Homeschooling at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom | New Zootopia Ride + Educational Disney Day

In this family vlog, Natalie Barnes takes her daughter Arabella (Air) on a full day at Disney's Animal Kingdom, framing the visit as a homeschooling adventure. The video begins with the new Zootopia attraction, followed by a Pandora river ride and a safari‑style animal tour where Natalie and Arabella identify and discuss various African wildlife, sharing facts about bongos, greater kudu, hippos, giraffes, zebras, elephants, and more. Mid‑day they complete an interactive badge activity at the animal hospital, locating and naming insects, reptiles, and mammals on a worksheet. Throughout the day, Natalie weaves in lessons on conservation, recycling, and animal care while managing meals (chips, pizza, soup) and breaks. The family later visits Dinoland (though too short for the dinosaur ride) and watches the Finding Nemo show, reinforcing marine‑life education. The vlog concludes with reflections on the educational value of the park visit, the balance of fun and learning, and a thank‑you to viewers. The tone is informal, enthusiastic, and parent‑child interactive, emphasizing hands‑on learning and family bonding.
Chapters
Look how cute! Hi guys, what's up? It's Natalie. Welcome to— welcome back to our channel. We are in Animal Kingdom. It is freezing out. Me and Air are gonna go check out the new Zootopia show. It's so cold. And see how crowded it is today. Come along with us. And spend the day with us. There, look at the tree! Look how beautiful the tree is. It is so cold out. Oh my goodness. We are going to look at the animals and learn about them, huh? You ready? Yeah. Show me what the lady just gave you. A car! And what's that? Fun Family and Kids. How cool! You want to do Zootopia first? Yeah, let's go! Here's the big tree. Look how cute! Those are so cute. And those, I love those. Super cute. Ready? Zootopia to the right. There it is! You see it? Let's go on it! Zootopia! You excited? That's what Arabella got when we came in. Super cute. Thanks. Happy Zoo Gather Day! We're like literally in the tree. Mommy, come on, go in. I know. Good baby. Thank you. How cool! Wow, how cool! I'm so ready. You're so ready? Me too. Have we ever ever done this? Never done this yet. No, it's so scary. Mommy, how cute! Park, where families wear matching shirts. Thanks to the generous support of Hobbs Family Park, today's live rock party is presented in Parrot Vinegar Green Tea. Parrots, the fruit of your eyes, ask anybody. What'd you think? Did you like it? Yes, I liked it too. It was cute. I think now we're gonna go to Pandora and see what we can do there. Arabella's getting hungry, which is crazy because she just had breakfast not too long ago, but she wants chips, so we need to find some chips. I need like something warm, and then we're gonna go and do a Pandora ride because I haven't done that in a while. See her? She's looking at her little map she got. Now we're entering Pandora. Do that. What? We can do that. Yeah, let's do it. Let's do this ride right now. It's only 20 minutes. So okay, we're in line for the river ride. I have no idea what this ride is even called. All I know is like the Journey River Pandora ride, second ride of the day. It's only 20 minutes, which isn't bad. I think it's like 9 something, like 9:08 I think right now. So the park's been open for about an hour. So after this, we're gonna go learn about different plants and animals. I just thought if I got the rides out of the way now with like zero wait time, we can focus on like the educational stuff when we have time. How cool! What'd you say? This is so cool! We're so lucky. Here, are you excited? Yeah! I've never done this ride, have you? You've never done this ride? Welcome, children. Step in.
For your safety, please remain seated with your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside.
Let me sit on the outside. Okay. We got the whole road to ourselves. Woohoo! How cool is that? What'd you get? Hippies! Do you see any otters? They might still be sleeping. Yeah, I think they're sleeping there. Okay, let's go to the next animal. Going into Africa! Third ride!
You excited? Yeah.
Third ride. Wow, that's a pretty bird. Here we go, we're about to get on. We're talking about different animals we're going to see, so I think we're going to see some deer. What do you think we're going to see? Here, take out your passy. Some deer. I think we're gonna see some elephants. What do you think? Take out your passy.
