Jambo friends! We had so much fun visiting Animal Kingdom during our Disney trip for Hannah’s birthday that I want to share some of our fun! (You can read about our character dining experience at Topolino’s and Hannah’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique fun during the same trip!) We are loving this park more and more as we visit it each time. Some people think it’s just like a zoo, but in my opinion, that couldn’t be farther from the truth! Read on for our top 4 things to do with young kids at Animal Kingdom!
Festival of the Lion King
Note: This show has been altered since starting up again after COVID shutdown. It is still amazing, but if you’ve seen the original version just know it will be different.
Festival of the Lion King is in the Africa section! I don’t know about you, but while I love my local zoo, it does NOT have Broadway shows! Festival of the Lion King is a 30-minute show with several different acts- there are acrobats dressed as monkeys, Cirque du Soleil type dancers (they go flying during “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?”), a fire juggler, costumes, AMAZING singing, and even a lot of audience participation.
The audience participation is super fun- each section of seats is assigned an animal, and at the appropriate time you make that animal sound. Usually a child is chosen from the audience to lead the sections in their noise making.
Another audience participation moment is about halfway through the show. The singers come into the audience and choose some children to walk around the “stage” area with instruments. My daughter Hannah was recently chosen to be one of these kiddos, and she LOVED getting up close and personal with the show!
This experience is also awesome because it’s INSIDE!! It is a circle style auditorium, AIR CONDITIONED and somewhat dark, so it’s the perfect place to cool off during those hot months in Florida (which, let’s face it, can be about 9 months out of the year)! We often go to Disney with my in-laws, and it’s also a great place for them to rest their legs!
This is a good one to grab with Genie+ so you don’t have to make littles wait in line longer than necessary!
The Boneyard Dig Site
However, I will give you a warning from an admitted helicopter parent: the size of this place makes me very nervous! I would not attempt this without another adult along! My three kids went three different directions the first time we went in, and I almost had a panic attack! There are SO many fun things to do it’s hard to slow them down, and now that we have the lay of the land one of us stations ourselves by the entrance (there’s only one in and one out, thank you Disney), and the other one is positioned up towards the top.
Our rules are:
One of the “big” kids MUST stay with Hope (our three-year-old) at all times. They switch off every time we visit.
Do NOT under any circumstances leave the playground, under penalty of a whole lot of not fun consequences.
ASK before going over to the dig site, so we can go with you (the dig site is separate from the main playground. It’s across a bridge and out of sight of the slides/nets area.)
When we say two more slides, we mean two more slides…. Come when asked or we won’t be returning!
So far they have listened very well, but as fun as it is, just have a plan before you turn them loose! Ok, enough helicoptering for one blog post 😊.
Posing with a “fossil” 
Entrance sign 
A look at the main area 
Stick together girls! 
The sandy dig site
The Wilderness Explorer Program
The Wilderness Explorer Program! This “free” (meaning included in the price of admission, no extra charge) program at Animal Kingdom is one we just started on our last visit. I had heard awesome things about it, and we decided to go ahead and try it.
The Wilderness Explorer program is a scavenger hunt of information about the environment and animals. You pick up your official Wilderness Explorer book just over the bridge as you walk into Discovery Island. The Wilderness hut is on the right- you will most likely see a small group of people gathering there!
One of the things I love about Disney is they include everyone! So while most people think of the Wilderness Explorer program as being for kids, the guides who started us off asked all the adults if they wanted to participate, too! My three-year-old even received a book, which made her feel super important!
There is no way (I don’t think) that you can get all the badges (aka stickers) in one day. There are 29 stations all around Animal Kingdom, and each one takes a few minutes, some longer than others. On our first day as Wilderness Explorers we learned about what’s inside a cactus, how birds in the sky are friends with animals on the ground, bugs that eat um, excrements and a few other fun stations! It’s well worth the effort, and I was impressed with the knowledge of the cast members! They switch stations every hour or so, that way they don’t get completely bored!
Look for this sign to find each station 
Learning about mammoths 
Learning about ecosystems 
Taking the pledge
Kilimanjaro Safari Ride!
This up close and personal trek through the plains of Africa is quite the unique experience. It’s also fun because it lasts awhile, giving your feet a rest, all the while getting to view nature at it’s finest! All the habitats of the safari are identical to what these animals would experience if they were out in the wild.
Our favorites are the hippos, wild dogs (sometimes they are chasing each other around which is quite a sight), giraffes (they have the freedom to walk right up next to your vehicle), and I personally love the ostriches. One time we were moving right along and an ostrich came careening by our “truck.” It was hilarious and something we still talk about!
I definitely recommend using a fast pass for this one, as the standby line can get quite long. This attraction takes about 20 minutes to complete. Because the of the real animals, you get a slightly different experience at different times of the day!
Do you see the hidden Mickey?
There are many more fun things to do see and experience at Animal Kingdom (such as Pandora, ton of fun photo ops and the seasonal scavenger hunts), but these are our current top choices for our small kids!
Feel free to comment or email me and ask questions, and don’t forget to follow along on social media. Here’s the link to our Facebook page, and our Instagram page! Oh and feel free to sign up for our email list so you can be the first to get new blog posts to your inbox!
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