Walt Disney World Disney's Animal Kingdom Discussion Thread

[tuxedomask5432]

On 10/20/2021 at 3:23 PM, coasterbill said:

Big brain moves by Disney making Everest an upcharge and not Navi River Journey…

AllEars blog said they bought the LL pass for Everest, and when it was time to use it, the line was only 10 minutes. Not a great look. I think AK will definitely be the park to go to during the 50th to avoid crowds though. It doesn’t have Star Wars, and Pandora is 4 years old with no Cinema Sequel within the near future. Kind of perplexed on why there’s even going to be a sequel at this point when the film is 12 years old. Primeval Whirl got the axe with no closing ceremony. Overall it’s still a park you can finish everything in less than a whole day, especially until Finding Nemo returns. I can’t wait to see what happens in the Dinosaur area of the park. Still love the headlining attraction there!

[coasterbill]

Animal Kingdom is absolutely a full day park if you like animals. If you just want to ride everything and leave then yeah, it’s not a full-day park unless you just want to ride Everest and Flight of Passage all day which I mean… okay. Plus, Yak and Yeti exists. Lol

It’s still my favorite park at WDW. The fact that they demolished Primevil Whirl just made me love it more.

As for Everest, yeah… I guess there’s some weird reason for them picking a ride that rarely had a long line  

The only thing that I can think of is that despite being a Disney park, Animal Kingdom isn’t great for very small kids in the rides department. River Journey is one of the only rides without a height requirement, so maybe they didn’t want stupid people to buy the $15 daily pass and then say “Wait… I can’t ride anything!”

That’s ridiculous but one of the only explanations that I can come up with.

Picking Railway over Slinky is equally weird…

PS: My pipe dream for that park is a Lion King dark ride. That movie printed money, it fits… build a ride. That park needs more to do when it rains anyway. I don’t even care if it’s just an omnimover if they want something else with no height requirement. 

[Chiselphane]

We definitely did not have time to do 'everything' at AK in one day and that was during low capacity September 2020

[Haymaker]

My opinion is that AK is a park you can do in a day at a leisurely pace, vs. MK or Epcot, which can be a race to finish. My biggest issue with AK is that its far and away the hottest park as a whole, almost as hot as Toy Story Land. 

[bert425]

28 minutes ago, Haymaker said:

My opinion is that AK is a park you can do in a day at a leisurely pace, vs. MK or Epcot, which can be a race to finish. My biggest issue with AK is that its far and away the hottest park as a whole, almost as hot as Toy Story Land. 

I haven't been since before Pandora was built. . but even then there was no way we could have done AK in one day - even at a rushed pace.

the Safari takes a while, if you're doing the shows (at the time was Lion King, Tarzan, & tough to be a bug. . but think now it's Lion King, a reimagined Nemo, and Bug), there was lots of animals/nature to look at thruout the "lands". . and the rides were heavy hitters at the time that all booked long lines (Safari, Everest, Kali Rapids, Dinosaur).   I imagine that Pandora brought more crowds with two top tier lines.

While I'd certainly rather spend more time at Magic Kingdom?

a 4 day Disney trip for me now would probably be:   1 1/2 Animal Kingdom, 1 day Hollywood studios, 1 day Magic Kingdom, 1/2 day EPCOT  (but we'd park hop to EPCOT every night for different meals in World Showcase).

tho honestly, I'd add another full day and split it between extra 1/2 day at Hollywood Studios & Magic Kingdom on the above itinerary)
 

[Haymaker]

^ fair point, we still havent done any of the shows besides Tough to be a Bug. Nemo hasnt reopened yet. Wait times being low the other day certainly helped. 

[Garet]

19 hours ago, bert425 said:

a 4 day Disney trip for me now would probably be:   1 1/2 Animal Kingdom, 1 day Hollywood studios, 1 day Magic Kingdom, 1/2 day EPCOT  (but we'd park hop to EPCOT every night for different meals in World Showcase).
 

Granted, we are the huge minority, and have been stupidly privileged, but my wife and I were discussing our once in a life-time Florida trip and we're wondering whether to skip any full days at Magic Kingdom and just park hop across there in the late afternoons/evenings after doing everything we want at the other parks to see the nighttime shows. It's just we've done a lot of HK, and Tokyo trips, as well as Paris, and we'll probably do Shanghai before we do before Florida. There are a lot of rides at MK we love, but it's just the other 3 parks are all completely unique to us so we are tempted to stick around grabbing re rides there. That and we do absolutely want to try out World Showcase food as much as possible (and Yak and Yeti of course).

