Should You Skip Disney’s Animal Kingdom?
With construction equipment digging in Dinoland and multiple attractions closed, many Walt Disney World vacation planners are questioning whether they should skip Animal Kingdom on trips in 2026 through late 2027 when Tropical Americas opens. This covers what’s happening, when projects will be completed, and how they’ll impact your experience on upcoming visits.
When it comes to radical Walt Disney World overhauls, there are two existing ‘templates’ based upon recent projects: EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Both of these park reimaginings significantly impacted guests, albeit in markedly different ways.
Most fans will likely be familiar with the Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit, which involved several years of navigating a maze of construction walls in the middle of the park. There was a lot of audible and visual blight, and it felt like a construction zone. But only one attraction closed, and it was an unpopular one. The ride roster was not adversely impacted, especially once Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure opened.
During the Disney’s Hollywood Studios expansion, several attractions closed in order for construction to occur. The attraction count dropped dramatically, but the construction at DHS didn’t significantly impact the atmosphere or guest experience. It was all out of the way, on the periphery of the park.
This brings us to the Animal Kingdom construction project, which is more like the Disney’s Hollywood Studios expansion. The work is out of the way, so the park doesn’t feel like an active construction zone, but the already limited ride roster has now down 2 more attractions.
Animal Kingdom’s overhaul will likewise no doubt weigh on the park experience for the next couple of years. The question thus becomes, should you skip Animal Kingdom? Spoiler alert: the answer is “it depends.”
This article ending in anything but a full-throated, unequivocal endorsement of Disney’s Animal Kingdom is going to anger some fans. Now that old school EPCOT Center has been gone for a couple of decades, those purists (my people!) have been replaced by DAK diehards or defenders.
For many such fans, Animal Kingdom is misunderstood. They believe that the park is underrated and underappreciated with the general public, and that if people just gave it more of a chance, it’d win them over. Honestly, I am receptive to this perspective, as I am one such person who DAK has “won over.”
If you’re a DAK diehard, that’s fantastic! But you should also understand that the target audience of this post is not people who already love Animal Kingdom. If it’s your favorite park at Walt Disney World, you should not skip Animal Kingdom. If you think it’s an exemplar of themed design, you should not skip Animal Kingdom. But you already knew that.
For everyone else, Animal Kingdom already was highly skippable even before the construction began.
Animal Kingdom is the worst performing park at Walt Disney World. During the last year for which data is available (2024), it was #8 in the United States, also behind both Universal Orlando parks. It was the only domestic Disney Park not in the top 10 worldwide.
Globally, Animal Kingdom ranked #15, with 8.8 million annual visitors. That’s up by 0.3% year over year, but down considerably from the 13.9 million guests it hit in 2019. Animal Kingdom is the only Walt Disney World park that didn’t hit the 10 million mark, and it had less than half the annual visitors of Magic Kingdom, the #1 theme park in the world.
This gap will continue to grow in the next ~2 years. Animal Kingdom is the park most removed from its last development cycle, and it has lost more than it has gained since March 2020.
Animal Kingdom will be hurt by its own lack of offerings and construction, and is the park far and away most likely to lose attendance to Epic Universe at Universal as that new park (maybe?!) starts to find its footing in 2026.
The next few years will be tough for DAK, before it starts rebounding with Tropical Americas in 2028. That new land is expected to open in late 2027, and will bring with it an all-new Encanto Madrigal Casita family-friend ride, Indiana Jones Adventure (as a reimagining of DINOSAUR) and a critter carousel.
It’s possible that Tropical Americas opens in phases to get the critter carousel spinning earlier, and maybe even Indiana Jones Adventure. It’s also possible the Encanto attraction slips into early 2028. We would not bank on the ‘meat’ of Tropical Americas being open before November or December 2027. Everything covered here will be valid until (at least) then.
Walt Disney World guests are already voting with their wallets and feet and skipping Animal Kingdom, and have been for the last 5 years. If you simply want the consensus answer and not my opinion, it’s yes, Animal Kingdom is skippable–and increasingly so. But you’ve read this far, so hopefully you’re after commentary, and not just statistics.
With that said, I’m presenting the statistics because they speak for themselves and, frankly, do a lot to rebut the argument among fans that Animal Kingdom is just misunderstood. Maybe it is to an extent, but not by every single one of the 9 million people who visited Magic Kingdom but not Animal Kingdom.
There’s a reason (or several) why it’s less popular, and fans are doing themselves and the park a disservice by pretending that Animal Kingdom is just one more big “Nahtazu” marketing campaign away from ~14 million guests again. The park has real problems; there are valid reasons why guests would skip it.