Let's say cheese.
Ready? Those are all the animals we're gonna see. See them all up there? We're gonna learn about all of them. Isn't that cool? We're gonna see them. Yeah, giraffe, zebras.
As I say in Harambe, forest is kind of the keyword there. It's going to help them blend in well into their background.
Here we go.
Exact same as a giraffe. On the hill to the left, the large rust-colored animal, that is a bongo, sometimes called ghost of the forest. Both male and female bongos have horns, and the horns are slicked back to help them move through the jungle. Large tannish animals on both sides, these are not deer, these are greater kudu, one of the second tallest antelope in Africa. Female greater kudu can run about 35 miles an hour. They have a very thick hide. They may seem like pelicans, they live in groups and colonies, and as you can see, about an 8-foot wing Bam! Now hippos do tend to spend most of their time in the water in order to keep themselves from getting overheated, but it's left there so you get a view of both sides. A group of hippos are called a bloat zone. They're trying to suck in their breath of air, get that breath of air, and lower their head right back down. With that, some more hanging out to the left.
Look at him! Hi, baby! All right, giraffe.
Now the cattle around here, these are Ankole cattle. Horns around 5 to 6 feet long from tip to tip. Both male and female Ankole cattle have horns and they're not kept for food, they're kept as a status symbol. Really cute to the right with those young Ankole cattle. Brown and white impala up there are sable impala. If ever charged by predator, lower their 5-foot-long horn to defend themselves. Large chain of chain elopes to the left is a common eland, one of the largest antelope in Africa. Male common eland, which that one is right there, average around 6 feet tall at the shoulder and around 6 feet, around 2 feet. Level is roughly around 7 to 8 feet off the ground, so gives you an idea just how tall the giraffes are.
Huge view of that yellow zebra right behind us.
Now the zebras here are Hartmann's mountain zebra.
I see air— look, look at the giraffe right there! He's so cute. He's so cute. Oh, he is so cute.
Male elephants, on the other hand, as they get older, they're going to go off on their own or stick together with other male elephants in very loose herd.
Look at him. He's—
well, predominantly— oh, currently right now we can— the exact same thing as her. They're a daytime-based hunter. They're going to use their eyesight for hunting instead of their sense of smell. Use that time when they're conserve energy for the hunt at night. Female lions will do the majority of the hunting for the pride.
They're—
We have a sudden horizon. Oh, we need to check out—
Looks right. Let's go see some gorillas. Eating our chippies again. You want to go see gorillas? Monkeys? No? That's what we're doing. We're going to learn about them. Do you know what color they are? What color?
Black.
Good job. Or dark, dark brown. Looks like they're doing some construction up here, so we can't see them. It's so cold out. What was your favorite animal to see on the safari? Um, flamingo. Which one? Flamingos. That was your favorite? Yeah, all different kinds of bugs. All different kinds of bugs. Look at everything! Wow, he's so cute! And then the white birds right there. The fishies, huh? Look at all the fish over here. What color are the fish? Yellow, blue. How cool! What kind of fishies do you see? Little ones. I see a white one. How cool! Some zebras right there. Can you help me get out?
Yeah.
Look how close he is. That one's called a, um, a gorilla, I think. Gorilla. Good one. What'd you think of the monkeys? It's good. They're cute. Look at me. They did look at you. I think we see more. Yeah, let's see. Do we see any more? Wow, you think Meenie's in there? The alligator?
Yeah.
Wow. Scoot all the way down. Good girl. Okay, so we're on our 4th ride of the day. Mommy, what? What? Choo choo! Choo choo!
Greetings!
Who did you just see?
And welcome aboard the Wildlife Express. For a safe journey, remember to stay seated, keeping your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the train.
Sit all the way back against the edge. Be sure to watch your children. So we're going to go pet some animals, go learn about them. But I guess they have the animal little hospital. What? We're going to go to the animal hospital.
Oh, you excited?
Yeah. Aww, come on, let's go see him. Here, let's go. You're gonna do it. Okay, awesome. Gotta listen to him.
