ride that
you can go out back, see somemore animals.
You can do Maharaji Trek,which has got a new baby tiger.
Yeah, I'm obsessed with.
(20:28):
And I don' why I'm obsessedwith this baby tiger.
Backs go.
Okay.
I am.
I.
I watch, like, I just flip through.
I'll see, like, videos of them.
So this baby tiger, Sumerianbaby tiger, was born in September,
late September.
Made its debut not that long ago.
Yeah.
And if you are planning ongoing to Animal Kingdom anytime soon,
this is what people are goingto run to as soon as the thing is
(20:50):
open.
Okay.
Because they're going to lineyou up and then they're not going
to let people in right away.
So then there's gonna be aguide that will come and let you
go through to see the new babytiger that is out there.
Yeah.
And I don't know why I've been obsessed.
My wife and I are going on acruise in March and I said, should
we stop at Animal Kingdom to.
See baby tiger always?
(21:10):
She goes, really?
And I go, yeah.
She goes, well, I'm in.
Of course.
I'm in.
Of course.
I kind of want to see this thing.
It looks adorable.
I love it.
But there are so manydifferent animals to see.
If your kids love animals isso many different.
The gorillas, there's a wholegorilla walk through that you can
go through.
There's so many different waysto see these animals.
There's birds, there's.
(21:31):
Like I said, there's the wholehabitat on.
On a ride.
So again, there's a lot.
There's not a lot ofattractions, but there certainly
are a lot of animals in Animal Kingdom.
That's right.
And also now they're going tostart with more meet and greets now.
Yeah, they're.
They're kind of.
They used to do them on barges.
Now I think they kept it after.
Covid for a long time.
They did for a long time.
And now you're going to getmore meet and greets.
(21:52):
Yeah, I'm excited about that.
Exactly.
Exactly.
All right.
So overall, when we talk, wetalk about the crowds and, and the
timing and the planning interms of how somebody says, okay,
I want to get everything in.
Is it a rope drop sort of.
Sort of park?
I mean, is it something youhave to be there right away because.
(22:12):
Because of just the lack of attractions.
If I were to tell somebody,Magic Kingdom, you want to see everything,
you better get there early.
Right.
So it totally.
This is one that's dependentupon whether you have lightning lanes
or not.
If you are going to tour itwithout lightning lanes, which I've
said before is doable for thispart, then I do suggest, let's get
there at rope drop.
I still suggest going aheadand buying that single pass for flight
(22:32):
of passage.
That's going to save you a lotof headache of waiting in that line.
And go ahead and rope dropthings like with early entry.
You're not going to have thesafari that's going to open with
early entry.
It does not open until postedpark opening.
So instead you can rope dropthings like Expedition Everest and
then come back over to NaviRiver Journey and then, then hit
(22:54):
things like Safari Festival,Lion King, Finding Nemo.
Those are the five things thatI suggest that you do in addition
to flight of passage.
So if you're going withlightning lanes, you can definitely
sleep in a bit.
We have a saying in our familynow that I created and I'm very proud
of creating, which is.
And everybody in my familygets it, which is love.
Something like that guy lovedLion King.
(23:15):
There was a guy, we went thereand there was a guy who clearly was
a pass holder because he, hewas just, he knew everybody and he
was saying, hi everybody.
But he was as into the LionKing show and he loved it.
And we all kind of were in aweof this guy's love for the festival
of the Lion King, which is oneof the best shows on Disney property.
So I say that a lot andeverybody in my family gets it.
(23:36):
But that is, that is apremiere show that you need to see.
It is also the Nemo show isreally fantastic.
So well done.
That is a talent.
That is when you're talkingabout people who do.
Puppetry is a real special talent.
It really is.
And it's on full display.
Play on the Nemo show.
They pretty much give you theentire movie.
Yeah.
With puppets and, and, andguys acting, guys and girls acting
(23:59):
out these parts and it is fantastic.
Yeah.
So you're right.
As far as it's.
It's got really good dining options.
They've got great entertainment.
There may not be a ton ofrides, but it has two or three if
you want to count the safariof the more unique, better attractions
in the Walt Disney World.
Property.
Property.
The problem is, is 6:00 comesawfully quick and you're done.
