1-Day Animal Kingdom Itinerary
Our 1-day Animal Kingdom itinerary details step-by-step strategy for minimizing wait times & avoiding crowds at the theme park’s most popular rides & shows, including Avatar Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and more. This Walt Disney World touring plan covers attractions, restaurants, zoo exhibits, and more.
This single day Disney’s Animal Kingdom (DAK) itinerary has been updated again due to the return of more entertainment and meet & greets, as well as increased crowd levels. We’ve also made seasonal tweaks and accounted for changes in popularity and wait times due to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. However, this itinerary assumes you will not be buying those line-skipping services–it instead works around them. If you do plan on spending the extra, consult our 1-Day Animal Kingdom Itinerary with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.
We visit Animal Kingdom frequently “for the sake of research” (and to watch our otter homies hanging out in their grotto), monitoring wait times, testing various approaches, and fine-tuning our strategy as crowds have increased and decreased during that time. This is the revised Animal Kingdom itinerary for 2024 that we’ve devised as a result.
This post continues our series of Walt Disney World Park Itineraries & Touring Plans designed to answer the frequently asked question, “what would you do if you only had one day in ____ Disney park?” Animal Kingdom is an interesting mix of zoological offerings and traditional theme park attractions requiring a balanced approach that juggles the park’s various types of attractions.
It’s possible to experience what we call “animal fatigue” in this park, which is exactly what it sounds like–losing interest in the surplus of animal exhibits and walking trails. To combat this, we recommend scattering these throughout your day, doing a healthy mix of rides and walkthroughs.
Pandora – World of Avatar helps better achieve this balance, and most people will want spend more time in the rest of Animal Kingdom as a result of that land. Consequently, you can spend a full day in Animal Kingdom if you pace yourself to avoid the aforementioned animal fatigue.
Nevertheless, Animal Kingdom is the easiest park to accomplish in a partial day; you can either arrive early or stay late at Animal Kingdom and do the entire park with relative ease. See our recent post: Animal Kingdom Afternoon Arrival Strategy. The same general principles apply when arriving during Early Entry–you essentially just reverse the order of attractions.
So long as you can do major attractions outside of the window between 10 am and 3 pm, Animal Kingdom is pretty easy on normal days at Walt Disney World. It’s gotten to the point that I don’t really see much value in buying Genie+ for Animal Kingdom at all, even on days you’re Park Hopping to or from another park.
This is less about Animal Kingdom not having enough to fill an entire day and more about the aforementioned animal fatigue and poor pacing. The end result is the same; there’s a mass exodus around 3 pm and the park is relatively quiet during the last two hours of the day.
We’ve stressed this in other recent planning resources, but figured it was worth reiterating as there’s a huge difference between early/late wait times and those during the middle of the day. If you want to know which approach is currently best for every park, see our recent Best Time-Saving Strategies at Walt Disney World. That details the best and worst ways to save time in lines, and is really useful if you’re overwhelmed and don’t want to read a dozen others!
Now, on with the 1-day Animal Kingdom itinerary…
Zig When They Zag — There’s going to be a lot of temptation to do Pandora — World of Avatar first thing in the morning, but resist that–unless you’re an on-site guest arriving for Early Entry, in which case, you should absolutely do Pandora first.
Even if you’re not at Animal Kingdom for those extended a.m. hours, consider starting with the Avatar rides if official park opening time is 7:30 a.m. and you’re there for that. It’s still early enough that you can beat the crowds and longest wait times for Avatar Flight of Passage.
However, if you’re rolling up at 8 am on a busy day, head elsewhere. Over 90% of guests (literally) will make a beeline for Pandora in the morning, resulting in the longest lines and wait times of the day at Avatar Flight of Passage in the morning hours. At that point, you’re not going to beat the Pandora crowds, so zig when others zag.
Animal Kingdom’s other headliners all should be near-walk ons for the first hour of the day—you don’t even have to arrive at rope drop for this. Sleeping in and showing up 30 minutes late is fine.
