Next up during our Florida holiday was a visit to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
I can’t really remember a huge amount about the day in detail, but on a personal level I enjoyed this park far more than Magic Kingdom. It felt more organic, still heavily themed obviously, but given its focus on nature, wildlife and conservation, it came across as much more natural and immersive.
No embarrassing T-shirts this time, thankfully, although we did manage to get a family photo with Mickey and Minnie dressed as explorers, which felt like a reasonable compromise.
Mum and Dad spent much of the day turning each corner of the park and declaring, “This is just like India” or “This reminds us of somewhere in Africa.”
They’re well-seasoned travellers and, in retirement, have spent months at a time exploring all corners of the world. Despite that, neither of them had ever been hugged by Donald Duck before — so there’s always a first time for everything.
Kilimanjaro Safaris
The highlight for many visitors is Kilimanjaro Safaris, a guided open-vehicle safari ride through the park’s African savanna.
Despite obviously being a theme park attraction, it felt surprisingly natural. We saw giraffes, rhinos, elephants and lions roaming large open spaces rather than enclosed zoo-style habitats.
Yes, the parents were keen to point out that they’d seen all of these animals on real African safaris but even so, it was still an impressive experience and easily one of the best attractions in the park.
The Tree of Life
At the heart of Animal Kingdom stands the Tree of Life, a huge artificial tree standing around 145 feet tall.
What makes it special is the intricate carving — over 300 animals are sculpted into its trunk and roots, representing creatures from across the natural world. It’s one of those things that’s far more impressive up close than it looks in photos.
It’s also home to various shows and attractions tucked away inside, making it both a visual centrepiece and a functional part of the park.
DinoLand, Birds and Dole Whip
We also spent some time in DinoLand U.S.A., went on a couple of rides, and caught a live bird performance — Feathered Friends in Flight — which featured parrots and other birds showing off their flying skills.
According to Oscar, one absolute must-try was a pineapple Dole Whip. I’ll admit it — it was very nice and probably one of the better Disney-related food decisions of the day.
Avatar: Flight of Passage
The icing on the cake, though, was the newly opened Avatar: Flight of Passage ride.
This is a highly immersive 3D flying simulator located in the park’s Pandora area. Riders sit astride individual pods and “fly” over the alien landscape, complete with wind, mist and motion effects.
I’m not usually one to be wowed by virtual reality-style attractions, but this absolutely blew me away — so much so that we rode it three times.
We were incredibly lucky with queues. The ride was getting huge press at the time, with horror stories of four-hour waits. Our first queue was around half an hour, and after that we used a wheelchair access return-time system — book a slot, come back five minutes before, and walk straight on.
There were, it turns out, some advantages to pushing Mum around in a wheelchair.
Final Thoughts
So, would I visit again? Probably not — it’s still Disney.
However, if I absolutely had to visit a Disney park again, this would be the one I’d choose. Oscar enjoyed his second Disney day of the holiday, the rest of the family had a good time, and as Disney goes… it was a success.
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