Park hours at Animal Kingdom are extra constant and easy than wherever at Walt Disney World. This information covers regular opening & closing occasions, Early Entry, rope drop, points of interest with extra restricted schedules, and extra. Plus, ideas & methods for beating the crowds and avoiding occasions of day when attendance is highest.
If you’re planning a go to to Animal Kingdom months from now, the very first thing it is advisable to know is that hours are added to DisneyWorld.com’s 5-day calendar on a rolling foundation, usually 60 days prematurely. Walt Disney World additionally has a month-to-month calendar that isn’t as straightforward to search out, and this presently has hours dumped in ‘batches’ a lot additional prematurely.
Walt Disney World’s regular follow is to launch boilerplate or placeholder hours earlier than extending these based mostly on attendance and lodge occupancy projections. For some time, the preliminary launch of park hours was nearly meaningless, as each single park and date would see extensions. This is less-pronounced of a follow now, and the hours which are launched are very often the ultimate hours.
In phrases of regular park hours, Animal Kingdom often operates in response to the next schedules:
- Monday by Thursday (low season and regular crowds): 9 am to 7 pm
- Friday and Sunday (low season and regular crowds): 8 am to 7 pm
- Saturday and peak-season dates: 8 am to eight pm
Typically, Animal Kingdom’s boilerplate hours at the moment are 9 am to 7 pm. Expect these to be prolonged per the above schedule for at the least Friday by Sunday, plus weekdays throughout standard journey dates.
Extensions are nonetheless comparatively frequent at Animal Kingdom, they simply are much less prone to happen throughout the board. Now, it’s extra focused to weekends, holidays, and particular days when the parks are forecast to be busier. In these eventualities, extensions can happen about just a few weeks to about two months prematurely. We’ve seen precisely this situation play out round Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Presidents’ Day, Spring Break, Easter, and many others.
With the conventional schedule out of the best way, let’s flip to the further Animal Kingdom park hours for visitors of on-site lodges, which is named Early Entry–the substitute for Extra Magic Hours, who skilled that previously. Early Entry just isn’t truly further hours, plural, however slightly, further minutes–30 of them. If you’re unfamiliar with the ins and outs of the morning possibility, be taught extra in our Guide to Early Entry at Walt Disney World.
Thirty minutes could not seem to be a lot, however Early Entry is fairly vital at Animal Kingdom. This is especially true on days when regular park opening at Animal Kingdom is at 8 am, as a result of this implies Early Entry begins at 7:30 am. For the overwhelming majority of individuals on trip, that’s just too early.
They both don’t wish to get up and be out the door of their lodge room at that hour, or actually can not because of youngsters. As a outcome, it’s straightforward to breeze by each Avatar Flight of Passage and Na’vi River Journey–the 2 standard Pandora points of interest–earlier than the park opens to common visitors.
For that very same motive, conventional rope drop additionally works fairly nicely at Animal Kingdom for the very same motive–it’s sooner than most individuals on trip will arrive to the park. On busier days, you’ll must prioritize one thing aside from Avatar Flight of Passage, however in any other case, quick waits abound at Animal Kingdom for the primary couple hours of the day.
It’s additionally price noting that not all points of interest begin working at park opening time. The most notable examples are leisure, meet & greets, animal reveals, and interactive areas. Additionally, Kali River Rapids and Conservation Station open after the remainder of the park.
Animal Kingdom additionally has fairly a bit that closes earlier than the remainder of the park, particularly months when the park closes after sundown. Pretty a lot all the things involving reside animals closes earlier than sundown, which means that Kilimanjaro Safari and all trails can shut 2-3 hours earlier than the remainder of the park sure occasions of the yr. (It all depends upon the timing of sundown v. park closing–winter is worst for this.)
On a constructive notice, Animal Kingdom’s working hours coupled with the park’s restricted trip roster make it the best park for beating the crowds. Strategy for Animal Kingdom basically quantities to “don’t go during the middle of the day and stand in long lines,” which appears to be what the overwhelming majority of visitors do for some odd motive.
Avoid the hours of 11 am till 2 pm if in any respect attainable, or at the least don’t do standard rides throughout that time-frame. Since the park operates from 8 or 9 am till 7 or 8 pm most days, this must be comparatively straightforward. Either go early or keep late–or each, and do a desk service lunch plus stage exhibits and animal reveals throughout the busiest time of day.
Personally, I’m a fan of doing Animal Kingdom later within the day (see Animal Kingdom Afternoon Arrival Strategy). Subjectively, that is good as a result of Animal Kingdom is the most popular park at Walt Disney World, and hitting it when the solar is decrease knocks an excellent 10-20 levels off the looks like temperatures. The ambiance at sundown and night time can also be incredible, and one thing few followers see.
Wait occasions are decrease in the previous few hours of the day at Animal Kingdom. You’ll typically discover all the things besides Avatar Flight of Passage and Na’vi River Journey has an precise wait time of underneath quarter-hour after 5 pm. Many of these points of interest are literal walk-ons.
