Animal Kingdom- Now Open in the Dark!

We've had a pattern to our family vacations at Disney World. Animal Kingdom was always a morning park, usually on a Extra Magic Hour day, then we would finish that day at Disney's Hollywood Studios- Well, that has now changed!

Disney's Animal Kingdom truly comes alive at night. There are bands playing, DJ's spinning and the lighting is not only beautiful, but FUN!

The most important piece of Animal Kingdom is of course the animals, so some of the daytime experiences like the "Rafiki's Planet" area and the Gorilla Trails close closer to the dinner hour, or before sunset. Check the My Disney Experience (MDE) app or the park map for times.

What's New-

The ENTERTAINMENT brings a party.
There's dancing and festive music everywhere. You can just soak in the atmosphere, or be a part of the show joining in with the dancing and hula hoop contests!

 

Dinoland USA never looked better!
This is what Dinoland USA should look like. The lights glowing, a DJ playing fun dance music, it is a carnival!

The Tree of Life Awakening-
The Tree of Life changes colors, animals come to life and a few times a night there is a fun quick show on the tree. It's another different way to experience a beautiful symbol of the park! 

Favorite rides feel completely different at night.

Kilimanjaro Safari- This one I suggest doing twice. The animals are much easier to see and photograph during the day. Then if you ride it again at night, the ride feels different and has lighting effects to bring a glow and beautiful view of the Savanna.

Zebras are not this photogenic at night.

The Rhino might even be harder to see at night.

My phone didn't capture it well, but this is a sunset that was created for the night Safari.

Expedition Everest- This is one of our favorite rides ever! At night it is even better, the views from the top are fabulous (Ben was excited to see the Orlando Eye), the lighting gives everything a purple glow, and overall it just adds another atmosphere that makes a fabulous ride- EPIC!

Primeval Whirl- The carnival lights blink and glow while you spin to the "end of the world". Primeval Whirl is a classic whirly carnival ride, so the lights help give it that Saturday night at the town fair feel.

So Now What?
I think Animal Kingdom is a full day park or an evening park with Hollywood Studios in the morning. If your family really enjoys the animals and wants to spend a lot of time on the trails and at Rafiki's Planet it is certainly a full day park (with a break for naps or pool time).  

If you aren't as interested in a full day of animals, then I suggest arriving around 4:00. This will leave time to do some of the daylight animal attractions, get dinner and experience the night atmosphere.

Keep in mind, now you can keep adding FastPasses as long as you have used your first three (Even from a different park or your hotel room). As soon as we passed the checkpoint Meg, my daughter, was on the phone making our next one. We also used DAS (Disney Access Services)  passes on the attractions Ben enjoys- he does NOT enjoy Dinosaur!


My family had a great time with the new experiences and carnival feel of Animal Kingdom at Night!


Coming Soon- Disney is testing the long awaited show "Rivers of Light"- this will be a light show on the water.

Tip- With all of the new night life- don't forget to see Festival of the Lion King! My family loves it every time!

The Acceptance Letter

Ben was recently ACCEPTED to The University of Cincinnati to study Mathematics!

I have been confident since he was 2 years old that he would go to college. With a diagnosis of Autism, and many people in our lives (including educators) that were non-believers it would have made sense to have some doubts, but I never doubted that this day would come. Until it did.

When the e-mail came that welcomed him to UC with his first choice of studies I realized for the first time that I had had doubts. Although I always believed Ben had the necessary skills and deserved  to go to college, his journey has included many closed doors. When the  acceptance letter came, I realized I had been preparing my heart for another closed door. Then one Friday morning I received an e- mail that came with a door that was wide OPEN! We hadn't made any special appointments, he was honest about having Autism in his essay (even described it - more on that in another post) and still he was welcome to attend a well respected, four year university- and I just couldn't stop crying.

So I called my husband, mom, and some friends. E-mailed a couple of very important teachers in his life. Posted on Facebook. And still kept crying.

Then Ben came home from school. I wasn't sure if he would understand how big this was. He knew he was going to go to UC (even if it was the satellite campus) and of course he isn't always good at understanding a situation. So when I told him, he grinned at me, gave me a high five, then asked where we were going to celebrate. So, I cried some more!

We celebrated with dinner and milkshakes at Red Robin, and had an evening with smiles and no more tears!

Life changing transitions have a tendency to make you remember the past. As I think back to when Ben was first diagnosed with Autism I don't think I imagined the young man he is now.  There were many behaviors that needed to be modified (including throwing chairs), the closed doors that required detours and a lot of Plan B's. There weren't doubts about where he was headed (I always had faith in his brain) but I didn't imagine how really fine he would grow up to be. He's funny, has people he cares about, friends that care about him, and a work ethic that is simply amazing. Best of all he has a giggle that melts my heart every time I hear it, and I'm so grateful that he giggles a lot!

Now we have a lot of work ahead to prepare him for the next step of his journey. We have a wonderful village of teachers, friends and family to help make sure he's ready. And yes, I predict there will be many more tears (both happy and nervous) as high school ends, and college begins- but the excitement of open doors and acceptance will make this leg of the journey one of the happiest- No doubt about it!

Ben's senior picture- photo credit Debbie Eaton (a member of Ben's village)