Episode #142: Making the most of your day in Animal Kingdom

Ever wondered how to conquer Disney's Animal Kingdom like a pro? Brittany and I spill the magical beans on everything from making a beeline for Avatar Flight of Passage at rope drop to strategizing your trek around the lush landscapes without the need for Genie Plus. Tune in as we navigate through the park's dense jungles and soaring peaks, uncovering the secret to securing that game-changing individual lightning lane pass.

Adventure awaits as we share our top picks for breakfast spots, including a character-filled meal at Tusker House, and detail the perfect path for a morning filled with thrill rides and captivating shows like Festival of the Lion King. As the day heats up, we'll guide you to the coolest indoor retreats and the most serene spots to take a breather. Our experiences aboard the Wildlife Express Train and the enchanting trails around the Tree of Life are just a few of the gems we're excited to share with you.

As the Florida sun begins to dip, we reveal the best way to wind down with delectable light bites at Nomad Lounge, and how a travel planner can elevate your Animal Kingdom experience from wild to absolutely unforgettable. Don't miss our tips on timing your visit for a mesmerizing evening of animal flotillas, and join us as we cap off an exhilarating day at one of Disney's most awe-inspiring parks. Get ready to transform your Animal Kingdom adventure – no pixie dust required!

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Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:21

Hello and welcome to Circular Parks podcast episode number 142. Today we are continuing our series with how to make the most of your day in the parks, and today we're discussing that in Animal Kingdom there is far too much to see and do. We are here to help guide you through. But before we do that we must talk Disney merch. So this week on Disney Storecom they have a new lightsaber, light up and sound water bottle. It's priced at $39.00 and 99 cents.

Speaker 1: 1:03

Wait, a lightsaber water bottle.

Speaker 2: 1:05

Yes, and it lights up and sounds too. So quench your thirst for adventure with this Star Wars water bottle in the form of Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber. And it says press the red button on front to pop open the top as if it were a beam. A translucent blue zipper lip is exposed within Part of a beam, like inner sleeve. Slide the button on the side to hear the authentic lightsaber sound effects and see the inner bottle light up. The force is with your refreshment. And again, that is priced at $39.99. And that is this week's Disney merch. And talking about merch, we also have merch, so please go to our website, circularparkscom. Click on merch. It takes you directly to the T-Public site and you can find things with our logo, such as stickers, coffee mugs, sweatshirts, t-shirts and more. So again, please go check that out.

Speaker 1: 2:08

Well, thank you everybody for joining us. Episode number 142, sorry I zone out when Brittany talks about merch, but when I hear like certain keywords.

Speaker 2: 2:16

I like tune in. Yes, that's actually kind of cool. Yeah, yeah, I thought so.

Speaker 1: 2:20

Yeah, I'm not a big sipper guy, but you know.

Speaker 2: 2:22

Alright, alright, something different.

Speaker 1: 2:24

Yeah, episode number 142,. I'm Zach.

Speaker 2: 2:26

I'm Brittany.

Speaker 1: 2:28

And we do this show every single week. Mainly and our goal is to help you have a better Walt Disney World vacation and to break your week up and bring some Disney joy to your middle of the week. Yes, and just put a smile on your face, we're not professionals, we're just a family and we just wanted to share our experiences. We had the Disney blues that's how we started the podcast and, yeah, so this week we are talking about how to make the most of your day in Animal Kingdom. Sorry, we got over the sickness and now we all have just like really bad allergies.

Speaker 2: 3:02

Yes, yes.

Speaker 1: 3:03

Springtime in Tennessee sucks.

Speaker 2: 3:06

It does. It can be beautiful, but the pollen and the up and down temperatures, it's just a little crazy.

Speaker 1: 3:12

Springtime is my least favorite season in Tennessee. It's so pretty though.

Speaker 2: 3:16

Yeah anyway.

Speaker 1: 3:18

Alright. So how do you make the most of your day in Animal Kingdom? And I'm going to make it very, very simple. Okay, yes, so this is not a full day park, this is a half day park. Go, hit the bangers and then leave. That's how you make the most of your day in Animal Kingdom.

Speaker 2: 3:34

He's joking, I'm not joking.

Speaker 1: 3:38

This is only a half day park. You can do the bangers in the morning. By noon Get on out of here because I'm going to enjoy the park with nobody else. Send it to the rest of the afternoon, there you go, because he is one.

Speaker 2: 3:50

When he hears someone saying, oh, we're going to skip Animal Kingdom or we're only going to do half day at Animal Kingdom, he's like do what? Is that how?

Speaker 1: 3:57

you do it? No, I'm. No, it's a half day park. You don't want crowds there. I don't want crowds there. Yeah, let it no, just go away.

Speaker 2: 4:04

But there's a lot more in here than I think a lot of people realize. I think you know, when people first are thinking Animal Kingdom, they do just want to hit those bigger rides and don't realize what all this park has.

