Disney World Day 1 - Animal Kingdom

Our first day at Disney World was everything we hoped it would be. Disney World truly is the most magical place on earth. Alison and I are so grateful my grandparents chose to come here with us. Having them here has been really good. My grandmother likes to tell Alison about how, when I was younger, I would sit in her living room and say that one day when I grew up I would take my grandparents to Disney World. Now here we are. It is fitting. My grandparents took me on my first trip to Disneyland. I got to bring them with me on my first trip to Disney World.

Animal Kingdom was on the docket for day one. We are staying at a Disney property so we get an extra magic hour. On Monday we got to go an hour early to Animal Kingdom. We arrived and headed toward the new Avatar land. That was most people's plan. We weren't in much of a hurry. We had a plan and wanted to do a lot, but the most important thing was spending time together. We stopped on our way in and got a picture by the tree of life. It is the iconic symbol of the park.

When we got to the Avatar land the headliner ride, Flight of Passage had over an hour wait. We adjusted our plans and headed to the other ride, Navi River Journey. It was an interesting water ride. It was good because we could all ride it together. It had no thrill but had amazing scenery and animatronics.

After this ride,, my grandpa decided it was time to get a wheelchair. When we first arrived he thought he might try to walk. He quickly realized how much walking would be required to get around the park - everything is really spread out. We got him a wheelchair and I pushed him around the park. I was happy to do it as it enabled him to spend time with us and have a more enjoyable experience. It also had the added benefit of requiring me to stay close to him so that we had lots of opportunities to talk as we walked throughout the park.

Next,, we headed to DinoLand USA. There wasn't much in that section of the park that we were interested in. We did want to ride the Dinosaur ride. My grandpa liked this part of the park because at the early hour it was empty. Everyone must have been in the Avatar section. The Dinosaur ride was a lot like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, but the theming really wasn't as good. Unfortunately, this ride made my grandpa a little sick.

Our next ride was Expedition Everest. Love, love, love this ride. It was signature Disney magic - great theming and an exhilarating experience. We were completely shocked when it went backward for a good portion of the ride. It was a lot of fun. My grandma really enjoyed going on this one with us. My grandpa people watched outside the ride while he waited for us.

Kilimanjaro safaris was our next stop. Absolutely loved this experience as well. We saw so many interesting and unique animals roaming around the park. I particularly loved seeing giraffes walking across the Savannah. We also enjoyed seeing a male mandrill walking among the trees. We saw lions, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, rhinos, and so much more. This was a highlight of the Animal Kingdom.

My grandpa still wasn't feeling great so he decided not to go on the safari. While we were gone he did some more people walking he found a sweet shop. When we got off the ride he informed my grandmother that a soda cost $3.50, which he knew because he walked over and picked it up while we were on the ride. He wanted to go back to the sweet shop to get a cookie. Alison and I got a cupcake to share. We would end up making two more trips to that sweet shop for my grandpa. He loved it. We have had no shortage of sweets on this trip.

We took the train out to Rafiki's outpost. My grandpa liked this ride because it was easy to load the wheelchair on. He never even had to get up. It was a nice easy ride. At the outpost we got a picture with Rafiki - you don't ever see this character at Disneyland so we were kind of excited. It turned into a magical moment when Rafiki took a couple of minutes to dance with my grandma - she loved it. It was pretty special.

We spent some time learning about conservation and looking at various bugs and reptiles. Throughout the park, there was a clear focus on the message of conservation. As Alison and I were talking about our impressions of the park and whether or not there was enough "Disney magic" I made the observation that if there were key pillars or beliefs that Disney was built upon I would say two of those pillars would have to be conservation and culture and I thought this park had plenty of both.

Back in the main portion of the park, we had lunch reservations at the Yak and Yeti. It is a Himalayan-themed restaurant. Alison had the Tikka Masala and I had sweet and sour pork. Both were excellent. It was great to sit down and eat. It got us all off of our feet. It was also just one more opportunity to talk. My grandma told us quite a bit about her experiences being an elementary school principal (she was the most amazing principal ever) and her career and the decisions she made in her career. We have had so many good conversations on this trip where we have all been able to share important stories and build a deeper relationship. That is really what makes this trip so special.

We went to the Flights of Wonder bird show. It was so cool. The birds were unbelievable. It was the right combination of educational and funny. They had an owl and a hawk that both flew low over the crowd. Like low enough that if you stood up they would take your head right off. It was incredible.

I was able to talk my grandma into going on the Kali River Rapid ride. She wasn't sure she wanted to because she didn't really want to get wet. It was a really fun ride, and it turned out she did in fact get wet. She was a little upset, but a big part of the fun is the anticipation of getting wet. It was plenty warm so we weren't too worried about being wet. The weather overall was excellent. It got a little warm during the middle of the day, but not uncomfortable. We never had to get out of the chilly pads and most of the day it was very pleasant.

My grandpa was a trooper, but after waiting for us while we were on the river rapids ride he was ready to call it a day. My grandma decided to head back to the hotel with him. Alison and I walked them out before running back into the park to use our fast pass for Expedition Everest. It was so much fun we rode it a couple more times in the afternoon.

We also went to the Festival of the Lion King. Great show - would go again in a heartbeat. They have some highly talented singers. They had a guy who sang "Be Prepared" he was unreal. This show had big floats and acrobatics. They had this dancer who would literally fly around stage area. It was a great spectacle.

In the evening we spent some quality time in Avatar land. This is Disney's newest attraction. They did a phenomenal job of making it seem like you have walked into an alien world. The ride Flight of Passage got rave reviews so we decided it was worth standing in line for 75 minutes (we were unable to get a fast pass for this ride even though I logged on 60 days before our vacation - it is that popular). The ride is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. Alison described it as Soarin' on steroids. It was a completely immersive experience. The queue for the line was full of cool theming. There are a couple of interactive videos you watch to prep you for the ride. The ride itself has you sitting on a looks like a motor bike. You are then taken into a totally immersive virtual reality experience. Between the sights, smells, air, water, etc. It truly feels like you are flying through the world of Avatar. It is the most realistic virtual reality I have ever experienced. It was thrilling.

We got dinner at Satu'li Canteen. It is a restaurant inspired by the beauty of Avatar. We loved it because it had real food. We both had roast beef with some potato hash topped off with a delicious chimichurri sauce. We were impressed.

After dinner,, we wanted to go see the Animal Kingdom night show. We weren't able to get a fast pass for the show, but it wasn't a very busy night at the park so we weren't too worried. We headed over to that amphitheater area and right as we got there they opened up stand-by seating. We got a seat off the front row. It was awesome. The show itself was okay. It was a celebration of the Earth and also focused on conservation. There wasn't quite enough of a Disney connection for us to truly love it. It was visually pretty cool but dragged a little in the middle.

We left the park via Avatar. Seeing the land at night was pretty cool. It was like a completely different land. Disney is great at bringing fantastical worlds to life and Avatar may be their most ambitious to date.