Start Your Adventure at the Outpost – If you’re arriving “too late” to start in Avatar land, begin with Adventurers Outpost, which is the Minnie & Mickey Mouse meet & greet in Animal Kingdom. It might seem silly to start here, but this is the 4th longest line in Animal Kingdom on average, and very few people think to do it first. Consequently, it’s slower in the morning and wait times are significantly longer between around 10 am and 3 pm.
There’s also a Lightning Lane to Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost, and once users of that paid FastPass system start using that in large numbers–which usually happens around 9 am–the standby line slows to a crawl. That alone can be unpleasant, which is why we strongly recommend knocking this out in the first hour of the morning. You can be in and out quickly, and on your way to the second stop of the day. (If it’s more convenient, you probably can do this second so long as you’re not visiting on a peak season day.)
Two-Week Safari — This is a great option both from a time-savings perspective and for the best possible experience.
The reason we recommend Kilimanjaro Safaris in the morning is because it’s great for animal activity and also for photographing the animals with nice, soft light. From 11 a.m. until around 3 p.m., Kilimanjaro Safaris isn’t nearly as fun, unless you like watching big cats and other creatures sleeping. Late afternoon is also good in terms of light, and has a decent amount of animal activity as everyone on the savanna starts getting hyped for dinner.
Kali River Soaking – This rapids rafting ride is a crowd-pleaser that is worth doing if you haven’t done it before. It’s fun and goes through cool environments (albeit lacking show scenes) with a conservationist message.
The potential for getting soaked is incredibly high, so don’t do it if that’s going to be a problem. Conversely, because you’ll get soaked on Kali River Rapids, it’s less popular when the weather is cooler. Heading into the winter, its popularity is dropping again–but it’s still easiest to knock out Kali River Rapids en route to the next stop.
Peak XV Summit – After you’ve gone through the wash cycle on Kali River Rapids, it’s time to air dry on one of Walt Disney World’s best roller coasters. Even an hour or more after official park opening time, Expedition Everest should still have a relatively reasonable wait time. If it’s posted time is under 45 minutes (or you’re fine going in the Single Rider line) do it now. Otherwise, save it for closer to sunset.
Expedition Everest offers fantastic thematic details, one of the best queues, and sweeping views of the park (and beyond). You might want to do it again towards the end of the day, when wait times will be nearly non-existent.
See the Awesomest Animals – Everyone knows dinosaurs are the best animals ever. Unfortunately, Dinoland/Dino-rama are unquestionably the most disappointing theme park lands anywhere, ever. The backstory might be good (debatable), but unless your preferred way to experience a theme park is “reading,” then the actual land will disappoint you.
However, DINOSAUR is actually a pretty good attraction. Do it, then act like the rest of this blighted area is extinct to you.
Start Seeing Shows – When it comes to a day at DAK, pacing is paramount (that should be the park’s mantra). At this point, you’ve already done several rides, so it’s time for some shows. Since you’re in the neighborhood, it’s a good time to watching the newly-reimagined “Finding Nemo: The Big Blue and Beyond!” musical. You should be able to catch the first performance at this point, but if you’re late for it, grab a snack and do the second showing.
In this reimagined stage show, fish tell Nemo’s story in this updated 25-minute show, incorporating live performers, puppets, and screen-based visuals. The refreshed production takes place in the Finding Dory timeline and features beloved songs and numbers from the original Finding Nemo: The Musical, including “In the Big Blue World” and “Go With the Flow.”
Snack Time – If you’re getting hungry, it’s a good time for a pit stop at Dino-Bite Snacks. This location serves a variety of, as the name suggests, snacks. Without a doubt, the highlight is their ice cream sandwiches. The options vary by season, but the shared commonality is that they use freshly-baked, house-made cookies. As a result, they’re all excellent.
If you find yourself on the other side of the park, Creature Comforts Coffee Shop and Bakery is Animal Kingdom’s Starbucks location, and they also have some crazy animal cupcakes. They have a rotating lineup of Lion Cub, Zebra, White Chocolate Elephant or Cotton Top Tamarin cupcakes that are each like 3 feet tall (slight exaggeration).