I’ve had conflicted feelings about Animal Kingdom since the park opened. My family went opening year, and it was our least favorite park at Walt Disney World. When Sarah and I returned during college, Animal Kingdom had improved, but it was still the park we visited least often in the aughts.
At some point, Animal Kingdom started to “click” for us. As we visited Walt Disney World more often, we had time to slow down and take the parks at a more leisurely pace. We became more interested in Imagineering, design and details, which is where Animal Kingdom truly shines. That led to the post, “I Was Wrong About Disney’s Animal Kingdom” back in 2013, which has since been updated several times as the park continues to evolve.
A strong argument can be made that Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the best theme park in Florida. When you emphasize the theme in theme park, we’d rank it #1 at Walt Disney World. Animal Kingdom is an exemplar of themed design, and arguably Disney’s most “pure” park when it comes to coherent storytelling. This is true even after the Avatar addition, which was weaved into the park’s overarching ideas masterfully.
The problem is a lack of rides. Walt Disney World embarked on an infamous Nahtazu marketing initiative following the debut of Animal Kingdom. For those unfamiliar with that, it was pronounced “not a zoo” and I’m sure you can surmise from that what it entailed.
Guests were skipping Animal Kingdom because they viewed it as not too dissimilar from their local zoos. Why pay Disney’s prices and spend limited vacation time to experience something they could at home? The thing is, the ad campaign was tacit admission of the issue. Guests were right, there were too few rides and not enough daylight between Animal Kingdom and a really nice zoo.
This isn’t to say guests were completely right. Animal Kingdom is miles above the average zoo, or even a standout one like the San Diego Safari Park. Nevertheless, the ride count was (and is) way too low and the park leaned (and leans) too heavily on animal exhibits and walk-through trails. Those were (and are) great enhancements, but they were (and are) called on to carry too much of the load.
Animal Kingdom’s lack of rides problem has never been fully addressed. Attractions have been added over the years, with Expedition Everest and Pandora – World of Avatar being huge assets, among the best rides in all of Walt Disney World.
Even after those additions, Animal Kingdom has by far the lightest ride roster of any park at Walt Disney World. And that has only gotten worse in 2026, with the closure of two traditional theme park style attractions. The park is now down to 5 rides. Expand that to include major shows and experiences, the attraction count is 8 or 9. Even once Tropical Americas opens, DAK will only have 8 rides–still the lowest of any park at Walt Disney World.
This massively understates the totality of the guest experience at Animal Kingdom, as it doesn’t count several major animal exhibits (like Maharajah Jungle Trek or Gorilla Falls) that will be among the highlights of a visit. It also doesn’t take into consideration characters, atmospheric entertainment, or numerous other things that Animal Kingdom does so well.
For us, the biggest blow has been the closure of DINOSAUR, which is now extinct as of Spring 2026. That was one of the park’s headliners, one of the top 5 rides in the park as measured by wait times. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good campy fun.
Same goes with the rest of Dinoland USA, all of which is now closed. Substantively, the only other attraction this area offered prior to closure was a spinner, and the land itself was hideous. Whereas most of Animal Kingdom is meant to be slowly savored, Dinoland was pretty much a ‘get in and get out as quickly as possible‘ kind of deal.
DINOSAUR was the main draw, and losing it is far and away the largest loss at Animal Kingdom. Ride-wise, the park is now down to just the two Avatar attractions, plus the superlative Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. That’s 4 good-to-great rides, plus the so-so Kali River Rapids, which is a borderline ride for many guests due to the soak factor.
It also doesn’t help that the new Zootopia: Better Zoogether, which replaced It’s Tough To Be a Bug, is not very good. Families with small children might find this to be passable, and it’s certainly worth seeing once. Regardless, this is “only” a 3D show, so it doesn’t really move the needle much (good, bad or otherwise) on whether or not you should skip DAK.
On the other hand, there are several other shows that are excellent. Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo: The Musical are among the best overall attractions in all of Walt Disney World. There’s also the underrated Feathered Friends in Flight, as well as many animal encounters, trails, and more that can easily round out your day in addition to those 4-5 rides. But that requires being satisfied with only 4-5 rides! Many guests do Disney for the rides, and that’s simply too low of a number as contrasted with the other parks.
We can spend a full day at Animal Kingdom and have an immensely satisfying and well-rounded experience on par with any of the parks at Walt Disney World. You can too, so long as you go in with the right expectations, know where to look for the park’s hidden gems, and pace yourself so as to avoid “animal fatigue.”