Speaker 1: 4:14

There is. There's so much depth to this park and we talk about it a lot and it's our favorite park for a reason. It's a very serene, relaxing, very in detail park and it's meant for you to explore. It's not meant for you to go attraction to attraction to attraction to attraction. This park is meant to get the adventurer out of you and you can see that if you stop and slow down.

Speaker 1: 4:41

So we do not recommend Ginny Plus for Animal Kingdom. If you want to get it, have at it, but you're going to be done by 11 o'clock and going. What else do we do now? So we're going to kind of give you some ideas of how to make this a full day park, break it down. Are you going to get everything done? Well, we did last fall and we were exhausted. So there's, you're going to have to skip a few things here to get to have a good time and enjoy the park. So, like I said, we do not recommend Ginny Plus or Animal Kingdom. However, we do recommend getting an individual paid lightning lane for Avatar Flight of Passage. This is so you can ride it twice and we're going to tell you why yeah?

Speaker 1: 5:20

Do not, so we'll get to that in a minute. So on the recording of this day, it's Monday, March 25th. Animal Kingdom's hours are 8 am to 8 pm, so it closes the earliest because obviously of the animals, which I think have opinions on that. But anyway, they have early entry starting at 7 30 am and you're going to want to take advantage. If you're wanting to make the most of your day here, take advantage of the early entry at 7 30 am, especially on a hot, hot day.

Speaker 2: 5:50

Oh yes.

Speaker 1: 5:52

This park gets super, super hot. It's all the vegetation, it's becomes more humid and it just kind of keeps all that heat in.

Speaker 2: 6:00

It really does.

Speaker 1: 6:01

So if you the early magic hours, you're gonna see everybody rushing to flight of passage. That's where everybody goes.

Speaker 2: 6:09

That's where most go Okay.

Speaker 1: 6:11

So I asked the internet what attractions do you rope drop? And on X, 40% of the voters voted for a flight of passage, 40% voted for Kilimanjaro Safari and 20% voted for Expedition Everest. So good mix there. And on Instagram, Britbrook, is that you? No, it's not you, because Britbrook said flight of passage and I know you would not have said that.

Speaker 2: 6:35

Right.

Speaker 1: 6:36

So flight of passage is by far the most popular attraction here, and for good reason.

Speaker 2: 6:41

Yes.

Speaker 1: 6:41

It is the best attraction in my opinion, on Walt Disney World property, but we suggest you rope drop Kilimanjaro Safari.

Speaker 2: 6:52

Yes.

Speaker 1: 6:52

And the reason for that is this is the best time to see the animals in the morning, especially on a hot day, because even in the evenings it's gonna be hot, Because they usually stop to safaris around six o'clock. Still gonna be hot, so in the morning it's a little bit cooler and the animals are still out and about more Now, this does not have early entry. So what you'll do is, when you do the early entry like everybody else and everybody's running to flight of passage, you'll go to Africa.

Speaker 1: 7:18

And they will have a rope there at Africa and they will usually drop that rope a little bit before opening time and at today say it's eight am. Then you can get in line for this far.

Speaker 2: 7:29

Right, yeah, and this is you know what we learned after our first couple of times, because I do believe the first time or two we did do flight of passage.

Speaker 1: 7:37

Yes, we did.

Speaker 2: 7:37

Yes, but you know, like Zach was saying, the animals are more awake, more lively, moving around more in the morning, and it's just kind of become a tradition for us now. You know, now obviously it might not work out that way for everybody and, depending on the time of year, if you go to one of the later safari rides like, they may still be a little more lively, like if it's in the spring, late fall, winter time, but in the summer the morning is going to be your best bet for sure. Now, what you mentioned about when you asked the internet, you know, even though we rope drop the safari, I had put those other two down as well, just depending on your family and what, what you're interested in. Right, because it would be between Kilimanjaro safari, flight of passage or expedition Everest.

Speaker 1: 8:22

I mean, if you're a rope or a dinosaur, excuse me, good for you. That's not about attracting either.

Speaker 2: 8:28

No, but usually the wait times aren't aren't long at all and they move pretty quickly.

Speaker 1: 8:32

They do. Yep, so you've rope dropped your first attraction, right? Yes, what do you do now?

Speaker 2: 8:39

Well, when we rope drop the safari, usually afterwards, we're a bit hungry and so sometimes we do. We do one or two things, sometimes in different order. So after the safari, if we're really hungry, starting to get hangry almost then there's the Harambe fruit market right there as you come out and it it says fruit market, I know, and they do offer fruit and they have some other things there, but in the mornings they have these really good breakfast sandwiches and I don't know if it's because you're in a theme park and you're hungry or what, but something about them we just really, really enjoy, don't you?

Speaker 1: 9:17

Yes, they're very delicious.

Speaker 2: 9:18

Yes, and then after that we would. Then, while we're on that side, usually we go to Gorilla Falls walking trails. Now sometimes, if maybe we're not as hungry, we might do the Gorilla Falls first and then go and get the breakfast sandwich.