Otter Odyssey – At this point, you can reasonably slow down and start enjoy walk-through trails and animal-centric attractions while “waiting out” the crowds.
One we’d direct your attention to that’s easily overlooked is Otter Grotto (near the aforementioned Starbucks). It’s just around the corner from Creature Comforts and features some of Animal Kingdom’s most fun and rambunctious critters.
Strategically, there is no good or bad time for any of the various animal trails and exhibits, but you’ll want to space them throughout your day at Animal Kingdom to avoid fatigue of the park’s zoological features.
Lunch – Animal Kingdom really brings it when it comes to dining. For lunch, we recommend slowing down and having a table service meal. Animal Kingdom gets pretty hot midday, and this is a great time to escape that heat with a longer, relaxing meal. Currently, our #1 pick for those wanting an exceptional, fine dining caliber (in a realized setting) meal is Tiffins. The best meal at Animal Kingdom, and one of the best overall at Walt Disney World.
If you don’t want something fancy, opt for the excellent Yak & Yeti instead. You can’t go wrong with either of these for table service dining in Animal Kingdom. If you want a character meal, Tusker House has also returned as a family-style meal, although our experience there was not the best.
Flights of Fancy – Previously known as UP! A Great Bird Adventure, this show is now called Feathered Friends in Flight and has mercifully cut Russel and Dug from Up. It’s still a bird show targeted towards families with small children, but it no longer feels dumbed down to a 3 year old level. No offense to the characters from Up–a movie we love–but this show is much better without them.
Before or after the bird show, explore trails or watch various animals in the park. From fully-fledged attractions like Pangani Forest Exploration Trail to smaller exhibits around the Oasis, Animal Kingdom has a lot to see that’s often overlooked. Slow down and take the time to explore, discovering various animals and details tucked away in quiet corners. Stumbling upon these hidden gems is very rewarding!
Maharajah Jungle Trek – This is another animal trail that you could really do whenever. Regardless of when you choose to do it, we strongly recommend that you don’t skip this one.
Maharajah Jungle Trek is another under-appreciated Animal Kingdom attraction, as this walk-through exhibit has some beautifully imagineered environments. Definitely don’t skip it, but you also don’t necessarily need to do it in this spot.
Festival of the Lion King – Acrobats, singers, and other performers in tribal attire and vibrant costumes, plus parade floats with Lion King characters and other creatures enact scenes inspired by the Lion King in a very lively theatrical show. There’s a lot of stuff going on, in what basically amounts to a lot of audio-visual stimulation. The show just flat out works, and the almost abstract nature allows the audience to just sit back and enjoy the wow-inducing performers.
Festival of the Lion King is an exceptional show–a relaxing, indoor way to break up the day. It’s now entirely back to normal, which means the tumble monkeys and aerial acrobats have returned. For lower crowds and shorter waits, we recommend one of the late afternoon shows.
Winged Encounters – Periodically, there’s a show directly in front of Tree of Life called “Animal Kingdom: Winged Encounters – The Kingdom Takes Flight.” If you can’t find showtimes for this, ask a Cast Member around the Tree of Life when it’s scheduled to occur.
This is not a major show, but it’s a magical one that is absolutely worth seeing. Try weaving it into your itinerary as you head back towards the front of the park. Also make an effort to see the other birds and critters around the Oasis, which are otherwise easily overlooked.
Insect Interlude – It’s Tough to Be a Bug is a good option to round out the middle of the afternoon here. It’s a fun 3D show housed inside the park’s iconic Tree of Life, which is arguably the coolest thing about the experience.
With that said, you can truly do It’s Tough to Be a Bug whenever. No strategy required for this one, so slot it in whenever is convenient for you.
Two-Week Sunset Safari – We’ve already gone to different corners of the globe, scaled the Earth’s highest mountain (a couple of times), and now, we’re going to do a few weeks worth of safaris. That’s more impressive than going around the world at Epcot in a day!
