Overview

Hype:

Disney's Animal Kingdom is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company, it is the largest theme park in the world, covering 580 acres. The park opened on Earth Day, April 22, 1998, and was the fourth theme park built at the resort. The park is dedicated and themed entirely around the natural environment and animal conservation.

Time:

Fees: Admission and Parking

Recommended Ages:

0-3
4-11
12-19
20-49
50-69
70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Features:
  • Rides
  • Zoos and Aquariums

Links: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/destinations/animal-kingdom/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney%27s_Animal_Kingdom

Getting There

Navigate to 28.348584, -81.589699.

Location

Closest City or Region: Bay Lake, Florida

Coordinates: 28.357820, -81.590600

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Brochure

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August 4, 2021 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye, Madilyn Dye, Cooper Dye, Melissa Kirkham, Shaun Kirkham, Jacob Kirkham, Kylie Kirkham, Kate Kirkham, Leah Kirkham, Andrew Stingley,

Logistics

6:30 - Leave house

7:30 - Entrance Queue

8:00 - Avatar Flight of Passage

8:30 - Slushies (Grr!) instead of Na'vi River Journey

9:00 - It's Tough to be A Bug!

9:45 - Expedition Everest

10:15 - Kali River Rapids

10:50 - Kali River Rapids

11:20 - Lunch at Yak & Yeti

12:30 - Kilamanjaro Safaris

1:20 - UP! A Gread Bird Adventure Show

2:45 - Dinosaur

3:15 - Maharajah Jungle Trek

4:30 - Na'vi River Journey

5:00 - Leave

Story

We got everyone up super early so we could get to the park before it opened and hit a lot of rides while the lines were short. Keep in mind that we were still getting used to the time zone change, so it felt 2 hours earlier than the clocks said. We were in the entrance queue and raced to the Avatar Flight of Passage ride. But then when we finished that ride, the Kirkhams stopped for slushies at the gift shop. Tara and I and our kids went straight over to Na'vi River Journey, then we turned around and the Kirkhams weren't following us. When Tara and I arrived at the queue for Na'vi, the wait time was 10 minutes. We stood there and waited outside the line as hundreds of people passed us and the queue increased from 10 minutes to 45 minutes in length. We were super frustrated because we had gotten up early so we could ride lots of rides before the lines got long, but then we got stuck waiting for the Kirkhams to finish their slushies instead. By the time they were done with slushies, the line was too long, so we skipped that ride and went over to It's Tough to be a Bug instead. When we expressed our frustration to Missy, she got very defensive, "well, some of us like to enjoy the whole Disney experience".

The rest of the day was pretty rough as well. We had lots of rain and very cranky kids due to lack of sleep and lots of waiting in lines. We also did lots of backtracking as we walked back and forth between lines, tried to attend shows that ended up being full, etc.

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Pictures

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