Animal Kingdom

Park Dedication

Welcome to a kingdom of animals… real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn. -- Dedication, 1998

Park Overview

Discovery Island is an 11.5 acre island at Walt Disney World. The island is located just east of the Magic Kingdom. In 1974, it began operating as a small zoo. Most of the animals were birds, but there were also monkeys, tortoises, and alligators. The attraction served as an addition to the original Walt Disney World line up. In the 1990s, the company determined that the resort could support a much larger animal based attraction, and Animal Kingdom was proposed.

Animal Kingdom is a 580 acre combination of zoo and theme park. It features rides and attractions, as well as replicas of the native environments for the expanded roster of animals. Animal Kingdom has received accreditation from the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for its current standards of care, conservation, and education. This makes Animal Kingdom unique as a theme park. It closes earlier than other parks, souvenirs are more restricted (including a “Baloon Day-care” service), and pyrotechnics are restricted for nighttime spectaculars. This park is meant to showcase the natural world in a respectful and constructive way. These animal exhibits also lead to a lower number of traditional attractions.

The current park structure includes areas based on different geographical locations: Africa, Asia, Pandora, and the upcoming Tropical Americas. These areas showcase the wildlife and flora of the specific regions. Pandora injects a taste of fantasy to the park by showcasing a fictional nature. There has been little expansion to the park in the nearly 30 years since it opened in 1998. Nearly all of the new attractions have been replacements for removed attractions. As such, the overall capacity has not changed significantly. Because of the complexity in the animal care facilities, this park will likely continue this trajectory for the foreseeable future. Animal Kingdom is often described as a “half day park” because of the limited attractions. Nighttime spectaculars are typically used to extend the length of a guests stay, stretching the hours into the night. These shows are difficult at Animal Kingdom, and the park is currently operating without a major night-time show.

Wait Times

Below are graphs showing wait times for some of the key attractions at the park. We track posted wait times, and use them to predict what wait times will be each day. We make live updates to these predictions, so they will adjust to the current crowd levels in the park. The orange line with the circle markers shows the wait times that Disney has posted today. The blue line shows our prediction. The light-gold shaded region shows wait times that we would consider average – these are the range of wait times you can expect on a day that’s not too crowded or too slow.

Asia

Africa

Pandora - the World of Avatar

DinoLand U.S.A.

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