For this ride aboard Kilimanjaro Safaris, we recommend waiting until late afternoon, getting closer to sunset time. Along with the early morning, the animals are most active in mid to late afternoon, so this experience should be different from the first but equally eventful.
Unwind at Dinner Time – One of the biggest “problems” you’ll have with visiting Animal Kingdom is that there are too many good places to eat. I guess that’s a good problem to have. On the one hand, there’s Satu’li Canteen in Pandora – World of Avatar. This counter service restaurant has inventive, high-quality, and even healthy cuisine that is excellent.
On the other hand, Flame Tree BBQ is a good option if you’re looking for something unhealthy and distinctly carnivorous. One of the things this brings to the table is stunning views of Everest from the seating area. The food is also really good at Flame Tree BBQ, but we think it’s gone downhill in recent years with higher portion sizes.
Travel 4.4 Light Years Away… – The final stop of your day needs to be Pandora – World of Avatar. Right now, we recommend arriving to the land around 90 minutes before park closing. At that point, Na’vi River Journey should have a posted wait time of 55 minutes or less, with an actual wait time usually around 30 minutes. (Adjust your arrival accordingly based on the wait time in My Disney Experience.)
That should be a sufficient buffer to finish the boat ride and make your way to the park’s headliner, Avatar Flight of Passage, with 15-30 minutes left in the day. At this point, the posted wait for Flight of Passage will likely be over an hour (it might even be triple digits!), but the actual wait time will be significantly lower than that. If you don’t arrive within the first 30 minutes Animal Kingdom is open, these will be the shortest waits of the day at both Pandora attractions.
On your way out, be sure to watch the Tree of Life Awakenings, which are brief montages that play on the Animal Kingdom park icon. That should mark the conclusion to a satisfying day at Animal Kingdom. While the park is still relatively relaxed and less stressful of a touring experience than Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios (especially after the 3 pm mass exodus), you should still follow this strategy to avoid the few headaches that do exist at Animal Kingdom.
Even a few years after Pandora – World of Avatar opened, wait times for both Avatar attractions can still be quite long, especially at rope drop, so pack your patience! If you want to experience other attractions besides those we’ve listed, make sure to check out our Animal Kingdom Park & Attractions Guide, which rates and reviews all attractions.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What would you include in your ideal day in Disney’s Animal Kingdom? If you’ve been back to DAK since Genie+ and Lightning Lanes launched, what was your experience with crowd patterns and wait times? Did you do Na’vi River Journey and Avatar Flight of Passage first, last, or somewhere in between? What did you think of Pandora – World of Avatar? If you haven’t visited Walt Disney World, what do you plan on doing during your day in Animal Kingdom? Any questions? Share your questions and thoughts in the comments!
This is a terrible plan. If you follow this you will be walking back and forth across this huge, super hot park all day long. I agree you should start with a safari, which is the complete opposite end from the opening gates, but then you should work your way back to the front and end in dinoland, as it is the closest to the exit. I recommend finding a map and seeing with experiences are near one another and do them. Safari, Rafiki’s planet watch, jungle trek, and lion king are all close together so do them together, no particular order. The head towards Asia and do anything you find on the way. Finish up with Dinoland. Your feet and sweat glands will surely thank you. Unless you are training for a marathon, don’t follow this plan.
Hi Tom, I am enjoying your blog and taking notes. I have a first timer’s trip in Sept 2016 with a family of 6. The kids are older, 9-18, so walking isn’t a big deal, but I noticed you start with the Safari, cupcakes and then Dinosaur which is on the opposite end of the park!! I’m trying to plan fastpasses with the best path through the park. Should we FP Dinosaur near the end of the day so we don’t have to run back and forth while missing the stuff along the way?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Hi Tom, we( me, my wife and my 2 girls age 4 and 1) will be staying at Yacht Club in July. On the day we plan to visit AK.. We have an 8:15 ADR at Tusker House, then plan to ride Kilamanjaro, wildlife express train, see Lion King and see Finding Nemo, then lunch at Yak n Yeti before back to resort for a nap.. Can this be done without using fastpass? I’d like to save our fastpasses so my daughters can ride frozen ever after again that evening.
