2016: Animal Kingdom’s Coming Out Party
It was around 5:30 p.m. as I stood next to my tripod on the bridge from Discovery Island to Africa in early December, watching a gorgeous sunset take shape. Not another soul passed by, which would not be exceptionally noteworthy in my nighttime photography, save for the fact that this park was still open for over another hour.
I couldn’t help but think to myself, “now is the last time I’m going to experience this.” While the sun set, literally, on an empty park that evening, I think the sun is rising, figuratively, on Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The park is poised to debut the Rivers of Light nighttime spectacular in Spring 2016, which will be a huge addition. Not only will Animal Kingdom no longer be closing so early, but it will no longer be a ghost town after about 4 p.m.
Even before the biggest addition, Pandora: World of Avatar, slated for the park opens in 2017, Animal Kingdom will finally come into its own. In short, 2016 will be the year of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
In terms of big attendance gains, 2016 may not be the year for Animal Kingdom. It goes without saying that Rivers of Light will increase attendance, but there’s the question of whether it will increase or increase dramatically. Will guests now feel Animal Kingdom is a full-day park, or will the park only see a slight attendance bump, with the larger gain in hours per day spent there by guests?
Unless you’re a large shareholder or interested in talking shop about theme parks, predictions about attendance don’t really matter. What’s more important to theme park fans and the general public is the overall quality of the experience. To that end, this should be the year when Animal Kingdom finally sheds that scarlet “half-day park” label once and for all.
One thing I’m comfortable in predicting is the number of “bold” proclamations come Spring 2016 that Animal Kingdom is the best park at Walt Disney World, made by people who previously ignored the park. There will be a lot of them. I call these bold proclamations half in jest: it’s unquestionably true that Rivers of Light does a lot to flesh out Animal Kingdom, but to go from shunned to the best overnight is a tad funny.
I suppose Animal Kingdom is the ugly duckling of Walt Disney World in that sense, and has been for roughly a decade. Save for a small group of super-fans, it simply does not have the same level of adoration as Magic Kingdom or Epcot. I speak from experience: we largely ignored the park until gaining a greater appreciation in 2013 (see “I Was Wrong About Disney’s Animal Kingdom“). Many of the problems Animal Kingdom has had up until now are of its own doing, but just as many are due to guests misunderstanding the park.
The thing is, it won’t actually be going from worst to best overnight. In terms of the heart of the park, Animal Kingdom has been the one of the top two parks at Walt Disney World for a while. It’s slowly been coming into its own, and even more of this congealed last year with a number of under-the-radar projects that collectively brought about some significant changes for Animal Kingdom. It’s almost as if the Imagineering team heading up the Pandora project siphoned off a chunk of the funds allocated for that into a slush fund for other pet projects throughout the park.
In actuality, it’s more likely that executives and Imagineers realized the influx of crowds that would flock to Animal Kingdom for Rivers of Light and Avatar Land would necessitate other changes to the park to support that level of crowds. Seeing these two projects as a quasi-reboot for Animal Kingdom, they took the initiative to invest in other areas that needed addressing. In any case, beyond just the obvious changes and additions in New Harambe and Harambe Market, there have been little improvements.
The central hub of the park was expanded, with new roots added to the Tree of Life that simultaneously gave more depth and allowed for a better close-up view of the area around the Tree of Life (not sure how this was accomplished, but I’m not complaining).
Other changes include the toning-down of pastel art that might have seemed like a good idea in the 1990s (then again, so did parachute pants–it was a tubular time of questionable style choices, indeed) were also made. The changes range from relatively minor to fairly major, and there has yet to be a misfire among them. The park is looking better than ever.
Rivers of Light is the most exciting and important change to Animal Kingdom since 1998. Bigger than Expedition Everest in terms of its impact on the park, what Rivers of Light brings to the table is a viable reason for guests to stay into the evening hours. This is something not even Extra Magic Hours could previously accomplish. Even on the busiest days of the year for the other parks, Animal Kingdom was quiet in the evening hours. The number of times I’ve ever waited longer than 5 minutes to ride Expedition Everest after 5 p.m.? Zero.
