Our 2026 Disney World Vacation, Day 4 - Animal Kingdom

Hey, y’all!  It’s time for another Disney post!!  Today I’m recapping day four of our trip, and it was spent at Animal Kingdom and the pool!  And we also had a dinner reservation at a fantastic restaurant!

We combined our Animal Kingdom and pool days into one day on our last trip, and since it worked so well for us, we decided to do it again on this trip.  We never felt rushed at Animal Kingdom, we got to do every single thing that we wanted to do, and we had plenty of time at the pool in the afternoon.

Animal Kingdom day was an early one because that park opens so early.  And it would have been even earlier if we’d opted to get there right at early entry time, but we decided to sleep a little more instead.  We had lightning lanes for the rides we wanted to do the most, so there was just no need to get there so early.  And we had no regrets!

Our alarm went off at 6:30 AM and we all got ready for the day.  We only had to wait about five minutes for a bus, and we were rolling into the park by 8 AM. 

Stop one was to take photos at the Tree of Life as we always do...

And then we stopped for a few minutes to see the kangaroos (these must be new because we’d never seen them before!) and the flamingoes and the ducks.  A lot of the flamingoes were still sleeping, but the ducks were on the move, and we got to watch one take its morning bath.  It was the cutest thing!  After that, we stopped to watch the end of the parrot show at the Tree of Life and then watch the otters. 

We had a lightning lane for Zootopia: Better Zoogether!, so we walked over to that next.  While we were walking over there, we saw Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde from the movie.  We’d never seen them before, so it would have been neat to meet them and get autographs for the kids’ books, but the line to meet them was soooo long every time we walked by, and when we saw them, they were leaving to take a break.

That was the first time we’d seen that show and we all agreed that it was really cute, and much better than It’s Tough to be a Bug, which is the show that used to be in that spot.

The kids wanted to find something for breakfast after that, so we stopped at a place that had cinnamon rolls and other breakfast items.  Jacob got a Mickey cinnamon roll and Olivia ended up getting… ice cream for breakfast!!  Because when at Disney… hahahaha.  Somehow, the guy who took our order misunderstood what we asked for, and we ended up with not one, but TWO ice creams, so Brian had ice cream for breakfast, too. 

By the time we were done eating, it was time to hit up the Safari because we were officially in our lightning lane window as it started at 9:30 AM.  We all agreed that this safari was probably the best one we’ve been on in Animal Kingdom because the animals were so active!  We were able to see a baboon (we’d never seen it before), we saw a baby elephant, we saw a giraffe running – running, y’all!!  It was majestic! – and we also saw the lions awake.  They are nocturnal, so they are usually asleep during the day when we roll through.  It was such a good one.  Oh, and the cheetahs were up and roaming around, too!  Usually, they’re asleep in the shade so we barely get to see them either!

We all wanted to see the gorillas after that, so we walked through all the exhibits.  When we got to the gorillas, again, we were treated to the coolest sight – a male gorilla was eating his breakfast right there in front of us.  We watched him for several minutes and I still wasn’t ready to leave.  It was fascinating.  I could have watched him for hours.

 

We had a lightning lane for the bird show, so we headed there next, and it was such a good show.  It was very entertaining!  They had a bird that flew into the audience and took/returned money from guests.  They had a singing parrot.  They had toucans and mice and a bald Eagle, and so many other things!  That was the first time we’d ever seen that show and we all loved it.  It’s a great place to cool off, too, because the whole venue is in the shade no matter what time of day it is.

Brian wanted to ride Expedition Everest after that, so he ran to the single rider line.  While he did that, the kids and I walked back to a gift shop that they’d seen on the way in and on our way there, we stopped to see Kevin from Up!  He is one of the characters that doesn’t stay in one place, so you just have to get lucky and see him when he’s roaming around, and we were excited to see him again.  He’s so tall!

When we got to the gift shop, the kids picked out some Mickey lollipops, and while we were checking out, the cashier asked if the kids were twins.  We hadn’t been asked that question in a long time, so it was overdue I suppose.

We had just ducked into another gift shop when Brian caught up with us after his ride.  He had gone through quickly and he loved it as he always does.  He’ll ride pretty much anything!

We had a lightning lane for Navi River Journey, so we headed there next, and after that ride, we stopped at one of the PhotoPass spots in Pandora.  We love a cheesy Disney pose!  ;o)

We had a lightning lane for Avatar: Flight of Passage next, but even with a lightning lane, you still sometimes have to wait 15-20 minutes for that one, so we all took a bathroom break before getting in that line, and then we rode the ride.

