Animal Kingdom Update: October 2018
We conclude our Walt Disney World updates with our first-ever trip to Animal Kingdom. Well, not first ever, but our first dedicated progress report from the park. As we started doing these last summer after Pandora – World of Avatar debuted, there hasn’t been much construction at Animal Kingdom, and hence no major reason for an update.
There still isn’t much construction, and we debated to have this be Part 3 of our Walt Disney World Fall Trip Recap instead of an Animal Kingdom update, but it does feel a bit more “update-ish.” (And in the end, does the title really matter?) Either way, we had a great full day in Animal Kingdom, and wanted to share some experiences and updates from our visit to the park.
Basically, this post is mix between a straightforward park ‘progress report’ and the rambling thoughts of a trip recap, including my review of the reworked ‘Up! A Great Bird Adventure.’ Aside from that, we’ll also share thoughts on Donald’s Dino-Bash, a last visit to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, and photos from around the park.
A lot has changed at Animal Kingdom since Pandora debuted, and for those of you who don’t pay close attention to all of the latest developments at Walt Disney World, or aren’t able to visit regularly, it’s probably worth checking in on the park.
As it’s going to be the longest part of this Animal Kingdom update, let’s start with my Up! A Great Bird Adventure review. I can understand the desire to update Flights of Wonder. The Guano Joe tour guide bit felt a bit like the type of thing you’d see at Universal Studios Florida in the 1990s; it was both dated and cheesy. This isn’t to say the premise was downright bad, it just needed a refresh.
The narrative framework offered via the tour guide provided transitions between bird segments and injected a sense of ‘Disney’ polish that you wouldn’t find at a local zoo. And of course, given the run of the show, Disney fans became attached to the Guano Joe character, who was a solid performer in an amusing role.
We loved Flights of Wonder, but to be honest, after the first couple of times with the tour guide bit, I could’ve used that dramatically toned down…or gone entirely. For me, the heart of this show–in either incarnation–is the birds and how they work with their human trainers.
That is the emotional heft and the heart of the show, and it doesn’t need anything else to be engaging. (To the contrary, I’d say the more straightforward Frequent Flyers Bird Show at the San Diego Zoo is better than any version of the Animal Kingdom bird show I’ve seen.)
As for Up! A Great Bird Adventure, the birds are still present, so that’s good. I can’t tell if their role has been diminished with more talking between human and character performers, or if those segments are just so dull that they feel interminably long. Either way, I find myself checking out when Russell and Dug are on stage without birds. These segments of the show are (still) written for a 7 and under audience.
Ultimately, I find myself questioning why injecting characters was deemed necessary. The birds featured in Flights of Wonder are beautiful, majestic creatures that impart a sense of…well…wonder in guests of all ages. Kids love animals. I know this not because I have kids, but because I once was a kid, and I remember me and all of my friends loved animals.
If today’s kids are bored by something like Flights of Wonder, it says far more about us as a society than it does about Flights of Wonder. I may be a bit cynical, but I really doubt this was the case–at least in significant numbers. Our animal kingdom wouldn’t cease to be fascinating and awe-inspiring through the eyes of a child over the course of one generation just because iPads were invented.
If there were complaints about Flights of Wonder not being Disney enough, and again I really question the notion that there were, I’d hazard a guess that those came from parents who “paid a lot of money to be here” and “didn’t expect to see some bird show we could’ve seen at the local zoo.” Well, to those hypothetical people, the new version of the show really gives new meaning to an old adage: be careful what you wish for.
The issue with the new show is that it takes a concept with near universal appeal (birds) and adds something with less than universal appeal (characters). Kids may still like it because they’re the target audience for characters, but as we’ve covered above, they’d like a bird show regardless.
So the question for everyone else becomes, is that thing with universal appeal enough of a draw to overcome the thing with limited appeal? For me, the answer is no. The character parts are too much of a drag, and I can see better pure bird shows elsewhere.
Flights of Wonder definitely could’ve used a refresh, but I’d argue that taking it in the exact opposite direction and peeling back even more of the non-bird stuff would’ve been the appropriate measure. Have a host or someone who is a skilled entertainer to facilitate the action and transition between segments, but drop everything hokey. The birds can speak for themselves.
On a more positive note, I am a huge fan of Donald’s Dino-Bash. The premise of this is clever and wry, and the execution is spot on. The meet and greet areas have a ton of detail, and the character selection is well done, as are those cute dinosaur PJs for Chip & Dale.
This is probably the first dance party I’ve seen and thought, “this dance party enhances this area of the park.” Mind you, this area of the park is Dino-Rama, something I think is complete junk, but Donald’s Dino-Bash is still a nice asset to Animal Kingdom. I hope it sticks around.
As it was closing shortly after our visit, I also decided to make the trek out to Rafiki’s Planet Watch to pay my respects to my goat homies and see the area again. It had been a while.
