Our first park was Animal Kingdom. I wanted to start slow so I could get my bearings with the whole Genie+/Lightning Lane situation. Disney replaced Fast Pass with Lightning Lane, and it’s a different scene- so I felt like I needed to start with the easiest park first before I tackled Magic Kingdom. I did find it easy to use, and DEFINITELY worth the extra $15. It takes some strategic planning, but you get the hang of it quickly and because of it (and early hours due to staying at a Disney Resort), we barely had to wait in any lines.
Claire, our resident animal lover, was so excited for this park. We started with the safari, which was incredible- we saw so many animals!
We walked by a ride called “It’s Tough to be a Bug” that only had a 10 minute wait, so I thought we should stop in. I thought it was a little ride with scenes from the movie “A Bug’s Life”.
It’s not.
These smiling faces quickly ripped off their glasses when we realized it was a terrifying 3D movie with bugs. I made a very hasty exit when Tess started screaming as spiders with red eyes came down from the ceiling. Major mom fail. If you will be traveling to Animal Kingdom in the foreseeable future, do yourself and your kiddos a favor and just avoid this attraction all together. It’s not fun for anyone.
We recovered by taking a fun ride on the Triceratops Spin followed by playing at the Dinosaur Dig playground and everyone was smiling again.
Avatar Flight of Passage was next on the list, and that ride is just incredible. We did a rider switch as this ride would’ve been too much for Tess, so Max was the lucky duck that rode it twice in a row.
I brought a bag of little toys for these moments, so she was perfectly happy.
Everyone enjoyed the Na’vi River Journey, and then we grabbed some lunch. Mobile quick orders are the best- you order the food when walking to the restaurant or while waiting in line and it’s ready for you when you get there.
This gives you free time to take pictures with cat statues.
We also watched a super fun kite show and a bird show and loved them both!
Ben took the bigger kids on Dinosaur, but no one was really impressed with it. We had the time and the convenient Lightning Lane, but I wouldn’t waste your time on this one if you are crunched for time.
We had some snacks and watched monkeys as we waited for our next Lightning Lane for the River Rapids.
Tess loved this one!
We did all we came to to do at Animal Kingdom so we headed back to the resort for dinner and swimming.
Apart from the bug fiasco, it was a perfect day. 😏
They had that bug ride years ago and I HATED it. Don’t blame the kids for wanting to exit that lol. What a fun day though–now you got me wanting to do a Disney trip haha
It’s awful!
And I know….it doesn’t take much to get that Disney itch, especially now that the restrictions have lifted!
This trip looks SO fun so far!! Disney really is so magical 😍 Also thank you in advance for the warning about the bug show… not for our kids, but for Ryan & his extreme arachnophobia 😂.
😂😂It was so bad. But yes, thank goodness for that Disney Magic where we could easily find much more fun things to do!
We had an awful experience on the bug one too. When they felt like they were crawling on you Ava was hysterical. Never again!
So terrible!! They definitely need to replace that ride.
Bugs are always awful where ever you are!! They had better rethink that ride!