This badge right here is all about finding animals. So we're on page 20 right here, and what I want you to do, I want you to find at least 3 of the animals on this page. Okay, you can do that.
Find them. Say thank you.
Of course. And they're all gonna be right back here frozen by Elsa.
They're frozen by Elsa. Let's go. Thank you. I'm coming. Oh, er, what's that? A dragonfly. Do you see him right there? Dragonfly. Don't touch him. Yeah, and then there's a shovel. Oh, look on the shovel. What's on the shovel? What are those? Spider. Spiders, are they on your list? Let me see your list. Oh, tarantulas. Lovey doesn't like those. What else do you see? I see a frog. Oh, a little froggy. Oh, a caterpillar. You're right, good eye. He's right there. Yeah, he's right there. And where's the froggy? What color is the frog? Green. Green. Yep, yep, right there. Where's the turtle? Oh, right there.
Tortoise.
Yeah, let's see what else. What else do you see? A bunny. You see the bunny? Rabbit. Yep. I think those little ones were ants because look what I just found. Ooh, he's scary. No, Elsa froze him. Look, look up there. Wow, you found it. Tarantula. And then I don't know what that is. Let's see what that is. That is a beetle, maybe. I don't know. Let's keep going. See, I found them all. Go tell him you found them.
Oh my goodness. Well, did you have a favorite one?
Which one was your favorite? I find— which one?
Like the caterpillar? Yeah, caterpillars Caterpillars love lots and lots of leaves, right?
Yeah.
Do you think you can find some more caterpillars and maybe some butterflies when you go home?
Yeah.
Yeah? Awesome job, Explorer. Can I get a high five?
Thank you. So what is that? So you're gonna have to earn badges. I didn't know monkeys could do that. That's so cool. I'm gonna find them. Yep, find them. It says "pants." Ooh, good one. Good reading. Oh, there's another one. Read it. Plant. Oh, another plants. Okay. Yes. Wow. Oh, look at this. You want to stop here? How cool is this? Hi, how are you? These are so cool. You want to see them? What, you want to pet them? Let's go. We gotta be nice and gentle, okay? Let's go inside. We're gonna wash our hands first, okay? You want to go pet him? Look, Harry. Hi. Just pet his belly. Say hi, baby. You want to pet him? Here, look at him. Hi, baby. What color is he? Do you know what color he is? What color? Careful, he's white and brown. Look, there's another one coming up. Don't touch his head, just let him walk. Hi, Moon! Look at him! Hi, buddy! You want to pet him? Yeah, say hi, baby. And he's fluffy, right? He feels different. Let him walk. He is fluffy. Come on, let's go see the other. Oh look, Air, over here. Hi guys, just let them walk, let them walk. If they want you to pet them, they'll stop. Don't pet his head. Hi, say cheese, Air. Say cheese. He's peeing. Oh, say cheese, Aria! You are so cute. He likes you. Hi, baby. Hi. He likes your outfit, Air. Don't touch his face. Do not touch his face. That scared Mommy. Oh, look at him. What color is he? Look at him. Say hi, baby. Black and white. You're right. Hi! Oh, he's pooping. He's pooping. Air, what is she doing? Yeah, but what is the lady doing? Yeah, she's feeding him, right? Hey, he's not a dog. He's just standing there. He's enjoying the day. Yeah, say bye. There's so many animals. Oh, he's sunbathing, huh? Look, you know how you go on the playground? This is their playground. Oh, look, he's playing. How fun is this? Hey, baby, not on the face. So, okay, you gotta wait until he comes over here. Oh, he's hitting his head. He might think your fingers are food. Be careful, that's not good. That's not food. You got to be careful. Here, let's go over here and pet him. Here, look it, it's a donkey! Look at the donkey! Hi baby! Daddy, come here! Hey little donkey! Donkey, donkey, donkey, donkey! Let's see him. Look! Oh, that's a baby. Should I brush him? Yeah, go brush him. Look at Run him. He needs a hairbrush. Now what are we doing? We're going inside to go see the animal hospital, right? Thank you. Go see all that. That's where she, uh, makes all the animal food. That's so cool. What's in there? What do you see? You see anything cool? Tarantula. That's It's a type of spider. What color is he? Yep, this is the animal hospital. See, animals lay on the table and it's like their doctor, right? Because even animals have to make sure they're okay, right? Look, see, do you see anything? I see a little Minnie Mouse. That's Mickey over there. Oh, in the field. Vaccination. How cool! How cool!