Barring a ‘Light Magic’ level catastrophe, Rivers of Light will keep a large number of guests at Animal Kingdom into the evening hours. If Rivers of Light can keep guests in Animal Kingdom after 8 p.m., it will be huge. For many (a majority?) that’s effectively doubling the amount of time they previously spent in Animal Kingdom.
This increased amount of time in the park will effectively force guests to experience attractions they would otherwise–or previously–ignore, as they flocked for the exits by 3 p.m. In so doing, guests will “discover” overlooked attractions, many of which are criminally underrated. This will give guests a greater appreciation for the park, and elevate the status of the park as a whole in the minds of guests. If this happens, it will be directly attributable to Rivers of Light, which is why the show’s quality and popularity is so important.
What Rivers of Light also does is round out the attraction slate, both by (finally) giving Animal Kingdom a nighttime spectacular to serve as the finale of guests’ days and by providing another offering that isn’t wildlife-centric. In our 1-Day Animal Kingdom Park Itinerary, we warn of “animal fatigue” and the need to scatter trails and animal-based attractions among traditional theme park attractions for a well-rounded day. Rivers of Light helps address this problem–and the perception of Animal Kingdom as a glorified zoo.
Admittedly, Rivers of Light doesn’t do as much as is needed to address this issue, but it will help. The other big (announced) addition for this year, the Sunset Kilimanjaro Safaris, a nighttime version of the existing safari, won’t help with that at all. However, it does provide another attraction for guests to experience at night, which is another piece of the puzzle for Animal Kingdom’s long-term success. Other entertainment additions are expected to be plugged in on the fly, as well. Hopefully these work towards providing a well-rounded guest experience. (Oh, and let’s not forget that the park just got an aardvark. I repeat, ANIMAL KINGDOM JUST GOT AN AARDVARK. HELL YEAH! 😉 )
Balancing out the attraction slate to further alleviate that “animal fatigue” is why Pandora: World of Avatar is so important going forward. Unless James Cameron has perfected some crazy technology in his Cameron-Cave to actually bring the blue smurf kittens to life, they are mythical creatures. As such, the Pandora attractions necessarily won’t feature actual wildlife, and instead will be traditional theme park attractions.
I’ve constantly reiterated by excitement for Pandora: World of Avatar, irrespective of the questionable source material. After seeing the Alpha Centauri Expeditions booth at the D23 Expo, I’m even more optimistic about the prospects for Pandora. These attractions and the draw of exploring the land of Pandora will bring further needed balance to Animal Kingdom. Accordingly, I think Pandora will be just what Animal Kingdom needs to round out the park and cement it as one of Disney’s best parks in the world.
Despite Pandora’s likely opening date next year, I still think this year is Animal Kingdom’s coming out party, when a huge contingent of fans will finally take notice of the park. Rivers of Light is what will get people spending more time there, experiencing things they hadn’t previously done, and drinking up those resplendent details. Pandora obviously will have a huge impact next year, but Rivers of Light is the rising tide that lifts all ships…or ride vehicles, as the case may be.
With Animal Kingdom nailing the design fundamentals and laying the foundation for accommodating huge crowds while adding nighttime entertainment and big-budget attractions, it’s poised for a very bright future. If it’s not about to be the best park at Walt Disney World, it’s at least the park with the most near-term upside.
As Epcot is a shell of its former self and Disney’s Hollywood Studios is…well, I don’t even need to go there…it’s only real competition in that regard is Magic Kingdom. Any park would have a tough time competing with the cultural touchstone that is the Magic Kingdom.
Before I allow myself to get caught up in the hype that’s sure to ensue later this spring when Rivers of Light debuts, I’ll go on record now and contend that no (currently announced) changes or additions to Animal Kingdom can propel it past Magic Kingdom. The latter is simply too iconic, and benefits from Walt’s visionary design 60+ years ago in California, refined 40+ years ago in Florida, and since iterated upon and added to in the intervening decades.
Rather, Animal Kingdom will stand proudly as a worthy second gate, a concept park that fulfills its mission and fires on all cylinders. In its history, Disney has had two such parks: EPCOT Center and Tokyo DisneySea. We shall soon see whether Animal Kingdom enters that conversation as the third. You know where my money is on that one.
