Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom, located on the southwest edge of Disney World, is one of the 4 major theme parks at Disney and is a theme park like no other. There are of course rides, but the main attraction of Animal Kingdom is the rich variety of beautiful landscapes and the large animal habitat that provides an amazing safari experience. The barriers between you and exotic animals are purely natural; and that is the beauty of Animal Kingdom. It is a theme park in the sense that there are rides and attractions; but for most the real attraction is the nature it has to offer. Disneyworld Florida holidays wouldn’t be complete without a visit to this attraction.

Animal Kingdom has at times come under criticism. If you’re looking to go on as many rides as possible, then you’ll likely only last half a day there. The rides there are good, but they are not the main point of Animal Kingdom.

The park opened in 1998, and was in fact advertised using the fictional world ‘Nahtazu’ – say it out loud and you find yourself saying ‘not a zoo’. Disney was keen to emphasise this message. Even though this was a theme park with animals, they were not caged up or behind bars – but rather in a large habitat without real borders or fences.

The park itself is divided into seven main areas, even though the original plans called for an eighth area – ‘Beastly Kingdom’. At the moment however there are still seven, and you’ll encounter the first one – ‘Oasis’ – as you enter. ‘Oasis’ is the main park entrance and will lead you on to the other areas. The path from here leads onto ‘Discovery Island’, the next area. Here you find the tree of life, an icon for the park.

The third area is called ‘Africa’, with the theme of a fictional African village being used. As the name suggests, here you can view African animals in their natural habitat. From ‘Africa’ you can head on to ‘Rafiki’s Planet Watch’, as it is the only area not connected to Discovery Island. The fifth area, ‘Asia’, is similar to the natural habitats on show in ‘Africa’.

‘Dinoland USA’ is predictably dinosaur themed, and taps into the general public’s curiosity and fascination with these creatures. The last area is ‘Camp Minnie-Mickey’. Here you can go to the theatre and watch shows.

Animal Kingdom is full of rich life, and it really is no ordinary theme park. It’s definitely worth going to see but if you’re on a tight budget then here is a list of free things to do in Orlando.