Speaker 1: 9:35

Yes, and if you're going to do the Gorilla Falls first, keep in mind the family of Gorillas will probably not be not be out that early.

Speaker 2: 9:43

Only the bachelors.

Speaker 1: 9:44

Only the bachelors. But this is so beautiful walking through that bachelor area. Yeah, in the morning it's just, it's just. I got some great pictures. I'll post them when we air this episode. It's just beautiful and peaceful. I love that area.

Speaker 2: 9:58

It is, and you still see quite a few. Yes, you know so, even though you're not seeing the babies and the mom and all that like an argument and being a family.

Speaker 2: 10:08

Yeah, you still get to see quite a few Gorillas and, like Zach said, it's a pretty area and we've talked oftentimes about this one Gorilla that's. They flat out say he's very bougie because he has to wash his food again himself and he drinks out of a special cup and all of that stuff. But it is cute when the whole family's out too, because the little ones, the siblings, act like siblings and trying to get mom's attention and all that stuff.

Speaker 1: 10:36

And then also put, if you are rope dropping, flight of passage and you want breakfast? There's a great little breakfast sandwich here that I'm going to try next time we go. It's called. It's that Pongoo Pongoo, which is like that little drink hut area right outside of wind traders when you walk out of flight of passage the gift shop there, yeah. It's on the left hand side You're talking about. They have Marshall's favorite stuffed pancake sandwich.

Speaker 2: 11:03

Oh yeah, we've heard about that.

Speaker 1: 11:04

And this is with sausage, guava, jelly, egg and cheese. It's $8.99 and it looks delicious.

Speaker 2: 11:13

Yeah, and we've watched some videos on it and you know some some of the videos. You know they were kind of like me, like I'm thinking. I don't know about the guava on there, but from what we watched, the you know, they said like it all tasted very well together.

Speaker 1: 11:29

So yes, I would like to try that. And who's Marshall? Do you know who Marshall is? I do not, it's just. Is this just a random name for a breakfast item in Pandora? Probably not. Probably not. No, it is not Marshall. So if you follow the story of Pandora in Animal Kingdom, you are there with Alpha Centauri Expeditions. They are revitalizing the area after the strip mining, and all that from the original Avatar movie. Marshall is the founder of Alpha Centauri Expeditions. Oh yeah, so there you go.

Speaker 1: 12:08

Always a little tie in there. So I want to try that. And then I also put there's nothing like Expedition Everest to wake you up in the morning.

Speaker 2: 12:15

That is true.

Speaker 1: 12:16

That's just, it gets you, it's just good.

Speaker 2: 12:18

Yes, we and we'll get to this later have just found a time that we kind of enjoy more later. But hey, if we do the lightning lane as well as riding later on.

Speaker 1: 12:30

What are you talking about? What attraction are you talking about?

Speaker 2: 12:33

Flight of passage oh sorry, I messed up.

Speaker 1: 12:36

Sorry, I'm distracted.

Speaker 2: 12:37

Uh, so now you've distracted me and I'm trying to remember. Anyway, it's good to experience, no matter what time of day, and but, yes, what better way to wake up then, with Flight of Passage, if that is the route that you take or if you have an earlier lightning lane time for it?

Speaker 1: 12:53

Yeah. So now it's like late let me say late morning, early lunch time what are we going to do?

Speaker 2: 13:05

Well, as far as for our listeners, if you started your day with Flight of Passage, you may want to go ahead and catch Navi River Journey while you're on that side, depending on the wait times.

Speaker 1: 13:15

Yes, sorry, I did not mention that. You might as well just go ahead and knock it out because you're not going to do anything at the time of the day.

Speaker 2: 13:20

Yeah, because the lines get so backed up. So again, if you do Flight of Passage first thing in the morning, go ahead and do Navi River Journey after. Uh, now leading up to lunchtime. Now, wait a minute, you're you're. You're rushing just a tad because there's another option. Late morning, early lunchtime, but I was going to mention another breakfast option. If you are one that is about character dining they, then you might want to try the breakfast buffet at Tusker House.

Speaker 1: 13:48

I just skipped right over that.

Speaker 2: 13:49

Yeah, that's how I'm like whoa, whoa whoa, whoa, I am so sorry.

Speaker 1: 13:52

Slow your roll, slow and down. So Tusker House you know I need to go to Animal Kingdom and slow down. That's what I need to do.

Speaker 2: 13:58

Yes, you do and quit interrupting, please. So it's a colorful restaurant with character. You step inside this lively Harambe marketplace eatery, enjoy family friendly surroundings. It's a plentiful buffet, offers favorites for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then, while you dine, you get to snap photos with Donald and Mickey and Goofy. And was Minnie here too, trying to remember?

Speaker 1: 14:26

Yes, Mickey and Minnie are here. Yes.

