Today was a fun day at the Animal Kingdom. Well, sort of. We are so exhausted by this point in the trip that we don’t enjoy the park as much as we could and we ended up leaving early today. I didn’t even feel like taking that many pictures (plus it doesn’t help that Emily ‘got sick’ last night and I was really worried about her). We made a vow on our way out of the park today that from now on we will start scheduling our Animal Kingdom day towards the beginning of the trip instead of the end. We have waiting until the end of every single trip to go to Animal Kingdom and we haven’t seen most of it.
Clare C. says
Hope Emily’s feeling better! Our family really enjoys AK, especially my oldest son who has his heart set on being a paleontologist and loves any part of any of our vacations that has to do with dinosaurs. I think AK is the park that most rewards a slower pace and enjoying all of those magical little Disney details.
Leslie Brown says
Animal Kingdom is our fave!
mja says
Sad! We LOOOOOVVVVVVEEEE Animal Kingdom!!
Michele says
I’m so sorry Emily was sick! My favorite WDW tip is to take a break from the parks about half way through the trip. We do this EVERY time we go. On our “break day” we stay around the resort and the pool. It is a great way to recharge batteries AND take in more Disney magic! Another option is to go to Downtown Disney or one of Disney’s Water Parks on your break day. I’m the worst in my family about wanting to spend every possible minute in the parks, but I have to admit that the extra break day enables all of us to totally enjoy the rest of the trip. My family has never been one to leave the parks and take a break in the middle of the day, so the “break day” is the perfect way for us to take a breather!
As far as AK Kingdom goes, someone in our family always seems to get sick on the day we’re in that park. I’m convinced that the foliage is to blame. Although there are lots of trees in my opinion they “trap” the hot air and prevent cool air from circulating. We were blessed to be at the AK this year on Oct. 7 and the weather was perfect. It was overcast and even rained for about 30 minutes but we didn’t break a sweat the whole day. It was the first time we had been to the AK without someone getting sick!
Kim says
We have only been to AK one time, and it was the last day of our trip. We were all exhausted before we got there. The morning was great because we met a bunch of characters. Then we saw that Lion King show (forget the name). After that we walked around, then we did the safari thing, and my son fell asleeep on it. We walked around some more with him in the stroller afterwards, but we realized there weren’t many rides he could have even gone on because he was still too small… so we ended up having lunch and just going home.
I was slightly disappointed that I missed that big rollercoaster – and that my ds missed Nemo – but other than that – I don’t feel like we missed too much.
We are going back (most likely) in December – and doing the park hoppers – so we will visit again and give it another chance, but right now its on the bottom of my list of favorite parks.
Jennifer says
In 2005, AK was the first park we visited. In January 2012, we are doing the same schedule as 2005. AK, MK, HS, EPCOT, MK It just worked out that way again with what the crowd estimate is for touring plans. Since AK is closing early we are going to 1900 Park Fare for dinner. :)
Shannon says
STITCH!! Totally teared up. He’s my favorite.
Tara P says
we actually stay at the Animal Kingdom lodge too and love it….but agree you have to try and relax at some point!
Wendy Y says
Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom are our 2 favorite parks!
Kari Follett says
We usually start with AK too! We only did it once this past trip and the kids were complaining about it. They like it better than Magic kingdom!
katrina says
I 100% agree with taking a nap! Best part of going during a busy time- parks are open late so we don’t feel so guilty taking a break during the day :)
As for AK. Not an issue for us. Its out least favorite park and it gets maybe 1/2 a day out of each trip. Go for opening and leave for nap and hop over to another park.
Gayle says
I agree. We frequent the awesome Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, so seeing the animals isn’t a priority. There are very few things that we enjoy there & its hub-&-spoke design makes for a lot of walking to get to those few places. We went in June a few years back &, YIKES – there are surprisingly few cool/shady/air-conditioned places to take a break. It’s a half-dayer for us, too, if we even decide to go.
Anissa says
We normally only spend half a day too. We like to do the Extra Magic hours for DVC members (so it opens earlier), but we have always been able to get it done by lunch time or a little after. Our upcoming trip may change a little though as my daughter (2 yrs) LOVES animals and the zoo, and Nemo and especially The Lion King, so we have at least 2 shows, the safari, a couple of rides and animals to see.
Lori says
We always start our trip at Animal Kingdom! That is the 1st park we did on our very 1st trip and now it is tradition!
Alicia says
My girlfriend recommends taking a nap every day between noon and 4 so that you can enjoy the entire experience. That’s our plan next week, especially after reading your post!
mary says
The hard part with taking a nap on AK day is that the park closes at 5!
Sue says
I agree with your girlfriend. We always leave around 1 or 2:00 to go home for a nap and dinner (we camp at Ft. Wilderness so we eat at our camper) then return to the parks in the evening. Because Animal Kingdom closes so early we just go to another park on that evening, so we usually spend two mornings there instead. Our kids need their naps at Disney so there’s no possible way for us to see everything at AK in one day.
Lori Archambault says
I love AK the best out of all of them. For my next trip we plan on doing only AK and MK w/a tour in AK and staying at the AK resort!! Love it so much. Glad you having such a good time.
Brenda says
We were at Disney last month and we had the same problem. We missed half of animal kingdom because we were just so dang tired by that day. And it was hot! We will go back for sure!
Amber says
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that Emily was sick. :(
Growing up, that was me. Almost every trip we went on, I got sick half way into it. Hope you all feel better tomorrow.
jen says
Animal Kingdom takes 2 days even in the slow season.
Kelly says
I’d never been so exhausted at AK than our last trip and it was even towards the beginning of our trip that we went. I’m not sure why, none of our previous trips have been exhausting but last time, it was just painful. We were SO tired. We couldn’t even make it half way in 1 day. I was so thankful we had an opportunity to go back (so thankful we got the Park Hopper even though we weren’t going to at first.) and do some of the stuff that we had on our list. I think because AK closes so much earlier than other parks, it’s deceiving but it’s really massive and takes a lot of time and energy to cover. Have fun! Hope Emily’s feeling better now.
John in FL says
I highly encourage you to move the Animal Kingdom up :) for us it’s definitely the second best park there , nothing ever beats Magic Kingdom.