We love to do the Pandora – World of Avatar rides within the final 90 minutes or so of the working day. The precise time is crowd-dependent, however we regularly leap in line for Na’vi River Journey about 60-90 minutes earlier than park closing and Avatar Flight of Passage round 5 minutes earlier than park closing. This “last minute” strategy is right, as you’ll be able to line up for rides till the minute the park closes after which have your wait happen after the park has closed.
As an added bonus, you’ll exit the attraction when it’s darkish and get to see Pandora come alive in bioluminescent brilliance. This is often even true in the summertime, when Animal Kingdom could in any other case have a closing time earlier than nighttime. Pandora is gorgeous and serene within the night, and also you completely wish to see that–particularly devoid of individuals!
If you’re apprehensive about transportation again to your lodge when staying this late in Animal Kingdom, don’t. Officially, transportation to the theme parks begins roughly 2 hours previous to park opening time and runs till roughly 1 hour after the parks shut. This is the data you’ll discover on Walt Disney World’s web site, and what Cast Members will let you know.
Unofficially, transportation after park closing continues so long as individuals are contained in the park. Disney gained’t go away you stranded at a park. Cast Members are methodical about clearing the parks and radio to bus drivers to ensure they stick round till the entire stragglers are accounted for. Despite it’s earlier closing time, Animal Kingdom is often cleared sooner, however this will nonetheless typically take over an hour after park closing.
We have left Walt Disney World theme parks lengthy after park closing many, many occasions and have by no means had a difficulty. If something, delaying departure so long as attainable is one of the best plan of action. You get to get pleasure from park closing serenity and usually tend to have a bus all to your self!
Unlike Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, there is no such thing as a nighttime spectacular at Animal Kingdom. This is a part of why Animal Kingdom will get cleared sooner than the opposite parks, with the opposite large causes being an absence of late night time Advance Dining Reservations and the straightforward actuality that almost all visitors depart voluntarily sooner at Animal Kingdom than every other park.
The closest factor that Animal Kingdom has to a nighttime spectacular is the Tree of Life Awakenings, which is the projection present on the park’s icon. This often begins round nightfall every night time and continues till shortly after park closing. There’s no set showtime schedule for this. Tree of Life Awakenings just isn’t a nighttime spectacular, and you’ll very a lot be disenchanted for those who camp out and look ahead to it to begin.
Instead, the Tree of Life Awakenings is best handled as a diversion or one thing that you must bump into. The level from a park hours perspective, although, is that there’s no nighttime spectacular that impacts working hours at Animal Kingdom. There are many nights in the summertime when Animal Kingdom closes at or round sundown, and there’s merely no Tree of Life Awakenings on these evenings.
Thus far, Extended Evening Hours has not occurred at Animal Kingdom. We don’t anticipate that to vary till a bona fide nighttime spectacular returns to Animal Kingdom, which gained’t happen at any level in 2023 (except there’s an out of left discipline announcement that isn’t even being rumored). With that stated, Extended Evening Hours can also be a strong approach to do each EPCOT and Magic Kingdom. (See our Guide to Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World for extra.)
Another ‘currently unavailable’ approach to keep late is the After Hours at Animal Kingdom. This was a tough ticket occasion supplied pre-closure, and it was an particularly nice approach to do Avatar Flight of Passage. Although After Hours at Magic Kingdom and DHS have already returned, the identical just isn’t true for Animal Kingdom. Perhaps this summer season or vacation season?
When it involves the interaction of park technique & hours, another choice is Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. We nearly by no means suggest that visitors buy Genie+ at Animal Kingdom, as it’s merely pointless for those who arrive early or keep late. However, one large exception is when Park Hopping–if paired with one other park, Genie+ at Animal Kingdom could make sense and be well worth the cash.
To that time, for Animal Kingdom technique & planning perception see the next posts:
Ultimately, that ought to cowl what it is advisable to find out about park hours at Animal Kingdom. Now it also needs to be clear why there’s lots of nuance and quirks which are price understanding past simply the fundamentals that DAK often is open from 8 or 9 am till 7 or 8 pm.
Beyond exhibiting up late and enduring peak wait occasions throughout the center of the day, one other frequent pitfall for visitors at Animal Kingdom is the dreaded animal fatigue. This typically happens when specializing in rides early within the morning, ending them up by 10 am, after which doing animal exhibit after animal exhibit, with the one reprieves coming from Animal Kingdom’s incredible stage exhibits and eating places. Suffice to say, selection is essential–don’t do all of the “animal stuff” back-to-back. Mix it up a bit so you’ll be able to beat the crowds and get pleasure from a satisfying and well-rounded day at DAK!
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about lodges on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To lower your expenses on tickets or decide which kind to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips submit takes a singular have a look at intelligent objects to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, one of the best place to begin is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for all the things it is advisable to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you consider regular park hours in 2023 at Animal Kingdom? Prefer to reach very first thing for Early Entry, later within the morning, afternoon, or night? How do you benefit from the working quirks of DAK to beat the crowds? Do you agree or disagree with something in our information to park hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? Any questions we might help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!