A Disney’s Animal Kingdom Visit

Monday December 4th 2023

This two week stay at Lake Louisa State Park was supposed to be my only stay in the Orlando area during the Christmas season, but my plans were augmented with the one month stay in the area ending in the middle of November. I was able to get a head start and saw some of the decorations and shows in the theme parks near the end of that stay. Still, the primary focus of this visit will be Christmas in some of the theme parks.

Today I had a reservation at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I should have learned from past experience and relaxed today. I didn’t really have the energy for a full blown theme park day. I got to Animal Kingdom about 12:30. Wait times at all of the things I like were very long. I walked the various trails looking at animals and taking lots of pictures. As the day went on I got lucky with show times and wait times as well.

The Lion King Show queue was just starting to fill up as I was walking by. I only had to wait in line about five minutes before seating began. For some reason the previous show was canceled, so they had plenty of time to fill the theater. I waited on the not so comfortable bench seat for about twenty minutes before the show began. My view for this theater in the round was different. I don’t think I have ever sat in the Wart Hog section. The show was great as usual, but the camera I was using doesn’t capture very good low light pictures.

These puppets that are part of the holiday entertainment are very cute interacting with kids and adults.

After the Lion King Show and a little more wandering I found the Kilimanjaro Safari wait time was down to thirty minutes. It turned out to be accurate, but that was probably the best thing about the ride. I was sitting in the middle between other people that wanted to take pictures. It is very hard to take your own pictures through someones head. I was ready for another safari right away and the wait time was down to fifteen minutes. It was probably more like five minutes. I had a much better seat for picture taking on my second ride. The animals I was able to see on the second ride were different than the first. It is amazing how much movement took place in the half hour or so between safaris.

I took over one hundred and fifty pictures today. Here are some of the animal, flower and general ambiance pictures.