The Perfect Day At Disney’s Animal Kingdom

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Planning a Walt Disney World holiday is a stressful experience, even frequent visitors will admit that. With rides, so many different food options and incredible shows, it can be overwhelming and difficult to work out where to even start. Let us help you plan your PERFECT DAY at Disney’s Animal Kingdom!

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Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World is one of our FAVOURITE parks (we’ll say that about all of them - how are you meant to pick!?). It is widely known as a “half-day” park, as in, you can visit this park in half a day. We strongly disagree with that, and we think there is plenty to do to entertain you for a full-day (or more!) at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

ROPE DROP

First and foremost, if you’re a Disney Parks newbie, the term “rope drop” is used to signify being there right when the park opens for the day. Historically, cast members used to hold up a physical rope to block off guests, and once the park opened, the rope was dropped and guests could enjoy their day!

Whether or not the best time of day to arrive at a Disney is the morning is up for debate, but we are passionate “rope droppers”. We love to arrive well before the park opens, get in as soon as it opens, and have an “hour of power” where we rush around and try to do our top 2-3 things in the park. We feel that if you can knock off a few of your must-do attractions first thing in the morning, it relieves a bit of the pressure and allows you to enjoy the rest of your day at a more relaxed pace.

SO, to start off your perfect day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you’re going to arrive 30-minutes before park opening. Now, if you are a Disney Resort guest, you will likely have early entry, which, as of writing this article, is 30-minutes before park opening. You can use the Walt Disney World app to check park opening hours and early entry hours, as these may change day to day. Nonetheless, whether you are arriving for early entry, or regular rope drop, get there 30-minutes before the time YOU are able to get into the park.

Guests with early entry will definitely have a clear advantage with their morning, getting 30-minutes ahead of regular day guests, but we recently went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the first time ever WITHOUT early entry, and we were still able to make really good use of our morning.

Once you’re scanned into the park, you’re going to head straight to Pandora - The World of Avatar. If you’re unsure which direction this is in, you can ask a cast member, or just follow the crowd, as majority of guests will be heading this way. To start the day, you’re going straight for your first ride, which is going to be Avatar’s Flight of Passage. A lot of people will suggest leaving this until the end of the day, but in our experience, the line never gets that short, and it’s best to get it out of the way early. If you have early entry, you will walk straight on and if you don’t, you may have to wait about 45-60 minutes depending on the day. If you get to the ride and the wait time is already super high, don’t freak out too much. Often with rides like this, cast members will put the wait time up right away, predicting the surge.

TIP: If you want to avoid waiting in a long line for Avatar’s Flight of Passage, you can look to purchase an Individual Lightning Lane through the Walt Disney World app. This will come at an extra cost, but will allow you to select a return time and skip the line later in the day.

Once you’ve been revolutionised by the incredible ride that is Flight of Passage, we’d suggest heading straight next door to its neighbouring ride in Na’vi River Journey. This is a bit more of a relaxed ride, and will allow you to chill out a little after the hectic rush to Flight of Passage. If you do have early entry, in our experience, you will be able to do Flight of Passage and Na’vi River Journey before the day guests enter the park. Coming off Flight of Passage, Na’vi River Journey should still be 15 minutes or less. If you don’t have early entry, we’d still suggest doing both of these first thing in the morning, particularly if Na’vi River Journey is still a relatively short wait, as the wait times will sky rocket during the day and are unlikely to come back down.

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EARLY MORNING

Stacey staring out onto the Savannah with wildebeest in the background on Kilimanjaro Safari in Disney's Animal Kingdom — *Spotting some Wildebeest on Kilimanjaro Safaris*

If you’ve had a bit of morning luck, hopefully it’s still relatively early in the morning by the time you knock off the two rides in The World of Avatar. Like we said, we’re morning rush people, and there are probably two more attractions at Disney’s Animal Kingdom that we’d suggest are must-do attractions, and therefore, are best to get out of the way in the morning.

The first of these is Kilimanjaro Safaris. If you had early entry into the park, head straight here after finishing up with the two Avatar rides, and you will generally find that the wait time is still really short, as most people have rushed to Avatar. This is the perfect time of day to go on the safari, as it’s still not too hot, and so a lot of the animals are out roaming.

If you didn’t have early entry, we’d still suggest making your way over to the Africa area of the park, and checking the wait time on your phone. If it is 30-40 minutes or under, jump straight in the line, because it’s only going to get longer throughout the day. If the line is pushing 60-minutes or more, we’d still recommend lining up, as it is the best time of day to see the animals, but perhaps pick up a coffee from Creature Comforts (aka Starbucks) before you jump in line, as you’ve had an early start to the day! You’ll pass Creature Comforts on your way to Africa so it’s the perfect quick pit stop.

Once you’ve been amazed by the beauty of all the animals on the safari, if you’ve still got some gas in the tank, we’d suggest doing one more ride before you chill out a bit. Head to the Asia section of the park and make your way towards Mt Everest. Expedition Everest is the resident thrill ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and you’ll usually find for most of the morning, if not a big chunk of the day, you can find this ride with a wait time of 15-minutes or less. For this reason, most people don’t head here early in the day, making it a perfect quick ride before you stop for a snack break.

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Fried chicken dumplings from Mr Kamal's in Disney's Animal Kingdom — *Chicken dumplings from Mr Kamal’s in Disney’s Animal Kingdom*

MID MORNING

Wow! A few hours into your day and you’ve already knocked off the four most popular attractions in the park! You’ve definitely earned a snack break, and one of our favourite places to grab a small bite to eat is Mr Kamal’s, which you’ll find walking between the Asia and Africa sections. Mr Kamal’s serves up two different snacks, both of which we are big fans of. First up, they have their chicken dumplings served with ponzu, and second item on the menu are their seasoned fries. Make a pit stop at Mr Kamal’s as you make your way back towards Africa and why not pick up one of each and split your morning snack!