(24:19):
And you're done.
If you don't have that parkhopper, then use that time to relax.
And that leads me to another question.
Look, my wife and I, we godown all the time for me to buy a
one day ticket.
Even though it's expensive.
Yeah, it's.
No, we, we would do it anyway.
I don't know if I wouldrecommend a one day runoff if you're
going there for a day.
I think for the value.
(24:40):
I don't think it's as good ofa value as parks that are open till
9, 10, 11 o'clock.
I agree.
It's a better part to do witha multi day ticket.
That's you have a multi day ticket.
Again, it's not going to be afull day.
This is one of the reasonspeople will say if you're going to
spend, if you're going to goopen to close.
Meaning I I'm not going topark hop.
Maybe I don't have a park hopor it's not my intention to do it.
(25:02):
Stick around.
Because a lot of people parkhop this week.
Oh yeah, they will startleaving at 1, 2, 3 o'clock.
That's right.
And you will start noticing alot of wait times going down.
So if you loved Flight ofPassage when you stood in line forever
in the morning, try it againlater in the afternoon when you're
if you're going to be therefull day.
That's right.
Because you might see it.
All right.
Any more thoughts on AnimalKingdom, our fourth and final of
(25:25):
the theme parks at Disney World?
I think we've covered it.
I think we have too.
So remember, please like andsubscribe to this podcast.
Please look check out ourlibrary for again, Magic Kingdom,
Epcot, Hollywood Studios, ourguides to both of those and all sorts
of other guides that we havedone so far in Wands and Wishes,
including the cruise line,navigating the parks with children,
dining options, etc andplease, if you'd like to reach out
(25:48):
to us, you can reach Lauren atlauren@allthemagic travel and you
can reach me,travelwithtonydmail.com we'd love
to hear from you.
So again, please share the podcast.
Leave us a five star review.
It helps us with thealgorithms and all that fun stuff.
We'll see you next time onOnes and Wishes.
Foreign of the Wands andWishes podcast in our in depth series.
Thanks for joining us.
Lauren Mallard, from all themagic travel to myself going through
the parks of Walt Disney World.
And if you haven't heard ourreviews of Magic Kingdom, Epcot center
and Hollywood Studios, I urgeyou to go to our library and check
(00:20):
out past episodes.
Today we are doing the finalpark that was built in the Magic
Kingdom Resort, and that wasAnimal kingdom back in 1998.
And it is a.
It is a park that's got a lotof changes coming.
Got one of the hotter rides inall of the four parks at the resort.
And we're going to talk about some.
A view of that park and alsosome tips that'll help you navigate
(00:42):
Animal Kingdom.
How are you, Lauren?
I am good.
How are you?
All right, so this is mywife's second favorite park, really,
side of the Magic Kingdom, andI need to drag her to Epcot Center.
That's just not her park.
But Animal Kingdom she wouldrun to in a heartbeat.
Okay.
What does she love about it?
I think it's the whole animal aspect.
Okay.
I think it's the animal aspect.
But as I was saying earlier,this is a park that when it was built,
(01:04):
it was promoted.
It was trying to get people torealize it's, this is not a zoo.
This is a sort of a reserve almost.
This is where we put our animal.
You'll get to see animals inmore of a natural environment other
than their real natural environment.
And.
But it's gone through some changes.
Going through a lot of changesfor 2025.
Yeah, definitely.
And that, the start of that iswe've started to see the demise of
(01:28):
Dinoland.
Right.
So.
And, you know, I think that'sprobably a welcome demise for a lot
of people because there's notreally a whole lot.
Even with nostalgia for me,for Dino Land, it's never been a
part of the park that I havegravitated towards.
But, yeah, so we're seeingsome, some changes there.
And I'm really excited forwhat's to come.
And to be honest, I don't evenhave a full picture of what's going
(01:52):
to be in that area.
But I'm excited.
I'm excited for, for what'snext for Animal Kingdom.
Yeah.
Dinoland is interestingbecause as a kid, you kind of go,
this is great.
There's, there's rides andthere'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'twant to go to the county.
I didn't want to go to thecounty fair.
I paid too much for this.
I did.
(02:13):
And I'm looking at these rides going.
