Laughing Lindsay

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The Best Things in Animal Kingdom at Disney World

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Seeing as how it’s Earth Day today, I thought it would be neat to take a look at the best things in Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World!

best things in Animal Kingdom

The Best Things in Animal Kingdom

Similar to my best things in Magic Kingdom post, I wanted to move over to Animal Kingdom in honor of Earth Day! Did you know that Animal Kingdom opened on Earth Day in 1998? So, today is also the park’s birthday/anniversary! Given the large number of animals that live here, it makes sense to think of the earth and its resources so we can take care of these animals.

Without further ado, here’s my own personal list of favorite things to enjoy at Animal Kingdom theme park!

The Best Ride

It’s entirely possible the best ride in this park will change in a few years. However, for now, I’m going to say Avatar Flight of Passage. It’s such a beautiful ride and a unique experience! It can make some folks motion sick though. I also really like the Na’vi River Journey as it’s peaceful and pretty too.

Best Place for a Break

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Kilimanjaro Safaris as another favorite attraction in this park. It’s always different as you never know which animals will be out or what they will be doing. Although, I highly recommend catching a showing of the Festival of the Lion King too. It’s a great show in a dark, cool place!

Best Quick Service Restaurant

Personally, I really enjoy two quick service restaurants here: Satu’li Canteen and Flametree BBQ. I say go with the one that has a better menu for your mood and crew. My family is always happy with BBQ. Plus, it’s a great use of dining credit. So, we’ve eaten Flametree several times. Although, Satu’li is a great option for healthier and more unique meals.

Best Table Service Restaurant

It’s sad that I’ve been to my favorite table service in this park only once and it wasn’t recent. Nonetheless, my favorite table service restaurant here is Yak & Yeti. My husband and I ate here one trip and we still talk about it from time to time. Those Fried Wontons were tasty! Although, I think the Rainforest Cafe Breakfast is fun too as is the Tusker House Character meal.

What are the best things in Animal Kingdom?

So, those are my favorite things in Animal Kingdom. What are some of yours?

Rainforest Cafe Breakfast at Animal Kingdom Review

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Back in December, my mom and I visited Walt Disney World to celebrate the holidays. On our Animal Kingdom day we decided to try the Rainforest Cafe breakfast for the first time! Here’s a review of that experience.

Rainforest Cafe Breakfast

Rainforest Cafe Breakfast

Walt Disney World has two Rainforest Cafe locations on property. There’s the one at Disney Springs with the erupting volcano outside. However, it’s only open for lunch and dinner. Then, there’s this one at Animal Kingdom. It’s technically situated just outside the park but can be accessed from either outside or inside the park. It serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

The Theme

For those who don’t know, this is a chain restaurant that is highly themed to a rainforest. It has lots of animatronic animals around every corner. Since we ate here during the holiday season, I thought it was cute that they had put Santa Claus hats on some of the animals. It made it feel more jolly.

The real draw here is the thunderstorm that darkens the entire restaurant and has lots of loud storm/animal noises every 20-30 minutes! Personally, I think it fits right in at Animal Kingdom. It’s a fun theme that is perfect for any animal lover. Plus, it’s significantly cheaper than eating the character breakfast at Tusker House in the park. However, it’s still not exactly cheap or quiet. So, just know that going in.

The Food

My mom ordered the Tonga Toast meal. I was expecting something more akin to the Tonga Toast at Kona Cafe or Captain Cook’s at the Polynesian Resort. However, this was a basic cinnamon French toast. It is served with fruit and your choice of breakfast meat. Considering it costs $6 more than the quick service Captain Cook’s, I was personally disappointed in this dish. They really should call it something else to lower expectations. Overall, it was a fine breakfast dish but not what we expected.

I chose the Banana Fosters Pancakes. The pancakes come with caramelized bananas and pecans. It was delicious! You don’t need any syrup here! It also came with some potatoes and eggs. Unfortunately, the potatoes were overdone and hard. The eggs were fine. I definitely left this meal with a sugar rush.

Is Rainforest Cafe worth it?

I think my mom really enjoyed the animals and the theme was neat. The thunderstorm was added entertainment. However, the food was just ok and overpriced. It gave us a nice place to sit in the dark, out of the hot sun. I think for the price, I’d rather eat quick service breakfast at a resort. This might be a one and done for us. It was a cool experience, but not necessarily worth repeating.

Have you ever eaten Rainforest Cafe breakfast?

Caring for Giants Tour Review at Animal Kingdom

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Back in 2019 I was lucky enough to do the Caring for Giants Tour at Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. It’s a short behind the scenes look at the elephants of the park. I thought it was a fun add-on activity that was worth doing a review of.

Caring for Giants Tour

Caring for Giants Tour

The Caring for Giants tour is a 60 minute experience providing a look at the elephants of the Animal Kingdom theme park. Your guide will take you backstage and tell you all kinds of facts about these glorious creatures. You will also get to admire them from a backstage area 80 to 100 feet away. At the end, there is time to take lots of photos of the elephants.