Yes, Chicken Little, very good. Thank you again.
So cool.
Chicken Little, ever Chicken Little, y'all?
That's very cool.
All right, let's go ahead and draw in her little sleeve. We had her little vest.
You see him? He's all the way up here. Yeah, he just shed. You see him up there? Hi! You gotta show it. Put your book up here and say please.
We'll turn to page 21.
Struggling. One more page. Thank you.
So there's that right there. There's some fun things you can do for conservation.
Yeah, but you gotta listen. He's talking about recycling.
Recycling is a great way to do— you recycle tricycle at home.
Yes, I'm sure you do. Yep.
The good work.
See, thank you. You're welcome. I see. Yep. So what's that? Air Mickey salad, right? That's for the gorillas. That's what they used to eat. So cool. Are you ready? Let's go tell the goat bye. Bye, little goat. Good job listening. Can we go over the plan? Yeah. Okay, so what do you want to do after this? I want to do playground. Okay. And lunch. Lunch? Where— what are we gonna have for lunch? Here, scoot over. Pizza. Pizza? That sounds good. And what else? We doing just pizza? What else are we doing? Playground.
Playground.
What's it say? That's the book you got. It talks about recycling. You earned your badge right here. Look who it is. Who is that? Goofy. Goofy. Are you gonna show them your book?
Hi.
Aww, say bye. Thank you, thank you. Time for some lunch. We just got to lunch. We're having pizza for lunch, right? What'd we get? Chips. We got chips. You already ate your chips. We got pizza. What else? And apple juice. And soup. So see how it is. I got soup, the tomato bisque, kids pizza. We got apple juice, carrots, and then graham crackers and a Diet Coke. We just finished lunch. Pizza was literally disgusting. I think I'd rather eat something on the side of the road. But now we're going to Dinoland because Arabella wants to go in the park. This is all under construction, literally a huge crane, and it's just all green. I'm gonna see if she's tall enough for the dinosaur ride. We'll see. I don't know if Barbell is tall enough, but we're gonna go see. Wait's only 10 minutes. You're just there. Yeah, not on your tippy toes, cheater. So you're too small, but look what she gave you. What, what does it say? It says dinosaurs. Dinosaurs. Yeah, what does it say? Future time travelers will be looking for you just as soon as you are tall. That's super cool though. Oh, Mommy, I want to Dino Park. Okay, so she's like 39 and a half inches, so we're too small to do Dino, but that's okay because we're gonna go do Finding Nemo the show, right? You excited? Okay, let's go. Ready? Okay, are you excited? Yeah. Have you ever seen this show? Yeah. Are they gonna dance and sing? Yeah, I'm excited. Wow, look at those bubbles! I know, what color is it in here? Purple. Purple and blue. Yeah, we're blue, right? And what are those on the screen? Yeah, they're fishies, huh? Attention, ocean explorers!
Throughout the world, marine animals large and small —these threats to those—
The Marine Life Institute houses many aquatic species, including fish from the wild who need our help. —came a long way, and they deserve a good story. So we're going to do this the way we do everything. No, no, no, it's when they escaped those sharks. Oh, that part's scary. See some monkeys. We are just now leaving. It is, I think, like 2 o'clock. Arabella had a good time. Arabella, did you have a good time? It's still pretty cold out, and I think what we're gonna do is just go home. Um, my mom's visiting, and we spent the whole day here. Arabella is now only in school 2 2 days a week. So I thought it'd be fun for us to come here and learn about animals, practice our colors and counting. So we are done. Say thank you guys so much for watching. Thank you guys for watching. Bye! We'll see you next time. Bye!
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