One of the best parts about heading to Walt Disney World in December 2021 vs January 2021 is the plethora of shows and entertainment that returned throughout the year. During our January trip, it was rides rides and more rides, which I wasn’t complaining about with short lines, we rode a lot of rides.
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So having rode the rides last time, we were looking forward to attending shows. And first up was the Festival of the Lion King show. On our drive in, we selected this as a Lightning Lane pick to ensure we got right in.
This was our first experience with the show. We really enjoyed all the characters that come in and retell the story of the Lion King as well as the singing of the classic songs. They also incorporate several audio animatronics into the show, including the Lion King, Pumba and a life size giraffe.
After the Lion King show, we mobile ordered lunch from Harambe Market. We initially found a place to sit down at Dawa Bar thinking it was where I ordered. Since it was a covered structure and the rain was off and on, the fam stayed at the table while I grabbed the food and came back with it. The food was good, nothing particularly outstanding, but was just good to eat after a crazy morning. Once we finished lunch, we left Africa for awhile.
Eventually, we came back to Africa armed with a Lightning Lane pass to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. Upon retuning to Africa, we encountered the Tam Tam drummers of Harambe, so we stopped and watched a little bit as a crowd gathered around.
While the performance was still going on, we tried to make our way further into Africa. There were so many people, crowded around that we had to just squeeze through as best we could to get around the people.
Once we got through the bottleneck though, there were some wide open walk ways.
The entrance area to Kilimanjaro Safari was a bit crowded, however, using the Lightning Lane, we were able to walk all the way through the line quickly to the merge point and onto the ride vehicles.
It’s always fun to see the animals of Africa living in a land that somewhat resembles their homeland of Africa. There’s so many animals that you’re able to see on the pathway, depending on the time of day.
We got to see our favorite, the Elephants out roaming around as well as the new baby white rhino, zebras, lions, etc. The Kilimanjaro Safari ride is the only ride in all of Disney World that shuts down when the sun goes down, so if you’re planning to ride in the afternoon/evening, be sure to check the closing time.
The last Lightning Lane pass available is for 30 minutes prior to the ride closing time. As I was trying to get a pass. Having to wait for the 2 hour window to expire, the passes actually ran out. Fortunately after a few refreshes, I was able to pull a pass that was just 10 minutes away at 2:45pm.
Please leave a comment and let me know what you enjoy the most about visiting the Africa region of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
If you’re ready to start exploring a Walt Disney World or Disneyland family vacation, I recommend checking out Undercover Tourist for your ticket options. I’ve already used them twice, once at Disneyland and once at Disney World and will plan to continue comparing their prices with other sites, however I usually come back to UT because they have the best deals and their instructions make it easy to add your tickets to the Disney apps.
The 360 of Disney 