Disney’s Animal Kingdom with Young Children

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park is a magical blend of animals, education, and all-out fun. As I discovered today, this park is fairly easy to tackle in one day, even if accompanied by small children whose stamina and attention spans wane after a few hours. Here are five tips for making the most of a visit to this Disney park with little kids (kindergarten-age and younger).

Don’t Miss the Kilimanjaro Safari
Kilimanjaro Safari, a bumpy ride through a make-believe African game reserve, really is the highlight of a trip to the Animal Kingdom. I suggest you head straight to this ride in the Africa section upon arrival to snag a Fastpass before they’ve all been handed out for the day. Or, climb right aboard if the line is still manageable. The animals are close enough to your vehicle to keep even wriggly toddlers engaged. Labeled illustrations of resident creatures are located above the seats but they aren’t really needed with the educational commentary from the driver.

Pose with the Park’s Plentiful Characters
If you are tired of waiting in monstrous lines at the other Disney World parks for a chance to snap a photo with your favorite characters, head to the Animal Kingdom. Before we even officially stepped into the park, we snapped a family photo with Pluto near the entrance. It seemed like every time we turned around, there was some character or another within squealing distance. Visit Camp Mickey-Minnie to get up-close to these two title characters and their pals along the Greeting Trails.

DinoLand Might Be Thrilling or Scary…Depending on the Kid
Dinoland is the most amusement-park-like area of the Animal Kingdom with its bright colors, carnival-style games, and a trio of rides. I was surprised when both my kids refused to try out TriceraTop Spin, an innocuous ride similar to Dumbo but with a friendly dinosaur instead of a baby elephant.

My five-and-a-half-year-old adored twirling down the plentiful slides at The Boneyard. My two-and-a-half-year-old, on the other hand, only ran up and down the play area’s ramps a couple times before announcing, “I want to leave this place,” when he heard the sounds of dinosaurs roaring throughout the attraction.

Rafiki’s Planet Watch Can Be Skipped
If pressed for time, skip Rafiki’s Planet Watch. The train ride to this area of the park is a pleasant break from all the walking, but there isn’t a whole lot to do after you get there. The Conservation Station was a bit too educational to hold the attention of my children. They were blasé about the Affection Section’s petting zoo as well (but this could be due to our frequent visits to the zoo back home). The best part was a scavenger hunt along the Habitat Habit! trail, where kids seek out plastic replicas of backyard creatures like tortoises, ladybugs, frogs, and rabbits in a natural setting.

Take Advantage of the Single Rider Line
Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain in the Asia area looks like one sweet roller coaster! By mid-day, the line to zip past the Yeti (Abominable Snowman) on this thrill ride wound way past the posted 75-minute sign. For adventurous parents willing to take turns watching their offspring, the single rider line was just 35 minutes at the same time of day. I almost took advantage of this option but unfortunately we didn’t even have time for that since we needed to head back to our hotel for nap time instead. This gives me an excuse to plan another trip to Kissimmee!

This entry was posted on Friday, January 21st, 2011 at 10:10 am and is filed under Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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