Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is an amazing place to visit.  I took more pictures at Animal Kingdom than I did at any of the other parks because of the amazing opportunities for pictures.  It also has the least number of traditional rides right now.

Fast Pass suggestions for Disney Animal Kingdom

There are three big rides for Animal Kingdom: the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, Dinosaur, and Mt. Everest.  Conceivably you could sign up for fast passes for all three of them, but it might not be available.  Depending on the age of your kids I would make sure you have a fast pass for either the Safari ride or Mt. Everest.

**We went in winter and ruled out Kali River Rapids because we didn’t want to spend the day wet, so that would be a good contender in warmer weather.

Plan your day for Animal Kingdom

If you have roller coaster fans you want to head straight over to either Dinosaur or Expedition Everest, your call which.  We headed straight back to Dinosaur and had a fairly short line, but my 8 year old daughter was so scared by the ride that she was scared to ride on anything else the next several days.  It is dark and things jump out at you.  Keep that in mind as you decide on if your kids are ready for it.

My experience was the animals are more active after 11:00 for the Safari ride, and it is well worth going on that ride a couple of times.  We rode it once without a fast pass, and then rode a second time with a fast pass.

If you head over to Dinosaur first, most of the traditional rides are near that area with a dinosaur theme.  We hung out there for an hour or so after riding Dinosaur and rode all of the rides we wanted to and headed over to Kilimanjaro Safaris.  The Boneyard sometimes opens later, so keep that in mind and make sure to stop by there.  My kids enjoyed running around the playground there for a while and it made for a good break for us parents.  It does close if there is any rain as a quick warning.

Shows to watch at Animal Kingdom

If you have musical fans you must watch Lion King.  You’re treated to a mini-version of the Broadway show, and it’s spectacular.

Beyond that we loved the Flights of Wonder it was fascinating to watch how the birds were trained and if you sit towards the front you might be chosen as a volunteer.

While my husband and the boys were riding Mt. Everest (again) Princess and I watched It’s Tough to be a Bug, which is a fun 3-D show and has some cool effects for the audience, and because it’s a large theater you don’t need to use your fast pass there.

Everyone I talked to recommended against riding the Wilderness Train and going to the Affection Station, they said it’s a glorified petting zoo and takes a large chunk of your day because of timing of the train.  We had quite a lot of fun wandering around watching the animals, so we never rode back there.

If you have the Park Hopper option Animal Kingdom tends to close earlier than the other parks it is well worth heading over to a different kingdom for the rest of the day.  That had been our original plan, but Superman hurt his neck on his final ride of Expedition Everest and his poncho tore, so he was wet, miserable, and tired, so we headed home for an early day.

Because it is an “Animal Kingdom” there are no fireworks.  Also, they are in the midst of adding in a Pandora land to Animal Kingdom, so expect that to have lots of rides and be great eye candy.