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Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree that Animal Kingdom will come into its own in 2016 thanks, largely, to Rivers of Light? Do you think the park still needs additional non-animal attractions, in addition to what’s promised with Avatar Land? Have any other “wish list” items? Where do you rank Animal Kingdom in terms of the Walt Disney World parks? Share your thoughts or questions in the comments below!
We are coming from Canada for our first trip to Disney World and had already planned the 22nd as our AK day! We have lunch reservations and our fast passes booked. Now, we are afraid the park will be unbearably busy. Re-scheduling our days would really mess up all of our adr’s and fast passes however,,,. How horribly crowded do you think the premier will be? Should we abandon ship!?
Hey Tom, I’m travelling to Orlando in March from the UK. Completely in love with your blog as well as yours and Sarah’s instagrams! Do we know an exact date for rivers of light to open it just that its sometime in spring? If I know I can factor this into my Disney planning! Also, I know around Easter is the busiest time of year at the parks but is AK still fairly calm compared to MK etc? Thanks a lot.
Some of my fav memories are a near empty AK! So relaxing to take it all in with my family. Thanks for the post!
I have always loved Animal Kingdom and have never understood all of the half day park opinions. I am excited for what is to come, but I also know the peaceful park will be more and more crowded as people flock there for RoL and Avatar. I know that is a good thing overall, but I will miss my quiet park.
I agree. AK is our absolute favorite park. We love the animals, the peaceful atmosphere, slow pace, the wonderful details and beautiful vistas everywhere you look, the good food available, and did I mention the peaceful atmosphere? As locals, we sometimes just mosey over for an afternoon, catch the bird show or the Lion King, take a safari, watch some baby animals play, and sit by the lagoon with some onion rings from Flame Tree.
While we are super excited about Rivers of Light, we are also sadly anticipating the end of many of our favorite things about our beloved park. We know one day many of our long-time favorite peaceful evening snack spots will become everyone’s coveted RoL viewing spots and become a mad-house in the evening hours. We know we won’t be able to just catch a show or ride without a fastpass, or take in the beautiful views without thousands of people crowding all over, like has happened in Magic Kingdom. It’s a bittersweet time for those of us who have loved this park for a long time! We’ll miss our quiet park too.
Great insight on the upcoming changes and great point about how this will force guests to “discover” other areas not seen before. I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend hours upon hours at the greatest area in any park…DinoLand USA!!! I’m glad to hear you’re finally recognizing this! I’m really looking forward to the new changes and I’m really curious to see how Avatar land looks, once it’s completed, at nighttime. I think if it’s done right, that may be some of the best ambiance and coolest effects in WDW.
So so excited for Rivers of Light…at least from concept art that I’ve seen it will be stunning. I will however miss the summer days when my husband (AK is his FAVORITE park) and I would sit at Dawa Bar and watch the park empty out during the inevitable afternoon rainstorm, and then enjoy the rides and walks with no one else around until closing.
Do you think that Rivers of Light will make the park a whole day park for most people? Or simply still a half day park, just the second half instead of the first?
Great post, particularly re approaching Animal kingdom in the right way. I would rate Festival of the lion King as a 10/10 attraction, and expedition Everest is a “must” ride as well.
In defense of those who leave the park early, I would say that a trip to animal kingdom followed by Epcot in the evening is a terrific contrast, and helps you to appreciate both parks more.
So excited for Rivers of Light! Going end of April, wondering if there are any rumors of when it may be done?
I was really impressed by the Animal Kingdom when we last visited there in January of last year. We didn’t make it there this past time because we only had three days. I chose EPCOT for the middle day between the two Magic Kingdom days, and I’m not entirely convinced I made the right choice. I agree that Rivers of Light will definitely help, and Pandora is going to really change the crowd patterns and help the park. We may not get back to Disney World until the summer of 2017, and I can’t wait to see all the changes at the Animal Kingdom.
Animal Kingdom certainly has improved of late and we enjoyed the park more during our last trip than we ever have. It has two of the best stage shows in any Disney park with festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo. The safari is a unique experience that is highly repeatable. The character meet and greets are unique (especially DiVine!), and the tree of life is one of the most ornate and intricate park symbols anywhere. Everest is always a blast as is Dinosaur. Tusker House and Yak and Yeti are solid table service options. I’ve yet to try Kali River Rapids but I’m sure it’s a decent water ride. Flights of wonder is one of my favorite shows at Disney and we never miss it. All of that is great on top of the fact that if you are an animal lover you are surrounded by opportunities to see tons of them.
