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Visiting Disney's Animal Kingdom

© Mary Alward

On our second day in Florida, we visited Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was a much different experience than the Magic Kingdom, which we'd visited the day before.

We arrived at the park at 9am, caught the trolley to the gates and entered the park. The boys were all excited because we had parked in the "Unicorn" parking lot. They knew exactly where to go to find the car.

The first place we went was DinoLand. We entered that particular section of the park under a 52 foot Brachiosaurus. It was like stepping back in time to a prehistoric land.

On the left was the "Boneyard," a prehistoric playground. Be sure to take in the fossil filled maze and fly down the seven prehistoric slides if you visit the park. Play a tune on a prehistoric xylophone that is made entirely of bones. This is great fun for both the young and the young at heart.

There were a few rides in this area, but not as much information on dinosaurs as I would have liked to have seen. The boys had fun on the Triceratops Spin. They sat in a Triceratops, which flew above the crowd.

The last thing we did in DinoLand was to walk the Cretaceous Trail. Here we saw a variety of lush vegetation and animal species. The trail also features, "dino dig" sites.

Next we wandered into Africa. The first thing we saw was the "Tree of Life." It was magnificent. The tree is carved with over 325 images of animals. It is 14 stories high and 50 feet wide at the base. While walking the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, we were able to get close enough to the tree to touch the carving. We then entered the research center where lush African foliage grows in abundance. We got close to East African mammals, birds, fish and visited the bird aviary. Brandon was especially interested in the flamingos and explained to us that they keep their pink color by eating shrimp.

The entire trail is an awesome experience. We passed through forests and beside numerous waterfalls and streams. Jordan was especially enthralled with the Silverback Gorillas, as was I. We stood within 20 feet of these magnificent creatures. An experience I never dreamed of having in my entire life.

Our next expedition was on the African Savannah. We stepped into open-air vehicles for a safari adventure. We saw giraffes, gazelles, lions, hippos, elephants and numerous other animals roaming free. A baby elephant had been born a few weeks earlier at the park and he was enjoying the company of his mother in their natural habitat.

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