When it comes to construction impact in terms of visual blight or navigational issues, there really isn’t much of one. Dinoland is entirely walled off, and is easy to bypass. The tacky roadside carnival was ugly even when it was open. The construction walls are less of an eyesore than Dino-Rama, if you ask me.
Even so, we recommend Animal Kingdom to anyone with 4 or more days at Walt Disney World that enjoys wildlife and wants an immersive theme park experience that involves exploration and savoring the little things, and not just bouncing from ride to ride.
The fact that most guests treat Animal Kingdom like a half-day park and attendance will further decrease through late 2027 could be viewed as an asset to savvy guests, especially those with Park Hopper tickets. Go first thing in the morning or in late afternoon, and you’ll be able to enjoy low to moderate crowd levels ~300 days of the year. No need for Lightning Lanes!
You can routinely finish every ride in Animal Kingdom before 11 am! If you have Park Hopper tickets, it’s easy to do less than a half day at DAK and 1.5 days at Magic Kingdom, which is arguably a full day-plus park.
You can also easily spend a full day at DAK. Animal Kingdom is a lot like World Showcase–light on rides but heavy on environment and atmosphere–and guests rarely complain about World Showcase. Most everyone views that area of EPCOT as an asset, and enjoys making their way around the world. Animal Kingdom is very similar to that, but grittier and less romanticized…plus animals!
Recent highlights on the animal front include Bakso, the park’s adorable Sumatran tiger cub in Maharajah Jungle Trek. He’s already over one year old, but is still adorable. There’s also a new giraffe named Tucker in Kilimanjaro Safaris, who was born roughly a year ago.
Rounding out the trio of new animals is a trio: Butternut, Biscuit, and Potato are the newest Asian small-clawed otter babies to debut in the Otter Grotto habitat on the Discovery Island Trails. (Do not miss Otter Grotto–it’s another of the fantastic animal trails that’s often overlooked!)
While we very much would love for everyone to appreciate Animal Kingdom as much as we do, we’re also realists. There’s a reason why the the park has lower attendance, an afternoon exodus, and gives guests “animal fatigue.” Again, we have to underscore the reality that Animal Kingdom has 5 rides total, and only 4 of those are must-dos.
Then there’s the elephant in the room: Epic Universe.
Ride-oriented guests with limited vacation time wanting to “make room” for Universal Orlando’s new theme park might want to cut Animal Kingdom from the plans. Epic Universe has 11 rides and two major shows, plus atmospheric entertainment, play areas, and more.
For those keeping score at home, this is more rides than Animal Kingdom. Once you expand that to all attractions and compelling offerings (minus animal exhibits), the rosters are arguably comparable. I’m nevertheless convinced that the average guest will prefer the attraction slate at Epic Universe to that of Animal Kingdom.
The type of person who felt the need to read this post (and not hate read, but for planning purposes) might be better suited by Epic Universe. Both parks have high points and are incredibly compelling in their own ways, but there are more major rides that are must-dos at Epic Universe.
However, Epic Universe also is not perfect! The park is having a ton of growing pains, which are likely to continue throughout 2026. Wait times at Epic Universe are worse than any other park at Universal Orlando or Walt Disney World; the averages at Epic Universe are frequently as bad or worse than the peak week of Christmas to New Year’s Eve at the other parks.
Even more problematically, the high wait times at Epic Universe are due to ride reliability and operational efficiency (or lack thereof), and not overwhelming demand. Visit on a rainy day and you’ll find over half the park out of commission since most rides are (inexplicably) outdoors.
As much as I enjoy Epic Universe personally, there’s next-to-nothing for our toddler to do there. So I would go alone (and have, several times) to Epic Universe on a less busy day, it’s a non-starter for our whole family. Epic Universe might be a compelling alternative to Animal Kingdom for some guests, but definitely not for plenty of others. (See Why You Should Skip Epic Universe.)
Ultimately, the construction walls aren’t particularly impactful, and the attraction closure that’s been a big blow is DINOSAUR. Even so, it’s still possible to have a great day at DAK, especially if you have Park Hopper tickets.
But there is also the reality that Animal Kingdom is down to only 5 rides, all of which (and then some) can easily be knocked out by mid-morning. If you’re visiting theme parks first and foremost for the ride roster, the answer to this post is probably “yes.”
If you’re drawn to Epic Universe, the answer is also “yes” for some guests. That new theme park that competes for the limited vacation dollars and time of tourists, and is arguably a more well-rounded park from day one than Animal Kingdom.
