Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a fantastic Disney park mixing traditional theme park elements with nature and conservation. It is a large park with a lot to see and do during your Walt Disney World vacation. So much so that I thought I would share our Top 10 Animal Kingdom Activities.
Find Out More About Animal Kingdom
- Is Animal Kingdom Worth Visiting
- The Best Rides at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- All The Animal Kingdom Rides and Attractions
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom for Toddlers
- Helpful Tips for Visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Where to Eat at Animal Kingdom
10 Essential Animal Kingdom Activities
This is our top 10 favorite things to do at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park during our Family’s Disney World vacations. Let’s dive into some fun Animal Kingdom activities.
Let’s take a look…
10. Ride Dinosaur
Dinosaur is a great dark ride and it is very dark using the lighting to great effect to make the animatronic dinosaurs that bit more intimidating. Do be aware that Dinosaur can be perceived to be scary especially for younger children.
For the ride itself you board a time rover vehicle that throws you around as you explore the landscape looking to rescue an Iguanodon before the giant meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs strikes the planet. The Carnotaurus dinosaurs are scary and I would say especially so for younger children.
I would say that Dinosaur is one of the scariest rides at Walt Disney World but one you have to try at Animal Kingdom.
You can find out about more Scary Disney World Rides here.
9. See Finding Nemo
Another great show at Animal Kingdom is Finding Nemo. Live performers bring the famous Pixar movie to life with wonderful puppets and under water special effects. This show is so entertaining with performers coming out into the audience and making the show feel very immersive.
14 original songs are performed throughout the show and there are great views from wherever you sit inside the auditorium. This is such a great way to take a break from the sun and sit down and enjoy a highly entertaining show.
8. Eat at Tusker House
Whatever meal you book at Tusker House you are guaranteed a wide variety of food to be on offer. This is probably my favorite buffet for the food on offer and when you have the characters too this makes for a great dining option. The characters in their safari suits make for fun photos too. Tusker House is Definitely one of the Best Disney World character meals.
We have always enjoyed the food, the characters and the service too.
You can find more of our Best Disney World Character Meals here.
Tusker House Tip
A Rivers of Light dining package is available at Tusker House. You get reserved seating for the evening show when you book this package. You can find out more on the Disney World Website here.
7. Take the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
It is a wonderful experience to see the Gorillas at the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. Animal Kingdom has so much more to offer than your standard theme park experience and animals are a big part of that. If you are lucky you can actually get quite close to the Gorillas when you get to the screened viewing areas. Just like the tigers, seeing the gorillas is a great experience for all the family and has to be one of your must do Animal Kingdom activities.
6. Eat at Yak and Yeti
Animal Kingdom’s Yak and Yeti restaurant has a wide selection of Asian style dishes. There are noodle and wok dishes along with a variety of specialty dishes such as the Bhaktapur Duck (I highly recommend it). You can also find some more recognizable dishes such as honey chicken, BBQ ribs and some burger options too. You can find the full menu here.
The theme of the restaurant is a quaint village home that has been transformed into a restaurant and decorated with a collection of Southeast Asian artefacts. The atmosphere is very pleasant, we have always found the service to be very good and on last trip we enjoyed our first meal so much we changed our dining reservations and went back for a second visit towards the end of our vacation.
You read more about where to eat at Animal Kingdom here.
5. See Festival of the Lion King
Festival of the Lion King is a wonderful show so try not to skip it when at Animal Kingdom. There are fantastic performers such as singers, acrobats and the whole show works so well. It is also usually quite easy to get into as well. This is our favorite show at Animal Kingdom and if you are a fan of the Lion King it is a must see and even if you are not, I guarantee you will still enjoy it.
4. See the Tigers at the Maharajah Jungle Trek
Tigers are magnificent creatures and its really special to see them as you make your way through the Maharajah Jungle Trek located near the Kali River Rapids. During the trek you will cross footbridges, discover ruins of a palace and pass through an aviary that homes over 50 species of birds. There are also many other animals to see such as gibbons, deer and Komodo dragons.
The Tiger though make this wonderful trek something very special and I can’t recommend it enough.
3. Expedition Everest
This is one of my favorite roller coasters ever. Everest itself looks fantastic and you can see it looming in the distance as you approach through Asia. If you like riding roller coasters then Expedition Everest is a must do at Animal Kingdom.
The roller coaster ride itself is so much fun with the early twists and turn before you climb the mountain and discover the broken track. The track switching part of the ride works so well and the section where you hurl backwards through the darkness before the Yeti projection section is thrilling.
The big drop towards the end can make for a great photo too once you have worked out where the camera is located. We will quite often head to Expedition Everest from rope drop where you can usually get on it at least twice before the lines start building up.
You can read more about the Best Disney World Roller Coasters here.
Expedition Everest Tip
Try heading to Everest from rope drop during your Disney World vacation. You can often walk straight on to the ride and even ride two or three times pretty quickly.
2. Ride Kilimanjaro Safaris
Take an African safari ride as you explore the Harambe Wildlife Reserve where you will see hippos, crocodiles, giraffe’s, elephants and lions as well as many other animals. Kilimanjaro Safaris is a fantastic experience for all the family and the tour guides that drive your safari truck are very knowledgeable making this experience quite educational too.
Highlights for us are usually the elephants and the lions on pride rock who are usually taking a nap as you pass by. The great thing about Kilimanjaro Safaris is that each time you take it you are never quite sure what you are going to see or how long it might take as you might have to stop for passing animals out on the plains. Definitely a must do at Animal Kingdom.
Kilimanjaro Safaris Tip
The best time of day to take the Kilimanjaro Safari tour is when it is cool so as early in the day or as late in the day as possible. During the middle of the day when it is at its hottest a lot of the animals will be looking for shade and cover.
1. Ride Avatar Flight of Passage
This must appear first on this list because even with all the new attractions that have opened at Hollywood Studios Flight of Passage still pulls the crowds into Pandora and still generates long standby lines and very much sought-after Fast Passes.
This is for good reason too because Avatar Flight of Passage is a brilliant ride and experience. I was never a huge fan of the Avatar movie but with this ride it doesn’t matter. The experience of riding a Banshee through the changing landscapes of Pandora is an exhilarating one.
It is a smooth ride experience too which is great if like me you can suffer from a bit of motion sickness. Every time I have been on the ride, I have come off feeling fine and pumped from the ride experience.
Flight of Passage Tip
Get a Lightning Lane or get to Animal Kingdom for rope drop and head straight to Pandora World of Avatar. Be warned though most of the crowd will be heading in the same direction as you.
If you do head to Avatar Flight of Passage straight from rope drop then you can usually ride the Na’vi River Journey boat ride pretty quickly too after riding Flight of Passage. Na’vi River Journey also usually gets long standby line wait times throughout the day.
Take a look at the best Animal Kingdom Rides and Shows
Bonus – Take a Long Look at the Tree of Life
A bonus tip, take some time to have a good long look at the Tree of Life because it is an amazing structure full of detailed animals that makes up the giant trunk. As you make your way around the park keep taking some time out to look at the tree because you will keep seeing something new. You’ll get some fantastic photo’s too.
Top 10 Must Do Animal Kingdom Activities
I hop you have enjoyed our Top 10 Must Do Disney’s Animal Kingdom Activities and they have given you some ideas for your Walt Disney World Vacation. Please do share this post on social media or pin the image below. Sharing is caring and it helps us reach a wider audience.
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Thanks for stopping by.
Darren
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