For the longest time, I always felt like Animal Kingdom was a half-day park. It was never on the top of my list and I put it on my first-day itinerary just to get it out of the way. Boy was I wrong! Animal kingdom deserves more credit and here’s why I think you should give it a full day.
1. Less Stress
Upon arrival, I noticed that Animal Kingdom seemed far less crowded than I expected a Disney Park to be. There was little to no pushing and shoving through crowds (minus one area by Everest) and there were not as many screaming children. Everything seemed so peaceful in the park partnered with plenty of shade and relaxing music.
2. Beautiful Scenery
You can truly get lost in Animal Kingdom. It is a winding park with loads of greenery. With so much to see, including gardens and animal exhibits, you can take a break from the rides and just wander around.
If you look down on the floor, you can even spot some tracks and markings that tell the stories of each land.
3. Amazing Events
There’s always something going on in Animal Kingdom that isn’t as well advertised as some of the other events. Whether it be puppets, kites, art, or a celebration of the earth – there’s always something to see wandering around.
4. Live Animals!
Whether you go on the safari ride, take the train to Rafiki’s planet watch, or simply just walk around, you get to see live animals! I am a huge animal lover as some of you may know so this was a major plus. If you are willing to pay a little extra, you can even take a VIP wild Africa trek (199.00 USD as of 1/22/23). They take you up close and behind the scenes of the safari. You even get to hook in with a harness and walk across a rope bridge over some alligators. Truly, not for the faint of heart.
5. Pandora
Pandora was the start of Disney truly reaching this new level of immersion. It stands on par with Batuu (their Star Wars land over in Hollywood studios). Pandora was the first land to really draw a crowd on the land alone. Now, the lines for “Flight of Passage” and “Na’vi River Journey” can get quite long but the actual land itself never got very crowded while I was there. I would rope-drop for this land alone if you want to get on Flight of Passage. I would not skip this ride as it is one of my favorite rides in all of the Disney Parks. Truly, I don’t know how they were able to Imagineer this landscape. It truly feels like you’ve been taken to another planet.
If you go at night, it glows! Just another reason to stay in Animal Kingdom all day!