The Animal Kingdom

a.k.a. Lions and Tigers and Bears! (oh, my...)

The Animal Kingdom is Disney's newest park. We spent about 2/3rds of a day here; I would compare it in size and number of attractions to MGM Studios. It was a nice park, but there is one BIG problem in design.

The Design Flaw

The Animal Kingdom has a center point - the Tree of Life. There is a circle going around the Tree of Life, and then each of the areas (Africa, Asia, etc.) go off from this main circle. So, in order to get from one land to most other lands (with a few exceptions), you have to go to the main circle and around. Now, had the main circle been made quite wide, this wouldn't be a problem. But it wasn't! The picture below shows one of the paths on this main circle; by 2PM in the afternoon, this was elbow-to-elbow, and we were there in February! So, my advice - go early. The park closes earlier than the other parks, so you can't really go late.


Cute ladybug lamps, but narrow path for being a main thoroughfare.

Africa

We went through the Safari, which was interesting. You ride in a long jeep-like vehicle through pre-determined paths and see animals if you are lucky. Imagine riding through a zoo with no bars... on a bumpy road... with an annoying script being fed to you. In order to pump many people through, the cars go at a pretty quick pace. I tried to video some of the trip, but it was too bumpy and fast to get any decent video. However, there is a walking path which lets you see some of the same animals at your own pace.

Asia

Asia had a bird show (which is where the owl comes from at the top of the page) and another walking zoo-path. This one was quite enjoyable. There was a vampire bat "room" and several different tiger runs .

There was also a bird walkthrough where you could look for birdies hiding in the woods. Also in Asia was a river rapids ride. However, as it was still fairly chilly, we chose to skip that attraction.

Dinoland USA

(because, of course, the USA was the only place with dinosaurs...)

Now, Ken likes dinosaurs. We had heard there was a simulation ride in the Dino USA land here, but had also heard it was a little rough. What we didn't hear is that it was pitch-black (you-can't-even-see-your-hand-black) for chunks of the ride, and things would come screaming out of the darkness at you as the car flew down the track, bumping all the way. This ride is INTENSE. Think scary haunted house intense with a roller coaster kick. It's not Disney-happy-happy-look-at-the-pretty-dinosaur. So, consider yourself warned.. this is something you endure, rather than enjoy.

Pretty Things

All around the park, there were little exhibits. These provided some of the neater touches... it felt like you were exploring as you stumbled across these small exhibits. Here are some pictures from these exhibits (the last pictures actually came from Epcot, but it fits better in this theme). Don't forget - you can click on any picture to see a larger version.

In addition, there were some nice floral areas. The yellow trumpet trees really stood out.

From here, you can visit MGM Studios or one of the destinations below.

 

Magic Kindgom - Animal Kingdom - MGM Studios - Epcot - Downtown Disney - Universal Studios - Final Thoughts

 

Created by Scott Nicholson on March 18, 2001.
Back to Scott's Travel Page