INSIDERINSIDER
kari posing in front of animal kingdom tree of life next to a recipt from tusker house in animal kingdom
My family spent a day at Animal Kingdom in Disney World.Kari Becker
  • My family spent the day at Animal Kingdom in Disney World.

  • My kids love the park and we rode three times.

  • We ate one meal with characters, then we ate the rest of the day.

I am often asked if Animal Kingdom is really a must-do at Disney World.

My family loves the park. It is the favorite of at least half of my crew.

I wanted to show you everything my family did at the park and what it cost.

We got an extra-early start to the day since we stayed at a Disney hotel

entrance to disney animal kingdom before the sun has risen
We got there before the sun even came up.Kari Becker

We took advantage of the early entry hours offered for guests staying at Disney resorts because we were excited to spend the day at Animal Kingdom.

We were on the bus at 7 a.m. after Animal Kingdom opened for us at 7:30 a.m.

kari and her family walking toward animal kingdom int he morning before the sun is up
We just got single-park tickets for Animal Kingdom.Kari Becker

We were waiting in line at 7:21 a.m. to get our tickets. It was fun to go to the park when the sun was not yet up.

The single-day tickets for my family of four cost about $600.

We made a beeline for 2 of the most popular attractions

kari posing in front of pandora area at animal kingdom
Everyone heads to Pandora to ride Avatar Flight of Passage first thing.Kari Becker

As soon as we entered, we walked to the Flight of Passage along with the rest of the crowd.

We only waited 20 minutes for the ride because we got there quickly.

kari posing in front of expedition evrest mountain holding up three fingers
We ended up riding Everest three times.Kari Becker

My family&s favorite ride in all of Disney World is called Expedition Everest, and we walked right on it.

It was time for breakfast after we had ridden two of our top priority rides.

I made a reservation for a character breakfast at Tusker House

kari posing for a distances photo with mickey mouse in safari gear at tusker house
Mickey meets at Tusker House in his safari gear.Kari Becker

Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Mickey can be seen at the table-service dining location at the Africa section of the breakfast reservation.

The characters are dancing and taking selfies.

platter of food at tusker house restaurant animal kingdom
There were lots of sweet and savory options at breakfast.Kari Becker

The food is family-style with an abundance of pastries, fruit and yogurt, eggs, waffles, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and chicken-and-egg curry with rice. Coffee and juice were also available.

The total cost of the breakfast was $174.

Our next stop was Dinoland USA

exterior shot of dinosaur ride at disney animal kingdom
We love Dinosaur, even if it's a little scary.Kari Becker

We went to ride Dinosaur with our bellies full.

We waited about 20 minutes, got a scare, and went to the Boneyard play area to run off some energy.

hand holding cup of green and orange soft serve at disney animal kingdom
My kids needed an afternoon snack to tide them over.Kari Becker

The kids were hungry again, so we stopped for a Trilo-Bites ice-cream treat, which the boys said was delicious.

The treats cost $11.

We filled our afternoon with more rides and shows

kittales performance happening at animal kingdom
The performance is part of Disney World's 50th-anniversary celebration.Kari Becker

It was time to go back to Everest. The Disney KiteTails performance was on the way.

In the early afternoon heat my boys said it was worth it and even begged to go again, but there was a 30-minute wait for the ride. We went to Kali River Rapids to cool off.

raft coming down kali river rapids at disney animal kingdom
You get totally soaked on Kali River Rapids.Kari Becker

We waited for almost an hour for the water ride, which my boys said was not worth it. They still liked getting soaked.

To escape the afternoon sun, we stopped for lunch

We were ready for a break from the sun and a late lunch.

Flame Tree Barbecue is our favorite quick-service location.

Our food was ready when we arrived.

cafeteria tray of pulled pork sandwiches, onion rings, and drinks from disney animal kingdom
We split a couple of sandwiches.Kari Becker

We found a shady spot to sit and split two pulled-pork sandwiches and an order of onion rings among the four of us, which was plenty of food.

Instead of buying bottled water, we always buy cups of it for free, which saves money.

Our lunch only cost $33 because we shared it.

We visited a few more attractions before calling it a day

kari posing for a selfie in front of the its tough to be a bug queue entrance at animal kingdom
"It's Tough to Be a Bug" happened inside the Tree of Life.Kari Becker

We went to see "It's Tough to be a Bug" inside the Tree of Life after lunch.