At $35 a person, this is one of the cheaper add-on experiences at Walt Disney World. In fact, I think it may be a good starting point for someone looking to add on a tour at Disney. At an hour long, it is also a shorter experience (versus a more intense 5 hour tour at Magic Kingdom or the several hours long Universal Holiday Tour).

Tips

  • Reserve your spot early. There are a few small tours offered each day, so it can book up early. Reservations open up 60 days out, just like dining. So, decide early on if you want to book this experience and book it as soon as you can.
  • Best for animal lovers. While it is super neat to see stuff backstage as a theme park fan, I think someone who doesn’t like elephants or animals might get bored here.
  • Ask questions. The guides will give you tons of information on elephants as well as how they care for them. Feel free to ask questions. There was plenty of time for our group to ask questions, so take advantage of that time.
  • Bring your camera/phone. The last little bit of the tour is spent just observing the elephants and taking photos. It’s a peaceful and memorable experience.
  • Be prepared. This is a one hour outdoor walking tour. Dress appropriately.
  • Have fun. While this is a learning experience, it’s also a very calm one. So, relax and enjoy!

Is the Caring for Giants Tour worth it?

While I don’t know if children would enjoy this tour, I think most adults would. If you like elephants, then you will like this. At $35, it’s not a huge gamble of money. However, if you have a packed theme park day, it may be best to skip this one.

Tusker House Breakfast Review

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During my February 2023 trip to Walt Disney World with my mom, I booked a 10:10 AM reservation for the Tusker House breakfast at Animal Kingdom. Today, I’d like to share my experience with you.

Tusker House Breakfast

Tusker House Breakfast

For those who don’t know, the Tusker House Breakfast is a buffet meal wherein characters dressed up in their safari outfits come around to tables to visit! It’s the only character dining experience at the Animal Kingdom theme park and an advanced dining reservation is required to dine here. Breakfast costs $45/adult and $29/child, plus tax and gratuity.

The Food

If you have visited a breakfast buffet at Disney World previously, then you can probably guess what kinds of food you will encounter here. If not, think typical American breakfast foods: eggs, sausage, bacon, waffles, fresh fruit and yogurt, etc. However, they also have Simba waffles in addition to the typical Mickey waffles! Plus, they have Zebra coffee cake as well as a special sunset picture bread. The Zebra coffee cake was tasty but not anything groundbreaking. The sunset bread tasted like regular bread dyed to look pretty. However, I love that they have added these fun themed foods to the buffet to make it unique!

Technically, breakfast is served from 8:00 AM until 10:30 AM, with lunch beginning at 11:00 AM. However, if you get a late enough breakfast reservation, you can actually enjoy two different selections here! Our 10:10 AM reservation allowed us to eat breakfast foods as well as some lunch items while paying the breakfast price! Lunch (and dinner) is typically $59/adult and $38/child. So, it saved us some money. I liked the chicken legs, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and dessert spread from the early lunch options! While that is pretty basic food, keep in mind that I didn’t get to try everything from lunch. I suppose I need to go back for another review. Haha!

You can view pictures of the food and characters in my Instagram post below.

Characters

While dining here, you can meet several characters in their safari attire! Donald Duck is one of my favorite characters, so I love that he’s considered the host of this shindig! He’s the only one you are guaranteed to meet. However, you will meet others as well. On our visit, we got to meet Donald, Mickey Mouse, Daisy, and Goofy! We were able to snap pictures with each one. We were also given an adorable signature card souvenir! If you are looking to meet characters, I highly recommend booking at least one character meal during your trip as it’s a great way to meet characters without sacrificing a long time in line. Plus, you get to eat!

Tusker House Tips

  • Arrive hungry. There’s a full buffet to choose from, with something for every palate. It’s a great time to try something new to you!
  • Book an advance dining reservation. Currently, you can begin booking the Tusker House breakfast 60 days in advance. If you can’t find one, don’t give up! Keep checking back and set up monitoring alerts to notify you when a reservation opens up.
  • Interact with the characters. Don’t be afraid to engage with the characters a little bit. Maybe even have some prepared things to say, if you have a nervous one in the group.
  • Be prepared. As with almost any other character dining experience, it can be a loud or over-stimulating meal for some folks. Also, the dining room here is a little dark. So, go in knowing these things and you’ll have a good time.
  • Try the POG Juice. It’s a passionfruit, orange, guava juice mix and it’s really good. Unfortunately, on this particular visit, our drinks were watered down. However, it’s definitely worth trying.

Is it worth it?

As with anything else I’ve reviewed, I think the value of an experience is based heavily on the individual. The Tusker House Breakfast is an expensive breakfast. However, it is a nice way to see some characters while enjoying a buffet meal. If you have the means and enjoy seeing characters, it’s worth it. If you are in a hurry or on a tight budget, maybe consider grabbing a pastry at the Starbucks instead.

You can view more of my posts for reviews and tips for visiting Walt Disney World here!