I got.
I get this every summer at thelocal town.
Right.
And you're sort of throwingthis in there as some sort of.
Oh, yeah, we're just addingsome cool stuff to this.
Yeah.
But again, my, my son, who's23 years old, for years in his closet
had a orange dinosaur that hisUncle Philip wanted when he was like
3 years old at one of the games.
(02:35):
So.
So I'm, I'm with you.
I'm glad it's.
It's going away and I'm gladsome new things are coming.
But if you go back and wetalked about this with Hollywood
Studios, if you were MichaelEisner back in the 90s and you were
saying, okay, where are peoplegoing outside of this resort?
I got two parks here, I gotMagic in my Epcot.
People come down for a vacation.
Where are they going?
Well, if he's looking south atI4 from his park, he goes, well,
(02:59):
to the left of me is Universal Studios.
To the right of me is Busch Gardens.
That's right.
How do I keep those people whoare going there, those different
unique experiences at my place?
And he creates, you know, hasAnimal Kingdom created as well as
Hollywood Studios.
Yeah.
So it's a way again, to sortof say the complete vacation is here.
Everything that you kind ofwant to do from going to sort of
(03:19):
the iconic Disney Resort to aquote unquote zoo, however you want
to term.
Yeah, you throw the term around.
Animal Kingdom adds to thatsort of complete package.
Yeah, it definitely does.
And really, to be honest, youcan go to Animal Kingdom without
even focusing on the animals.
Like you can go there.
And to be, to be very honest,I don't usually focus on the animals
(03:41):
aside from the safari, becausethere's so much more to see and do
there.
The shows, if you are a showperson, Animal Kingdom is fantastic
for that.
But yeah, you don't have tothink of it as, oh, well, my kids
have been to the zoo before.
You can completely skip theExploration trails and Rafiki's Planet
watch and all of those thingsand just see it as a theme park and
(04:03):
get so much out of it too.
And that being said, said,let's let me ask you the question
from a planning perspective.
If, if you were to rank allfour of the parks, where is the,
the planning aspect?
How important is it for Animal Kingdom?
It's Last.
It definitely is because.
So you see, it's unique in thefact that on the lightning lane system
there are no tiers at Animal Kingdom.
Yeah.
Meaning that there is not asection of rides that you have to
(04:27):
choose between and only chooseone of those as a tier one attraction.
You can go ahead and choosethree of the, the headliners there,
along with the single pass ofAvatar, flight of passage.
But so basically with thatbeing said, it is so easily toured
that you can do it either witha lightning lane or without.
(04:47):
And I tell clients all thetime, it's easily a half day park.
Yeah, it's very much so.
And I, my wife and I lastvisited the park in September.
We went on one of the slowestdays on the calendar.
We got.
We were done by 2:00 in the afternoon.
Like literally at 2:00 in theafternoon, we had seen everything.
Yeah.
And that was with very, verylow CR crowds.
And even on its busiest days,you pretty much can get everything
(05:09):
you want to do.
There's no reason to do asecond day other than to repeat things
you loved before.
Yeah.
But you're not gonna misssomething if you do a full day at
Animal Kingdom, even if it'sjam packed.
That's right.
And my, my touring advice forAnimal Kingdom, there are two ways
to do it, really.
And I've said before, I liketo start with it on my first day,
especially if I've flown downthat morning, because I can get everything
(05:29):
done in one day and be donewith Animal Kingdom.
The other option that I tellpeople a lot of times is if they're
looking for a rest day in themiddle 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 withit by mid afternoon and be able to
have some pool time, maybe goout to eat that night, something
like that.
And that's really a good dayto kind of catch your breath in the
(05:50):
middle of your Disney vacation.
All right, let's start.
This is a uniquely designedpark compared to the other three
in that when you go to MagicKingdom, you can see Cinderella's
castle right away.
You can see you're right atthe entrance of Spaceship Earth.
As soon as you walk throughEpcot center, you can see Spaceship
Earth.
You can see Chinese theaterbuilding as you walk down the street.
But this is different.
(06:10):
You're going to go through theOasis, you're going to kind of meander
through some paths, you'regoing to see some wildlife, you're
going to be in engulfed intrees and then you're going to break
out and you're going to seethe Tree of Life.
