Disney's Animal Kingdom

Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a zoological theme park at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division, it is the largest theme park in the world, covering 580 acres (230 ha). 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 around natural environment and animal conservation, a philosophy once pioneered by Walt Disney.
Disney's Animal Kingdom distinguishes itself from other Walt Disney World theme parks by featuring hundreds of live animal exhibits alongside traditional theme park elements. Special designs and provisions were incorporated throughout the park to protect the animals' welfare. The park is located on the western edge of the resort and is isolated from the other theme parks and properties to minimize external disruptions to the animals; as a result, the park does not feature nighttime fireworks shows that would otherwise disturb the animals. In efforts to be more eco-friendly, the park uses biodegradable paper straws and prohibits plastic straws, lids, and balloons. Disney's Animal Kingdom is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, indicating they have met or exceeded the standards in animal welfare, education, conservation, and research.
In 2023, the park hosted 8.77 million guests, making it the 16th-most-visited theme park in the world. It is the most-visited zoo in the world as of 2019. The park's icon is the Tree of Life, a 145-foot-tall (44 m), 50-foot-wide (15 m) artificial baobab tree.
Disney began planning a new park shortly after the opening of Disney-MGM Studios in 1989. Animal Kingdom was the brainchild of Imagineer Joe Rohde, who had previously designed the Adventurers Club at Pleasure Island. When presenting the idea of the new animal-themed park, Rohde brought a 400-pound (180 kg) Bengal tiger into the meeting with Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Originally slated as Disney's "Wild Animal Kingdom," Disney announced plans for the construction of the park in 1995 at an estimated cost of $600-$800 million. To design the theme park, Disney Imagineers traveled to Africa and Asia to study the landscapes and wildlife.
In July 1996, construction was underway on the animal holding facilities, the installation of trees, shrubs, and grasses to shape the park's African Savanna-inspired landscape. Disney Imagineers collected seeds from 37 countries to be used for the plants and grasses in the park. The landscaping efforts included spreading four million cubic yards of dirt, planting 40,000 mature trees (a mix of real Savanna species and artificial Baobab trees), constructing 60 miles (97 km) of underground utilities, and construction of various waterways, and structures built by over 2,600 construction workers. Many buildings contained thatched roofs assembled by Zulu workers from South Africa. About 1,500 hand-painted wooden horses were crafted in Bali under Disney supervision. Parts of the park were designed to have an aged appearance, with artificial potholes in the safari roads and boats peppered with dents and rust.
Most of the park's animals were acquired in 1997 during the fall; they were held at a rented holding facility in northern Florida for quarantine and observation. Disney hired staff from 69 zoos around the United States to care for the animals.
The park opened to the public on April 22, 1998. Several marketing events surrounded the day. ABC aired a two-hour prime time special about the making of Animal Kingdom, as part of its The Wonderful World of Disney anthology series. Eisner and Disney Vice Chairman Roy Disney hosted an opening day party for 14,000 corporate partners, travel agents, and media figures, which included celebrities such as Michael J. Fox, Drew Carey, Stevie Wonder, David Copperfield, and Jane Goodall. Broadcasts of Good Morning America, Today and Live with Regis and Kathie Lee aired live from the park on April 22.
In 2011, Disney announced a major expansion to the park, Pandora - The World of Avatar, a joint venture with director James Cameron and his production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, with the intention of transforming Animal Kingdom into a full-day operation with added attraction capacity and nighttime experiences. Construction on the area began on January 10, 2014, and the area opened to the public on May 27, 2017.
The park was closed from March 16 to July 11, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida.
On September 9, 2023, it was announced at Destination D23 that DinoLand U.S.A. would be replaced with a new area inspired by the American tropics, and It's Tough to Be a Bug! would be succeeded by a Zootopia-themed film in the Tree of Life Theater.
On August 10, 2024, it was confirmed that It's Tough to Be a Bug! show would be replaced by the new show Zootopia: Better Zoogether in the Tree of Life Theater, opening in the winter of 2025, and DinoLand U.S.A. would be replaced by a new Tropical Americas land, set in the fictional town of Pueblo Esperanza, featuring Encanto and Indiana Jones-themed attractions with completion expected by 2027.
In October 2024, the closing date of DinoLand, U.S.A. was pushed to 2025. The first phase of the closure of DinoLand, U.S.A. became effective on January 13, 2025, with the closure of the subsection Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama, including TriceraTop Spin, Fossil Fun Games, and Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures. In February 2025, it was announced that It's Tough to Be a Bug! would close on March 17, 2025.
Disney's Animal Kingdom is divided into seven themed areas. The park's Discovery River separates Discovery Island from the other lands. The park is home to approximately 2000 animals representing around 200 species.
Oasis is the park's logistic equivalent to Main Street U.S.A. and provides the transition from the park's entrance to the world of animals. The main paths feature animal exhibits and dense vegetation and trees lead deeper into the park and then onto Discovery Island. Between the parking lot and the Oasis sits a Rainforest Cafe, which can be entered from both inside and outside the ticketed area.
