Animal Kingdom - A bit naff really

[Soprano]

Planning my Disney return trip and looking at my photos, I came to the conclusion Animal Kingdom is not that good a theme park. I would say it is the worst park in Orlando I have been to.

Granted, the Kilimanjaro Safari ride is good if the animals are out and about but thats about it. Kali River Rapids is okay, but just the same type of water ride in every theme park. Dinosaur is fine, but its just a copy of the much better Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland.

Overall the park looks nice. Tree of Life is fine, but DinoLand U.S.A is awful. Even the shops seem to have the worst merchandise.

A plus for the park is, I found it was easy to get a lot of photos of the characters.

In order of parks I love MGM, Island of Adventure, Magic Kindgom, EPCOT, Universal Studios, Sea World, then AK. (Have not been to Busch for years!)

I can almost hear the hardcore Disneyfans sharpening their pitchforks, but am I really alone here in my thinking?

 

[magicmouse2]

Sorry you feel that way. I love AK it is one of my favorite parks. Not because of the rides, though KMJ IS my favorite one. I love the animals and the way the enclosures are designed.

 

[Shooby doo]

Have to agree,AK just doesn't do it for us! Just not enough to do & Disney know this hence the Everest Expedition ride.We always go but it's not a park we would go back to during the same trip!
We always go to BG as we are coaster fans & it just does the whole animal thing better than WDW!!
SD aw:

 

[gilld]

I'm not that keen on AK either, but that's probably because I don't like animals at all.

 

[Aceman88888]

Once Everest is open next year, you may want to think again. Whilst AK at present is a part day park, the amount of investment Disney are putting into Everest is without comparison. They are fully aware that they need to turn AK not only into an all day park, but also one which attracts repeat visits. Another key point to note is often US visitors miss out the park altogether as they are often on shorter duration park tickets.

For every extra day Disney manage to get their guests to stay in their parks, the prize is phenominal but for a US visitor often with only 3/4 days onsite, AK ill still the park which many skip.

If Everest lives up to the hype and has the same sort of re-rideability as attractions such as BTMRR, maybe Disney can achieve this. Technical specs of the ride appear impressive and will make it the largest 'indoor' coaster in the US I understand with several big drops and a reverse section but the true effect will come from what the Disney imagineers do with the theme, props, animatronics, music etc etc. They really do need to pull a big one out of the bag this time.

 

[wilma-bride]

Whilst I agree with some of the sentiments here, such as AK being a part-day park, not being enough to do to attract repeat visitors, both DH and I thought certain aspects were great. The Tree of Life for example - we spent ages seeking out all the different animals carved into the trunk and branches. It really is amazing.

 

[FizzyPop]

We love AK My kids are animal mad so I guess that helps

 

[kevin harrison]

I agree also. The park just doesn't do it for me at all and i'm an animal lover. There just seems to be something missing from the place, but I can't put my finger on it.

 

[angel659]

Hi

I love animal kingdom .

The first time I went was when it first opened we were not impressed . However, I took my daughter with me last year and it was just us two, as my dh stayed at home looking after the boys. I absoloutly loved it and I was putting it off so went on our last day and I was a little sad that we couldnt go again, as we didnt manage to see everything. After the shows, parades, meal etc the time flew.

This year we are all going I have said to my dh I want two trips to see AK. I cant wait although MK is my favourite closely followed by MGM. I have not been two IOA so this will be something to look forward.

 

[Aceman88888]

Whilst on the subject of AK, follow the link to a photo update of Everest looking, well, like Everest should look. This sure will be a true visual Icon for Di9sneyworld as a whole.

http://www.screamscape.com/html/walt_disney_world.htm

 

[SammieG]

OMG! I LOVE ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!

the themeing there is just superb... love it love it love it!

 

[jana]

Sorry that AK doesn't work for you. IMHO when Disney built the park they were trying to do something different. It doesn't work for everyone, but I think Disney put together a wonderful park in AK. What Disney does better than any other themepark company is attention to detail, in AK they excelled themselves. In some ways maybe it did the job too well, AK requires the guest to work to get the most out of the park, you need to take time to notice all the touches. Even then not everyone will "get the park".

I'll agree the Kali river rapids is a decidedly average waterride, but the landscaping and design of the park is stunning.

Sometimes you have to "dare to be different" , Disney certainly put something different in front of the public, I don't think there is any other park quite like AK. No themepark is going to be liked by 100% of the public, so I guess bad reviews go with the territory.

 

[disneyholic family]

i love Tarzan Rocks, Festival of the Lion King and Flights of Wonder at AK....
after that my favorites would be Tough to be a Bug, Dinosaur, Kilomanjaro Safaris and the various animal walks...

parks in order of preference: MK, Epcot, MGM, AK....
i hate universal, IoA and Sea World so they don't rate at all...
after the WDW parks, my 5th park would be Cedar Point in Ohio....
unless we're including the waterparks, in which case TL and BB would come in right after AK and just before CP...

 

[nicknsara]

we love AK

we would have AK over EPCOT any day.

Epcot is just another shopping mall.well done disney for putting together a different park.


nick n sara

 

[mushumadness]

I think AK is ok for half a day. But my dbf really doesnt like it so I doubt we will visit it this year, the only think I dont like about it is the parade, it needs a new one but then so do mgm and mk.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

It certainly does it for me. It's my favourite Disney park in Disney World, and second only to Islands of Adventure when you include all the Orlando parks. I love it because it is so different to all the other theme parks in Orlando. A wonderful park to relax in, to take time over, and to completely immerse yourself in the art of the Imagineers. We make several repeat visits to Animal Kingdom on every trip to Orlando, often popping in for just a few hours at the end of the day when the crowds have died down and the animals get a bit more active as the heat subsides.

Yes AK could do with a couple more e-tickets attractions, but so could the Magoc Kingdom for example. I aslo wish they that Disney would spend a bit more money on the Safari attraction, at least to bring it back to the same standard as when it first opened in 1998. Sadly this jewel in the crown continues to deteriorate. If only they could develop a panda exhibition in Asia my life would be complete...

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Whilst AK is totally different from any other park we have been to it is not our favourite and we didn't visit on our recent trip - we got back on Tuesday.
Overall we are not critical of the park but just prefer the others.

Everyone has their own favourites, ours are really determined on how much our 8 year old boy enjoys them (he is autistic) rather than how much we do.

So my son prefers in order:
MK
Universal
IOA
SW

The rest to be honest do not have anything that he really likes, he does not have the patience to sit through any shows etc
We think World Showcase at EPCOT is very good for a walk round in the evening with the atmosphere it generates - our boy usually falls asleep!!

 

[disneyholic family]

we love AK

we would have AK over EPCOT any day.

Epcot is just another shopping mall.well done disney for putting together a different park.


nick n sara

we LOVE epcot.....the Future World side of Epcot....we can spend hours and hours and hours there.....

 

[Bellis Belle]

Another thumbs down from me as well. I agree totally with the opening comments. Love Dinosaur and safari, but it can get extremely humid and nothing very exciting there. Our least favourite as well. Usually get there for opening, do the rides and are left by 12pm.

 

[carolfoy]

I think the point of AK is that it is something different, it is far more laid back and relaxed and offers an alternative to people who aren't ride orientated, we usually spend only one day there but I have to say FOTLK is in my opinion the best show in wdw, LOVE the music and atmosphere, the theming is great around the park and the design of exch area africa, asia etc is pretty authentic!