Animal Kingdom: Asia Nightfall Photo
Disney’s Animal Kingdom is peaceful at night. Some places are so dark, devoid of people, and detailed that you wouldn’t even believe you’re in a theme park. This area of Asia, for example, made me feel like I was actually in a remote area, gazing at a mountain off in the distance. No one was around, and not much light illuminated my immediate area. In fact, it was so dark that this 92 second exposure almost wasn’t bright enough to give me a properly exposed foreground (it did, however, give me an over-exposed sky–check out those star trails in the large version of the photo). While I have not always been the biggest fan of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, I’m beginning to come around. I still think it needs more “Distinctly Disney” substantive experiences so that the “Nahtazu” campaign actually rings true, but it’s moving up on my list. It’s now a must-visit for us each time we head to Walt Disney World, and that definitely was not the case even a year ago!
Technical details: tripod-mounted Nikon D7000
and Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Lens
.. See our Disney Photography Guide for more photography equipment recommendations. 
Tom, great picture – indeed can’t think of a bad one on the site. A quick question, at the end of the post it says taken with a “handheld” Nikon. I don’t know if this is some special terminology but I would have assumed you used a tripod for that shot?
Thanks
Andrew
Oops! That was a mistake. 92 seconds handheld would be quite the feat!
The hours at DAK have been getting longer in the past few months. Way past 5 pm which was quite early in the day. So, lots more opportunities to see the park in the dark.
Beautiful photo. We never seem to be there when it is open at dark.
It’s rarely open after dark. Only in the winter months, I think.
This is a great shot! Can I ask what tripod you bring inside the parks? I love AK for theming and photo ops and my daughters love it because they are animal obsessed. It’s probably my 2nd favorite park now behind Epcot (primarily because of that evil tequila bar!).