TIP: There is a great photo spot with the Tree of Life on the pathway between Asia and Africa. If you have time, pop in and take some photos - it should still be very quiet in the morning!

Once you’ve enjoyed your snack, it’s time for your first show of the day. This one is arguably the most popular at Disney’s Animal Kingdom - Festival of the Lion King! We’d suggest aiming for the 11AM showing, but if you miss it, don’t fret, there’s another showing at 12PM.

MIDDAY

It’s been a jam packed morning, and now is the point of the day where you can start to take it a bit slower, and do a lot of other things around the park that don’t necessarily require waiting in line!

You’ve had a small snack at Mr Kamal’s, but if you’re still hungry and ready for lunch, head back to Pandora and towards Satu’li Canteen for some lunch. Satu’li Canteen is famous for it’s “build your own” bowl quick service style, and is a fan favourite when visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom. If you’re not a big fan of that, another popular menu item are its Cheeseburger Pods. Satu’li Canteen is a quick service option, so you can turn up whenever you’d like.

TIP: You can mobile order food for Satu’li Canteen. We’d suggest either pre-ordering in the morning and selecting a time in the afternoon, or you can give it a go when you’re on your way over. If no times are available when you’re wanting to eat, keep refreshing the app because times do pop up!

After you’ve filled up and had a delicious lunch, it’s time to take some photos to make sure you remember your magical day at Animal Kingdom. Given you’re in the World of Avatar, why not start there before heading to take some snaps with the Tree of Life. Obviously, if you’re not hungry yet after your snack from Mr Kamal’s, you can flip the order and take some photos before stopping for lunch!

TIP: If you’re wanting to save a little cash, but have your heart set on the Cheeseburger Pods, mobile order the kids meal. This should be plenty to keep you going!

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EARLY AFTERNOON

While we’re in our relaxing era, let’s pop in to some of the merchandise shops for a bit of a browse. Island Mercantile and Discovery Trading Company both sit in Discovery Island, right near the Tree of Life and are the biggest shops inside Animal Kingdom. Browse for some exclusive Animal Kingdom merchandise, or otherwise some general Disney merchandise. Even if you’re not looking to buy anything, it’s always fun to have a browse and see what’s on offer. Plus, it’s now early afternoon and has got to be pretty hot, so it’s also just an excuse to take advantage of the air conditioning!

LATE AFTERNOON

You’ve had a pretty relaxing few hours now, so it’s time to hit up another ride. Let’s head towards Dino Land USA because it’s time to ride Dinosaur! Depending on the day, Dinosaur may have a slightly longer wait time, but from experience, it generally is never as long as the attractions we’ve already hit up, so you shouldn’t have to wait too long.

*A Night Blossom is a refreshing beverage found at Pongu Pongu*

TIP: Despite adults not considering this ride to be too extreme on the thrill scale, a lot of children find it particularly scary because it’s so dark in parts. Keep this in mind if you’re bringing your little one on!

While in Dino Land, it’s time to head over to our second show of the day - Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond! Afternoon times for this show are 2.30PM, 3.30PM and 4.30PM, so depending how long you took taking your photos and browsing merchandise, you can select the time that best suits you. This one is more of a broadway-style stage show and is super impressive.

By now it’s been a while since your last food break. If you’re looking for one more snack before dinner, and given you’ll definitely be in the peak heat of the day, we’d suggest something cold and refreshing! We’d recommend either heading back into World of Avatar to Pongu Pongu and picking yourself up a Night Blossom, or alternatively, going back to Africa and heading to Tamu Tamu Refreshments to pick yourself up some Dole Whip!

NIGHT

Presumably it’s now getting dark, so it’s time to make our way back to Discovery Island and in front of the Tree of Life to watch the Tree of Life Awakening. This will take place every 10 minutes from dark, until park close. If you thought the Tree of Life was beautiful during the day, wait until you see her all lit up at night!

The sign for Sanaa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge — *Sanaa is an African-Indian restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge*

Now for dinner we’re technically going to leave Disney’s Animal Kingdom… BUT where we’re going is closely related enough that we feel we can justify it! Jump on one of the free Disney buses to Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village because for dinner, we’re going to one of Disney’s best, affordable sit-down restaurants (in our opinion) - Sanaa! This restaurant offers up dishes made with the art of African cooking, but infused with Indian flavours. Order the famous bread service to start of your meal, and then dive into some of the many amazing dishes! We highly recommend the butter chicken, but everything we’ve had has been delicious!

NOTE: You will need a dining reservation for Sanaa. You can make these through the Walt Disney World app 60 days from the date you are looking to book if you are staying off property. If you are staying on Disney property, you can make these 60 days in advance of your check-in date, and you can make reservations for the entire duration of your stay.

Just like that, your perfect day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is over!

There are obviously SO many other things to do at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, so it definitely is not a half-day park. If you do plan to come back for another day, why not check out Feathered Friends in Flight, or head on over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch to check out Conservation Station, visit the Affection Section or try your hand at drawing some famous Disney characters! If you’re looking for some other quick bites to eat, check out Yak and Yeti at their quick service location for some delicious pan-Asian cuisine, or otherwise check out Harambe Market for some African-inspired cuisine!

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Purchase your Walt Disney World tickets with Attraction Tickets! They are perfect for longer stays, offering 14-day tickets that come with a bunch of benefits!