The Ultimate Disney World Park Guide: Animal Kingdom

By: Chris Loechel

This is the first article in a four-part series breaking down and providing everything you need to know about each park when you’re planning a visit. From what to pack, to the optimal way to navigate the park and hit all your favorite rides, to the food spots you want to make sure you hit, we’ve got it all!

First up, Animal Kingdom! Let’s get into it!

Some people refer to Animal Kingdom as the Disney Zoo. While there are plenty of animals for viewing throughout, framing it as a zoo vastly undersells all the attractions available in the theme park.

Preparation

Technically speaking, Animal Kingdom is the single largest Disney theme park. This means that you want to wear your most comfortable footwear and an outfit that puts function over form as it can be a long day with lots of walking. Additionally, shade can be hard to come by in some parts of the park, so make sure you have proper sunscreens and sun shades taken care of.

There is a popular water ride, Kali River Rapids, that does have the potential to get you soaked! So, if you plan to ride that ride, plan accordingly. Our family will often pack ponchos and put them on for the ride, taking them off afterwards which works great. There are less frequent food stands comparatively at Animal Kingdom versus the other parks, so this is not a bad place to bring a stash of snacks in case hunger strikes between meal times.

Attraction Overview

Animal Kingdom does not have the deepest attraction list when compared to the other parks, but its highs are very high.

Kilimanjaro Safari – many people’s favorite ride at the park. It’s good for all ages, including lap children and each safari is unique as you never quite know what the many animals will be up to when you go through.
Avatar: Flight of Passage – breathtaking! Everyone will remember the first time they boarded a Banshee and were transported to Pandora. The pre-ride shows provide great context and help to achieve fantastic immersion into the narrative. Despite being a thrill ride, it is, at its core, a simulator which makes it more friendly for those that can be intimidated by thrill rides.
Expedition Everest – perhaps the single best roller coaster in any Disney park. It is your traditional long coaster experience with a fantastic twist! Thrill ride seekers will absolutely adore this one and will likely want to go more than once.
Kali River Rapids – fun circular tube group water ride which is low on intensity but can be big on laughs. The ride duration is a little shorter than desired, but this is a great way to cool down on a hot day.
Dinosaur – a cult classic! This autonomous vehicle uses hydraulics to simulate very bumpy terrain providing a wild and bouncy ride into the past. The ride can be scary for little ones and big ones alike as much of it is in the dark with stops, starts, and stretches of some speed. Not for everyone, but Dinosaur is worth the wait!
Na’vi River Journey – basically “It’s a Small World” on an alien planet. The special effects, lighting, and screen work are fantastic creating a relaxing but stimulating boat ride. The wait can get long on this one and the smaller ride vehicles mean that the lines don’t move as fast as other Disney water rides, but it’s a fun ride for the whole family.
Tricera-Top Spin – just for the little ones. It’s a re-adaptation of Dumbo fully equipped with dino theming. If you have really young ones, this might be the hit of the park and you might ride it approximately 15 times before the day is over.

Entertainment Overview

Festival of the Lion King – a theater in the round setup for a high energy, large set design adaptation in the Lion King universe. Kids will get a kick out of this one for sure!
It’s Tough to be a Bug – a “4D” experience which means that you’re going to have sight, sound, smell, AND touch involved in this experience. This experience can be too much to handle for some little ones as you do have some dark lighting moments and relatively intense 3D action that can elicit boisterous crowd response and thus frighten some.
Finding Nemo: The Big Blue and Beyond – this is a fun show performed by large scale puppetry (think someone holding a big Nemo puppet and performing the vocals themselves). Sure to be a hit for any Finding Nemo lovers. However, my group will typically skip this one in lieu of more ride time.

Food Overview

Table Service:

Rainforest Cafe – yes, that Rainforest Cafe franchise. Fine place, but not really unique to Disney, so we’d recommend finding another option.
Tusker House – Character dining experience with typical breakfast spread buffet
Yak and Yeti – asian-themed restaurant with noodle-based dishes and other regional favorites
Pizzafari – family style dining experience; salad, pizza, pasta, garlic knots
Tiffins Restaurant* – Signature dining experience, fancy menu offerings

Quick Service:

Flame Tree Barbecue* – BBQ ribs, chicken, pork and salad; beer and wine

Restaurantosaurus – Burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwich/nuggets, Impossible burger
Satu’li Canteen – Avatar-themed, quinoa-based goals with beef, chicken, or shrimp
Nomad Lounge – cocktail bar large spirits, wine, and beer menu with some small plates

Grab N Go Stands:

Harambe Market – chicken/shrimp bowls, pitas, salads
Smiling Crocodile – pork, chicken, or veggie street tacos
Creature Comforts – Starbucks coffee and select breakfast offerings
Trilo-Bites – Buffalo Chicken chips, soft serve ice cream; Orange Dole Whip, ice cream floats
Isle of Java – breakfast fare; biscuits, danish, cinnamon rolls, pretzels, coffee

Desserts

Dino-Bite Snacks – Ice cream, cookies, pretzels, beer; on walk path to Dinosaur ride

*Royal Carriage Vacations Recommendation

Optimal Pathing

As always, your day may be impacted by the Genie+ Lightning Lane availability. If purchasing Genie+ (which we recommend!), you’re going to want to prioritize Kilimanjaro Safari. I like to target an early Safari time that works well as the next step after you “rope drop” Pandora (more on this below) off the jump. Target a safari time that is 90 minutes after the park opens. The animals are more active both early in the day and the closer you get to park close.

Avatar: Flight of Passage will be the toughest line on most days at Animal Kingdom. We recommend “rope dropping” this ride so that you can get it checked off your list first thing and skip what can be a long wait. If you’re unable to get to the park early enough to pull off this feat, you can always purchase the individual Lightning Lane for the ride.

If you rope drop Avatar: you’re going to be in the Pandora section of the park. After walking off Flight of Passage, see if you can hit Na’Vi River Rapids while you’re there to close out that part of the park.

After Na’Vi River, hopefully you’ll have your Lightning Lane for safari coming up soon and you can head that way, utilizing the walkway that bypasses Discovery Island.

The safari is in Africa which presents a whole host of animal viewing experiences to you. You can take the train to Rafiki’s planet. You can view the animals that are in nearby enclosures.

After the safari and animal watching, see if you can catch the Festival of the Lion King. It typically has shows every hour on the hour (with the exception of an hour off around lunchtime).

Then, proceed to our favorite lunch spot, Flame Tree Barbecue!

After lunch, slide right on into Dinoland USA for Dinosaur! This would be a good ride to use one of your Lightning Lanes on. There are carnival games to enjoy if that’s your sort of thing after you get off the ride.

Then, head to the Finding Nemo show. They typically have showtimes at 30 past the hour in the early afternoon.

After the show, it’s time for Expedition Everest, Disney’s best coaster! If some of your party are not coaster go’ers, you could see if you could catch the bird show, Feathered Friends in Flight, which is just a slight walk past Everest.

After Everest, you have a choice. Do you want to get wet? If yes, it’s time for Kali River Rapids! Use the free lockers to store your items and if you have flip flops to change into that is ideal since walking in wet shoes and socks is not preferred. If you prefer not to get wet at all, go ahead and head back to Discovery Island to catch It’s tough to be a bug before calling it a day!

Below is a drawing of what your park day would look like on this itinerary: