My days as a Cast Member were spent at Animal Kingdom, for the most part. For that reason, this park will always hold a special place in my heart! However, as much as I don’t want it to be, Animal Kingdom usually tends to be a half day park for us. For this trip, we saved it for the last day, when we knew we wouldn’t have the energy to spend a full day at a park.
To begin the day (around 10:30), we split up with me riding Expedition Everest and Ken heading to “It’s Tough to be a Bug.” We then met back up at Flametree BBQ, our favorite quick-service dining option at Animal Kingdom. We snagged a water-side table with a great view of the progress being made on the new Rivers of Light show, coming next month! We were also joined by a few winged friends for our meal! (Side note: please don’t feed the animals – it really is bad for them.)
Our fastpass plan was to do the Kilimanjaro Safari at 12:30 and the Festival of the Lion King at 1:30. However, we finished lunch quickly and noticed the line for Lion King was pretty short so we dropped our 1:30 fastpasses and did the standby line instead. The Festival of the Lion King is one of my very favorite things! It’s a beautiful combination of dancing, singing, acrobatics, and Disney fun. Way back in the day, I was a competitive dancer and dreamed of being a part of this show. While that didn’t quite pan out, I still love the artistry of it. This showing was a bit unique in that one of the main characters, the red bird, was not present. I found it fascinating how smoothly the other troupe members covered for the absence, so much so that my husband didn’t even notice it. While I definitely missed the romantic pas de deux to Can You Feel the Love Tonight, the show went off without a hitch.
We finished our time at Animal Kingdom with a safari adventure. I love how every ride is different, as the animals interact with their environment. On this safari, we were able to have a great view of some elephants, including a new baby calf. Every time I ride the Kilimanjaro Safaris, I get to experience something new! After the safari, we made our way back to the car and headed back to the room to start packing… worst part of vacation!
Magical Moments Vacations with Miranda 