Hey Disney Fans!
The Disney Nature crew has done it again. In case you haven’t heard they have a new movie due to release nationwide on April 29! It’s called Born in China and it’s sure to take you on the adventure of a lifetime.
This was another classic experience at Disney World that I was happy to finally be experiencing. The Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue is a Disney World staple that has been playing in Disney World for over 40 years.
Mickey Mouse’s birthday is November 18 and this year he is celebrating by traveling around the world and making stops at iconic locations.
Multiple people have been posting on Facebook that purple MagicBands are now an option when you are booking your Disney World vacation. In order to see the MagicBand color options you have to have a reservation, tickets, or be a passholder. So everyone who is posting can see the bands because they have already made their reservations, they have tickets, or they are an annual passholder.
Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios have all been covered. So, Animal Kingdom is next up for the “Top Attraction” list series. This park does not have as many attractions as Magic Kingdom or Epcot, but it does have more than Hollywood Studios. With 28 attractions, there is a nice amount to choose from for the list.
There are a couple of shows from the “Entertainment” section that I have included in the list, because, in my opinion, they are very good. Again, these are my own choices for a Top 10 list, everyone will have their own views as to which they feel are better, but this is a good starting point for anyone that has not been to the park.
Top 10 Attractions in Animal Kingdom
10. Wildlife Express Train– Train rides in Disney World are always fun. So if there is a train in a park, we will ride it. This train will take you from Africa to Rafiki’s Planet Watch and back again. This isn’t any old train ride though. During your 7-minute ride you will get to see behind the scenes of Animal Kingdom. Look for animal housing for different animals at Animal Kingdom. You will get to see where rhinos, elephants, and other animals sleep.
9. Finding Nemo The Musical– This is such a cute show. Plus, the show runs 40 minutes long, so it’s a great choice on a hot summer day. The actors use puppets to bring you into the story of Nemo and they are really good at drawing in the audience. They wear costumes that blend with the set, so your attention is on the puppets and not the actors. The puppets are pretty impressive, as are the actors who control them. I love Finding Nemo, so this is always a fun show to see.
8. Conservation Station– This is where the Wildlife Express Train will take you from Africa. When you visit you will be able to go behind the scenes of animal care at Animal Kingdom. We had so much fun visiting here during our last trip. The outside of the building has a mural of animals above the doors and once you step through the doors you will see even more animals.
Learn interesting facts about the animals at the park, see how the animals are cared for with a look into the Veterinary Treatment Room, check out the Animal Encounters Stage and you might even have a chance to touch animals after, watch handlers prepare meals for animals at the Nutrition Center, or watch actual scientists. There is a lot to do in an area that can sometimes get forgotten. Definitely put this on your list during your next visit to Animal Kingdom!
7. Kali River Rapids – This is a fun ride, but the reason I didn’t put it higher on the list is because I feel it’s too short. Your ride vehicle is a 12-person raft and you will find a compartment in front of you to store items in case you get wet. Between the geysers, the elephant-themed water sprayers, and the two drops (one is down a 20 foot slope!) your chances of getting wet are pretty good.
Look around during your raft ride. There is a message attached to this attraction. The warning is how illegal logging is destroying animal habitats and the balance of nature. It’s done in a Disney way, tied into a story.
So while I do think this ride should be longer, it’s still in my top 10. I love that drop at the end! Even though I usually end up getting soaked 🙂
6. It’s Tough to be a Bug – This is a must-see for every trip to Animal Kingdom. I love all the 3D shows at Disney World, but the fact that this one takes place inside the Tree of Life makes it a little more special. So when you make your way to the entrance, you are actually walking in the Tree of Life and the queue lines makes you feel like you are actually walking underground, it’s really well done!
Once the show starts, you are in for a treat. Flik is trying to put on a Broadway style show to teach you about the importance of bugs and how they are our friends. There are lots of special effects surprises throughout the show and special appearances by some familiar bugs.
It’s a cute show, but can be a little scary for little ones. There are some points of the show where you can get startled and little ones may not like that.
5. Festival of the Lion King– This is my favorite show at Disney World. It’s an indoor show, so it’s another good one for a hot day.
Once you enter Harambe Theater, you will be directed to one of the seating sections. There is audience participation during the show where everyone is supposed to act like a certain animal. The animal you are assigned depends on where you sit. There is a giraffe, warthog, lion, and elephant section. The actors will usually pick kids to help lead the group in the animal noises.