That's right.
And one note there is, you'regoing to be, you're going to be poised
with whether you go left orright as soon as you go to the park.
And just so you know, there isno right or way, right or wrong way
(06:32):
here.
It's both going to lead to thecenter of the park where you're going
to see the Tree of Life.
That's right.
That's right.
Then once you get there, it,it's interesting to where people
give advice on if you want todo Flight of Passage at Avatar, do
you run over there right awayor do you wait until people start
going, I'm kind of done withthis, I'm leaving, I'm park hopping
(06:52):
and it's close to the end ofthe day.
Yeah, I think either way is fine.
And that goes back to do Iwant to get up early and do Animal
Kingdom the first part of theday or do I want to do it the second
half of the day?
Because that's when you'regoing to see, you're going obviously
going to see almost everybodythat is rope dropping is going to
go to Flight of Passage.
So keep that in mind.
If you don't have a singlepass for it, maybe start somewhere
(07:14):
else and maybe save that forthe last part of your day.
But middle of the day, that'sgoing to be a gamble because you're
going to see really high waittimes, especially if it's crowded.
You're going to see that lineall the way out.
There's going to be a personwith the sign saying it begins here.
Yeah, across the bridge.
That's right.
And let's talk about Pandora,because this was a land that broke
ground in 2014 and didn't getfinished until 2006.
(07:38):
And there was a lot ofcriticism about it because the movie
came out in 2009.
There wasn't the sequel thatyou just had a couple of years ago.
So in 2017, if you could goback in time, imagine selling the
idea of a theme park that isbased on a movie from eight years
ago and also a movie that,while it was planned to have future
(07:59):
sequels, didn't seem like itwas going to have future sequels.
And this was an IP that peoplethought were kind of dead.
I mean, eight years is a long time.
Yeah, I think they really tookpeople's head to say, oh, you remember
that movie from a long time ago?
Yeah, yeah, we got a wholeland based on it.
You know, I mean, children areapproaching, like their teenage years
going, I didn't see this whenI was four.
(08:20):
Right.
You know, but it was, it was a gamble.
But I think they nailed one ofthe best rides in the park and Flight
of Passage.
They really did.
And it's one that I don't ridepersonally, but I think that the
land itself is just a.
Just a home run.
It's just beautiful.
And, you know, we don't get achance to see it at night that often
because Animal Kingdom is notopen late.
But when it is, it isabsolutely gorgeous and everything.
(08:43):
There's such attention todetail in those two rides that are
there.
And along with over there, youhave one of my favorite quick service
restaurants in the entireproperty in Satuli Canton.
That's right.
That's a great place.
Good place to get breakfasttoo, if you want to get that early
start.
Navi River Journey is a boat ride.
I find the weight very.
Yeah.
Weird that I won't wait anhour for that.
(09:04):
But if I.
If I'm on a slow day and it's20 minutes, I'm on it.
Right.
You know, I'm on anything in20 minutes.
If you show me 20 minutes,it's a pretty ride.
It's one.
One that's great.
I tell people, if you've gotlittle kids that aren't going to
go on Flight of Passage, maybetake turns with your rider, swap
and take the little ones on that.
There's a lot to see in there,but there's really not particularly
a plot to that, to that ride.
(09:27):
But it is one that if youdon't have to wait a long time, I
say, yeah.
And it's.
It goes in the same theme ofStar wars in Hollywood series and
Harry Potter, Universal, whichis an immersive theme based on the
land, characters from themovie, merchandise from the movie,
food products from the movie.
Like, basically, it's animmersive land.
(09:48):
Yeah.
I always.
I sell this funny story.
My parents are pass holdersand when, when the park opened, they
went.
My father, who loves to tellstories over and over again, says,
yeah, your mother and I walkedover there and we just kept walking
and then somebody stopped usand we're like, no, the line to get
into the park is over here.
So they waited all day to get in.
They waited all day for both rides.
They ended up getting a Tshirt and they left.
(10:10):
So they.
But I love the fact that theywere there on opening day back in
2017.
It's a story to tell.
It's definitely a story to tell.
The safari.
Now, the safari is, I think,the key ride in the whole park.