Discovery Island is located at the center of the park and is an island within the park's Discovery River waterway. It serves as the "central hub" connecting the other sections of the park by bridges, with the exception of Rafiki's Planet Watch. It was originally called Safari Village, as Discovery Island was the name for the small zoological park located in Walt Disney World's Bay Lake but was renamed after that area, which closed in 1999.
The Tree of Life, the park's sculpted, man-made baobab tree, is located in this section and is surrounded by trails and animal enclosures. The park's largest gift shops and two of its major restaurants are on Discovery Island.
Pandora – The World of Avatar is themed to the fictional habitable exomoon, Pandora, from James Cameron's Avatar and devoted to the many extraterrestrial fauna and flora that inhabit it. The land's marquee attraction is Avatar Flight of Passage, a 3D flying thrill simulator that mimics an exhilarating flight on a banshee across the Pandoran landscape. Another attraction, the Na'vi River Journey, is a dark boat ride through Pandora's bioluminescent rainforests. The area opened on May 27, 2017.
Africa, set in the fictional east African port village of Harambe, resembles the local villages found in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Some snippets from Africa that were duplicated by the Disney Imagineers included a fortress that was found in Zanzibar, and a water-stained, crumbling old building that was found in Kenya. Harambe includes a "hotel”, restaurants, an outdoor bar with live entertainment, and different marketplaces.
The village is the namesake of the Harambe Wildlife Preserve, the fictional home of the area's main attraction, Kilimanjaro Safaris. Guests climb aboard an open-sided safari vehicle for an expedition to see African species in several large field enclosures, replicating the African savannas, rivers and rocky hills. The safari features the okapi, greater kudu, saddle-billed stork, bongo, black and southern white rhinoceros, hippopotamus, pink-backed pelican, Nile crocodile, African wild dog, spotted hyena, Masai and reticulated giraffe, blue wildebeest, impala, Thomson’s gazelle, springbok, Ankole cattle, common eland, waterbuck, sable antelope, African bush elephant, mandrill, flamingo, Hartmann's mountain zebra, common ostrich, bontebok, scimitar-horned oryx, cheetah, African lion, and common warthog.
On the adjacent Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, visitors trek into the forest to see animals such as the Western lowland gorilla, black-and-white colobus monkey, okapi, gerenuk, yellow-backed duiker, pygmy hippopotamus, Grévy's zebra, South African meerkat, Kenyan sand boa, kori bustard, naked mole-rat, tarantulas, and, as well as an aviary. On the western side of the Africa area is the Harambe Theater, which is home to the Festival of the Lion King, a live stage show based on Disney's 1994 animated feature film, The Lion King.
Rafiki's Planet Watch is the only section of the park not connected to Discovery Island; it connects only to Africa. Guests board the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge Wildlife Express Train for the short trip to and from the area, which consists of three sub-areas.
Conservation Station showcases the various conservation efforts supported by the Walt Disney Company. It also gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Disney's Animal Kingdom's animal care facilities, including a veterinary examination room complete with a two-way communications system so the veterinary staff can answer guest questions.
Outside, Affection Section is a petting zoo featuring goats, sheep, cattle, domestic pigs, donkeys, and alpacas.
The area also includes The Animation Experience at Conservation Station.
Asia, set in the fictional kingdom of Anandapur, evokes the traits of Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet, China. The first expansion area added to Disney's Animal Kingdom in 1999, Anandapur translates to "place of many delights" in Sanskrit. According to the park's fictional history, Anandapur was established as a royal hunting preserve in 1544. Asia contains both the riverside village of Anandapur and Serka Zong, which is set in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The visual focal point of Asia is Expedition Everest, a steel roller coaster ride through a forbidden Himalayan mountain guarded by the elusive Yeti. Nearby is Kali River Rapids, a river rapids ride. The Maharajah Jungle Trek leads guests through the forests and ruins outside the village, which are home to species such as the water buffalo, bar-headed goose, Sumatran tiger, Indian blackbuck, Eld's deer, lion-tailed macaque, Indian flying fox, Komodo dragon and over 50 bird species. In the Anandapur Theatre, Feathered Friends in Flight is a live bird show featuring birds such as the black crowned crane and bald eagle.
DinoLand U.S.A. is set in the fictional American rural locale of Diggs County and is themed around dinosaurs and other extinct prehistoric life. The area is anchored by the Dino Institute, a palaeontological facility which is home to Dinosaur, a dark thrill ride loosely inspired by the film of the same name, featuring a trip through time to the Late Cretaceous. Just outside the institute is "Dino-Sue", a casting of a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil that is the most complete yet found. At the nearby Boneyard, there is a fossil site playground area with a Columbian mammoth fossil and a cast skeleton of a Brachiosaurus.
At the eastern edge of DinoLand U.S.A. is the Theater in the Wild, which hosts Finding Nemo: The Big Blue...and Beyond!, a musical stage show based on the story of the 2003 animated film Finding Nemo.
