Orlando, Disney Animal Kingdom

I wasn't sure what to expect on my trip to Animal Kingdom as I'd seen many reviews both good and bad, so I tried to go with an open mind.

As we pulled into the car park we could see the top of Expidition Everest, one of the newer roller coasters, over the tops of the trees and we started to get excited. We went in a low season at around 9.30am so there was no queue for our tickets and a quick security check before being let into the park and finding ourselves in the Oasis area. We had a look around in some of the shops as we like to know what's on offer from the start so that its not a crazy rush at the end of the day. They was a good selection of usual Disney apparel in a couple of shops as well as a few places to eat, so we started to make our way towards Dinoland USA.

Dinoland USA is set up like a 1940-50's fairground. Try to pay attention to the detail because its part of what makes this park so incredible! We did a small trail set out with big plastic dinosaurs and plants from the Jurassic period. It was something that small kids may really enjoy!

After this we made our way to the first ride of the day - Dinosaur! There was no queue for this ride at all so after a quick film to tell us how we were being sent back in time to collect a dinosaur and bring it back with us, we were seated on a indoor cart. The ride is a bit like a mini roller coaster, its not all that fast or scary and I think most of the family would enjoy it. After travelling back in time you begin your journey looking for a specific type of dino, whilst spotting many others along the way before you get a warning that you have to get back before the meteor hits! Luckily you escape just in time and bring the lucky dino with you! The ride exits into a shop (as most of them do) selling dinosaur goodies!

There are a few other rides in Dinoland but they didn't really grab our interest so we started making our way to Aisa. On the walk you cross a bridge with the most wonderful view, the Everest ride on one side and a beautiful view of the Discovery River - it really felt like you were in a different country.

The next ride was the big one - Expedition Everest! This was one I'd been looking forward to most and watching people on the ride zoom out the side of a mountain and down a steep drop almost tested my nerves, but I was too excited to be a wimp. There was a queue of only about 2 minutes and it took us though a mini museum of yeti artefacts before we were seated right at the front of the ride. This was the first roller coaster my other half had ever been on so he was pretty nerves as it quickly started making its was up the mountain - I think he had his eyes closed but I was enjoying the amazing view of the park! You make your way inside the mountain where it's pretty dark, sometimes exiting before re-entering and finally you reach the end of the tracks, it looks as though the track has been ripped up and there's nowhere for you to go but backwards! Doing those dips and turns in the dark backwards is thrilling and really adds to this ride. You stop to see a clip of the yeti's shadow on the mountain wall ripping up yet more track before being thrown forward again and this is where you get the big drop down the mountain - it can't fail to make you scream! The ride maybe lasts about a minute and a half, although it felt less but it's fantastic and still one of my favourites. We came back again to do it a second time, this time we were sat at the back, and although its visually not as good, its much more intense. Again, you exit into a shop and if you want to buy an Expedition Everest T-Shirt, this is the only place I could find them.

We stopped here for a drink and a snack and took in the incredible effort Disney have gone to in terms of the detail in this park. The ground has been pressed with leaves, bike tires, horse shoe prints and others depending on what "land" you are in.

Next we went onto the Jungle Trek where you can spot tigers, fruit bats and komodo dragons. As we reached the komodo dragon enclosure we stopped to take pictures a member of staff took some time to give us information about the dragons and ask questions, she even offered to take our picture which was really nice. All of the enclosures were beautiful and looked very well kept.

Kali River Rapids were next, you get these kinds of rides all over, sat in a kind of dingy and thrown around in water! I passed on this one as it wasn't a very warm day up until that point and I didn't fancy wondering around wet, but my other half braved it and came of soaked but grinning!

We then went on to watch the Flights of Wonder show where they like to show case birds natural behaviours. This was really worth the time, not only do you get to give your feet a rest, but both the birds and the performers are very entertaining - much funnier than I thought it would be!

We moved on to Africa next, and the safari, something else I was really looking forward too! Again we got lucky and sat right at the front. This was even better than I expected. The space the animals have is huge and a lot of the time I couldn't tell how the animals were kept in their enclosures - its not always easy to spot the fences. They all seemed to have a lot of space and we got very lucky and spotted all of the animals. We also got to see a beautiful 3 month old elephant trying to use its trunk to drink water and not getting the hang of it. It was something really special. This would be fine on its own, but Disney want to also make this more of a ride experience so whilst you are driving along looking at the animals, you can also hear over the drivers radio reports of poachers in the area. As the story goes on it seems poachers have stolen an elephant calf and you have to track them down. Everything turns out ok as you'd expect from Disney and I liked this touch as I think it's important to educate kids on the dangers to our wild life.

After this we were pretty hungry but wanted to walk the safari before getting something to eat. Along the trek you get to see hippos and if you are as lucky as we were, an amazing close up of a gorilla troupe. We stopped off for some food and I had BBQ chicken which was huge although also pretty expensive at around $9 and coming with no sides such as chips or salad. As we sat down to eat our legs were pecked by ducks begging for food! After this we quickly went to watch the last showing of The Lion King Show which was fantastic and I highly recommend it. We also grabbed our gifts and souvenirs from the multiple shops around the exit area of the park. Be warned though, don't expect to find everything you've seen around that park in other shops at this location.

Over all I was extremely impressed by this park. It was spotlessly clean, educational, great fun and beautiful. The staff are as helpful and friendly as possible and there is something for everyone. My only tip would be not to rush it! At around 11am we heard one young couple of lads complain that they'd already done everything. If you go purely for a couple of rides then yes, you can do it fast, but what a waste! There's is so much to see and do, take your time, enjoy the site as so much effort has clearly gone into everything you see.

Kali River Rapids and the Dinosaur are best ride at Animal Kingdom. They are combination of chills and thrills. These rides are best for all age people. We really enjoyed our stay there. It is definitively wonderful park at Disney world. Ticketswdw.com is best website where you can easily booking Animal Kingdom tickets at cheapest price online. Here you can also find great information for different Disney theme park attractions.

Disney's Animal Kingdom is the newest of Disney's parks in Orlando, and as such it is really just finding its feet. Having said that, Disney parks are a whole ten times better than your usual theme park fodder and the attention.

To a certain degree Animal Kingdom is an attempt to steal some of the limelight and customers from Busch Gardens, Tampa, and a lot of the themes are very similar. It's a terrific park with lots to see and do. However, its sheer size should be taken into account should you have small children, or if it's a particularly hot and humid day. The large numbers of trees and so forth only seem to increase the heat. My advice on such days, should you have children, is to head over to Dinoland U.S.A. There are lots of things to do, and the area is cooled by huge fans. You may even persuade them to ride Dinosaur (a Jurassic Park clone ride if there ever was one).

Latest attraction is Expedition Everest. It's hugely popular at present and justifiably so. It's one of the best rides in Florida and should not be missed.

The main theme of Animal Kingdom is education, with thrills (with the two exceptions above) put on something of a back burner. Why not get park hopper tickets and spend half a day here? It's certainly worth the visit.