The slapstick comedy was enjoyable for my boys.

After the show ended, the boys begged to ride Everest again, so we headed back to the park. The wait was only 20 minutes, and I was able to exercise my vocal cords.

In total, we spent about $800 on our Animal Kingdom adventure

kari posing with her arms spread wide in front of the entrance to animal kingdom
By the late afternoon it was time to head to the pool.Kari Becker

We were going to go back to the resort pool to cool off.

On our way out of the park, we stopped at Joffrey's for two cold-brew coffees and two smoothies, which cost $21 with our Disney Visa discount.

hand holding a cup of iced coffee in front of a bush at animal kingdom
We needed one last pick-me-up before leaving.Kari Becker

The memories of our day at Animal Kingdom were already filling our hearts when we headed to the bus.

The entire day cost us about $800.

The original article can be found on Insider.

  • Kyle Quilausing was ranked fourth worldwide as a teen, but drugs derailed his promising golf career, and he ended up in prison at 39 years old.

  • Musk bought a 9.2-percent stake in the micro-messaging service.

  • He has been dubbed the "godfather of cryptocurrencies" because of his huge gains on IOTA, Cardano, and others. His newest prediction is here.

  • An amusement park ride safety expert is calling for federal oversight of amusement park rides in the wake of the tragic FreeFall incident.

  • A new Guinness World Record has been set for the most expensive trading card.

  • The new assignment was to grieve the loss of a parent and a daughter. Who was my parents?

  • Few know that Amazon has millions of Prime subscribers.

  • Austin American-Statesman

    The Austin American-Statesman publishes letters to the editor.

  • Consumer product companies have collaborated with businesses to produce special items to promote their establishment. In the 70s, Iron City Brewing and the Pittsburgh Steelers collaborated to feature a team photo on beer cans to celebrate each of the team's Super Bowl wins. The World Series, Super Bowl, and NBA championship victories have been celebrated on cans.

  • New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, and San Diego are all under lock down at the same time.

  • This all-natural sleep patch is changing the way we sleep. Wake up more energetic every morning.

  • The FAA said the flight crew declared an emergency due to a cracked windshield, and a photo taken by a passenger showed it was shattered.

  • Raleigh News and Observer

    More than 1,000 flights were affected nationwide. RDU didn't have a direct route to New Orleans.

  • The budget for the house is $500,000-$600,000.

  • AdSmartAsset
    • Why this Ad?
    • Go ad-free*

    A high-interest account allows you to earn compound interest, while still having full access to your money. These are the top picks.

  • In the 14th century, a small port vanished into the sea. The town of Ravenser Odd had been ravaged by two floods, the first of which overwhelmed the town's abbey, leaving the streets full of human remains. The second caused a wall of water to surround the village and swallow it. Ravenser Odd was never heard of again after the residents fled. Scientists from the University of Hull have a plan to find Atlantis.

  • The Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian cruise lines have had a rough couple of years.

  • After Russia invaded Ukraine, European countries that had sanctions against Roman Abramovich were avoiding his yacht.

  • A new solution is said to restore your leather items back to their original condition. Don't throw old leather items out.

  • This past weekend in Panama City Beach did not tear us apart. Strength is built by adversity.

  • We looked at every angle of the contemporary yacht build and what's on the horizon for future vessels.

  • The spring break travel period is busy and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions has led to a rebound in air travel.

  • You can battle your way through a visually-stunning mythicalRPG realm with hundreds ofchampions from 14factions.

  • More than 10,000 flights were canceled or delayed over the weekend, stranding thousands at airports from coast-to-coast. Al Roker tracks the latest forecast and reports on the travel chaos, while NBC's Jessie Kirsch reports on it.

  • Tom McAlpin, CEO of Virgin Voyages, said that the CDC lifting of its risk advisory for cruise ship travel will further fuel the industry's bounce back.

  • The transport ministry expects a 20% drop in road traffic and a 55% fall in flights during the three-day Qingming holiday due to a flare-up of COVID-19 cases in the country. More than 27 Chinese provinces and regions have recently reported coronaviruses cases, mostly the highly transmissible Omicron variant, forcing the authorities to impose stringent mobility restrictions or even city-wide lockdowns. The average daily number of vehicles on the roads is estimated to be 39-40 million, down 21% from the same period last year, according to a statement from the Ministry of Transport.