Since Earth Day is in April, we decided to dedicate the month of April to all things Earth Day and of course all things Animal Kingdom!
This week are are going to chat about the top reasons to not miss Animal Kingdom, and how amazing this park is!
But first, we can’t dive into Animal Kingdom without…..
MousekeCocktail
History on Animal Kingdom
Now that we know where to find our Mousekecocktail let’s dive into why Animal Kingdom is a not to miss park at Walt Disney World.
Company founder Walt Disney’s love of animals began when he was four years old and his family moved from his Chicago birthplace to a 45-acre farm in Marceline, Missouri, where he helped take care of farm animals, as well as learned to draw pictures of his animal friends.
The Animal Kingdom Project was announced June 5, 1995. Ground was broken in August 1995 and the Grand Opening was held on April 22, 1998.
Since 1995, the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund has devoted more than $6 million to conservation efforts around the world and has supported more than 230 projects
Top 5 Reasons to Head to Animal Kingdom
5. The Animals
This is a pretty obvious one here, but let us explain. Animal Kingdom covers more than 500 Acres! Approximately 250 species are represented by over 1,000 animals. Disney’s Animal Kingdom is home to the largest groups of Nile hippos and African elephants in North America. The safari is a mousekemom favorite, and the best part is everything changes each time you ride! New babies are born, animals are moving, it’s exciting even after the 100th time riding. It is a real safari as the vehicles will stop if the animals feel like walking across a road or simply stop to get a better glance at the human visitors!
4. Unique Activities –
Animal Kingdom is home to some unique activities that the other parks simply just don’t have! They have the wilderness explorers, which is an amazing activity for kiddos to actually learn something and the excitement of collecting the stickers to complete their challenge! For kids and adults take a ride to Rafiki Plant Watch. While the kids can pet some animals, older kids and adults can learn to draw their favorite animal, at Animation Experience. There are also some amazing tours… but we will go into that later this month so stayed tuned!
3. Shows –
Some of our favorite shows at Walt Disney World are located at Animal Kingdom! A crowd favorite is the Festival of the Lion King. It is a fantastic show that kids and adults will love. One of our favorite parts is of course the monkeys, those guys are great. Another show – Finding Nemo the Musical, which has not opened back up since covid, is currently refurbishing the show and hiring actors, and we are so excited to see this show back soon! Another favorite is the Feathered Friends on Flight! These wonderful birds are so entertaining and with the audience interaction this is a favorite for kids.
2. Food –
We couldn’t go an entire episode without chatting about food, come on! In fact we are going to dedicate an entire episode to food and drinks at Animal Kingdom, but we will mention a few tops! First, the food at Animal Kingdom is fantastic and different. Although, you can find you standard burger and fries, you can also find a variety of amazing fresh options! Flame Tree has amazing BBQ, Satu’li Canteen has fresh bowls, and of course this is the only theme park you can find a dole whip with alcohol! They have a great pastry place back by Safari as well that usually has the top cupcakes and sweets from all of Walt Disney World! As you can tell we need an entire episode to discuss the food at this park!
1. Crowds-
Animal Kingdom is the biggest theme park at Walt Disney World, it is 540 acres and can fit 2 Epcots in it. With that said, since it is so big and there is so much space this park never feels too crowded. It also is the least busy park, which even adds to it! Although by the Tree of Life it can feel more crowded, take a walk to Africa or Asia and you can find plenty of walk ways to take a leisure walk away from the crowds. There are so many unique spots in Animal Kingdom that can make you feel like you have the park to yourself! Take a walk to the Jungle Trek and see Tigers and Gorillas, or take a walk around the secluded paths around the tree of life. Our favorite is night time in Pandora, but Pandora is usually a little more crowded!
Stayed tuned for next week as we dive deeper into all things food and drink at Animal Kingdom! Can’t get enough of us? Be sure to follow our facebook group at MousekeMoms podcast, where we go live with all of the news out of Disney for the week on our new time, every Friday at 11am EST.