If you call a park AnimalKingdom, show me the animals.
I agree.
But I was there when I was in September.
It was very slow day, and Iended up talking to a cast member.
(10:31):
And we were just talking aboutthe ride and I said, is it true that
people should ride it twice ifthey can?
And she said, yeah, actuallyit is.
Because in the morning you'llsee the animals doing one thing,
and at night you see theanimals doing something else.
Right.
So if you can go twice on thisride, you could get entirely different
experience because, again,there's no animatronics here.
It's not like Jungle Cruise.
(10:51):
It's not like other things.
It is a ride based on animalsdoing what they're doing at that
particular time.
You never know what you'regoing to expect.
And I also tell people, too,that your ride time on the safari
is dependent upon the animals.
So sometimes if you're tryingto make that festival of the Lion
King show and there's agiraffe in the way of the safari
vehicle, you can sit there.
(11:13):
And they will have to sitthere until that giraffe moves.
So keep in mind, pack yourpatience because you never know what
the animals are going to do.
And one little interestingnote about the safari.
Those are real vehicles.
They're not on a track.
That's right.
Are really driving it.
Sometimes you can.
You might play, you know, when car.
When things are on a track,people play like they're driving
it, but it's on a track.
This is not.
(11:33):
These are.
These are actual vehicles thatare being driven by the guides who
are telling you about the animals.
I think they lost a little bitof the story from.
They did.
Yeah.
We don't have poachers anymore.
It's a little sad sometimes.
That was a fun story.
But.
But, yeah, so we've kind oflost that.
But it is absolutely the oneattraction in Animal Kingdom that
everyone should do.
Everybody should do.
(11:54):
And the river rapids ride.
Yeah, you will get wet.
I'll dry later.
Kind of person.
I'm not either.
No.
I don't like my feet to be wetwith socks.
If I'm wearing socks andshoes, would you have to wear.
And they're drenched.
I'm getting blisters and I'mgonna be miserable.
I can't do it.
And, you know, the ride itselfis somewhat fun, but I.
I can't risk it.
That's right.
That's right.
Now, one of the other mainattractions of this park is Everest,
(12:16):
which is a fantastic roller coaster.
But I'm guessing you don't do it.
Everest.
I do, actually.
Because I was guessing.
Yeah.
No, because it feels likeevery thrill ride.
Well, I did it once.
I can do Everest.
I have to hold my breath.
When I know, spoiler alert.
It goes backwards.
So when I know we're goingbackwards, I have to breath to get
(12:36):
through that gforce.
And then once that's done,then I'm.
I'm pretty much okay for that one.
It's one of my favorite cuesas well, to walk through, just because
of.
There's some level of.
There's a little bit offeeling of history.
This summit of Mount Everestand the expedition in Mount Everest.
If you ever watch adocumentary on the making of Animal
Kingdom, they put incredibleamount of work.
(12:58):
They went over to Nepal andtalked to people and brought home
artifacts and things just toput into this ride.
It is a real labor of love forJoe, Rody and the designers of this
park about how much attentionto detail.
And I think I told you a storyon one of the podcasts after my trip
where we were all just kind ofmeandering in the queue and.
(13:19):
And people were like, youknow, looking at stuff.
Look at stuff.
And this cast member came inand said, please keep up with the
group ahead of you.
And everybody started doing that.
And the next thing you know,we passed like, a whole room.
So funny.
Everyone was just sort of,look at that.
Look at that.
It's like a museum.
It's.
But I'm with you.
I.
It's one of my favorites.
I love the.
Backwards in the dark is kindof one of the more unique thrills.
(13:41):
Yeah.
But also, I don't want tospoil the theming of it.
Yeah.
But when you get to the top,look around and you can see some.
Really?
Because Florida is flat.
You can see some cool stuff inthe distance.
Yeah, it's really cool.
It's really cool.
So other than that.
Now let's get to Dino Landagain, because this is going to be
changed into an Encanto houseis going to be an Indiana Jones ride
(14:02):
where Dinosaur is.
I don't think they're changingthe ride.
I think they're just changingthe things around it.
I think that's true becausethere is a Indiana Jones ride at
Disneyland that uses the same mechanism.
It's the same track, but dinosaur.
