A traveler's guide to Disney's Animal Kingdom
Come for the animals in the morning and Pandora when you still have legs. This theme park does not reward a late start.
Disney's Animal Kingdom is the Walt Disney World theme park built around animals, Expedition Everest, and Pandora. It is in Bay Lake, Florida. It also closes earlier than the other three, so the evening plan has to be honest.
When to go
Animals are more active in cooler weather and early hours. Summer afternoons empty the savanna and fill the indoor queues. The park often closes before the fireworks parks do. Check the hour before you promise a late dinner inside the gate.
How to see it
Safari first, then Everest or Flight of Passage, whichever line is shorter when you finish. Pandora at night is the second reason to stay. The trails around the Tree of Life are the part people skip and then wish they had not. Festival of the Lion King is the sit-down show.
Tickets and time
A full day fits if you start at open. Hopper guests should put Animal Kingdom in the morning, not as an afterthought at 3 p.m. when the animals have settled. Lightning Lane is for Flight of Passage and the safari if the board says so.
If you only remember this
- The park is huge. The trains and paths are not a suggestion.
- It is a real animal park. Stay quiet on the trails.
- Pandora after dark is worth the sore feet.
- Nomad Lounge is the reservation people trade favors for.