Tom, My husband and I are visiting WDW the end of October 2016. Sure hoping that Rivers of Light will be showing one of the nights we are there. Wouldn’t this be a nightly event once it opens in April?
We were there June 2015 and very disappointed with all the walls. I know – price of progress. As of now (March) are the walls still up. DH and I are headed back in October for an adults only trip, AK is our favorite and we are really hoping they’ll be down. It is our favorite park to just wander and enjoy the atmosphere.
Any idea on park hours in March?
Should we do the above activities in the order that they are mentioned in the DTB?
The best show we’ve ever seen at AK was completely unscheduled. We spent 20 minutes watching a couple of squirrels ransacking the half-opened snacks left on the strollers in the stroller parking area near Festival of The Lion King. Their treasures ranged from baggies of crackers, to popcorn, cookies, etc. One little guy took advantage of a cooler that was half zipped and hanging from the back of a stroller. He climbed right in and came out with an entire wrapped sandwich. We spoke to the cast member (the one rearranging the strollers non-stop) who told us that this happens all the time and they can’t really do anything about it — they are allowed to move the strollers but not handle anything in them, and they definitely aren’t allowed to interfere with the wildlife. Made us think twice about what we leave on our stroller!
Very good post! After many visits to AK, the last time we were there (in 2013) we (2 60-ish adults)did the dinosaur ride for the first time. We really liked it and plan to go again when we are there in February. I noticed that someone already mentioned DiVine – that was really cool and something we came upon totally unexpectedly. We also love the safari early in the morning – last time our vehicle had to stop for baby giraffes that were playing in our path…such fun to watch.
I would also recommend seeing the parade. Since so many people leave the park in early afternoon it is easy to get close to the parade even if you weren’t planning to watch it. It was the only park I was able to get “front row” seats at for the parade. We had characters come up and high-five our children. It’s unique and colorful. With fewer park attendees trying to view it, it is also a relaxing experience, even if you’re traveling with kids.
There is no longer a parade at Animal Kingdom.
If you are like me and have kiddos in tow, you are going to have to squeeze in some time for Dinoland USA. Not my favorite part if the park, but still fun and worth it for the kids. Tough to be a Bug us one of my kids favorites too! Also worth mentioning is there are some characters that are really fun that you can only see here -Pocahontas, King Louie, Rafiki, Doug, and Russell.
I definitely agree that Animal Kingdom Park is so much more than a half day park!!
We were there on a moderately busy day in December, and enjoyed most of the attractions you mentioned without using FastPass+. (We actually saved our 3 FastPass+ selections for Magic Kingdom to use later that night). We got to Animal Kingdom Park at park opening and stayed until park closing with a nice break at Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. We thoroughly enjoyed all four shows and also went on the Safari twice – early am and at closing. The only part of your plan that we did not do was Kali River Rapids.
The two things that I would add to your plan are the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and DiVine. The Pangani Trail was the first thing we did and we were rewarded with seeing 8-10 gorillas, including mothers and babies, in the quiet early morning. Then, while many of the first wave of Safari people were arriving on the trail, we headed to the Safari with a short wait. Also, another huge highlight of the day was seeing DiVine. We had consulted the times guide, and were able to see her near the entrance before heading to the Flame Tree BBQ for lunch.
Thank you for all of your excellent reviews!
Ohhhh, DiVine is a good one, as is Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. Hmm, to find a way to add these in without the list having too much. Maybe Animal Kingdom is MORE than a 1-day park! 😉
I’m not sure what we do wrong when we’re at AK, but we never seem to accomplish much. Because of that, and despite being a family of animal lovers, it’s our least favorite park and we’re thinking of skipping it next time. For some reason we end up zigzagging all over, missing most of the shows and generally ending up frustrated. This never happens at the other parks. The must-dos for us are the safari and flame tree( which even my picky eater loves). Anyone have advice? What am I doing wrong?
