Florida: Walt Disney World Theme Parks Part 1

I thought I’d kick off my Florida posts with a biggy, a look at two of the Disney World theme parks. So grab a drink and get comfy while we take a look at Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.

Magic Kingdom

To me a trip to Magic Kingdom is exactly what a Florida holiday is about. Having never been to Florida before I was beyond excited to see the castle and just get completely wrapped up in the magic. The first thing I did when we got there was to go and buy some Minnie Mouse ears. The second thing I did was to queue up and meet Tinkerbell, and no I’m not joking. She’s my favourite Disney character and I don’t care how childish it sounds, it was an amazing experience. She even asked if I was a princess because I had my hair (unintentionally) like Anna’s from Frozen!

I loved Magic Kingdom purely because it felt sooo magical and there was so much to look at. Josh however said it’s his least favourite park, though he has been to Florida before. While I do agree it is a lot more childish than the other parks I still enjoyed it. 

In terms of rides, we didn’t go on every single one (but then we didn’t at any park) and the rides here are probably the tamest out of all the parks but again there’s so much to look at on them. We went on It’s a Small World, Big Thunder Mountain, Enchanted Tiki Room (this a show not a ride), Haunted Mansion, Carousel of Progress, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We both picked Haunted Mansion as our favourite ride though Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain came in close behind.

We visited Magic Kingdom on two separate occasions during our holiday, once during the day and once at night and at both times they had amazing shows and parades on. During the day there is the Festival of Fantasy parade where you get to see all your favourite Disney characters riding past on amazing floats. At night there is the Electrical Parade which again features lots of Disney favourites on floats all light up, there is the the Celebrate the Magic show which projects Disney images onto the castle to tell the story of the imagination and storytelling. Finally there is the Wishes nighttime spectacular where fireworks shoot over the castle. 

I have to admit the nighttime shows did make me cry as they’re so
beautifully done and they feel so magical, when you see a firework arch
over the castle that looks like the star that shoots over at the start
of the films you just can’t help but have a little weep!

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom was one of the more relaxing parks for us, probably because it’s not solely ride based and the rides that are there aren’t particularly big thrill rides. It’s a good job it was more relaxing though as I ended up getting the start of a cold on this day. Which is also why we skipped the Kali River Rapids ride as I really didn’t want to get completely drenched.

We both really enjoyed walking around looking at all the animals and the safari was pretty amazing too. We definitely recommend going on the safari in the morning though like we did as the animals are much more active then. 

The rides we went on at Animal Kingdom were It’s Tough to be a Bug, Expedition Everest and Dinosaur. We both enjoyed Expedition Everest the best, though I definitely screamed quite a lot on it.

Animal Kingdom also have two amazing shows running throughout the day in separate theater’s. There’s the Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo – The Musical. Both are absolutely amazing shows and are something you’d expect to see in the West End or on Broadway. They’re just brilliant.

You can read part two featuring Epcot and Hollywood Studios here.