Am I the only one that does not like Animal Kingdom?

[Fromeurope]

There is something about AK that makes me sad. All of these animals are taken out of their natural habitat and put there for our enjoyment.

It's been a long time ago that animals were taken out of their natural habitat for that purpose. Nowadays almost all animals living in zoos in decent countries have never been wild animals. They were born in a zoo and will die there as well.
And I really think that living in Animal Kingdom isn't the worst thing an animal can experience

 

[peter11435]

There is something about AK that makes me sad. All of these animals are taken out of their natural habitat and put there for our enjoyment.

All of the animal at AK were already in captivity. I think they probably will have a much better life and much better care at AK. The park has wonderful animal staff and facilities. Not to mention they live in very well designed environments with lots of room to roam. It is probably as close to their natural habitat as they would ever have seen. They will also live longer and with better health and less predators then in the wild.

Personally AK is my favorite of the four parks. Sure it needs some more but everything they have is well done. The park has some great shows and attractions, not to mention it has the best themeing and landscaping of the four. I think with time Animal Kingdom will only get better.

 

[LSUDis]

I think that maybe with the ticket prices being what they are, people want to use their tickets on what they see as "Disney"--Dumbo, the characters, Peter Pan ride, the Teacup ride, etc.

Animal Kingdom could have a gold mine at Camp Minnie Mickey. They need some child-oriented rides there. I have always thought that a Lion King ride would be interesting there. I know that the focus at Animal Kingdom is the animals, but those of us who like animals DO go with our children who need the "intermission" of a ride to keep them happy with not being at MK that very minute. I have been seeing more characters at AK lately, though.

A restaurant in the sky,like a jungle/ treehouse restaurant, would be a top attraction, too, especially if you could overlook parts of the savannahs on the Kilimanjaro safari.

I don't know if it is just me, but we've gone in June and AK seems to be the hottest of all of the parks.

Well, if we all agreed on our favorite parks, think how much more crowded they would always be!

 

[skiwee1]

I used to think this park is a waste of time. Now we make sure to hit it for a few hours for the safari, the gorilla trail, Tough to be a bug, the parade, the Lion King show. That is all we see now as the rest can be pretty boring. Out of all the major parks it is our least favorite but still not one to miss anymore.

 

[kpk89]

We went for the first time in Oct. because we stayed at the AKL and only had one park day. It was the only park we'd never seen, so off we went! Very enjoyable to me, though we missed the FOTLK, the parade, and the other shows and such because dh gets whiny in the heat. (and this was October!!) I can't wait to bring the kids back, because then I know we'll get to see the shows, parade, and spend more time walking the trails.

 

[PandyPaws]

There is something about AK that makes me sad. All of these animals are taken out of their natural habitat and put there for our enjoyment.

On the contrary, many of AK's animals are captive-born wild animals. There are species at AK and in other zoos worlwide that would no longer exist if not for the efforts of those who's care these animals are in. There are species in zoos today that are already extinct in the wild, and others that are suspected of (but thus far unconfirmed ) being extinct in the wild. Still others are being bred for reintroduction into the wild. Some of these species would not otherwise*be* at all. I have the utmost respect for the animals programs at AK...nothing there to be sad about

 

[Poohbear123]

I agree with Pandy Paws, I love AK because of the conservation efforts and the staff is well informed.

 

[elf]

Wow I'm so surprised that so many dislike it.
My kids now 5&7 have been going since babies to WDW.
We love it from the moment we walk in and are greeted by the talking topiary and the CM's with animals.
Kids love Tarzan Rocks and Lion King show, and the quieter Pochahontas show.
We usually go on our third day after we have been on lots of rides. My kids loved the Animals, character interaction, safari ride, the Kali river ride, They always spend at least an hour in the Playground dig area.
We know it's meant to be different than the other parks and we like the differance, for us it's a bit more relaxing. I don't think our kids would not let us miss it.
But I guess mine are not the usual. On our last trip with extended family we only had a few hours in Epcot and they were extremely dissapointed that we spent so little time in Epcot at the end of the trip, they were 4 & 6 then.

I agree though that a couple more kids ride would be an added bonus.

I agree with another poster that it seems hotter, I think it's more humid, so it seems more uncomfortable on the hotter days to me.

 

[bytheblood]

It is not my favorite park, but I like it more than MGM. I do have to say, there is a lot more to do there than I realized on my last trip.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

And is it me or is there no where to eat at this park? The number of places to eat compared to its size make for long tiresome walks.

Not unless you like pretzels!
I agree with you. We had a hard time trying to find a place to grab a quick bite, so ended up leaving and eating elsewhere. AK is my least favorite park. I can appreciate it for others, but going there is not a priority. DGS, however, loves it and loves the animals.

In all fairness to AK though, there are quite a few attractions I have never experienced due to visiting the park as a lone adult with children who are either too young or too scared to enjoy certain attractions. I hope to have a more enriching experience some time in the future.

Tink

 

[LauraAnn630]

How is the rapid ride? We really like the dinosaur!! Im not sure if we want to use one of our days to goto the AK. We are not getting the hopper option. Im not sure our 2 yr old will like AK.

 

[anabelle]

I love AK, but my kids hate it. I don't think they hate the content. They hate how much hotter it feels than the other parks. Someday I would like to go in the fall. I think we would appreciate more

 

[DisMN]

Here are some things we love about AK:


Primevil Hurl

heh heh heh.....thought nobody'd notice the new name, eh?

I hope to try PHurl next week sometime. Ya think I need to take my Dramamine before hand?

 

[Baloo]

There are parts of AK that are absolutely beautiful but as a whole I feel claustrophobic when I'm in this park! The walkways seem to be much smaller than in the other parks.On a hot day it's unbearable IMHO but they have improved it in that department since the first time I visited AK,5 days after it's opening OMG!! It was horribley hot and there weren't a lot of benches in there at the time. They've added fans and mister stations and a whole lot more places to sit down since then!

We visit AK about every other year.

 

[summerrluvv]

AK isn't my favorite and we usually only go there once for the entire trip. I think the Safari gets old and the rides, well just aren't there like the OP said. I did see Tarzan Rocks this past trip for the first time and thought that was pretty neat. A little loud! But neat.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

Our whole family (my sisters, brother, parents,dh,dd,etc.) dislikes this park! To us it's just boring. There are some highlights (we'll go every couple of years to see FOTLK), but overall it's just dull to us. I agree with the poster that said it's a "prettyfied zoo" with some rides thrown in to make it worth the admission price, although I don't think it is. It closes early no matter what time of year, there are far fewer attractions than the other parks, yet the cost is the same. We usually skip it and don't miss it at all. We "might" go back in 2006 with Expedition Everest opens just to check that out, but probalby not until then. O.K. Flame suit is on!!!!

 

[DisneyKeith]

AK isn't our favorite, but we did enjoy the River Rapids ride. The kids enjoyed the Dinosaur playground area. I would say that it is fun to pick and choose what you really like and want to do there. To us the pathways were very crowded and it was hard to push a stroller through the crowds even in early May. We are planning to spend a morning there this trip and then hop to another park for evening and night time fun.

 

[Micca]

Wouldn't say I "don't like it", but it is my least favorite of the four main WDW parks. I think it is nicely done, and I also feel that it will grow to be more Disney as time goes by. I remember when Epcot was new and it took a few years for it to gel.

 

[disneyboy]

I like AK. But I dont really have a favorite all the parks are so great :thewave: :space:

 

[jordanyosh]

ROTFLMAO!!!

p.s. those were actually all very good points.....it really says a lot about how each park has it's own personality.

Thanks for the shout out. I was trying to inject a little humor into the thread.