Speaker 2: 14:27

Yes, and you know, for breakfast you've got like Mickey and Simba waffles, you've got different types of egg dishes. I mean, you know, you've got a lot of your traditional menu items as well, such as pastries and sausage patties, rotisserie ham and duly sausage pieces. You've got fruit, you have some cocktails and mocktails. And now for breakfast now, keep in mind again, it's a buffet in its character. So $47 per adult, $30 per child. Now, while we're here, if you go later in the day, lunch is $62 per adult and $40 per child, and dinner is that same price as well. For lunch, so, but this is another option. We did this our second trip out a few years ago and this was one of my not my favorite, but one of my favorite character dinings, and I don't know if it's because the characters are in like their safari outfits and all of that, but it's something definitely to keep in mind if you're big on breakfast, food and character dining.

Speaker 1: 15:41

So I will say I don't know if it's the theming in Tusker House or I'm gonna go with the theming yeah, it's not as chaotic in here.

Speaker 2: 15:54

Yeah, it's not like your typical buffet ones.

Speaker 1: 15:57

This is not as rambunctious as other ones, and the theming in here is just again, it's Animal Kingdom. The theming is just on point. I do not mind Tusker House, but there's just so much other, better places to eat that we just haven't got back here yet.

Speaker 2: 16:14

Right, right, like and you know I say it every time we're there oh, we've gotta go back here one day. And Zach's actually like, yeah, we will, we will. It's not like no, like he is on certain other ones.

Speaker 1: 16:24

No, and remember that the dinner and lunch are a good value for your Disney dining credit. Yes, yeah, all right. So now that we've done all of that, and now it's early lunchtime, late breakfast time, what do we do now?

Speaker 2: 16:42

Well, depending on if you're, I wouldn't quite eat yet. Nope, Of course, depending too on what you ate and what time. But you could slow down and walk around the tree of life area for a little while.

Speaker 1: 16:57

So I've got that a litter on.

Speaker 2: 16:59

Well, I have it in a few places myself. You could, if you're wanting another ride, maybe go to Dinosaur.

Speaker 1: 17:07

See, I've got Dinosaur as the attraction.

Speaker 2: 17:10

Okay, now if you wanna catch some shows or kinda take it easy, you could go and catch the wildlife. It was it wildlife express train. Is that what it's called?

Speaker 1: 17:23

Yes.

Speaker 2: 17:24

To the animation experience at their conservation station, and so once you're there, they change up what you're drawing. But you're drawing with an animator, and so that is something you could do, especially if it's hot and you wanna be out of the heat for a little while. That is something. If you are in the tree of life area, you could also go under the tree of life and do. It's tough to be a bug.

Speaker 1: 17:50

So yeah. So lunchtime is when you're gonna wanna get out of the heat here in Animal Kingdom. So indoor attractions are gonna be good. Dinosaurs tough to be. A bug Festival of the Lion King Wildlife Express Train is outside. However, it's kinda breezy and it's pretty cool, and then you go to the animation academy at and get some animal education when you're there. It's pretty cool. I'll also put Finding Nemo, the big blue and beyond, and also midday if it's hot, if you don't mind getting soaked, maybe Cali River Rapids, which I'm going to do this summer.

Speaker 2: 18:25

Okay, so I have that later in the day.

Speaker 1: 18:27

So also for restaurants this lunchtime now.

Speaker 2: 18:31

I haven't gotten to that. Okay, well, I'm getting to restaurants now.

Speaker 1: 18:34

We love Flametree BBQ. My one criticism of Flametree BBQ it's outside and it's hot. I don't know if you particularly wanna be eating drippy, messy barbecue when you're a hot mess yourself already right Now.

Speaker 2: 18:50

there are some areas where you can go eat that are covered in the shade, but it's still very hot and humid and they have very intimidating birds there too.

Speaker 1: 18:58

So I would recommend Flametree BBQ later in the evening if that's something that you're wanting to try, or an earlier lunch, not the heat of the day, because it gets hot here. So if you did Dinosaur and you are hungry, I would recommend Restaurantosaurus before it's gone Now. Would I have recommended this in the past? Probably not, but now I am. Is this great food? No, is it typical Walt Disney World? Hot dogs and cheeseburgers? Yes. However, what sets this apart is the theming in here, and it is on point. They have a Airstream trailer that you can eat in, and just the theming in here. The chandeliers are the same chandeliers except themed differently that they have in the Warden the Sludge, and I was super, super impressed when we ate there back about two months, like I know you were too. Again, is the food great? No, it's just your typical theme park food, but sometimes that's what you want and you know that's what your kids are gonna want.

Speaker 2: 20:00

Yeah, and I was impressed too. I didn't know what to expect. We'd really like Zach was saying we'd never really gone there before. And yes, when he says some of the decor is like what we saw in Wilderness Lodge, just themed differently, with dinosaurs on it, I mean it is true, and some of the menu. You've got hot dogs, chili cheese dogs, cheeseburgers, fried chicken sandwich. You have cob salad with chicken, you have nuggets, you have cheese fries with chili, you have bug shaped Graham crackers, french fries, cuties, and for kids they have macaroni and cheese or chicken breast nuggets. Then they have desserts, cupcake shakes, and yeah, I mean again, if it's super hot out, you wanna be eating inside and you know something to please your picky eaters, then why not?

