A wild family adventure at DisneyWorld's Animal Kingdom

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Val usually talks about how beautiful safaris in Kenya are. I, on the other hand, don't like them because safari vehicles tend to go dangerously near these wild animals, leading to (1) animals attacking humans and (2) disturbance of their natural behaviours. I'm also not a fan of wild animals being trained to perform in shows purely for entertainment (e.g., dolphin shows), so I opted out of visiting SeaWorld in Florida. I'm also not a fan of zoos because animals are in cages, though I visit them to learn more about animals that I won't see in the wild.

However, DisneyWorld's Animal Kingdom appeared to be different. Its website and streaming app say that the animals are provided with world-class veterinary care and can display natural behaviours because the caretakers change their environments regularly. 

So when we went to Florida, I opted to include Animal Kingdom in our destinations (and opted out of Hollywood Studios).

Gorilla Falls Expedition Trail

We saw some animals like hippos, cichlids, meerkats, and gorillas. Along the trail, we got up close and personal with birds. Donan was excited to see the animals. However, we didn’t reach the end because our next adventure was about to begin.

Harambe Wildlife Reserve

This attraction simulates the experience one gets when on an authentic African safari, which I have never been on. In the attraction, we rode an open-air safari vehicle. The driver made sure we had good vantage points for photos and videos. We saw lions, rhinos, hyenas, warthogs, and ostriches among the many animals found in the reserve. It felt like we saw the cast of The Lion King. 

Festival of the Lion King

Speaking of The Lion King, we also watched The Festival of the Lion King. I thought the show was a condensed version of the movie (just like in Hong Kong Disneyland); however, this show didn't seem to have a plot. It was all song and dance performed by Timon, Pumbaa, Simba, and the human narrators. 

This marks Donan's first time watching a theatre musical. He enjoyed it a lot! 

Pandora, World of Avatar

Avatar is the top-grossing movie of all time (so far, at USD 2.9 billion). Animal Kingdom has a section dedicated to Pandora, the fictional exomoon featured in the film. We ate lunch in its quick-service restaurant, Satu'li Canteen. The menu was supposed to immerse us in the bountiful world of Pandora's ecosystem with healthy lunch selections while dining under the wing of an Avatar spacecraft. The food was yummy and refreshing (and featured purple chocolate mousse!).

There were two rides in this part of Animal Kingdom. Anna, Kuya Rico, Joel, and Isaiah rode the Flight of Passage (3D ride) while the rest of the group attempted to take the Na'vi River Journey. However, the wait time was over an hour. We backed out, hoping to see some characters mingling with the dinosaurs. 

Dinoland, USA

Well, we did see Kevin from Up! in Dinoland. Donan freaked out because we saw a life-size mascot of Kevin up close and personal; he wasn't interested in seeing a bird. He wanted to see some dinosaurs and fossils! Meanwhile, Luna was so excited to see other Disney characters and be photographed with them. 

We stayed in Dinoland as the streetlamps were turned on. Kuya Rico even found a children's playground where Donan could dig for fossils while the bigger kids rode rollercoasters. We only left the playground when the park closed, and it was time to see the Tree of Life (which was supposed to be a baobab tree), which is located in the middle of the park. According to Charlenne, there are no fireworks in Animal Kingdom so that the animals wouldn't be stressed out. Instead of fireworks, Animal Kingdom ended the night with a projection show on the Tree of Life.  

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