I generally plan attractions around shows as the focal point for my touring plan and build from there. Show times seem to be the same for different seasons, so I do some research and build in dinning and fast pass + from there.
Great DTB! I highly agree with everything that you said. When we were there in October we went on a, I believe, a 10am Safari. It was a GREAT time to go. All of the animals were the most active I have ever seen them be. We even had giraffes cross right in front of our vehical!
I agree with you about the zebra/tamarin cupcakes, but I think the elephant cupcake at Kusafiri belongs on the “top cupcakes” list. It’s probaly my 2nd or 3rd favorite. We bought 2 cupcakes form there and walked over to Flame Tree to get the rest of our meal – we definitely attracted a lot of stares.
I notice no mention of Conservation Station/Rafiki’s Planet Watch on your list. Have you guys made it back there? We often don’t, in spite of being big AK fans. But the train ride is nice and if you are there early enough to see a vet procedure it’s pretty cool. But it’s a large rime commitment to get there and back and the rest of the area isn’t terribly inspiring.
Someday, you ought to try stepping up your own stand at Flame Tree selling those elephant cupcakes for $10 each. See how well you do! 😉
Planet Watch is on the list. We don’t make it back there often, but it’s something worth seeing every few trips, time allowing.
I had to convince my family (my boys are 6, 10 and 12) to see Flights of Wonder when we were at AK in October and we all loved it! We really enjoyed AK overall (Dinoland being the most notable exception for me anyway) and are looking forward to spending more time there on our next visit–even with a full day we didn’t have time to do everything we wanted!
You left a pretty cool thing about the Animal Kingdom- unique character meet and greets with Dug, Russell, Baloo, and Pocahontas.
I was looking for this blueprint the other day! 🙂
My guilty secret is that I’ve never done Rafiki’s Planet Watch or Flights of Wonder, despite several visits to AK and enjoying all the other attractions.
RPW is just a question of timing (I’ll do it at some point!), but I have a really hard time persuading myself to do Flights of Wonder. It’s not so much that I don’t enjoy bird shows, it’s that I’ve seen a lot of them (at zoos and other parks), and I really can’t imagine how Disney could bring anything new to it.
What makes the secret so guilty is that I still think that despite more than one person saying how good the show is. Watching a few clips on YouTube leaves me further conflicted… The scenery and dialogue seems much better than average, but the bird “acts” themselves don’t seem very different. But I guess I’m going to have to do it in person at some point!
Flights of Wonder is one of my favorite shows at WDW. I highly recommend checking it out. It’s not very long, so you aren’t wasting much time if you don’t like it…but if you do like it, then it was totally worth the time!
Haha, the show is only like an 25 minutes–you could just do it and save yourself the guilt and conflict! 😉
We loved AK with a 2 year old and 6 year old. For the elementary school age set, I’d strongly recommend devoting time to the Wilderness Explorers. It was a great framework for slowing down and, well exploring the park. It can be quite time consuming, but well worth it. We did two long mornings and didn’t get to a single show because of our devotion to WE.
Also, I’d echo your recommendation for Tusker House for lunch — it was probably one of our favorite experiences as a three generation family. The kids loved the characters, the adults loved the food, it was cool and relatively relaxing on a hot day, the service was even better than the baseline good service in WDW. I know some people may gasp, but I would pick this in a heartbeat of Chef Mickey’s.
Loved the review!
Just thought I’d comment/share…
My fav snacks at Animal Kingdom, I love: the Coconut-Lychee Lemonade from Drinkwallah, The Paw Print Brownie from Kusafiri Bakery, & the Frozen Chai from the Royal Anandapur Tea Company 🙂
I just saw Flights of Wonder for the 1st time recently, & I really liked it.
The Maharajah Jungle Trek is beautiful & I adore watching the tigers play! Same tip here; stop by early or late to see them awake & active!
I love Animal Kingdom. Great park!
Good tip for Maharajah…those tigers ALWAYS seem asleep when we are there!