There are so many talented actors, singers, dancers, and gymnasts in this show! My favorite part is the Tumble Monkeys! They are so much fun to watch. The floats are fun too. They come in the theater with different characters from The Lion King on them (Simba and Pumba are two of the float characters).
The costumes are bright and beautiful. This is seriously like a Broadway production. It’s impressive and so exciting to see. This is definitely on our must-see list!
4. Primeval Whirl– Love this ride! Fair warning though, you will get knocked around a bit. It’s definitely not a gentle ride, but it is lots of fun.
It is supposed to be like a carnival ride. In fact, it’s in a section of Dinoland U.S.A. that is called Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama! The ride is a roller coaster that spins as you go around the track, which is why you get knocked around a bit.
There are two tracks for this ride and each track has sudden dips. There are lots of fun moving cartoon-like designs throughout the ride. The idea is that you are in a time-machine and you are going on a journey back to when dinosaurs walked the earth.
3. Kilimanjaro Safaris– This is a must-see on every trip to Animal Kingdom. No experience is ever the same. Every time I have been on this ride I have seen something different and it’s always fun to see if the lion is going to be out.
You will see so many different African animals during your journey in the open-air safari vehicle. Some animals you could see include:
This is an 18-minute experience and can be a little bumpy. If you want to get closer to some of the animals you can try the Wild Africa Trek.
2. Dinosaur – This is a fun ride that sends you back to the time of the dinosaurs. You start off watching a video, at the Dino Institute, and are asked to go back in time to help find an Iguanodon and bring it back. The time period you are sent back to is right around when the meteor hit the Earth.
The ride is dark and can be scary for some. There are lots of great dinosaur animatronics to look at during your venture though. It took me a while to get up the nerve to go on this one, because I had heard how scary it can be, but I love it! We ride this one at least once during every trip.
1. Expedition Everest– This is my favorite ride in Animal Kingdom. Not only is the roller coaster part really fun, but the queue line is interesting to walk through. It’s one of those queue lines that almost makes you want to forgo your FastPass. You enter a Himalayan tour office and the queue line winds you past a general store and a museum that has lots of information about the infamous Yeti. It’s pretty cool and very well done.
Once you make your way through the queue line you will board your train and start your ascent up the mountain. It starts off gentle, until you reach the broken tracks and that’s when it speeds up. After all, you need to get away from the Yeti! Look for the big hairy guy during the ride; he appears when your picture is snapped on the ride.
So there it is, my Top 10 list for Animal Kingdom. Everyone’s list (and number 1) will be different, but my hope is that this will be a good starting point for those that have never been to Animal Kingdom.
There is so much to do in this park. Don’t believe it when people say it’s a half day park, because it’s not. You can easily spend a day in this park. So, take time to explore everything Animal Kingdom has to offer during your next trip. It’s a fun park!
Thanks for reading!
*Liz*
New Disney Stores have been opening around the country and the stores look beautiful. They are definitely better than the last batch of Disney Stores, but to be fair those stores weren’t owned by Disney at that point (I know, weird, right?).
It’s nice when a Disney Store opens close to you, because you don’t have to worry about paying shipping for Disney items. There is the problem of the store being so close that you are there all the time and spending money, but I’m okay with that problem 😉
I took some pictures of a new store that opened. My family and I visited and had a lot of fun. We let the kids each pick out one toy. Our son picked out the talking Woody doll (he loves Toy Story) and our daughter picked out a Sophia the First tea set. You will see the tea set in one of the pictures below.
The outside of the store has a Mickey figure and Disney written in the traditional font. Above the glass you will find Tinker Bell with a trail of pixie dust behind her.
When you enter the store look down and you will notice that the walk-way that winds itself around the store has sparkles in it (it’s hard to see the sparkles in the picture, but they’re there). This almost reminds me of the sparkles in the walk-way at night in Future World in Epcot. It’s fun and adds to the magic. Now look to your right and you will see the fun little castle that kids can walk through. My daughter loved this! It’s very cute and it is, of course, surrounded by princess dresses and accessories.
The store has lots of fun plush all over and each section is a different theme. So you have the princess section (with lots of Frozen stuff, of course), Mickey and friends, Disney Junior, Star Wars, Marvel, etc. And they do have some of the very popular Tsum Tsums. People love those things! It’s fun to walk around the store and just look at all the different sections.