Speaker 1: 20:53

Right, and also you may argue with me on this, but for another place, for lunch, it's gonna be inside. That, I think, is very unique to Animal Kingdom Yak and Yeti.

Speaker 2: 21:03

I have that bit later.

Speaker 1: 21:05

Yeah. So Yak and Yeti is good Asian fusion cuisine. Now the backstory to Yakineti. We did a whole review on it. So good, Very well-themed, just like everything else in this park. I would recommend this for lunch as well. Get inside, get outside, get in from outside for a bit, yeah.

Speaker 2: 21:27

Yeah, one other place I put because Yakineti I have later in the day, but a place where maybe you want more small plates because it is hot and you don't want to feel just from eating a big meal and walking in the heat. You know I have this later also, but it could be an option for one of those hot days. For lunch is Nomad Lounge.

Speaker 1: 21:48

We'll get to that.

Speaker 2: 21:49

Because, again, small plates. You could, even if you're just a little bit hungry, just maybe get the Tiffin's Bread Service and the Churros, or some chicken wings and the.

Speaker 1: 21:59

Churros Better than in Disneyland.

Speaker 2: 22:02

Well, these are the only Churros better than in Disneyland, but yes, so just something to keep in mind. If you don't want something super heavy but still a little snacky, but you don't want to, just from the heat, Nomad Lounge could be an option, but again, I have it listed later as well.

Speaker 1: 22:19

Make sure if you don't want to sit outside, you tell them, because it can get hot out there too.

Speaker 2: 22:23

Yeah, so they have a covered like patio area and then they have indoor seating. So just yeah, just specify.

Speaker 1: 22:30

You got anything else for midday lunchtime? No, I don't, all right. So if you want to try any of these places out, you know to reach out to you, right, brittany?

Speaker 2: 22:37

Believe so.

Speaker 1: 22:38

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Speaker 2: 23:06

Yes two months, so two months.

Speaker 1: 23:09

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Speaker 1: 23:40

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Speaker 2: 24:10

Right, yeah, I mean now we don't really keep up with. Oh, it's almost 60 days out. Erica's reaching out to us saying, hey, are these still the restaurants you wanna go to? Do you need to make any changes? Is this time of day still okay, If I can get that? So yeah, we really don't stress about any of that anymore.

Speaker 1: 24:29

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Speaker 2: 24:30

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Speaker 1: 24:39

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Speaker 2: 25:08

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Speaker 1: 25:09

This is all they do. And again telling me, since you take advantage of those special offers, they're just absolutely amazing. All right, so now we've done all this, it's early evening, dinner time. I say we go to Mahara-ha-ha-ha-ha-jungle trek. I agree it's cooled down a little bit. Yeah, maybe the tiger's out, maybe some other animals are out.

Speaker 2: 25:34

Right and we got really lucky and you never know where the animals are gonna be, where they're gonna be walking around. We got lucky the last time we were there and the tiger was right in front of us, but this whole area is so beautiful as well. All these trails throughout this park is beautiful and meant to be relaxing for you to slow down, but, yes, this would be a good time for that.

Speaker 1: 25:55

That and then this is when I put now that it's a little bit cooler, relaxed by the Tree of Life, check out the roots, those little trails around there. There's kangaroos there.

Speaker 2: 26:06

Yes, I didn't know that, we didn't know that, we didn't know that.

Speaker 1: 26:08

That's awesome. There's also some little lemurs in there and enjoy that whole area, the Discovery Island area. The music is great, the shops are real. We enjoy looking in those shops.

Speaker 2: 26:23

Yeah, for sure. I mean, those shops are so fun and even in other parts of the park, like, go look at the shops. They have some interesting things and they're not just your typical Disney merch.

Speaker 1: 26:34

And when you buy something in Animal Kingdom, if you wanna donate a dollar or however much, they'll match that to their conservation fund.

Speaker 2: 26:43

And they give you a button for everything. They give you a button for everything. No, that stuff.

Speaker 1: 26:46

So I think that's really really cool. This is when I put maybe join the walk-up list for Nomad Lounge and sit outside.

Speaker 2: 26:52

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:53

Because you wanna see those flotillas. At least I wanna see those flotillas going by and enjoying a cocktail and the best churros in the country and some those that chicken satay I had was really good too.

Speaker 2: 27:07

Yeah, just about everything we've tried so far from Nomad Lounge is really good. You know, they have the Bangkok chicken wings and that's delicious, that grilled chicken satay, the churros, the bread service. We haven't tried the pork belly yet, have we? No, no, so, but they've had some other things that we would like to try their cocktails, they're legit, we'll put it that way.

Speaker 1: 27:30

They're good.

Speaker 2: 27:32

A little on the strong side, so be ready, but they are good and so yeah, that would be another time of day. That's good as well. Now, one thing we haven't mentioned, and this might be something either you catch one of the last showings or maybe when it's hot in mid-afternoon is don't forget about the Festival of the Lion King.

