Orlando Florida Day 9 - Animal Kingdom & Rainforest Cafe

Day 9 of our holiday and yet another new park to explore. This time Disney's Animal Kingdom which meant the DAS passes were back in play and the kids were overjoyed at being able to effectively queue jump. 

The highlight of Animal Kingdoms was without a shadow of doubt the Avatar part of the park which replicates some of the scenery from Pandora including the floating rocks. Again as with other parks, this whole section is just done so well and is so immersive from the moment you enter. There are two Avatar rides, the first is the Na'vi River journey which is ok, basically it is a slow boat ride through some stunning Pandora type of environments. The second is the breathtaking 3D ride The Flight of Passage which is just another 4D ride through Pandora and is just amazing, words can describe how good this is. The banshee which you ride even pulses between your legs to simulate it breathing, just amazing. So much so that we had to go on this multiple times.

The surprise and delight ride for me at Animal Kingdom was the Everest coaster which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Great views over the park and totally unexpected when it suddenly ground to a halt with a broken track and then went backwards. Not sure Tina was impressed.

The safari tour was good but I felt a little rushed. It would have been really good to just pause for 30-60 seconds each time your saw an animal to take time to observe it and take some pictures. I understand why they can't always do that, but I just felt it was a little rushed.

At the end of our day in Animal Kingdom we enjoyed a really nice meal in the Rainforest Cafe just outside the entrance to the park. Holly purchased some new gems from the shop and Brandon bought a bracelet for his new girlfriend. As usual the inclement weather then came over and we had a mad dash to the car in torrential rain.

Day 9 and back to Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The amazing center piece for Animal Kingdom is this tree. Take a closer look at the trunk.

Just how many animals can you see carved in to the trunk?

We had the Avatar rides booked for mid morning and so headed to the Dinosaur section of the park first.

I thought the Dinosaur ride in Animal Kingdom was good fun, but the kids didn't seem to enjoy it as much. What are we all looking at that Brandon missed?

You can't have Animal Kingdom in Florida without more gators. The oldest living dinosaur (excluding me!).

T-Rex skeleton.

Tricerotops skull.

Me and Rex.

I loved some of the themed vehicles which were scattered around Animal Kingdom.

Holly on TriceroTop Spin, not one the boys were interested in.

Great design work on the bridge as you enter Dinosaur land.

Whilst heading over to Avatar we saw some of the boat parade going around the park lake. Pluto and Mickey.

Then in to the Avatar world where they have reflected scenery from Pandora with immense detail.

Exploring Pandora.

Parts of it look just like scenes from the film.

Some waterfalls.

Joshua exploring Pandora.

Trying to seek shade anywhere we can.

Me and T.

Tina and the kids in front of some of the floating rocks.

The squirting alien plants from Pandora.

More scenery.

Pictures do not do this justice.

Looks innocent.

In the distance you can see Everest Expedition.

You climb up is pretty high, but we had no idea what to expect on this ride.

It started slow and boring to be honest, but then really built and built as the ride went on and was great fun.

View from the top of Everest.

Around the corner and the coaster ground to a halt with a broken track!

Another one of the well themed vehicles in Animal Kingdom.

Spot the monkey.

Kali River rapids, these rides were almost becoming a staple of the day in Florida.

Going up.

And up.

Looking around for where the first soaking is coming from.

Here come the rapids.

It is chaos as we all get completely drenched.

Not a dry bone in sight.

As we head to the Kilimanjaro safari we mind the Komodo dragon.

Another view of the center piece tree with yet more animal carvings.

Time for our safari.

First was the rhino.

Just about saw the hippo as we whizzed past.

A little gazelle/antelope type of animal.

Herds of wildebeest in the background.

Loads of giraffes to see on the safari tour.

And as always zebra in with the giraffes.

And I learnt that giraffes have the same number of bones in their neck as a human. Who would of thought?

I told you there was a lot of giraffe's.

And more.

Distant view of the elephants.

But then around the other side I snapped this great photo of them.

Flamingo's not looking very pink today.

Another rhino.

The hippo just breaking the surface of the water.

More zebra.

Time for a snack and I really fancied another nice salty Mickey Mouse pretzel.

Holly got serenaded whilst we sat for lunch.

Mickey Mouse outline in petals on the path.

More from the river parade, this time Goofy.

Followed by some characters from Lion King.

Holly hand making her Pandora/Avatar necklace.

Feeling a bit blue today.

By touching this Flaska Reclnata you could make it smoke out of the top.

A chameleon on the way to the Rainforest Cafe.

Time for dinner.

Was dead quiet there but we still had to wait despite having a reservation, weird.

The large tropical fish tank inside the Rainforest.

After seeing loads of real animals, time to spot all the fake once in Rainforest.

The animatronic elephant.

To a family of tigers.

And then an animal head wall.

And more of the animal head wall.

Dinner at the end of a great day in Animal Kingdom.

Photopass pictures taking in the Avatar world.

We 5 King's.

Some of the scenery from the Na'vi River Ride.

We 5 King's at the Avatar waterfall.

The floating rocks.

The flying banshee in the background.

Another day in the bag.