Like the other sections of Disney's Animal Kingdom, DinoLand formerly had animals on display. The animals, such as the American crocodile, red legged seriemas, Abdim's stork and Asian brown tortoise, have evolutionary links to the age of the dinosaurs. They are animal species that have survived since the dinosaur era and can be found along the Cretaceous Trail along with a collection of Mesozoic plants.
Camp Minnie-Mickey was themed as a rustic summer camp, built as a placeholder on the location where Beastly Kingdom was intended to be built. The area closed on January 5, 2014, and was replaced by Pandora – The World of Avatar.
When originally conceived, Disney's Animal Kingdom was to focus on three broad classifications of animals: those that exist in today's reality; those that did exist but are now extinct (i.e., dinosaurs); and those that only exist in the realm of fantasy such as unicorns and dragons. The original design for Animal Kingdom included a themed section called Beastly Kingdom, devoted to creatures of legend and mythology. During the final stages of planning of development, Eisner decided that either Beastly Kingdom or DinoLand U.S.A. would be built first because of budget cuts after the failure of Euro Disney (known today as Disneyland Paris) and the higher cost of the upkeep and care of the animals at the park. DinoLand U.S.A. was chosen first mostly because of its lower budget. In 2000, Rohde said: "We had a vision and now it's become a placeholder. We have all kinds of ideas and not all of them fit with the theme of Beastly Kingdom. I'm not even convinced there will be a Beastly Kingdom."
The park contains four table service restaurants:
There are seven quick-service restaurants located throughout the park:
As with other Walt Disney World theme parks, Disney's Animal Kingdom has other locations and carts that offer snacks and beverages.
The park typically closes earlier in the day than other parks in the Walt Disney World Resort; Animal Kingdom began to stay open through the evening on May 27, 2016.
Disney does not allow plastic straws, lids, or balloons to be used in the park, unlike the rest of the Disney parks. This is so that plastic does not inadvertently enter an animal's habitat and hurt them. Instead, the park uses biodegradable paper straws and offers lids for hot drinks only. The restrooms at Disney's Animal Kingdom all have doors at their entrances. This practice is in place so that, in the event of an animal escaping, guests are able to shelter safely inside.
As a zoological park, Disney's Animal Kingdom is engaged in research and conservation efforts involving its animal species. Since the park's opening in 1998, the resident elephant herd has produced seven calves, with births in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2016. In 2008, the park's giraffe herd produced four newborns, raising the total number of giraffe births since opening to eleven.
In 1999, one of the park's white rhinoceros gave birth to a female calf named Nande. In 2006, Nande and Hasani, another of the park's rhinos, were transferred to Uganda's Ziwa animal sanctuary, in the first attempt to re-introduce white rhinos to the country. Civil strife had caused the white rhinoceros to be eradicated from the area. In June 2009, Nande gave birth to a male calf, the first such birth in Uganda in over 25 years. By January 2010, eight white rhinos had been born at Animal Kingdom since the park's opening; the most recent was born to another Animal Kingdom-born mother.
Several Florida-based animal rights groups and PETA voiced concerns when the park originally opened, citing Walt Disney World's previous missteps in handling animals at the defunct Discovery Island. The groups protested, and PETA tried to convince travel agents not to book trips to the park. On opening day, the Orange County Sheriff's office sent about 150 deputies; about two dozen protesters showed up. The protest lasted two hours, and there were no arrests.
Following a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection of the park, it was revealed that 31 animals died at Animal Kingdom between September 1997 and April 1998 from accidents, poisonings, fights, and other causes. Two Asian small-clawed otters died after ingesting loquat seeds from trees planted in their exhibit; two cheetah cubs died from ethylene glycol poisoning; nine herd animals died from injuries caused by fights, being entangled in fences while trying to escape, and, in one case, being kicked by an ostrich. Two crowned cranes were killed after being run over by safari vehicles in two separate incidents. The USDA ultimately found no violations of animal-welfare regulations. Disney responded to the report by hiring additional security to prevent animals from fighting, relocating the crowned cranes to walking paths, as well as adding mirrors to the safari vehicles.
One year after the park opened, Animal Rights Foundation of Florida complained that a New Year's Eve fireworks show could upset the animals. A USDA inspector came to the park and found no problems with launching low-noise fireworks one-half mile (800 m) away. In January 2015, the animal rights group In Defense of Animals listed the park at number 10 on its 2014 "list of worst zoos for elephants."
In October 2014, a snake dropped out of a tree and bit a boy, precipitating the death of his great-grandmother who suffered a cardiac arrest as a reaction to the incident. The park confirmed that the snake that bit the boy was a non-venomous indigenous snake and that it did not escape from an enclosure. A lawsuit was threatened because of the incident. The lawsuit was never filed.
As of 2019, Disney's Animal Kingdom is the sixth-most-visited theme park in the world.