However…. it STILL bothers me that Disney decided to go outside of its own iconic intellectual properties to create theme park attractions based on a movie that basically nobody cares about anymore. Of course world of pandora will be incredible but I will never have an emotional connection with the CGI smurfs. They should have gone after a property that people have more of an emotional connection with…. can you imagine them doing a lord of the rings middle earth experience? Perhaps a star wars themed land to compliment what hollywood studios is doing? Narnia (if they didn’t sell off the rights) or how about Indiana Jones which is the PERFECT fit for Animal Kingdom. Pirates of the Caribbean? It’s unbelievable that Avatar is getting this kind of attention. I predict Avatar 2 will flop to some extent for the simple fact that it has basically no fans as a franchise beyond people who get hyped about movies and about James Cameron. Okay… rant over… I’m sure I’ll still enjoy it immensely…
Perfect timing on this article as I am doing an AK only trip this weekend. AK has long been a favorite park of mine and I can’t believe there was ever a time I thought it was only a half-day park as well. I’m excited to see what the future holds for AK.
I’m really excited to visit AK in March – just sad that I will miss the opening of Rivers of Light by a month or so!
Animal Kingdom really made an impression on me as a child. It’s really unique as a park experience, and it has such a huge potential. I hope it has it’s time to shine and get appreciated… and that it doesn’t get overshadowed by Star Wars Land development.
I’m hyped for Rivers of Light like nobody else but the one thing I’m not so happy about is how the new seating area and that small structure (I assume it’s a light & sound booth?) will cause the mountain to look smaller since there’s now a frame of reference positioned directly in front of it. It’s a small price to pay for what the show will do for this park but I’ll certainly miss the original view.
“As Epcot is a shell of its former self and Disney’s Hollywood Studios is…well, I don’t even need to go there…” Ha!! Truth.
My husband and I are former cast members. My better half had the pleasure of being a safari driver so we have been AK fans for a very long time. I’ve always thought it was under appreciated and my heart hurts anytime clients or friends say it is a half-day park, or just nix it all together! I’m very excited to see changes but will miss strolling through the park without crowds around sunset. I don’t think Pandora will quite hit the level of frenzy that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter brought in (Mr Cameron would SERIOUSLY have to up his game) but it will be a welcome and exciting improvement.
Side note- been a long time fan, Tom. First time commenting. Thanks for an awesome and honest blog, as well as amazing photography!
I’m curious as to when the announcement will be made for the opening of Rivers of Light. I’m only a few days away from being able to secure my Fast Passes for my April trip (4th-7th for park days), so I was hoping the announcement would come soon so I could build my itinerary around it if it happens to launch by the time I’m there. I think the best guess out there is that it will debut on April 22nd (Earth Day and the Anniversary of the park opening) – in which case I’ll have to catch it the next time I’m around.
Any guesses from you guys as to when it opens? Maybe we should start a betting pool to see who hits closest. 🙂
I suspect Disney will want to have a joint media event for Rivers of Light and Frozen Ever After if at all possible. Based on what I saw a couple of weeks ago, it looks like Frozen Ever After and its attached meet & greet are still a 2-3 months away, at best. That puts the most opportune time for grand openings as the Wednesday and Thursday before Memorial Day, with the 24-hour party slotted for Friday.
I could see Rivers of Light being ready to go well before then, and doing soft openings without FastPass+ for a month or so before the grand opening. Maybe start previews around Earth Day?
That makes sense. I love your depth of knowledge on this stuff! This blog is the best place to go and geek out on Disney.
Animal Kingdom has long been our favorite park, and that’s partially because of the lighter crowds, but I’m super excited about a lot of what’s coming even though it’ll make crowds bigger. We’re going to do an AK-only WDW trip this year as a sort of last hurrah before World of Pandora opens, but I’m glad it’s happening after Rivers of Light starts!
