Orlando 40th Birthday Trip 2025 - PART 5
Staying at Universal, visiting Orlando's Theme Parks,
relaxing in the Water Parks and animal sightseeing!
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom provided a fun mix of attractions and an extensive variety of animals.
The park is split into several environments. The Oasis is the entry point. with streams and waterfalls. Discovery Island features the iconic Tree of Life and restaurants. Pandora land is based on the film Avatar, with a flight simulator ride and a mythical river journey. DinoLand is home to an indoor Dinosaur-themed ride with animatronics, where I also enjoyed a Broadway-esque Nemo show with great puppetry and music numbers, and plenty of Disney cheese.
For rollercoaster fans, a particularly iconic ride that puts it on the map: Expedition Everest in the Asia area. The theming of this ride is amazing, with the so-called Forbidden mountain dominating the skyline. The track takes you to the summit of the Himalayan landscape, before an encounter with a yeti leads to a mangled dead end of track, and the ride drops backwards unpredictably. You transfer tracks and drop in the dark for a disorientating journey back down to the bottom. An exhilarating ride built on sheer drama.
There was a simulated safari ride through the African Savanna, which was a great way to see the Giraffes, Hippos and Rhinos, as well as several walk-through areas past Tigers, Gorillas, Birds and Bats amongst other animals.
Overall, it was a great mix, and a welcome break into the natural landscape of Orlando.
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