If your family skews older and if you can visit during a less busy time and if you avoid rainy days, Epic Universe can be fantastic. Obviously, that’s a lot of caveats. But even if you’d rather wait out the growing pains at Epic Universe, Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios Florida could be good alternatives in the meantime.
It pains us to recommend that a sizable number of guests skip Animal Kingdom, but it didn’t have to be this way. Walt Disney World could have launched a new nighttime spectacular featuring drones, added entertainment, fun ride overlays or seasonal events–anything to help buoy Animal Kingdom and make it more competitive for the next couple of years.
That wouldn’t have made the answer to this post an across-the-board “no,” but it would’ve made “no” a more common answer. Staying on-site and visiting all 4 of the Walt Disney World theme parks is the cheaper and easier option–the path of least resistance.
Puncturing the Disney Bubble is more of a hassle that increases costs and logistics–but it’s an option that’s worthy of consideration for many guests in 2026 and 2027 for the sake of seeing Epic Universe. Just keep in mind that Epic Universe can also be a massive hassle, so weigh your options carefully and be as flexible as possible!
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Your Thoughts
Will you be visiting Animal Kingdom in the next couple of years? If you’re skipping DAK, are you doing so to avoid construction and closed attractions, and waiting until new rides and Tropical Americas opens? Or are you taking your limited vacation time and reallocating the day from DAK to Epic Universe? Agree or disagree with our take? 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!
I have to laugh – your photo of Megatron at that fountain encapsulates the DAK issue for me. I have an almost identical one of my son at almost four at our first ever Disney trip. He was fascinated by all things water fountains and has never been a zoo kid, and I distinctly remember being at that fountain and thinking “But there are MONKEYS right behind you!”
As he’s gotten older, he’s only gotten more adventurous with rides and less interested in parks that don’t have good coasters (even if he does appreciate a good park theming). Although we did Everest (so many times) and Pandora once he got old enough, those alone are not enough to make him want to go back.
For a card-carrying American Coaster Enthusiast, DAK just can’t compete. But I love DAK for the slow down, the atmosphere, and the birds. DAK is full of those classic Disney Magic experiences too. So our next Orlando trip if we can’t hopper it with EPCOT, I’ll probably make it the Mom park while he and Husband go do water slides.
Maybe now is the time for Disney to realize that not everyone enjoys rides and takes DAK to the older adult focus. We love DisneyWorld but have a hard time with the little kids running wild (and they should enjoy themselves) – it would just be nice to enjoy a part of Disney at a slower pace with great shows, nice walks, and fantastic dining choices. We can not be the only Seniors that would enjoy this. Probably not a popular idea for the everyone but since DAK is fragile at best this idea would be a fantastic option to all the other parks for the non-riders
We haven’t been to WDW since early 2019, and we are considering a return sometime in the next 12 months. But when we look at what’s to do at Animal Kingdom that we haven’t done before, we’ve got Zootopia 3D. There’s a bunch of stuff on the horizon, but, in the interim, it’s not enough. I’ve found that the best way to make my vacation cheaper is to make it shorter. Fewer days=lower cost of (increasingly eye-popping) onsite hotel stay + lower cost of food. Animal Kingdom is making it easier to make my vacation shorter.
I love AK, but it does lack rides. I don’t understand losing Dinoasaur for an Indiana Jones theme (so dated, Dino’s are massive in the UK).
New land, fair enough but as Dino was at the edge that could have been left and then ANOTHER ‘ride’ added along with the others planned. An immersive one if not a coaster maybe, to do with the diverse wildlife of S America, eg jaguars, condors, sloths, anteaters etc – educational and interesting, which is what Disney used to do so well, doesn’t always have to be based around a Disney movie?? FYI, FOP is one of my favourite rides ever, and I’ve been to quite a few theme parks! so a full blown coaster may not be necessary but another ride is! Ak – full day for me.
We spent half a day at Animal Kingdom last October, and felt it was nowhere near enough time. We weren’t interested in Pandora and the kids were scared of Everest (and after guardians the night before, I was ok staying on solid ground, although I do love that ride!). We did Dino, a safari, saw Lion King, and went to dinner at Tusker House (fantastic food, their curry vinaigrette salad dressing was out of this world!). We’re going back in August 2026 and planning on spending 2 full days there. Our kids want to do the Wilderness Explorer Badge thingy, the atmosphere is lovely, and I’m looking forward to seeing Nemo and trying more of the food. And we are hoping Bluey will be open by then??? Any idea???