I was still a little woozy from my adjustment on Friday at that point, so I ended up having to close my eyes, probably, 90% of the time, but it was still fun and I was okay when we got out of there.  That ride is incredibly immersive, but the good thing about it is that if you feel overwhelmed by it, all you have to do is close your eyes because most of the movement is perceived by looking at the screen and not from actual motion on the bikes.  When your eyes are open, you feel like you’re actually flying through Pandora, but when you close your eyes, you realize that you’re barely moving.

After the ride, the kids wanted to go to the gift shop, and I took another bathroom break while they were there.  In the bathroom in Pandora, they had a bunch of Disney pins available on top of the paper towel holders – first trip pins, birthday pins, etc. – so I went back in to grab a birthday pin for the next day even though my birthday was still technically four days away.

I went back in to grab Brian and the kids and then we visited another PhotoPass spot before leaving the park.  But first – a stop at Terra Treats to get one of the viral cookie dough brownie ice cream sandwiches.  Brian had seen them and had been wanting to get one, and they’re big enough to share, so we all split the one since we were about to go to lunch.  Oh. My. Word. Y’all.  It was so good.  Now I just need to figure out how to make it at home!

After we finished our treat, we left the park.  It was 1:15 PM when we left, which was slightly later than we’d originally intended to leave, but it didn’t really set us back any.  We took the bus back to our hotel, and on the way in, we swung by Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory, the restaurant there.  It’s cafeteria style, so you just go to whichever place you want food from, you tell them what you want, and they dish it for you.  There are loads of options like pizza, stir fry bowls, burgers, chicken fingers, pasta, and so much more.  And they have a grab and go area as well. 

I opted for the grab and go turkey and pimiento cheese wrap, and it was delicious.  Brian opted for pizza and he accidentally dropped his on the floor.  Lol.  Within 10 seconds a Disney employee was over there cleaning it up and they had a brand new tray of food waiting for him before he could blink an eye.  Service is truly top notch at Disney.

After we were done eating, we went back to our hotel room to change into our swimsuits, and then we hit the pool.  We managed to find a couple of chairs right near the area that the kids love the most (because it has a slide), and I laid out and watched Brian and the kids all afternoon.  Disney keeps the pools at the same temperature year-round, so even though it wasn’t super warm that day, the water wasn’t freezing.  I, however, am freezing all the time, so I didn’t even put a toe in all day.  Haha.  The weather was perfect for laying out, though.  It was 82 degrees and sunny and there was no humidity, which was nice.

I went up to our room to grab my phone charger at one point, and I accidentally tried going into the wrong room.  Lol.  After trying repeatedly to get in the room, I realized I was on the second floor and not the third.  Whoops.  I told Brian when I got back to our chairs so he could poke fun at me since I’d poked fun at him for dropping his pizza on the floor.  Hahahaha.

We stayed there from about 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM and then it was time to head back to the hotel room so everyone could shower and get ready for dinner.  But first, BEIGNETS!!!!

Our hotel is the only one that has beignets on the property, so we always have to visit Scat Cat’s Club to grab some at least once or twice.  We always get ours with caramel sauce, and boy, are they delicious. 

We all sat outside on the patio while we ate them, and then it was time to get ready for the evening.  Thankfully, I hadn’t gotten sweaty, so I didn’t have to wash my hair or redo my makeup.  I just showered off and then freshened up a bit, and we hit the road when everyone else was ready.

We had a dinner reservation at Sanaa at Animal Kingdom at 6:45 PM, so we left the hotel at 6:20 PM, which should have given us plenty of time to get there.  Well, just like two years ago, our GPS routed us the wrong way and we ended up going to Epcot.  Brian even remembered that we had done that the last time, so he was being extra careful to not make the same mistake, but y’all, we did it again even though both of us were watching the GPS! 

Once you take the road that leads to Epcot, there’s no place to turn around, so the only thing you can do is drive up to the window at Epcot and tell them you went the wrong way, and then they let you go through the gates and turn around.  That took us way out of the way, and the GPS was totally confused at that point, so I told Brian to make a u-turn at another light and that put us on the right track.  The traffic was soooo backed up and it was crawling, though, so we watched as our 6:45 PM reservation time came and went.  EEK. 

Disney gives you a 15-minute grace period for restaurant reservations, and thankfully, we made it… just barely.  Brian dropped the kids and me off at the front door so we could run in and check in, and he went to park the car.

