For our second day at Animal Kingdom Park, on Monday (8/6), we didn’t do the morning Extra Magic Hours, but we did make an early stop at the Kilimanjaro Safari ride to see the animals. It’s usually a far more popular ride late in the day, when people are tired and just want to sit while being driven around the animal enclaves.
Afterward, we immediately went on the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail (formerly the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail). The highlight for the crowd was watching a couple of young gorillas playing vigorously with each other, but they got tired in the heat and eventually fell asleep. I liked watching the big silverback in another section.
We then returned to Harambe for lunch in the Harambe market (using the mobile ordering feature on my My Disney Experience app), then saw the noon showing of UP! A Great Bird Adventure, and took another ride on Expedition Everest, because J really wanted to (and is no longer afraid of that particular roller coaster).
After Expedition Everest, we took a walk along the Maharajah Jungle Trek, where the highlight for me — by far — was getting some zoomed photos of a tiger keeping cool in a pool.
Afterward, in quick succession, we had a return viewing of Festival of the Lion King (2:30 PM arrival with FastPass+), another great ride on Flight of Passage in Pandora (using our FastPass+), and a wet ride on the Kali River Rapids (FastPass+). I got some nice footage with my new GoPro Hero on that one.
Dinner was at Tiffins, the new signature/fine-dining restaurant at Animal Kingdom, and first of its kind in the park. I had made reservations weeks before. I even passed by a restroom to dry off from the Kali River Rapids and change into a fresh shirt.
The meal, as is becoming usual at Disney World fine dining, was exquisite. We got the meal package that gave us special seating at the Rivers of Light show later in the evening. Our waiter, Giancarlo, gave us some excellent recommendations, which we took. The dining is very eclectic, worldwide, and the theming and decor mirror the Animal Kingdom park itself. For appetizer, Hsuan and I had the asparagus-leek soup with lump crab, W had charred octopus, and J had the Tiffin Signature Bread service (which we shared). For the main course, W had the whole fried sustainable fish, J had the beef tenderloin, and Hsuan and I had the surf and turf (lobster and beef tenderloin). I had an Argentinean Malbec that didn’t seem to show up on the bill, now that I look at it. For dessert, Hsuan had some sort of dessert sampler, J and I had the chocolate ganache, and W had the whipped cheesecake.
After another stellar dinner, we returned to Pandora. Why? In the movie, the plant life starts to glow after nightfall, and Pandora in Animal Kingdom didn’t disappoint. Almost everything either glowed or had tiny points of light come on after sunset. It was clear that many, many people in Pandora were there precisely for the light show.
Speaking of lights, the Rivers of Light show afterward was nice but otherwise not memorable. I’d rather see World of Color at California Adventure (from which Rivers of Light took some lighting effects).