[coasterbill]

That makes sense. Then again if you’re park hopping you don’t have to plan ahead all that much. You can be spontaneous based on what you feel like doing at the time / what lightning lane reservations you pull.

[Garet]

^ Yep, it's a few years away but assuming Lightning Lane is here to stay we are now more convinced to treat MK as the 'park hopper park'. Especially after seeing TPR's social media posts on Lightning Lane, it seems we can just use that to get the rides we like in on some evenings, but keep the focus on the 3 parks full of unique attractions we have never tried before.

[A.J.]

New from D23: Disney has announced the Tropical Americas land for Disney's Animal Kingdom, to replace Dinoland USA!

https://disneyparksblog.com/wdw/tropical-americas-encanto-indiana-jones-animal-kingdom/

A new adventure awaits at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park with the addition of a new space themed around Tropical Americas. Welcome to Pueblo Esperanza.

As Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro explained during Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, work on this new 11-acre section of the park is set to begin later this year. Just like Harambe, the land feels lived in, with a long, rich history — plus there’s a large hacienda which will be one of the largest quick-service restaurants at Walt Disney World Resort.

The space will be lush and sprawling, featuring a large fountain in the center where the villagers like to gather and tell stories. Additionally, a woodcarver has created a giant working carousel featuring his favorite animals from Disney stories. It’s a new take on a classic attraction that young families are going to love.

That’s not all that will be located here – the new land will include not one but two signature attractions!

Indiana Jones

A new Indy experience is set to arrive in Disney’s Animal Kingdom and will be different from any other Indiana Jones experience around the world.

In this new venture, the man with the hat has recently discovered a perfectly preserved Maya temple, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time to explore it. He’s heard rumors about a mythical creature deep within the temple — and he’s got to see it for himself. So, he brings us along on the adventure… but will there be snakes? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Encanto

If you’re a fan of drawers, floors, and doors, let’s go! The first-ever “Encanto”-themed ride-through attraction is coming to Animal Kingdom, featuring the beloved Madrigal family from the Walt Disney Animation Studios film. Inside the Casita, Antonio has just received his special gift — the ability to communicate with animals — and his room has transformed into a rainforest. It’s time to go explore alongside him, and you never know what member of the family you might bump into…

Construction on the land is set to begin this fall and will open in 2027 — but don’t worry, you’ll still have plenty of time to experience Dinosaur again (and get that dino).

[Halian]

I hope they don't get rid of Dinosaur, but I'm not at all optimistic given recent Disney.

[Nrthwnd]

^ Um, I think they did (see above your post?) with the add-in of a Indiana Jones Adventure using the same track layout, as it is in Disneyland. But it's a whole new ride adventure and not a copy of DL's or TokyoDL's either, I have found out.

[Zand]

This past Wednesday I did a massive 14-hour park hopper marathon across 3 parks, hitting pretty much everything new to Disney since 2012 (except Magic Kingdom since I was just there in February). I started the day at Animal Kingdom right at 8am and marched right over to Navi River Journey since it was still a walk-on at that point (I had a Lightning Lane for Flight of Passage at 10:45). First off, Pandora looks absolutely amazing and I see what all the commotion is about. I only wish I could have seen it at night. Anyway, Navi is a really well done boat ride with amazing visuals. To quote my wife, it is probably now the best of the Disney boat rides. I wouldn't necessarily jump into a 60+ min wait that this sometimes gets, but otherwise I would easily ride this over and over if I had the time just to try to take it all in.

Heading back into the center of the park, I noted that Kilimanjaro Safaris still had a 10 minute line. My only must-dos left were Dinosaur and Tough to Be a Bug, however I only had a limited amount of time in this park as we had to be at DHS for a lunch reservation at 12:05. I knew heading over to Safaris would probably remove the chance of trekking up a particular mountain in this park, but I've made that trek several times before and decided we should see animals while we were at Animal Kingdom. The safari ride was amazing as usual, and on a decently cool morning the animals were very active. When it was over I was happy to have chosen this over Everest.

