Today (Wednesday) was our visit at Animal Kingdom. We have been here a few times before, and we learned a few things again from this visit, and they are pretty much the same, and they include:
- Do not bring kids on the Tree of Life.
Joel Andrew, 7, freaked. It is "scary." I kind of get it, with the bugs that shoot darts at the crowd and all, but still. 7? We said we would try it again in 5 years. Anyway, as you are walking in, you will see lots of signing deterring you from bringing Little's on this show. You might want to listen! The screen is huge, the bugs shoot poison, and make lots of noise, and Hopper is freaky. At the end it gets funny and better, but then the seat moves and water and stink is thrown at you - scary for whole different reasons. Joel Husband and I love it though.
2. Do not beg your kids to go on scary rides.
My husband is a big fan of forcing kids to go on scary rides. This trip I have instated, you don't want to go - fine, don't go. This is slightly upsetting to my husband who enjoys these wars and thinks they should continue. However, I feel like the less you draw attention, the more they will be willing to go in the future. That, and we can get rider share fast passes which makes it easy for both adults to go on, and willing child to go twice!
3. Go to the Safari first thing in the AM.
We say this a lot, and we mean it. Everyone runs there and you should too. The animals are the most active, and we had the best safari ride yet. If you really run there when the park is opened, you will likely only wait about 20 minutes. Which is nothing compared to later in the day.
There were also new things that we learned this visit. And they include:
1. Flame Tree BBQ has the best seating in the whole park.
I generally hate quick service, it is annoying, crowded and stressful. But you would be doing yourselves a disservice to miss all the quick service, as there are some really delicious places in the parks for Quick Service - and some of them have the best seating with incredible views. So - in Animal Kingdom you will want to go to Flame Tree BBQ - get there a bit early or late for lunch hours and you shouldn't have a problem. One plate of BBQ chicken, ribs and pulled pork plus a side of salad and fries should be enough for a family of four (cause you are probably going to keep snacking in the park anyway) - and Mom and Dad can get a beer. Split up, mom and youngest walk to the left of the food stand and down the pathways to the middle part right next to the water and grab a waterfront seat, extra BBQ ketchup, napkins and forks - and dad and older brings the food. It is a nice break and a beautiful view in the center of the park.
2. Sitting in a show is a good break for all.
This is the first time in many, many years that we have been to the parks in the full on heat. It has been 90+ and really sunny - no clouds all day. Very, very hot. Gorgeous but hot. Everyone needs a break from walking around and the heat and so although it maybe against your grain to "waste an hour" inside a show, you really need to spend an hour inside a show. Each park has shows, and in Animal Kingdom the one to do is the Festival of the Lion King. This is so awesome, and so popular you really need or should get a Fast Pass for it. However, the Williams are reluctant show goers and more so ride people, so we don't generally use a Fast Pass for a show. And, plus - how can you predict exactly when you might need the cool down? So, we ended up at the Finding Nemo show which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Just crowd watch, everyone under 2 falls asleep, everyone over 65 falls asleep. Everyone 2-8 is mesmerized and everyone 18+ is comatose.
Other things we want to bring for the next visit!
1. We need to do the Wilderness Explorers thing!
There is a cool thing where you walk around the park and get your Wilderness Explorers badges. Joelly is probably the perfect age to do this - but we had Nana and Pa and little Jamesy too. I think we will save this fun activity for when it is just the four of us, and when James is a little older and can get into it as well. It looks like a fun activity to get you seeing all corners of the park that you might have not seen before.
2. What is the tour the people are doing on the other side of the Safari? Can we do that?
The theme of this trip (and actually the past few trips) has really been, we do a lot of the same thing. We have this thing down to a science now. In each park we know which rides to go on, and when, and where to eat. We are experts for the people who only get to go to Disney once, twice or three times in their children's youth.
But we go to Disney once, twice a year. So, it is time, I think - that we try new things and branch out and do some new areas of the park, new activities, things we didn't know or see before. Disney has so many layers, there must be so many more things out there for us to try. And, when we find some good ones, we can recommend them to our friends.
On the Safari - I've seen a walking tour of people who go behind the scenes and climb over a walking bridge and get a front seat view to the lions - what is that? Can we do that? What if we spent an entire vacation doing only new things, new restaurants and new rides/attractions we have never been to before - what would we find? What other "add-on" experiences are there that we should think about?
3. We need bigger (and more) outfits!
One of the larger tips I can give anyone who goes to Disney is that you need to dress the part. For so many reasons. By dress the part I mean get the kids all duded up in Mickey wear or theme wear as best as possible. In previous blogs I talk about how to find cheap Mickey stuff and buy your princess things ahead of time to save money. But, think outside the box too. Full disclosure, we bought the Mickey Safari outfits and paid an arm and a leg for them in the park - but they are awesome and they have never worn anything else to Animal Kingdom. So - think about the park you are going to or the restaurant you are going to and get the kids all themed up, and here is what happens. All of the "cast" (Disney employees) - will say hello to your little one, will note the outfit and will make them the star where ever they go. When we went on the Safari ride this time, we sat towards the front and the Safari driver noticed the boys, called them out a few times and then at the end of the ride gave them honorary safari driver certificates. It was quite magical. Not to mention Minnie and Mickey's reaction when they met the boys in the same outfits they were wearing, and a few days later same thing happened when Buzz and Woody met my little Buzz and Woody. Lots of fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment