Life with Mrs C

ANIMAL KINGDOM

So our next day we had another Disney day and hit up Animal Kingdom. We again had a couple of meals booked – Tusker House character dining (with the old Rivers of Light package) and then Yak and Yeti. We also had fast passes booked for Kilimanjaro Safaris, Nav’i River Journey and Everest.

We planned an early start again to try and get to the safari early to try and see as many of the animals as we could. And this paid off! We were stopped twice to due giraffes walking across the track, we saw alot of them sleeping but in good view so we were able to get some fabulous pictures.

Following this was our reservation at Tusker House which we timed for brunch – this meant we were able to take advantage of the end of the breakfast manu and the start of the lunch one. This is another character dining option where you get to meet Goofy, Donald, Daisy and Mickey all decked out in their safari gear. We also went for the option to add on the Rivers of Light package which gives you priority seating without queueing for the evening show (we make the most of these options again later in the holiday)

Following this we headed into Pandora for a nice leisurely ride on the Nav’i River Journey (I’d saved Flight of Passage for another day). This is definitely a family friendly ride for all ages, the bio-luminesence is gorgeous and the whole thing really is an experience. The whole area is beautiful and breath taking. This really is Disney Imagineering at its best!

After this we did our fast pass on Expedition Everest, then checked the My Disney Experience app for more availability. We were able to snag a spot for Finding Nemo the Musical which was a great option as it got us in some air conditioning for a while during the hotter point in the day. Once we scanned through there I checked again and found availability for Dinosaur – so booked those for me and my brother. Personally I find this ride terrifying, it’s too jerky, dark and disorientating for me, however my brother loved it! You can see my excitement about it in our ride photo below….

We had a general wander again following this ride, we checked out the bigger shops on Discovery Island by the Tree of Life, and eventually made our way to Yak and Yeti for dinner. This is an Asian style restaurant, again we were using DDP credits – one main, one dessert and a drink (including alcoholic options). This was another fabulous meal (I feel I’m saying this about everything so far!), it was my first time eating here and I will 100% return.

It was also close by for the entrance for Rivers of Light, and as we had priority seating we headed straight there after our meal to get sat down. As the whole park is animal friendly (you won’t find any single use plastic, plastic straws etc here), the night time show doesn’t feature fireworks. It is centered around floating lily pads which fire out water coloured with lights as well as projection against sprays of water all in time to music. It focuses on our Disney animal friends as well as nature, which is a nice change as alot of entertainment options follow the traditional Disney Princesses and the main films everyone remembers.

After the show ended we wanted to make sure we saw Pandora at night as the whole area lights up similar to the River Journey ride. Its truly spectacular wandering around with everything glowing bright colours around you

As it was another fairly late night we headed straight to our rooms and to bed once we were back at the hotel, via the foodcourt for our refillable mug top ups

I do love Animal Kingdom for the pure difference you have in entertainment and attractions compared to the other 3 parks. Where else can you see a pride of lions up close, then go have breakfast with Mickey??

Next time we’re having a non Disney day, and going to Sea World then Disney Springs again for dinner

Xx