Why does the Animal Kingdom close so early?

[agame2323]

I think it would cool to have that park opened late at night. It would be like.....THE JUNGLE!

 

[umichigan10]

Has to do with the animals, they close early to care for them and whatnot.

 

[rabbitroger]

It is not a zoo. the park closes early so the animals can rest in peace.

 

[Alesia]

It is not a zoo. the park closes early so the animals can rest in peace.

Actually, that's why zoos close early, too.

 

[pocahontasgal87]

^exactly what the PPs say, probably to maintain and care for the animals

 

[kddisney502]

 

[Kona65]

I think it would cool to have that park opened late at night. It would be like.....THE JUNGLE!

Same reason they don't have fireworks, the animals need to eat and get to bed early.

 

[ZoZo]

But it's OK that AK closes early. Most people can get done with park in less than a day.

I respectfully disagree. For me, it's a two-day park! From the posts I've read, many DISers agree with me. To each his or her own, I guess!

On AK days, I usually use my evenings to do other things, like go to DTD or eat at a resort restaurant. Maybe do some laundry or hit the resort pool. Or just enjoy some much-needed down-time!

 

[jlevis]

But it's OK that AK closes early. Most people can get done with park in less than a day.

Speak for yourself, like a PP we typically spend two days at AK. There are many, many things to do beyond EE, KS and Kali. But, to each his own.

 

[prfctlyximprfct]

Isn't with the addition of Avatar-land coming a night-time show?? I may be wrong, but I feel like I heard that somewhere!!

 

[Cyrano]

Animal Kingdom along with EPCOT are our favourite parks.
We visit AK 2 to 3 times in a trip

This visit it was good to see the celebrations in Africa with the park shutting an hour later

 

[nkereina]

Once on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch we heard that it takes as long as 3 hours to bring the animals in at night, which is also part of the reason they close early.

 

[MissMouseInTheHouse2]

I wish it was open a little later too, but I'd rather the animals sleep so that they're not irritable in the morning lol it wouldn't be fun to be on that Kilimanjaro Safari

 

[minnie mum]

Isn't with the addition of Avatar-land coming a night-time show?? I may be wrong, but I feel like I heard that somewhere!!

AFAIK, no official announcements have been made as to what attractions will be built for 'Avatarland'. For that matter, they still havent even released the name for the new land. It wll be neat if they decide to call it Pandora. We don't know what the rides, shows, dining will feature.

 

[disnut8]

I think it would cool to have that park opened late at night. It would be like.....THE JUNGLE!

Yeah, it would be but......

It's not the jungle. It's the Animal Kingdom at Disney World and the animals are there for either their protection (if they are endangered) or for our education (so we stupid humans can learn from the animals, because, trust me, they can teach us a lot).

I just came home today after work and we had had a huge thunderstorm. My one cat was going crazy because of the thunder. Now, do you really want a tiger going through that with nightly fireworks? With hundreds of people around? As Chris Rock said "that tiger went tiger".

 

[NancyIL]

Animal Kingdom used to have evening Extra Magic Hours - but I haven't seen them on the schedule in awhile. Since the park is mostly about the animals, and you really can't see them in the dark, that's probably why the park closes around dusk.

 

[Reddog1134]

The animals DO go back early for care and feeding but that indirectly causes the park to close early.

It causes a lot of the attractions to close because they use animals. As a result, attendance drops. Low attendance = shorter hours (see new evening EMH hours)

 

[Eeyore98]

Because there just aren't enough non-animal attractions to sustain evening attendance. We enjoyed some great evening EMHs at AK, back when they actually had them...rode EE and Kali over and over. The place was deserted, because all there really was to do was Dinoland, ITTBAB, EE, and Kali. It is a cool park at night! But I understand why they stopped offering PM EMH there.

 

[M-I-C-K-E-Y]

No, No, No!

They don't want to wake the Yeti. After all, he seems to sleep all day -- at least in recent years.

 

[lakohls]

We were able to evening magic hours during our trip in nov 2011 and loved it. Awesome to walk through in the dark & quiet. And backwards on EE in the dark - glad we got to have the experience.

I understand why they cut back in general, but maybe in peak weeks like Christmas and Easter it would be a great extra perk and provide places for those crowds to spread out for something special. Just a thought.