Believe me when I tell you this.
Look at the warning signs andread them.
If you do have a neck issue.
(14:25):
That thing Will whip youaround like no one's business.
I absolutely hate this rideprobably more than any ride on Disney
property.
For all of those reasons.
The neck, the back,everything, and the strobe lights
and everything about it justgives me so much anxiety.
I cannot ride Dinosaur.
It is an incredibly anxiousride just to give you the theming
(14:46):
of it.
It's.
You're.
You're in a time machine.
You're supposed to go back toget this dinosaur, tag this dinosaur,
and everything's on a clock.
And there's a.
Basically, it.
It doesn't make sense in thatthey have this time machine and the
only time they can bring youback is literally seconds before
a disastrous meteor hit.
They don't want to do it aweek before or a month before where
(15:07):
you might have some time toget this mission done.
They're like, we found a spotwhere we could take you.
And it's seconds before themeteor hits.
So everything is screaming and noise.
And for a lot of people,that's fun, but it does toss you
around crazy.
I know they probably will notchange that for Indiana Jones, but
(15:28):
I kind of.
As I get older, I hope they do.
Yeah.
Because I wake up, I get offthat ride going, yeah, me too.
You know, just kind of turn.
But that's.
That is not closed.
When you enter the.
The sort of gate of Dinoland,you can still head over to the right.
That's right down and headover to the ride.
Yep.
So now let's talk about some shows.
(15:48):
Okay.
Tough to be.
A Bug is going.
We're recording this in late February.
Yeah.
It'll be gone in a couple weeks.
It'll be gone by mid March.
I think that was when theysaid it.
They're gonna put a Zootopiaride in.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I like Zootopia.
I thought the movie was really cute.
Yes.
I think that that one will be welcomed.
And it's.
(16:09):
It's also going again.
Again with the grain of what.
What's hot, what's new?
What's relatively new in youngpeople's minds?
Zootopia.
People love the movie.
They love the characters.
Right.
But tough to be.
The bug was scary for young people.
Really was.
I can still remember the firsttime we took Graham in there when
he was an only child.
And.
And it was.
It was similar to the reactionthat he had the first time we took
(16:31):
him to a hibachi restaurant.
When every.
When the fire's coming andeverything, he looks at us and this
is in the hibachi restaurant,not in the.
Tough to be A bug.
But he looks at us, he's like,we gotta get out of here.
And so when the bugs startcoming and you can feel them all
under your butt and stuff,he's like, we gotta get out of here.
And so I have a similarreaction in there.
Yeah.
Now I, I think that, that oneof the aspects of the Zootopia show
(16:55):
that I'm glad they're keepingis, is the 4D effect.
Yeah.
Right.
I, maybe it's milder than itwas when the big, you know, grasshopper
came down and all that.
But they are going to keep.
There's going to beanimatronics, there's going to be
a feeling of some sort of 4D effect.
You're going to beparticipating in the show.
But I'm glad that they've,they've changed that this is going
to be, we're going to end updoing a whole different podcast on
(17:18):
this when it's all completed.
This is going to be anentirely different part than what
we're talking about now.
Yeah.
In terms of attractionsbecause like you said, said for the
amount of land that they haveto use to keep up the, with the animals
and their habitat and all ofthat, it is the least attractions
of any of the parks.
And I think for a lot ofpeople, I think it's, it's hard to.
If you don't go in with theexpectations of what it is.
(17:39):
And it's one of the reasons ifyou're new, I'm glad you're listening
to this podcast because it caneither be disappointing or you can
end up coming away going,okay, I got it now.
You know, Lauren was right.
We did a full park, but now wegot time for dinner, pool, relaxation
while we continue on ourDisney vacation.
Because these other parks,they're, they're closed at 9:00,
10:00.
You're gonna run a whole day.
(18:00):
That's right.
So you know, that's one of thethings about Animal Kingdom dining.
Bet.
Where do you rank the diningin Animal Kingdom?
If Hollywood Studios is nothigh on your list, where is this?
So it's above HollywoodStudios for sure.
Yeah.
And you know, honestly, Imight put it above Magic Kingdom
because great dining.
Yeah.
So I love Satuli Canteen.
(18:21):
Like I've said before amillion times, I really, really love
no lounge, which is not goingto be a full meal, but you can go
in there for some snacks,either alcoholic or non alcoholic
drinks in there just for sometime to relax.
You've got Flame TreeBarbecue, that's another favorite
Go to.
Every time I'm there, we go toFlame Tree barbecue.
I.
Every time I go, I want to goto yak and yeti, but I never do.
(18:43):
I ended, I end up at FlameTree almost every time.
On my last trip with Graham,we did yak and yeti, quick service
and I was a little bit disappointed.
Were you?
Okay, good.
That makes me feel betterbecause everyone told me how great
it is and I, I just don't go there.
Yeah, I was a little underwhelmed.
I would like to do the tableservice and see if there's much difference
because I have heard reallygood things about it.
But I was a little bitunderwhelmed with the quick service.
(19:04):
But another good option ifyou're not looking for a full meal.
Here I go talking about allthe dining at Animal Kingdom, but
if you're not looking for afull meal, you can always get the
grilled corn with, with thecurry spices.
It's so delicious.
So that's another really goodoption in Animal Kingdom.
And then if you're looking forsit down options, you have Tusker,
(19:25):
which I still think is one ofthe best character meals.
It is, it is.
It's one of the top charactermeals from.
I've yet to go there, but Iknow it's a buffet style character
meal restaurant.
But I, I've gotten so manypeople saying it.
It was such a great experienceof talking about all the different
caramels.
They write Tuskarous is one ofthe tops.
It's one that a lot of myclients will revisit year after year.
(19:47):
Yeah.
Now Tiffins is anotherrestaurant I've never been.
Yes, I haven't been either.
I've heard it's pretty good.
It's a little bit more priceythan other places, but Tiffin's is
out there as well.
And I think the overalltheming of Africa, Asia, there's
going to be some differentfood there that's not going to be
able to get in other parks.
It's not like burgers and fries.
There's gonna be a lot ofgreat, you know, food that honors
(20:07):
the heritage of what they'retrying to portray.
A lot of things taste so freshat Animal Kingdom and that's just.
I, I enjoy it.
All right, let's talk aboutnow the animals.
Because like we talked aboutearlier, the safari is something
you can go see Rafiki'sConservatory, the train ride that
you can go out back, see somemore animals.
You can do Maharaji Trek,which has got a new baby tiger.
Yeah, I'm obsessed with.
(20:28):
And I don' why I'm obsessedwith this baby tiger.
Backs go.
Okay.
I am.
I.
I watch, like, I just flip through.
I'll see, like, videos of them.
So this baby tiger, Sumerianbaby tiger, was born in September,
late September.
Made its debut not that long ago.
Yeah.
And if you are planning ongoing to Animal Kingdom anytime soon,
this is what people are goingto run to as soon as the thing is
(20:50):
open.
Okay.
Because they're going to lineyou up and then they're not going
to let people in right away.
So then there's gonna be aguide that will come and let you
go through to see the new babytiger that is out there.
Yeah.
And I don't know why I've been obsessed.
My wife and I are going on acruise in March and I said, should
we stop at Animal Kingdom to.
See baby tiger always?
(21:10):
She goes, really?
And I go, yeah.
She goes, well, I'm in.
Of course.
I'm in.
Of course.
I kind of want to see this thing.
It looks adorable.
I love it.
But there are so manydifferent animals to see.
If your kids love animals isso many different.
The gorillas, there's a wholegorilla walk through that you can
go through.
There's so many different waysto see these animals.
There's birds, there's.
(21:31):
Like I said, there's the wholehabitat on.
On a ride.
So again, there's a lot.
There's not a lot ofattractions, but there certainly
are a lot of animals in Animal Kingdom.
That's right.
And also now they're going tostart with more meet and greets now.
Yeah, they're.
They're kind of.
They used to do them on barges.
Now I think they kept it after.
Covid for a long time.
They did for a long time.
And now you're going to getmore meet and greets.
(21:52):
Yeah, I'm excited about that.
Exactly.
Exactly.
All right.
So overall, when we talk, wetalk about the crowds and, and the
timing and the planning interms of how somebody says, okay,
I want to get everything in.
