With its lush flora, winding streams, meandering paths, and exotic setting, the Animal Kingdom is a stunningly beautiful theme park. The landscaping alone conjures images of rain forest, veldt, and formal gardens. Soothing, mysterious, and exciting, every vista is a feast for the eye. Add to this loveliness a population of more than 1,000 animals, replicas of Africa’s and Asia’s most intriguing architecture, and a diverse array of singularly original attractions, and you have the most unique of all Disney theme parks. In the Animal Kingdom, Disney has created an environment to savor.

At 500 acres, Disney’s Animal Kingdom is five times the size of the Magic Kingdom and more than twice the size of Epcot. But like Disney Hollywood Studios, most of the Animal Kingdom’s vast geography is only accessible on guided tours or as part of attractions. The Animal Kingdom features six sections or “lands”: The Oasis, Discovery Island, DinoLand U.S.A., Camp Minnie-Mickey, Africa, and Asia. Its size notwithstanding, the Animal Kingdom features a limited number of attractions. To be exact, there are seven, several walkthrough exhibits, an indoor theater, four amphitheaters, a conservation exhibit, and a children’s playground.

The evolution of the Animal Kingdom has been interesting. With regard to the Florida theme-park market, it is seen to be taking dead aim at

Unfortunately for Disney, however, the creative, natural-habitat zoological exhibits and state-of-the-art thrill rides developed by Busch Gardens are immensely popular, and as any student of the Walt Disney Company can attest, there is nothing like a successful competitor to make the Disney folks change their tune. So, all the smoke, mirrors, and press releases aside, here’s what you get at the Animal Kingdom: natural-habitat zoological exhibits and state-of-the-art thrill rides. Big surprise!

Even if the recipe is tried and true, the Disney version serves up more than its share of innovations, particularly when it comes to the wildlife habitats. In fact, zoologists worldwide practically salivate at the thought of Disney Imagineers applying their talent to zoo design. Living up to expectations, the wildlife exhibits at the Animal Kingdom do break some new ground. For starters, there’s lots of space, thus allowing for the sweeping vistas that Discovery Channel viewers would expect in, say, an African veldt setting. Then there are the enclosures, natural in appearance, with little or no apparent barriers between you and the animals. The operative word, of course, is “apparent.” That flimsy stand of bamboo separating you from a
gorilla is actually a neatly disguised set of steel rods imbedded in concrete. The Imagineers even take a crack at certain animals’ stubborn unwillingness to be on display. A lion that would rather sleep out of sight under a bush, for example, is lured to center stage with nice, cool, climate-controlled artificial rocks.

So far, the Animal Kingdom has received mixed reviews. Guests complain loudly about the park layout and the necessity of backtracking through Discovery Island in order to access the various theme areas. Congested walkways, lack of shade, and insufficient air conditioning also rank high on the gripe list. However, most of the attractions (with one or two notable exceptions) have been well received. Also praised are the natural habitat animal exhibits as well as the park architecture and landscaping. We marvel at how demographically similar readers come away with such vastly differing opinions. A 36-year-old mother of three, for example, exclaims that:

The Animal Kingdom is a monstrous disappointment! Disney should be ashamed to have their name on it!

While a 34-year-old mom with two children reports:

The Animal Kingdom was our favorite theme park at Disney World. We spent four evenings out of our seven-day vacation there.

In truth, the Animal Kingdom is a park to linger over and savor-two things Disney, with its crowds, lines, and regimentation, has conditioned us not to do. But many people intuit that the Animal Kingdom must be approached in a different way, including this mother of three (ages five, seven, and nine) from Hampton Bays, New York:

Despite the crowds, we really enjoyed Animal Kingdom. In order to enjoy it, you really must have the right attitude. It is an educational experience, not a thrill park. Talk to the employees and you won’t regret it. We spoke to an employee who played games with the kids—my daughter found a drawer full of butterflies, and the boys located a hidden ostrich egg and lion skull. If we had not stopped to talk to this guide, we would have joined the hordes running down the trail in search of “something exciting to do.”

A Southwestern family agrees, writing:

Animal Kingdom with kids should be approached as you would birdwatching, fossil hunting, or nature walks. To enjoy it, you need to slow down, stop and look, and, especially, engage the cast members. Most have years of experience with animals and are very capable of interacting and sharing their knowledge on any level. Encourage your children to ask questions; the answers are educational, enlightening, and a wonderful alternative to standing in a hot queue.

ARRIVING
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM IS SITUATED OFF OSCEOLA PARKWAY

The park is connected to other Walt Disney World destinations by the Disney bus system.