Walt Disney World’s current intention is to retool aspects of Rafiki’s Planet Watch and reopen it in Spring 2019.
Personally, I would not be the least bit surprised if this never happens. And I honestly wouldn’t fault Disney for it.
Having to access this area via train and then having a modest walk for potentially minimal payoff is something that cannot be fixed. More character decorations or whatever they might add doesn’t really change the equation.
The trouble with Rafiki’s Planet Watch will always be that it’s only accessible via train. Even if they were to add an E-Ticket roller coaster back here (they aren’t), that train would be an issue.
Except then, the issue wouldn’t be that the payoff isn’t worth it, it’d be that you have to wait in a long line twice: once for the train and once for the ride.
There might be some balance to be struck, perhaps adding a few rare characters, interactive exhibits with Zootopia characters, etc., but I still think there’d be issues with effort v. payoff.
Or they could just triple the number of goats. More goats, more fun. It’s just science.
It’s really too bad that Rafiki’s Planet Watch is unpopular. The petting zoo is cute, the exhibits inside are interesting, and it’s a nice place to slow down and decompress.
Rafiki’s Planet Watch is the kind of thing the parks all need, even if most guests overlook them. (You could argue that the Boneyard fills that role, but they’re obviously very different and, I think, complementary.)
While I was at Rafiki’s Planet Watch, I saw my first-ever Animal procedure–a bird put under and x-rayed because it wasn’t eating.
Watching this was awesome. If the original EPCOT Center pavilions inspired my generation to go into certain fields, this type of thing would inspire today’s kids to become veterinarians or go into other animal bioscience fields.
As we noted in our “Walt Disney World Crowd Update: A Tale of Two Seasons,” wait times remain long for both Pandora – World of Avatar attractions.
We saw waits of over 3 hours for Avatar Flight of Passage, with the queue stretching throughout the land and out the walkway to Harambe. Other days, waits have been over 4 hours.
Expedition Everest is fun as always, even with piles of uncleaned hair tie offerings being made to the Disco Yeti.
There’s always a lot of merchandise for Expedition Everest, but nothing that appeals to me. This stuff reminds me of Abercrombie from the late 1990s.
Also saw It’s Tough to Be a Bug, a show I love but don’t see often.
Unfortunately, the Hopper Audio Animatronics figure was not working, which was a huge bummer. I’m sort of surprised they run the show without him, as he’s pretty integral to the experience.
Here’s a dinosaur:
And another:
That’s at least 27 years of good luck–you’re welcome.
This mug is not new, but I think it’s really cool.
That’s about it for our Animal Kingdom update. Not a ton here that is new-new, but it’s a park that continues to change post-Pandora. We’re hopeful that continues to be the case ahead of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary; even though there are much more pressing priorities, Animal Kingdom could still use some tweaks and refreshes.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of Animal Kingdom’s bird shows? Do you agree or disagree with our review of Up! A Great Bird Adventure? Other thoughts about Animal Kingdom? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Can you PLEASE explain the hair tie thing on Everest? What IS that about? We’ve always wondered. It grosses me out beyond belief and why don’t they clean it up? Lost cause at this point? Any insight is appreciated!
I love those mugs too! I had to buy one in September. It holds like 20oz of coffee so its way to big. But its awesome.
We have the Cinderella Castle version and we use it to hold pens! I’ve had my eye on the Animal Kingdom one for a while now.
Luckily my two girls aren’t so enamored in waiting in lines for rides that we can enjoy Rafiki’s Planet Watch and a bird show…
We are definitely a take it slow type of family. We do enjoy rides but 3-4 hours waits aren’t worth it for us, for anything. So diversions to Planet Watch are welcome and we are disappointed it might go away permanently.
Re: bird show… It needs MORE BIRDS….take a look at Seaworld’s Pet’s Ahoy! It’s pretty much the same show since our first visit in 2010 yet our kids still love to see it, and it’s still entertaining. But there are animals galore….the trainers are really secondary. That’s how the bird show should be in AK.
I love AK and always have. Watching the vet procedures at Rafiki’s was always a highlight for my solo trips (nobody else i go with wants to stand for a hour and watch a CT scan on a boa constrictor). I’ll miss it for sure. I loved Flights of Wonder and never missed it. As for UP, a HUGE downer. I saw it once, don’t care if I never see it again. Boring.
We are heading to Disney in May and are needing help deciding on which park to visit with our 4th day. We have 2 days allotted for Magic Kingdom and 1 day for Epcot but need help deciding between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Any suggestions? We will have our 5 year old with us.
I think I would go for Animal Kingdom. There is still a lot of construction work at Hollywood Studios for Star Wars, so I think you’d have more options at Animal Kingdom
Hi Tom,
As a team member at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park I would like to say thanks for the Frequent Flyers shout out. I tend to agree with you but I might be a bit biased
Just one thing…Frequent Flyers is at the Safari Park *not* the San Diego Zoo. We are the same organization but two different parks.
