Disney's Animal Kingdom

Dedication

Welcome to a kingdom of animals... real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn.

Areas

Disney's Animal Kingdom is divided into six themed areas.

Oasis

The Oasis is the park's main entrance, providing guest services. It features several animal habitats, including African spoonbills, babirusas, giant anteaters, hyacinth macaws, muntjacs, northern pintails, and wallabies. The main paths lead deeper into the park, and onto Discovery Island.

A Rainforest Cafe is located at the entrance prior to entering Oasis and the park proper through the turnstiles.

Discovery Island

Discovery Island is located at the center of the park, in the middle of the Discovery River waterway. It is the "central hub" connecting the other sections of the park, 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 renamed after that area 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 showcasing black crowned cranes, cotton-top tamarins, collared brown lemurs, crested porcupines, Galápagos tortoises, lappet-faced vultures, Lesser flamingos, macaws, Oriental small-clawed otters, red kangaroos, ring-tailed lemurs, roseate spoonbills, saddle-billed storks, and white storks. Beneath the Tree of Life lies It's Tough to Be a Bug!, a comical 4D film based on the 1998 Disney·Pixar film, A Bug's Life.

The park's largest gift shops and two of its major restaurants are on Discovery Island, each with a different design theme, such as décor based on nocturnal animals, insects and so forth.

Africa

Africa is one of the original areas of the park. Set in the fictional east African port village of Harambe, this area contains several animal exhibits. The village is the namesake of the Harambe Wildlife Preserve, the fictional home of Africa's main attraction, Kilimanjaro Safaris. Guests climb aboard an open-sided safari vehicle for an expedition to see numerous African species freely roam through acres of savanna, rivers and rocky hills. On the adjacent Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, visitors trek into the forest where animals such as black-and-white colobus monkeys, gerenuks, gorillas, hippos, Kenyan sand boas, kori bustards, meerkats, naked mole-rats, okapis, tarantulas, and yellow-backed duikers, as well as an aviary, are located. On the western side of Africa is the Harambe Theater, which is home to the

Festival of the Lion King, a stage attraction based on the 1994 Disney animated film.

Rafiki's Planet Watch

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. Guests first encounter Habitat Habit!, where they can see cotton-top tamarins and learn about the efforts to protect these endangered primates in their natural homes. Along the way, guests can also learn how to provide animal habitats in and around their own homes.

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, and other domesticated animals.

Other animals seen are ball pythons, blue-and-yellow macaws, blue-tongued skink, boa constrictors, butterflies, central bearded dragons, chinchillas, chinchilla rabbits, citron-crested cockatoos, common brushtail possums, corn snakes, Costa Rica zebra tarantula, death's head cockroach, Dexter cattle, Dominique chickens, Eleonora cockatoos, emperor scorpions, eclectus parrots, fennec foxes, ferrets, giant African millipedes, golden lion tamarins, gray rat snakes, green tree pythons, Guinea hogs, Gulf Coast Native sheep, hermit crabs, hyacinth macaws, kinkajous, llamas, Madagascar day geckos, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, Madagascar tree boas, Nigerian Dwarf goat, Nile monitors, North American donkeys, opossums, pygmy goats, rats, rat snakes, red-and-green macaws, red-cockaded woodpeckers, red-crested turacos, roughneck monitor lizards, San Clemente Island goats, savannah monitors, Solomon Islands skinks, spectacled owls, striped skunks, tamanduas, tarantulas, tawny frogmouths, tawny owls, tenrecs, Tunis sheep, two-toed sloths, uromastyx, variable hawks, and vasa parrots.

Asia

Asia, the first expansion area added to Disney's Animal Kingdom, first opened in 1999. This area is set in the fictional kingdom of Anandapur (which means "Place of many delights" in Sanskrit and is named after the Kendujhar district's Anandapur municipality in India). Anandapur comprises two villages: a riverside village that is also called Anandapur and Serka Zong (which is in the foothills of the Himalayas). Portraits of Anandapur's royal family (consisting of the maharaja and his wife) can be found in most of the businesses within the two villages, a map of the kingdom featuring both villages and their location relative to the mountains and river can be found on the wall of the Disney Vacation Club kiosk located there. Much like Harambe, Anandapur is now a center of animal research and tourism.

The visual focal point of Asia is Expedition Everest, a roller coaster through the Forbidden Mountain of the Himalayas where passengers encounter a Yeti. Nearby is Kali River Rapids, a river rapids ride along the Chakranadi River through a rainforest, past an illegal logging operation and down a waterfall. The Maharajah Jungle Trek leads guests through the forests and ruins outside the village, which are home to species such as bantengs, bar-headed geese, Bengal tigers, blackbucks, Eld's deer, gibbons, Large flying foxes, Komodo dragons and over 50 bird species. Flights of Wonder, a live bird show where one of Anandapur's bird researchers educates a tour guide with a fear of birds about natural bird behaviors and the effects of habitat loss and conservation efforts on bird species, such as the black crowned crane and bald eagle.