Is it a rope drop sort of.
Sort of park?
I mean, is it something youhave to be there right away because.
(22:12):
Because of just the lack of attractions.
If I were to tell somebody,Magic Kingdom, you want to see everything,
you better get there early.
Right.
So it totally.
This is one that's dependentupon whether you have lightning lanes
or not.
If you are going to tour itwithout lightning lanes, which I've
said before is doable for thispart, then I do suggest, let's get
there at rope drop.
I still suggest going aheadand buying that single pass for flight
(22:32):
of passage.
That's going to save you a lotof headache of waiting in that line.
And go ahead and rope dropthings like with early entry.
You're not going to have thesafari that's going to open with
early entry.
It does not open until postedpark opening.
So instead you can rope dropthings like Expedition Everest and
then come back over to NaviRiver Journey and then, then hit
(22:54):
things like Safari Festival,Lion King, Finding Nemo.
Those are the five things thatI suggest that you do in addition
to flight of passage.
So if you're going withlightning lanes, you can definitely
sleep in a bit.
We have a saying in our familynow that I created and I'm very proud
of creating, which is.
And everybody in my familygets it, which is love.
Something like that guy lovedLion King.
(23:15):
There was a guy, we went thereand there was a guy who clearly was
a pass holder because he, hewas just, he knew everybody and he
was saying, hi everybody.
But he was as into the LionKing show and he loved it.
And we all kind of were in aweof this guy's love for the festival
of the Lion King, which is oneof the best shows on Disney property.
So I say that a lot andeverybody in my family gets it.
(23:36):
But that is, that is apremiere show that you need to see.
It is also the Nemo show isreally fantastic.
So well done.
That is a talent.
That is when you're talkingabout people who do.
Puppetry is a real special talent.
It really is.
And it's on full display.
Play on the Nemo show.
They pretty much give you theentire movie.
Yeah.
With puppets and, and, andguys acting, guys and girls acting
(23:59):
out these parts and it is fantastic.
Yeah.
So you're right.
As far as it's.
It's got really good dining options.
They've got great entertainment.
There may not be a ton ofrides, but it has two or three if
you want to count the safariof the more unique, better attractions
in the Walt Disney World.
Property.
Property.
The problem is, is 6:00 comesawfully quick and you're done.
(24:19):
And you're done.
If you don't have that parkhopper, then use that time to relax.
And that leads me to another question.
Look, my wife and I, we godown all the time for me to buy a
one day ticket.
Even though it's expensive.
Yeah, it's.
No, we, we would do it anyway.
I don't know if I wouldrecommend a one day runoff if you're
going there for a day.
I think for the value.
(24:40):
I don't think it's as good ofa value as parks that are open till
9, 10, 11 o'clock.
I agree.
It's a better part to do witha multi day ticket.
That's you have a multi day ticket.
Again, it's not going to be afull day.
This is one of the reasonspeople will say if you're going to
spend, if you're going to goopen to close.
Meaning I I'm not going topark hop.
Maybe I don't have a park hopor it's not my intention to do it.
(25:02):
Stick around.
Because a lot of people parkhop this week.
Oh yeah, they will startleaving at 1, 2, 3 o'clock.
That's right.
And you will start noticing alot of wait times going down.
So if you loved Flight ofPassage when you stood in line forever
in the morning, try it againlater in the afternoon when you're
if you're going to be therefull day.
That's right.
Because you might see it.
All right.
Any more thoughts on AnimalKingdom, our fourth and final of
(25:25):
the theme parks at Disney World?
I think we've covered it.
I think we have too.
So remember, please like andsubscribe to this podcast.
Please look check out ourlibrary for again, Magic Kingdom,
Epcot, Hollywood Studios, ourguides to both of those and all sorts
of other guides that we havedone so far in Wands and Wishes,
including the cruise line,navigating the parks with children,
dining options, etc andplease, if you'd like to reach out
(25:48):
to us, you can reach Lauren atlauren@allthemagic travel and you
can reach me,travelwithtonydmail.com we'd love
to hear from you.
So again, please share the podcast.
Leave us a five star review.
It helps us with thealgorithms and all that fun stuff.
We'll see you next time onOnes and Wishes.
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