Speaker 1: 27:52

I mentioned that earlier. You did, yeah, during the lunch like the midday. Okay, I heard Nemo and all that, but I didn't say Lion.

Speaker 2: 27:59

King, Okay, okay, I apologize so, but yeah, if it's something that you're like, depending on your family, and if you have some people that are like, oh, but we need to do this, we need to do that, even though we keep saying slow down, slow down, slow down. If you haven't experienced it by this time of the day and you can catch one of the last showings, then definitely don't pass that up.

Speaker 1: 28:19

So I would say if you're gonna watch one show in Animal Kingdom, festival of the Lion King, is the one show you watch. It is so good. If you have little boys or girls, the kids are gonna love it, especially the boys. They have fire and acrobats and all that stuff Like you're gonna have their attention or the show is going to have their attention. It's not a boring show by far, it is at all. It's not boring. Finding Nemo can get a little boring.

Speaker 2: 28:45

It's a little long but it's good. But if you have some restless kids, yeah.

Speaker 1: 28:50

Yeah, you're not gonna have restless kids during the Lion King show. No, not gonna have, they're gonna be highly entertained. Yes.

Speaker 2: 28:56

Now, if you did not get to experience a safari ride earlier in the day, then you might wanna catch one of the last ones. Now again, keep in mind it changes every time and it's not gonna be the same. And if it's what it usually around six, you said.

Speaker 1: 29:16

So it's usually around six. Gonna depend on when the park closed down. So it's becoming spring, summertime, so the park's open later, the sun's up later, but they will have a placard like a big sign outside the safari saying when the last safari is going to be Right. So now it may be seven o'clock.

Speaker 2: 29:32

Yeah, we're. Not sure so you might wanna check on that, or, if you don't, wanna, walk down there and ask a cast member elsewhere and maybe they can tell you. But if you didn't experience it earlier in the day, then you need to experience it while you're here as well.

Speaker 1: 29:47

For sure.

Speaker 2: 29:48

You know that could be another option. And as far as dining, you know, for dinner I put Yakiniyeti, I put Satuly Canteen, especially if you're heading in that direction later in the day, like we do. I'll get to that, and, yes, that's why I'm not saying much and then I'm mentioning it here again. We haven't experienced the dinner buffet yet, but Tusker House for dinner.

Speaker 1: 30:13

Keep in mind it's going to be about an hour and a half for that sit down. So if time is of the essence, that may be.

Speaker 2: 30:20

Right, so Yakiniyeti and Tusker House could affect that.

Speaker 1: 30:24

So I went a different direction for dinner.

Speaker 2: 30:27

Okay, well, can I talk about what Yakiniyeti has to offer? Go?

Speaker 1: 30:30

ahead, I thought you were done. No, sorry.

Speaker 2: 30:32

It's okay.

Speaker 1: 30:33

It's a long menu.

Speaker 2: 30:34

I'm not going to read everything. It's a very unique restaurant though, and it is, you know, themed very, very well. You have exciting Pan-Asian cuisine and it's like a quaint village home that's been transformed into a restaurant. At the base of expedition Everest sits Yakiniyeti and it's a table service decorated with proprietor collection of Southeast Asian artifacts and it it's really done well with the theming in here.

Speaker 2: 31:05

Yes, they did an amazing job, yes, and just like everywhere else at this. So for for dinner now they do have lunch as well. But looking at the dinner menu, you know they have some small plates such such as calamari, firecracker, shrimp, pork, pot stickers, egg rolls. You have shareables, ahi, tuna, nachos, korean fried chicken, lettuce cups. You have some soups and salads, you have noodles and bowls, from low main to Malaysian seafood curry. You have miso salmon, you have coconut shrimp chicken, thicka misala, which was so good as some of their specialties. They have walk dishes such as Korean beef, sweet and sour chicken, honey chicken. They have grilled choices as well, from teriyaki, chicken steak, shrimp, ribeye, kobe, beef burger and a lot of different sides and desserts as well.

Speaker 1: 32:02

So let me tell you, get one of their specialties here. I just got to steak, yeah, I was disappointed, right. So get what they specialize in here. Also, yakoniti is not a Disney owned restaurant. It is a Landry's restaurant. So if you are a member of Landry's, they own the T-Rex restaurant. They own the what's excuse me, what's the other one?

Speaker 2: 32:28

Rainforest cafe.

Speaker 1: 32:29

Rainforest cafe and they own. If so, if you're a member of those, make sure that you have your card and all that stuff. So yes, but get one of the specialties. I got the steak. I mean it wasn't bad, but you were like oohing and on over yours and so we're Nolan and. Ryan, I'm sitting there going. I mean, it's a steak.

Speaker 2: 32:48

It's not great.

Speaker 1: 32:50

but y'all were like, yeah, I was a little disappointed, so get what they specialize in here.