Unless something goes terribly wrong, the Bluey experience will be open by late May for Cool Kids’ Summer. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if it opens early. You’ll be fine!
As local APs, we’ve learned to appreciate the parks that allow us to slow down. Between work, family schedules, and Florida traffic, DAK does this perfectly. I know out-of-towners don’t have the luxury to go to the theme parks whenever they want, so for them, honestly, I would skip the park unless they need a “slow” day. Because DAK, to us, is like going to an oversized magnificently- themed city park with fun rides, good food, and animals. It’s like nothing you have at home, like visiting the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone (unless you live near these places, of course). Like Tom said, skipping DAK for Epic for rides is a smart move (I would do the same). But DAK has more things to do when it rains or if it’s hot. Epic is a great park (we’ve been a couple of times), but I would go to DAK over Epic any day. (P.S. My family and I love any and all rollercoasters too. Iron Gwazi and VelcioCoaster are our two favorites in Florida!)
Another post which is both a very valid question & answered perfectly.
We are long-time visitors from the UK & have a 14 night trip staying on-property planned mid-April & will spend two more-or-less full days at DAK.
We cannot wait to visit Epic Universe & we would far prefer extra time there than say DAK however on the basis that we’ve got a 14 day Disney ticket, will happily spend two days poking around every corner of DAK & only fork out for a single day ticket this year to Epic Universe. It’s a balance & if money were no object, we’d swap a day or even spend less time at WDW & more in Universal but ultimately, we had a budget for our vacation & switching things up too much will simply result in that budget becoming cost-prohibitive. We’ve also got Free Disney Dining Plan which means anytime spent away from WDW, we have to pay for meals etc & additional credits stack up.
Furthermore, an option would have been to split our stay however, quieter days around WDW & taking more time to explore vastly appeals to my wife over feeling like you have to hit a park each day & not taking time to visit say Blizzard Beach, Disney Springs, the pool etc so for our vacation, we now favour basing ourselves on-property and only adding other parks when we feel it warrants it.
I guess that’s a long-winded way of saying, DAK still hugely appeals to us … we just wish we could visit after-dark however that’s another story but as guests who only visit WDW every couple of years, DAK minus Dinoland is still a must visit as a trip to Florida without a safari, a flight on a banshee & tea-train up (& down) Everest wouldn’t be the same
I find this interesting. We went in August. Bought LLMP and LLSP. Arrived for early entry at 7:30 anyway because it allowed us to explore tree of life trails before our LL at safari ride around 8:10 which we always want first thing in morning but hate running over there and missing the atmosphere. We proceeded to enjoy animal trails rides and shows as well as lunch at satuuli (didn’t do nemo and did do a character line) and were there until 3:30 or so. I wouldn’t call 8 hrs with LL a half day park? But we really really stop and watch animals. Gorillas were great that day. The reason we love LL there is scheduling the fop and navi at adjacent times which are also near lunch time is wonderful. Also because LL are easy there we can basically do zero backtracking and zero waiting
While I will acknowledge that nostalgia probably play a big part along with the fact it was the first park we visited on our very first family trip to Disney World back in 2022, AK is still in all honesty my favourite park. It’s hard to explain, but I just like being there, and we did return to Disney World in 2024. As a UK traveler we spend 14 nights on site at Disney World with each visit, and on both trips we spent two days in that park. The first images to pop into my head when I think back to those amazing trips are always of AK.
Obviously this is personal preference and everyone has different things they want out of a theme park, but its just a brilliant place to hang out with a fantastic atmosphere and some really nice places to eat and drink.
We are hoping to return in 2028 and I can’t wait to see the new additions (especially Indiana Jones).
Time for a new Animal Kingdom ad campaign: “Dunahtzscipp”
It has what now, like 5 actual rides? Sorry, that’s absolutely not worth the Disney price of admission. Beautiful park yes, but ridiculously under built when it comes to rides. Not even a half day park. Maybe a 1/3 day park? Tropical Americas will be great I’m sure, but it needs so much more…
These days we’ve been taking the parks a little more slowly and still I don’t see this as a full day experience unless you’re waiting around for every single show, and even then I think it’s feasible to be done around lunch time. I will say, I haven’t been able to stand for super long periods and we were recently there when it was peak busy in February and LLMP was a game changer. The weather was spectacular and the crowds were nuts. We arrived around 12:30PM, grabbed a snack at Flame Tree, and made a loop around the park. The safari had a 50+ minute wait and with the LL we walked on. We only had to stop to wait to load into the next vehicle. It was similar for other rides we did.
We have our first trips to the lodge coming up this year and we are thrilled.