The part of the store that my daughter really liked was the interactive section with the little table and the tea set by the movie screen. When you are looking at the screen, to the right are two little touch screens that let you pick something to play on the movie screen. The bottom screen is where you scroll through and choose what to watch and the upper screen is the queue. A countdown will appear next to your choice to let you know when your selection is going to play. I thought this was a pretty cool addition to the store.
https://youtu.be/NwQAXweN_z0
https://youtu.be/bJT-eXHc0Gw
The cast members in the store are fantastic. The cast member we spoke with most during our time in the store was Joshua. He was very nice, helpful, and definitely wanted to help make your experience in the store magical. Plus, when he talked to my daughter he knelt down so he was on her level. That’s Disney training right there! Thanks for a great experience Joshua!
Make sure to check out the cast member’s name tag. Below their name is their favorite Disney character. You know how cast members in the parks have the state they are from on their name tags? It’s like that. I noticed Joshua’s favorite character is Aladdin, in case you were wondering. Another cool addition by Disney. Mine would say Daisy Duck, again, in case you were wondering.
Check out the other pictures below. We had such a fun time and can’t wait to go back. The placing of this particular Disney Store is great, because it’s right across from the Lego Store. Another store where it’s easy to spend lots of money!
The official Grand Opening for this store is on June 20 and Mickey and Minnie will be in attendance for this event.
I am so glad to have the magic back in our mall! The store is beautiful, the cast members are wonderful (definitely “Disney” people), and it’s so nice to get the Disney guest service that they are famous for right in our own mall.
See ya real soon, Disney Store!
Thanks for reading!
*Liz*
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The news broke today that the planned aviation-themed restaurant in Downtown Disney will be called Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar. Jock Lindsey is a character from Indiana Jones who flew Indy on his plane to different locations around the world.
The restaurant will be situated between Paradiso 37 and the newly opened BOATHOUSE restaurant. The new restaurant will have seating for 150 people.
The decor of the restaurant sounds pretty cool. There will be propeller-based ceiling fans, vintage travel posters, an expansive bar, other aviation decor, and correspondence between Jock, Indy, and their fellow adventurers on display.
Guests will be able to find seating outside the restaurant as well. Jock’s old steamboat, fittingly named “Reggie”, is in permanent dry dock next to the restaurant. So guests will be able to dine and drink on “Reggie” as well as on a nearby adjacent deck.
Some of the things you can expect to see on the menu are:
The opening for Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar is expected for the fall in Downtown Disney.
Source: Disney Parks Blog
Downtown Disney is a great place to go for some really good restaurants and also fun shopping, but there are lots of things for the little ones to do too! You can easily spend a whole day at Downtown Disney and take turns seeing things everyone would like to experience.
Here is a list of things available that the little ones would like:
There really is quite a bit to do in Downtown Disney. This list should give you a good amount of options of things to do if you go there with kids. Some of the stuff is fun for both kids and adults!
Thanks for reading!
*Liz*
Hi!
As the title says, my name is Liz and I am a Disney addict. I am a mother of two who are in love with Disney, as well. My husband isn’t quite as big a fan as I am, but he’s learned to live with my Disney obsession 😉
I decided to start this blog because of my love for everything Disney, so I thought it would be fun to do. I love reading people’s reviews of Disney products, restaurants, etc., and I wanted to contribute to the reviews to help others who are planning their first trip or their hundred and first trip. Feel free to comment on the blogs if you have experiences with the topic. I know I am not alone when it comes to relying on others with past experience and their reviews when planning a trip. I start planning our Disney trips so far in advance and the reviews and pictures help me to feel like I am there.
People have asked me for advice when planning their trips and I love to help them plan! It doesn’t matter if I’m going on the trip or not, I love to help plan Disney vacations…and no, I am not a travel agent. Just a Disney enthusiast 😉 So much so that I actually made a spread sheet of different sit down restaurants at Disney World for our next trip, complete with columns for links to pictures and reviews…and I had fun doing it. That’s how you know you are an enthusiast, when you can spend the day making a spread sheet and have a blast doing it!
Now, while I love Disney, I also don’t wear blinders. I know they have their faults, and some of the reviews will show that, but I love Disney…faults and all. ⁰O⁰