Speaker 2: 32:55

For sure. And now the.

Speaker 1: 32:57

I'm sorry. One more quick the Kobe beef burger I am going to try this soon has been said by several YouTubers and people that I watch. This ranks up as maybe one of the best burgers in Walt Disney World.

Speaker 2: 33:14

So we're going to have to try it.

Speaker 2: 33:16

Yeah, well, and then, as I mentioned Tescher house, you know that buffet as well, so you know, obviously it's dinner time, so you're not going to have what I mentioned earlier. I'm not going to go through it all, but you have breads and dips, you have salads, you have tendory chicken, marinated pork, green curry, shrimp, chicken curries, a tar braised beef, salmon filets. Now, for your pickier eaters, or the kids, you've got corn dog nuggets, macaroni and cheese, chicken legs, green beans, mashed potatoes and just a lot of different unique side dishes, as well as desserts in more. So, yeah, that's, that's what I have here. Do you want to talk about Siduli?

Speaker 1: 34:01

I'm getting there, okay. So I'm going a different direction for dinner than you did. I'm snacking around animal kingdom for dinner.

Speaker 2: 34:09

Okay.

Speaker 1: 34:10

I'm going to Mr Kamal's fries.

Speaker 2: 34:11

Yes, Very good.

Speaker 1: 34:12

Getting those seasoned fries. They're going to go to the smiling crocodile. I'm going to hit this place up early because they they close early.

Speaker 2: 34:19

That's what I was about to say.

Speaker 1: 34:20

Smiling crocodile closes like mid afternoon, I think, Like yeah, so you're going to hit this place up early and get those pork tacos, but they are very good. They're so good, then I'm going to go back to Harambee fruit market and get that street corn. Okay, and that's going to be my dinner.

Speaker 2: 34:33

Okay.

Speaker 1: 34:34

So I went a different direction there.

Speaker 2: 34:35

Yeah, okay, well, good, and those are all good options too.

Speaker 1: 34:38

Very delicious.

Speaker 2: 34:40

You know, I would pick one or two of those things for a snack earlier in the day, maybe.

Speaker 1: 34:43

I'm ranking animal kingdom second in Walt Disney World when it comes to food in the parks, with Epcot being first.

Speaker 2: 34:52

The food here is just so good, it is really, really, really good, and the flavor to it you know, just so good.

Speaker 1: 34:58

So I'm going to let you talk about how you end the night, and then I'm going to talk about what I do, which is the right way. No-transcript. You go first.

Speaker 2: 35:06

Wow. So this is why we say, if you do a lightning lane earlier in the day for flight of passage, that's great, because you're making sure you're getting on it. Yes, now, but you're going to skip the queue, but when you get in the regular standby line, you're going to experience the whole thing. The queue is wonderful, the amount of details You've got Hank in there and you're not going to do your usual.

Speaker 1: 35:36

Oh, what's up, Hank? It's been a while.

Speaker 2: 35:39

And it's just something about walking through Pandora at night is just a whole other level to the whole experience and again, experiencing the whole queue before the ride, of flight, of passage itself, and it's just a great way to end the night. Now you could go and eat at Satuly Cantine before the ride or immediately after, if it's before a park close.

Speaker 1: 36:04

Okay, you're stealing my thunder now.

Speaker 2: 36:08

Well, I'm about to start coughing a lot, so you'll probably have to take over. So that is one thing Zach's going to go into more detail of. But before you walk out of the park, I also recommend the Tree of Life Awakenings Projections on the Tree of Life nature. Just definitely take that in, and I apologize if you hear me coughing in the back room.

Speaker 1: 36:29

All right. So to end the Night of Animal Kingdom? There is only one way to end the Night of Animal Kingdom and this is the right way. You mobile order cheeseburger pots from Satuly Cantine and just this music. This is why Satuly Cantine is the best quick service restaurant in Walt Disney. It just puts you in that avatar mindset, right?

Speaker 2: 36:54

I don't have its best quick service, but it is good.

Speaker 1: 36:56

The best quick service About an hour before right. Just enjoy Because it's going to be less crowded.

Speaker 2: 37:05

Yeah, that place can get intense, it can.

Speaker 1: 37:08

It's going to be less crowded.

Speaker 2: 37:09

Yeah, in the middle of the day it's crazy, it's hopping, yeah.

Speaker 1: 37:12

It's going to be less intense. Chill out.

Speaker 2: 37:15

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: 37:16

Relax, then enjoy your cheeseburger pots, right yeah.

Speaker 2: 37:22

But so they have so many other options that are good there too.

Speaker 1: 37:25

Enjoy your cheeseburger pots and then, about five minutes before park close, go get in line for plenty of passage.

Speaker 2: 37:34

Now those cheeseburger pods yes, they are good. There's steamed cheeseburger pods stuffed with ground beef, ketchup, mustard, pickle and cheddar cheese, served with crunchy vegetable slaw and vegetable chips. But some of their other entrees are so good and you can customize these combination bowls. You can get one that's smoked chimchurri, braised beef and wood-grilled chicken, and the meat itself is so good. Now it comes with boba balls and all that. If you don't want it, you can customize when you're ordering. And they have a lot of other bowls as well, and I've done that a time or two and have enjoyed it every time.

