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Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney Animal Kingdom is the newest of the four Disney theme parks. The park design following a tried and tested Disney method of a central feature to the park with different areas spanning out like a huge wheel. At the centre of Animal Kingdom is the huge Tree of life.
One thing you notice when you visit Animal Kingdom is it is not as busy as the other three Disney parks. The ride from the car park to the front entrance of the park takes around 2 minutes all up. Getting in the park is also very easy with not that many queues to tackle. Once in the park, it is well shaded and covered by trees so it does feel cooler than most when the sun does eventually come up. You do need to work your way well away from the entrance area when you first arrive as we did feel this was very busy and as the paths are not all that big you tend to wait a lot trying to get past people. Once into the park it does ease off a little.
What Animal Kingdom is all about, is the young children. A lot of the entertainment is delivered in the form of stage shows ‘Finding NEMO’ and the ‘LION KING’ to name a few.
To keep the roller coaster fans happy there is a ride called Expedition Everest which is located in the Nepal part of the park. The ride takes people up close and personal with the famous YETI and has a couple of tasty drops to keep people entertained. The twist to the ride is it actually goes backwards for part of it. If you have never done this before it is a weird sensation.
As I have said earlier the park is designed for the young members of the family and as such the shows are first rate. Finding NEMO is really well put together and really engages the audience with the characters. For a Disney Show it is also quite long at around 35 minutes. Don’t worry about not getting a seat either because there are plenty of them. We thought we would not get in, but as the people went inside it was only ¾ full. Obviously they could cater for more if the park was very busy in peak season. Another of the shows was the LION KING. This was our little boy’s favourite show and really did bring the film to life. Each side of the auditorium was up dancing at some stage of the show. Those that like the LION KING would love the show itself.
The only water ride at the park is the 10 person rapids, however do not think it will be as good as Popeye and Bluto’s Bilging Barges at Universal, because is not. Having been to Universal Islands of Adventure the day before and then going on this was a bit of a disappointment. It is good, but you just don’t get as wet! !
Finally at the end of the day (or around 4pm) there is a Disney parade. This has a lot of the characters that you have seen throughout the day all aboard floats. You will see Mickey, Minnie and all the Disney Characters along with those from the Lion King and Nemo. The theme of the parade is an African one.
In summary Animal Kingdom is a good day out as a bolt on to the other three main Disney parks. Yes it is not as good as the others, but the children do like it and it is certainly worth a visit to see the parade and shows on offer. Finding Nemo is very entertaining and worth watching. Expedition Everest is also quite good in its own way. Yes Animal Kingdom is not a first choice park, however as part of the 7 or 14 day Disney hopper it is certainly worth looking at as maybe a half day option.
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