I agree! The Finding Nemo musical is magnificent!!
During our last visit, which was my first visit to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, my friends and I got to see a snake have surgery because it got a net wrapped around it that was digging into its scales. We all agreed it was one of the coolest things we saw in the park, right up there with Flight of Passage.
We have always loved AK park, the atmosphere and the attractions. Even though we didn’t get to Rafki’s a lot, we enjoyed the train ride and the area. I hope Disney brings it back. It’s a nice respite from the hectic pace of the park.
Loved the old bird show, and can’t make ourselves go watch the new one. Absolutely no interest in the UP characters, but like you say it is for the kids to enjoy.
Thanks for your reviews and great pictures.
Completely agree on UP! I love birds and thoroughly enjoyed seeing flights of wonder last year. I was looking forward to seeing it again when we revisited this year, but didn’t get the character sections and thought the bird sections were a lot shorter. Although after reading your blog, perhaps it was just the character sections seeming long! I don’t think I’d see it again…unless I needed a rest!
Last year we visited Rafiki’s Planet Watch and enjoyed it very much (having been there before and not been too impressed). I got to watch an ostrich be examined and learned from the CM (very nice man) what was wrong/where the ostrich lived on property – he was very informative as he could see that I was enthralled. I am sad that this will be closing but agree that it could be made better and it would really do well if you didn’t have to ride a train to get there. I’m glad we visited last year.
Still disappointed to hear of Rafiki’s likely demise… It was a must-do item when we went to AK. It had two things that most of the rest of AK was missing, Air Conditioning, and low crowds, PLUS the GOATS. They were my favorite!! I actually didn’t mind the train, or the time it took to get there and back. We just worked that time into our day like anything else you plan for in your Disney itinerary.
Last year at AK Flight of passage was a 4 hour wait. The ride routinely has 2+ hours of wait, on average. Will this ever slow down? I’m thinking no, because it seems the ride loading process is way too slow. It’s not exactly a crowd eater. I will never go on this ride again it seems, unless the wait comes down significantly. Incredible queue though.
I didn’t agree with your review on Up! I think an exhibit at a Disney park needs some sort of schtick to bind it together (Animal Kingdom gets enough criticism as it is for being a glorified zoo, even if that never was and even less is the case), and I thought this was a way of adding a Disney thread to tie the show together without destroying the integrity of the show too much.
I know it’s painful to accept (hey, I wish it were different too!), but kids are the key demographic for Disney parks and I am not sure I can fault Disney for taking steps to appeal more to them. “Just birds” would be amazing, but there are limits to how much activity birds can be subjected to in a continuous stream; there is significant set up time needed for several of the performances; and things don’t always go to plan. I think a lot of kids would tune out without some comedy (or characters) during the drier bits. Also, Dug and Russell’s role was mostly limited to listening to and nodding in response to the handler’s comments.
So I honestly think it’s about as good as can be expected. The post-show presentation remains, and if the presence of popular characters drive attendance to an otherwise fairly unpopular show, and people leave knowing more about birds by the end of it, that has to be good (surely!).
“Cute dinosaur PJs for Chip & Dale” — but no photos?? 😉
IKR – Tom is such a slacker!
We just “discovered” Rafiki’s Planet Watch on our last trip and caught the last train. We just missed the petting zoo, so I was excited to go back on our next trip and spend more time. Super disappointed that it will be closed. Like you mentioned, the fact that it’s out of the way and less crowded probably caused it’s demise, but that is what appealed to us. It was nice to slow down. Plus, since our kiddo was missing a couple of days of school, this was a very educational/interesting thing for her to do. Maybe they could re-open and offer some sort of certificate that kids could take to school showing that they did this?? It might pull in a few more people that way.
We saw Up! the first part of October. I felt the characters were more of a distraction than an addition and the show could have had more birds. I love the movie Up! and was disappointed by the show.
We didn’t visit Rafiki’s Planet Watch often, but every once in a while it was nice to escape the park and venture back there, I’ll be curious to see what happens.
I really do enjoy AK and walking around, it was always my children’s least favorite park but I believe it’s moving up in ranking with some of the additions. Tough to be a Bug is my favorite people watching place, even though it’s dark I love the crowds reactions and screams lol.
I couldn’t agree more with your review of the bird show. I could see an update to the old show, but this one was far worse. We went with friends (who had somehow never been to the old show) and they hated the new one.
I’m torn on the loss of Rafiki’s. I love that it was original to the park. I like the educational aspect and seeing the animal procedures is really cool. But like you, we have rarely ventured back there in spite of all that. Between the train and the walk it’s an hour round trip just in transportation unless you get lucky with timing.
We had never seen Flights of Wonder but enjoyed the UP bird show for what it was, a bit of fun that happened to have some birds in it. It seems most Disney attractions need to be tied firmly to one of the Franchises so Russell seems a good enough choice and I thought it was quite charming.
The best attraction for us was the Finding Nemo musical show.