Speaker 1: 38:11

Yeah. So enjoy your cheeseburger pods and get the vegetable chips and just enjoy this music, enjoy that area. It's so just peaceful and relaxed.

Speaker 2: 38:26

The kids hotdog one day too. It was good.

Speaker 1: 38:28

Got the little sweet dough around it. Yeah, it's not bad, but you're going to enjoy your cheeseburger pods and then, about five minutes before park close, you're going to go get in that line. It's going to say 80 minutes, 90 minutes.

Speaker 2: 38:40

It's not, though.

Speaker 1: 38:41

It's going to be about 45 minutes and that's going to give you time to enjoy that beautiful queue, because you're going to be backed up a little bit. It's not going to go fast I did somewhat, but you're going to get to enjoy that. That forest, the, the what's what I'm looking for here?

Speaker 1: 38:58

the word the, the forest you walk through, the bio luminous the bio luminous yes, sorry, the bio luminous forest in there, the lab You're going to like. Look at the details in that lab. There's some cool, cool stuff in there. There's some nods to other stuff in there. That's really really cool. See, hank, cause when you, when you're laying in you, you, you bypass Hank.

Speaker 2: 39:18

Yeah, you do.

Speaker 1: 39:19

And just enjoy the best attraction in what is right.

Speaker 2: 39:23

Yeah. I mean, it's just it's amazing and you know it's an amazing ride when a lot of times we've ridden it and at the end everybody goes.

Speaker 1: 39:31

oh so good. The last time we did it, people were like screaming and yelling. Yeah, I was like yes, yeah, so good.

Speaker 2: 39:39

And you know when you're putting your arms up like I don't.

Speaker 1: 39:41

I know that just doesn't seem right when you're going down, like it's cool. Trust me, it's like putting your arms up on strong. Some people do it, some people don't. But, when you do it, you know, you know.

Speaker 2: 39:52

So yeah, so yeah. The bio luminescence, just everything, that whole area is just another world, for sure at night. But, like I said, at least you know on your way out of the park, if you can take a moment, and I forgot how often.

Speaker 1: 40:07

It's like every 15 minutes 10 or 15 minutes.

Speaker 2: 40:10

Look at the tree of life. They have projections. It's super cute. Not something like to do every time, you know which. We haven't done it in a while, but we've done it a time or two and so, yeah, if you know, take that in now. You know the park is closing a little bit later as summer's getting closer, but depending on what other park hours are, you know, because this park does close before others, if you have a park hopper, you know, you can even park hop to another park to enjoy it.

Speaker 1: 40:40

True, yeah, but we're talking about animal kingdom. I know, I'm just saying so yeah, all right, so after you've done, all of that.

Speaker 2: 40:50

Yeah, I mean still complete everything we just said. But if you still have time, then that's an option.

Speaker 1: 40:56

And you've seen Pandora at night, which I love it during the day, but at night is just again. Walt made the parks beautiful at night for a reason and they continued on with that night time. They just take on a whole different personality and it's just beautiful. So that's how you end your night at animal kingdom. Now, if you want to do it differently, by all means go for it. This is just our opinion, but it's just truly amazing to do it that way. Need some water?

Speaker 1: 41:27

So this week's Disney trivia, I put up a question. Actually I put up a picture on X and Instagram and it was from Harambe Market, Animal Kingdom, and it says Captain Bob's super safaris. Trust us with the picture of a tree, a tent and a man in the safari outfit. That looks rather familiar. The question was who is Captain Bob in the picture? So the answer and this was in honor of just being announced as a Disney legend the man in the picture is legendary Imagineer Joe Roddy, who designed the park. It's so well done and they've got so many nods to Joe Roddy in Harambe You'll see a lot of pictures that look like him, or you'll see a lot of words that kind of resemble Joe Roddy but aren't spelled the same way. So I thought it would be really cool to honor him this week as this week's Disney trivia. This week's winner from X Swingings back on top. He said that man looks a lot like Joe Roddy. Close enough, I'll take it.

Speaker 1: 42:33

So thank you everybody for joining us this week. We really appreciate it. If you want to support the show, the best way to do that is to book your next vacation with Main Street Travel Company. Tell them we sent you, Take advantage of those special offers. You can reach out to them at wwwmainstreettravelcocom, there on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. And, my favorite thing, again call them 1-800-593-1262. Again 1-800-593-1262. You can email us circleofparkscom. Our website is wwwcircleofparkscom and we're on Facebook, Instagram and X all at Circle of Parks. And again, please go, leave us a fast drive. Writing and review on Apple Podcast Really helps us to grow the show and please share us with your friends. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much for listening and we will talk to you next week.

Speaker 2: 44:02

Thank you.