Because I like ‘talking shop’ I am interested to see which does more to attendance: Pandora or Rivers of Light. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rivers of Light has the bigger impact, if only because there’s more room for improvement now, and it will be what makes this a full day park. Once it opens, I don’t see there being as much room for growth.
Of course, if Pandora generates the kind of mainstream buzz that Wizarding World of Harry Potter did (and if it’s visually stunning as expected, this could very well happen, even if people don’t care about the Avatar IP), Pandora could push AK to the #2 spot in terms of WDW attendance.
This is a great post as I’m happy for AK. When my wife went to WDW in late 2014 for our first and only trip to the World, we absolutely loved AK. We got there will before park opening and closed it down in the evening. Sitting at Flame Tree BBQ after the park has closed taking in the atmosphere and listening to the sounds of the park was great. Plus, riding EE repeatedly with no wait was a great bonus that evening. Although I’m sad that there will be more competition for things to do at night when we do eventually get back to WDW, I’m happy more people will enjoy what we did from now on.
Animal Kingdom is one of the most underrated experiences at night, and I’ve also enjoyed sitting at Flame Tree BBQ late, although I have to admit that it’s a bit spooky down there by the water.
I, too, will miss walking out of a near-empty park at closing. but I hope you are right overall. And perhaps if more people spend time in AK, there will be slightly shorter lines int he other 3 parks…
That is a pretty shot of the Harambe theater disctrict, by the way. Creating that area vs FotLK vs. Camp Minnie-Mickey was a great idea and makes you wonder why it wasn’t done a decade or more ago.
I think it wasn’t done because they spent approximately $115 on the first iteration of Festival of the Lion King. Slight under-exaggeration, but not by much. That was a perfect example of a ‘no-dough’ job by Disney. For how little it originally cost, it was put together exceptionally well, I would say.
I hope the area around New Harambe is fleshed out even more once Pandora opens and it’s connected via walkway. That would also be the perfect time to bring back river boat cruises, adding a couple of show scenes along the way. I’d love a scenic ride along the Discovery River!
Disneyland is my home park and I only made my first visit to WDW in 2014. I was stunned at how much I enjoyed AK — far more than Epcot, which was to me a huge disappointment after longing to visit for so many years. In retrospect, I wish I’d budgeted more time for AK and less at Epcot. I’d rank AK #2 of the WDW parks and am thrilled at the attention being paid to it. However, as the previous poster mentioned, I hope that AK’s new direction into nature-themed fantasy doesn’t come at the expense of its animal residents, who provide so much genuine edutainment to AK’s guests. And, I hope that Disney doesn’t dispense with AK’s edutainment features in exchange for more crowd-pleasing and numbers-drawing, pure entertainment. I can’t wait to return to check it out!
While I think Pandora was probably pushed on Imagineering from above, Rohde and the other Imagineers have been pretty good stewards for Animal Kingdom, otherwise protecting its mission and keeping it true-to-theme. If they were able to keep it authentic for years while attendance lagged, I don’t see that changing now, aside from Pandora. Even Rivers of Light seems far more abstract and ambitious than what I’d expect from current-day Disney. That doesn’t mean it will be good, but my expectations are very high.
I too call Disneyland my home park and visited WDW for the first time recently. I loved Animal Kingdom and thought it was just beautiful. (I couldn’t stand HS) Anyway, I already consider AK a full-day park and even spent a couple days there on our trip. The new additions will make it even more fabulous 🙂
I am so excited to see all the changes at Animal Kingdom! I am also a little bit concerned about the animals who call this park home. Have you heard if Disney is doing anything to help the animals adjust to the extended park hours as well as the added crowds and noise that may be headed their way with the Rivers of Light debut? I have always felt like Disney took good care of the animals at Animal Kingdom and I hope that their welfare continues to be a priority.
The rumors that used to circulate about why Animal Kingdom closed early and didn’t have nighttime entertainment were that it couldn’t due to the animals. Those rumors were false. The animals are well cared-for and their well-being will not be impacted by either Rivers of Light or Pandora.
In fact, you have more to worry about with Symphony in the Stars (at nearby Disney’s Hollywood Studios) than you do anything in Animal Kingdom itself. (And that’s still no cause for concern–I’m just saying it would be the greater cause for concern, if there were to be one.)