Disney’s Animal Kingdom is one of my favorite parks for younger children because of all of the animal sightings and the great shows. Here are a couple of rides that the preschool set will enjoy:

Kilimanjaro Safaris: Climb into an off-road vehicle for this safari through 100 acres of savannah in Animal Kingdom’s Africa area. You and your child could see giraffes, elephants, flamingos, rhinos, antelope and maybe even a lion or two. This attraction is best experienced in the morning, when the animals are more active and easily seen.

Triceratop Spin: Little ones will enjoy making their dino go up and down on this circular ride in the DinoLand U.S.A. area of Animal Kingdom. This gentle ride is similar to Dumbo the Flying Elephant in the Magic Kingdom.

Wildlife Express Train: What child doesn’t love a train? This one runs every 5-7 minutes and takes you between the Harambe, Africa area and Rafiki’s Planet Watch. You can get off the train at Rafiki’s Planet Watch to take part in some educational activities and learn about animal conservation.

This post is part of “Under 5 Friday,” a series of posts with my best tips for taking young children to Walt Disney World.

Are you planning your first trip to Walt Disney World? One of the best ways to be sure you are getting the most out of your vacation (and your time and money) is to use a a travel agent who specializes in Disney vacations, like the folks at Enchanted Destinations.

The Macy’s Celebrate Moms sweepstakes winners were treated to a VIP viewing of the Festival of the Lion King show at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom on Thursday morning.

In the photo above, Robert Olivares, who came on the Disney World trip with California winner Martha Olivares, was chosen out of the audience to demonstrate the sound a warthog makes.

The winners from every state and their families were brought in through the exit of the theater and taken to special reserved seating.

The children enjoyed the show right from the start, clapping and making the animal sounds prompted by the show’s cast.

The loudest applause was reserved for when Simba made his entrance.

Some of the Macy’s Moms’ kids were chosen to parade around the stage playing percussion instruments.

The families headed out after the show to enjoy some of the rides at Animal Kingdom. Many of them were planning to check out the Kilamanjaro Safaris.

Thursday afternoon, it’s on to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, for reserved seating at Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage.

Here are more pictures from the Festival of the Lion King show Thursday morning:

I was alerted to this story by a loyal reader of Theme Park Mom.

It seems that someone trying to pass off the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom as a “mysterious tree in India.” The e-mail says it’s an “unknown specie” of tree. Completely natural. Not man-made! Yeah, right.

The good folks at Snopes.com have exposed the e-mail as a hoax. My first question, who would believe it? But the bigger question is, who out there has the time to even come up with this stuff?