In between Asia and DinoLand U.S.A. on the banks of the park's Discovery River is Rivers of Light, a nighttime show featuring mist screens, water fountains, floating lanterns, music, and lighting.

DinoLand U.S.A.

DinoLand U.S.A. is built around dinosaurs and extinct prehistoric life. The area is anchored by the Dino Institute, a fictitious palaeontological facility which is home to Dinosaur, a dark thrill ride featuring a trip through time to the Late Cretaceous Period. 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 multi-leveled playground area with a Columbian mammoth fossil to be uncovered and a cast skeleton of a Brachiosaurus. Adjacent to the Institute and its surrounding facilities, is Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama, which recalls the many roadside attractions that were once scattered throughout the United States. The area features Primeval Whirl, a spinning roller coaster loosely inspired by the Dinosaur attraction, the TriceraTop Spin ride, carnival games and gift shops. At the eastern edge of DinoLand U.S.A. is the "Theater in the Wild", which hosts Finding Nemo – The Musical, a live-action musical stage show based on the story of the Disney·Pixar feature film.

Like the other sections of Disney's Animal Kingdom, there are 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. The area was sponsored by McDonald's until 2009 when the contract ran out.

Pandora – The World of Avatar

In September 2011, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts announced plans to partner with filmmaker James Cameron, his Lightstorm Entertainment production company, and Fox Filmed Entertainment to develop attractions based on Cameron's Avatar film series exclusively for Disney theme parks. The first installation is planned for Disney's Animal Kingdom in the form of an Avatar-based section of the park. While no specifics were announced, the new area was described as being several acres in size and costing an estimated $400 million to build, a scale similar to Cars Land at Disney California Adventure in California. Components from the upcoming second and third films in the Avatar series will be featured, along with new designs not seen in any of the films. Construction began on January 10, 2014, with the land scheduled to open on May 27, 2017.

At the 2015 D23 Expo, Disney confirmed two attractions for the area: Avatar: Flight of Passage, a flying E ticket simulator attraction where guests will learn to fly with a mountain banshee, and Na'Vi River Journey, a D ticket boat ride attraction showcasing the native fauna and flora of Pandora that may include small drops.

Camp Minnie-Mickey

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. It served as a meet-and-greet for Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Koda, and Thumper. The area's main attraction was the Festival of the Lion King, a live stage show featuring acrobatics and musical performances inspired by The Lion King. It currently plays in Africa's Harambe Theater. Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends, based on the 1995 animated film, was a live stage show that ran from April 22, 1998, to September 27, 2008. The area closed on January 5, 2014, and is currently being developed into Pandora–The World of Avatar.

Beastly Kingdom

When 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. The original design for Animal Kingdom included a themed section called the Beastly Kingdom (possibly spelled as "Beastly Kingdomme"), devoted to creatures of legend and mythology. Camp Minnie-Mickey was built instead of Beastly Kingdom and was meant to serve as a temporary placeholder until Beastly Kingdom could be built.

Beastly Kingdom was to feature mythical animals such as unicorns, dragons, and sea monsters, featuring realms of both good and evil creatures:

Remnants of Beastly Kingdom were seen when the park opened, some of which are still extant:

In 2000, Walt Disney Imagineer Joe 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."

Restaurants and shops

The park contains four table service restaurants:

Tusker House hosts "Donald's Safari Breakfast" and "Donald's Dining Safari Lunch," a character-dining event where guests enjoy a buffet while meeting Donald Duck and other Disney characters.

There are six 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.

Operations

Much concern was brought to the animals' well-being when the park originally opened. The park typically closed earlier in the day than other parks in the Walt Disney World Resort; beginning May 27, 2016, Animal Kingdom will stay open into the evening.

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. The park uses paper straws instead and offers lids for hot drinks only.

Conservation efforts

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 rhino 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. Due to civil strife, the white rhinoceros had become extinct in 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.

Controversy

Even in planning stages, various Florida-based animal rights groups and PETA did not like the idea of Disney creating a theme park where animals were held in captivity. The groups protested, and PETA tried to convince travel agents not to book trips to the park. A few weeks before the park opened, a number of animals died due to accidents. The United States Department of Agriculture viewed most of the cases and found no violations of animal-welfare regulations. 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.

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 half a mile away.

In January 2015, an animal rights group listed the park at number 10 on its 2014 "list of worst zoos for elephants."

Incidents

On October 2014, an Alabama family's trip went wrong when a snake dropped out of a tree and bit a boy which led to the death of his great-grandmother who suffered cardiac arrest as a reaction to this attack. A lawsuit was threatened because of this incident but was never filed. The park confirmed that the snake that bit the boy was a non-venomous indigenous snake, and that did not escape from an enclosure.