I had never ridden Dinosaur before, so we headed there next and walked right on. I don't know why I haven't heard more positive remarks about this ride in the past (honestly I had no idea what to expect) because this thing blew me away. The vehicle's movements are way more out of control than I expected, the darkness of the ride is pretty crazy, and overall I loved this thing. I hope they do it justice when they retheme it with the new area in a couple years.

On the way back over to Pandora, there was a major nostalgia trip that I needed to make before it goes away this winter. I loved It's Tough to be a Bug when I was a kid and I just had to see it one more time. Unfortunately I did not get the full experience, as the water effects did not work in my seat nor did the "bugs leaving the theatre before you" effect. I guess they've already given up maintaining the ride. But it's still a fun show and I'm glad I got to see it one more time.

Back into Pandora, I had a few minutes until my Flight of Passage reservation and spent that time at Satu'li Canteen chowing on Burger Pods. These things tasted amazing and that whole restaurant had a really nice atmosphere to it. Absolutely stop here if you're in Pandora. Anyway, 10:45 came up and we headed to Flight of Passage which I'm sure everyone else on this board has probably ridden already, but this thing was amazing in every way possible. The theming both outside and inside the ride, the presentation, and the ride itself. Incredible. 

After getting off Flight of Passage it was already 11:15 and we had to book it out to the car and head over to Hollywood Studios. I was sad to have had to rush Animal Kingdom, I love the park and definitely look forward to getting more of a full and more relaxed day next time I go. And I absolutely have to see Pandora at night. Sad to see Dinoland USA have to be killed off, but I'm sure they'll do a great job with its replacement.

[Hilltopper39]

On 10/25/2024 at 7:07 PM, Zand said:

 

After getting off Flight of Passage it was already 11:15 and we had to book it out to the car and head over to Hollywood Studios. I was sad to have had to rush Animal Kingdom, I love the park and definitely look forward to getting more of a full and more relaxed day next time I go. And I absolutely have to see Pandora at night. Sad to see Dinoland USA have to be killed off, but I'm sure they'll do a great job with its replacement.

I both love and hate how you can pretty much do everything in Animal Kingdom before noon. On one hand it's nice to get on all of the major attractions and knock them out in case you want to park hop, and it's also nice  to take it slower at the park and have a really relaxed day and still be able to do everything you want probably multiple times. On the other hand.... man that place needs a few more attractions, I know stuff is in the works and will be open in like 2028 or something, but yeah another coaster or a dark ride would have been wonderful there like 4 years ago.

[PKI Jizzman]

So happy to see some movement on the dinorama area. Good riddance. Seems like there’s a good 3 months or longer to ride Dinosaur. I still need to get on Bugs Life for the first time since 2002 ha.. Sure you can speed run the rides since there are so few of them, but the wildlife walks, theater shows, character interactions, and animal shows are really what makes the park an all or most of the day visit. Not to mention the amazing restaurants like Yak n Yeti and  Nomad and Harambe market! 

I may be in the minority that I wish there was more to do in Pandora. Like Hogsmeade / you have one star attraction with an instant and all day massive line. River Journey is usually too long to justify and is just okay to me as the #2 attraction there. Great for families and people of all ages and heights but… at times boat rides at WDW have a long stack at the end of the ride that is as long as the ride itself or longer kills the buzz a bit. This has happened every River Journey ride for me. 

[KBrylczyk]

On 11/5/2024 at 9:47 AM, Hilltopper39 said:

I both love and hate how you can pretty much do everything in Animal Kingdom before noon.

If that everything is standing in an unmoving line in Pandora, sure!

You're right, though.  Without the Avatar waits padding your day there's really not much at the park outside of enjoying the atmosphere and the shows.  We finished our trip with an AK day and managed to fill it between shows and multiple laps on Everest and Kilimanjaro.  If I were still a teen or 20-something, though, I'd have been aching for an excuse to leave.  Now that I'm almost 40 with a toddler, well, the day was fan-friggin-tastic and I wouldn't change a thing.

[bert425]

the Safari can take up a lot of time too. . . depending on what time of day you hit it.

[YoshiFan]

I still remember visiting in 2000 with my school. For some reason as part of a 3 day trip, they planned 8 hours at Animal Kingdom and only 4 hours at Epcot. With just the safari, Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids and the Discovery River boats, we ran out of rides to try very quickly. That visit always is in the back of my mind as it was my first impression of the park and even now, I rarely visit more than 4 times a year for half a day compared to visiting the 3 other parks around once a month each.

[prozach626]

lol. Only four times a year.