We got checked in and then headed outside to see the animals while we waited for our table.  You can see some of the animals from the safari in that area, so it’s really neat.  We were able to see giraffes and a few other animals while we waited, but we didn’t have to wait long because they seated us at our table within five minutes of checking in.

We went to Sanaa for the first time in 2024 and we were all dying to go back because we loved it so much.  It’s African and Indian cuisine, and the food and flavoring is truly exquisite.  Their Indian-style bread service is incredible, so we ordered that as an appetizer.  With the bread service, they bring out traditional naan, garlic-ginger naan (everyone’s favorite), spiced naan, onion kulcha, and paneer parantha.  The bread comes with nine accompaniments – cucumber raita, roasted red pepper hummus, mango chutney, tomato-date jam, tamarind chutney, coriander chutney, garlic pickle, red chile sambal, and spice jalapeno-lime pickle.  Seriously one of my favorite things ever, all of it.  All four of us dove in immediately when it was brought out to our table.

Brian and I ordered a round of Fig Manhattans and they were soooo delicious – Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch, Cointreau Liqueur, Orange Bitters, and Fig Syrup – just delightful.

I absolutely loved the dish I got the last time we were there, so I consulted with my old blog post to see what it was (it’s so nice to have this blog because I can use it as Google, but for our lives – HA!), and I ordered the same thing again – braised beef, rajma masala, and basmati rice.  Brian got butter chicken, chickpea wat, and basmati rice.  And all was just perfection.  It’s one of my favorite meals.

After dinner, Brian and I ordered another round of cocktails as our dessert, and then we ended up eating some of the kids’ desserts, too, because they had banana pudding!  Gah, it is all so good.

We were STUFFED when we were done, and we ended up sitting around at the restaurant for a bit while B and I finished our cocktails.  Olivia was so tired that she lay her head on the table and almost went to sleep.  Haha.  And Jacob played with his Rubik’s cube.  Our server saw his cube and told us that his son can also solve a Rubik’s cube really fast.  He thought it was cool that Jacob could, too.

After dinner, we took a walk out on the deck to see the animals in the dark, and y’all, we saw a mother bunny nursing her babies!!  I’ve never seen that before!  The picture is blurry, though, because it was so dark.  We also saw the giraffes walking around, but again, they were hard to photograph since it was dark outside.

When we got back to our hotel, we decided to walk around the grounds for a bit since we were all so full.  They were playing a movie in the courtyard, and we also saw some people riding in the horse and buggy.  Jacob wanted to play with the giant chess set, but unfortunately, there were people playing on it the whole time we were out there, so he never had the chance.

We finally went back to our room at 9:15 PM and we watched the Disney music video station while we got ready for bed.  Then, it was lights out for all of us at 10 PM because we had a BIG DAY the next day!

And just in case you want to see our entire day summarized, here it is…

 

Summary:

Hours spent in park – 5.25 (8:30 AM – 1:15 PM)

Rides/Attractions – 4

Characters met – 1

Autographs obtained – 0

Disney Photo Pass pictures and videos taken – 31

Steps taken – 14,490

Miles walked – 6.43

Weather – Sunny, high of 82 degrees, low of 64 degrees

 

Schedule:

 

Wake at 6:30 AM

Walk to bus stop at 7:30 AM

Bus at 7:35 AM

Arrive 8:00 AM

PhotoPass Pictures at The Tree of Life (everyone)

Look at kangaroos, flamingoes, ducks, parrots (everyone)

LL – Zootopia: Better Zoogether! (everyone)

Breakfast snacks (everyone)

LL – Kilimanjaro Safaris (everyone)

Saw the gorillas (everyone)

LL – Feathered Friends in Flight! (everyone)

Expedition Everest (Brian)

Souvenir shopping (Lindsay, Jacob, Olivia)

LL – Navi River Journey (everyone)

LL – Avatar Flight of Passage (everyone)

PhotoPass Pictures in Avatar World (everyone)

Terra Treats for a cookie dough brownie ice cream sandwich (everyone)

Left park at 1:15 PM (everyone)

Quick service lunch at Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory (everyone)

Pool time from 3:00 – 5:00 PM (everyone)

Beignets at Scat Cat’s Club – Café (everyone)

Back to the hotel room to shower and get ready (everyone)

Reservation – Sanaa for dinner (everyone) 6:45 PM

Walk around our hotel grounds

Bedtime at 10:00 PM