OPERATING HOURS
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, NOT UNEXPECTEDLY, hosted tremendous crowds during its early years. Consequently, Disney management has done a fair amount of fiddling and experimenting with operating hours and opening procedures. Animal Kingdom opening time now roughly corresponds to that of the other parks. Thus, you can expect a 9 a.m. opening during less busy times of the year and an 8 a.m. opening during holidays and high season. The Animal Kingdom usually closes well before the other parks—as early as 5 p.m., in fact, during off-season. More common is a 6 or 7 p.m. closing.

Park opening procedures at the Animal Kingdom vary. Sometimes guests arriving prior to the official opening time are admitted to The Oasis and Discovery Island. The remainder of the park is roped off until official opening time. The rest of the time, those arriving early are held at the entrance turnstiles.

During the financial turmoil of the last few years, Disney laid off a number of cast members and trotted out several cost-cutting initiatives. One of these is to delay the daily opening of the Asia section of the park, as well as The Boneyard playground, the Wildlife Express train, and Conservation Station until 30 minutes or so after the rest of the Animal Kingdom opens. It’s not clear whether these delayed openings are temporary or permanent, or seasonal or year-round.

On holidays and other days of projected heavy attendance, Disney will open the park 30 or 60 minutes early.

Many guests wrap up their tour and leave by 3:30 or 4 p.m. Lines for the

The Animal Kingdom has joined the other three major theme parks in the Extra Magic Hours program. Though we have yet to test participation in the program with the recently opened Expedition Everest, it had been very counterproductive in years past. Prior to Everest opening, our testing showed that the additional attendance on early entry days totally nullifies any advantage associated with being admitted an hour early, and surpasses the time required to see the same set of attractions on a non-early entry day.

Likewise, the Animal Kingdom takes part in the evening Extra Magic Hours rotation when a designated park remains open three hours beyond the official closing time for Disney resort guests. Because most of the park’s animals go to bed early, however, you’re pretty much relegated to rides and shows. With Expedition Everest open, the Animal Kingdom should be a lively place at night.

Most animal exhibits and all of Rafiki’s Planet Watch including the Wildlife Express Train and Conservation Station close at the same time that is posted for day guests. Exceptions to this will be Kilimanjaro Safaris and Pangani Forest Expiration Trail. These vary by sunset and stay open during Extra Magic Hours until 7:30 on regular closing hours of 5, 6 and 7 and 8 p.m. As days get shorter with the change of seasons, the attractions close earlier. In the fall when the clocks are rolled back, Disney closes ALL animal exhibits as early as 4:45 p.m.

Extra Magic Hours do, however, space the Animal Kingdom theater productions over a longer time period, making it possible to see them all at a more leisurely pace.

GETTING ORIENTED
AT THE ENTRANCE PLAZA ARE TICKET KIOSKS fronting the main entrance. To your right before the turnstiles are the kennel and an ATM. Passing through the turnstiles, wheelchair and stroller rentals are to your right. Guest Relations, the park headquarters for information, handout park maps, entertainment schedules/Times Guides, missing persons, and lost and found, is to the left. Nearby are rest rooms, public phones, and rental lockers. Beyond the entrance plaza you enter The Oasis, a lushly vegetated network of converging pathways winding through a landscape punctuated with streams, waterfalls, and misty glades, and inhabited by what Disney calls “colorful and unusual animals.”

The park is arranged somewhat like the Magic Kingdom, in a

To help you plan your day, we have profiled all of the Animal Kingdom’s major attractions.

For the time being, even if you dawdle in the shops and linger over the wildlife exhibits, you should easily be able to take in the Animal Kingdom in one day.

A WORD ABOUT ANIMAL KINGDOM LIVE SHOWS
WHILE WE WERE COLLECTING DATA for our touring-plan software, we discovered that the live performances are scheduled in such a way that it’s exceedingly difficult to see all of them in one visit, especially if you want to see all the other stuff too. You will, at least once, need to dart out at the conclusion of one show and run half way across the park to arrive at another show seconds before it begins (and hope that there’s enough room at the last minute for you to get a seat). The only solution to the show schedule conundrum is to take advantage of evening Extra Magic Hours. The Extra Magic Hours add three hours to your touring day, more than enough extra time to see all the shows at relaxed pace. Show times as well as scheduled character appearances and parades are listed in the Times Guides available free along with the park guidemap.

FASTPASS at the ANIMAL KINGDOM
The Animal Kingdom offers five FASTPASS attractions. Strategies for using FASTPASS at the Animal Kingdom have been integrated into our touring plans.