Our 1-day Animal Kingdom itinerary details step-by-step strategy for minimizing wait times & avoiding crowds at the theme park’s most popular rides & shows, including Avatar Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and more. This Walt Disney World touring plan covers attractions, restaurants, zoo exhibits, and more. (Updated March 18, 2022.)
This single day Animal Kingdom itinerary has been overhauled for Spring Break 2022, along with Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebration and rollout of Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, which are the the paid replacement for free FastPass. This itinerary assumes you will not be buying those line-skipping services. If you do plan on spending the extra, consult our 1-Day Animal Kingdom Itinerary with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.
We visit Animal Kingdom frequently “for the sake of research” (and to watch our otter homies hanging out in their grotto), monitoring wait times, testing various approaches, and fine-tuning our strategy as crowds have increased and decreased during that time. This is the revised Spring 2022 Animal Kingdom itinerary we’ve devised as a result…
This post continues our series of Walt Disney World Park Itineraries & Touring Plans designed to answer the frequently asked question, “what would you do if you only had one day in ____ Disney park?” Animal Kingdom is an interesting mix of zoological offerings and traditional theme park attractions requiring a balanced approach that juggles the park’s various types of attractions.
It’s possible to experience what we call “animal fatigue” than you are to run out of time to do everything you want at Animal Kingdom. Pandora – World of Avatar helps with this balance, and most people will want spend more time in the rest of Animal Kingdom as a result. Thanks to that blockbuster land and other additions, Animal Kingdom is now a full-day park in normal times.
However, things are not totally normal right now. The vast majority of rides, animal trails, and dining options have reopened at Animal Kingdom–but Finding Nemo: the Musical still hasn’t, and doesn’t have an official date beyond sometime this year.
This is significant because it’s a lengthy, indoor stage show that provides a needed change of pace. Musical groups and other entertainment acts help serve the same purpose of being nice diversions. (Our guess is that “Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…And Beyond!” opens for the start of Summer 2022.)
The good news is that Festival of the Lion King has returned, as have atmospheric entertainment acts. On top of that, KiteTails debuted for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary and Kevin the bird from Up is also back.
All of this is a huge positive that goes a long way to address Animal Kingdom’s problems of imbalance. Enjoying entertainment during the middle of the day after lunch is an excellent way to split up the day and ensure you’ll be able to spend a full day in the park.
Nevertheless, most guests do not last a full day in Animal Kingdom at present. Wait times for Pandora – World of Avatar are still peaking in the first two hours of the day, but are remaining elevated later in the day.
Now, on with the 1-day Animal Kingdom itinerary…
Zig When They Zag — There’s going to be a lot of temptation to do Pandora — World of Avatar first thing in the morning, but resist that. Whether you should do the same depends on a mixture of park hours, your arrival time, and crowds. If you’re arriving for Early Entry, absolutely do Pandora first.
Even if you’re not at Animal Kingdom for those extended a.m. hours, consider starting with the Avatar rides if official park opening time is 7:30 a.m. and you’re there for that. It’s still early enough that you can beat the crowds and longest wait times for Avatar Flight of Passage.
However, if you’re rolling up at 8 am on a busy day, head elsewhere. Over 90% of guests (literally) will make a beeline for Pandora in the morning, resulting in the longest lines and wait times of the day at Avatar Flight of Passage in the morning hours. At that point, you’re not going to beat the Pandora crowds, so zig when others zag.
Head to Animal Kingdom’s other headliners, all of which should be near-walk ons for the first hour of the day—you don’t even have to arrive at rope drop for this. Sleeping in and showing up 30 minutes late is fine. In fact, arriving a bit late is arguably the better approach as you’ll miss that rush of guests and lines for temperature screenings, security, and the turnstiles.
Normally, we’d recommend starting with Expedition Everest, which is one of Walt Disney World’s best-themed coasters and offers sweeping views of the park. If you have the time, you might want to do it again towards the end of the day, when wait times will once again be nearly non-existent. However, Expedition Everest is closed until at least mid-April 2022, so skip ahead to step two if you’re visiting for Spring Break or Easter 2022.
Two-Week Safari — In the meantime, start with Kilimanjaro Safaris. This is a great option both from a time-savings perspective and for the best possible experience.
The reason we recommend Kilimanjaro Safaris early morning is because it’s great for animal activity and also for photographing the animals with nice, soft light. From 11 a.m. until around 3 p.m., Kilimanjaro Safaris isn’t nearly as fun, unless you like watching big cats and other creatures sleeping. Late afternoon is also good in terms of light, and has a decent amount of animal activity as everyone on the savanna starts getting hyped for dinner.
Kali River Soaking – This rapids rafting ride is a crowd-pleaser that is worth doing if you haven’t done it before. It’s fun and goes through cool environments (albeit lacking show scenes) with a conservationist message.
The potential for getting soaked is incredibly high, so don’t do it if that’s going to be a problem. Conversely, because you’ll get soaked on Kali River Rapids, it’s less popular when the weather is cooler. As of Spring 2022, it’s again one of the most popular attractions at Animal Kingdom–expect that to remain true through the summer and into early fall.
See the Awesomest Animals – Everyone knows dinosaurs are the best animals ever. Unfortunately, Dinoland/Dino-rama are unquestionably the most disappointing theme park lands anywhere, ever. The backstory might be good (debatable), but unless your preferred way to experience a theme park is “reading,” then the actual land will disappoint you.
However, DINOSAUR is actually a pretty good attraction. Do it, then act like the rest of this blighted area is extinct to you.
Snack Time – If you’re getting hungry, it’s a good time for a pit stop at Dino-Bite Snacks. This location serves a variety of, as the name suggests, snacks. Without a doubt, the highlight is their ice cream sandwiches. The options vary by season, but the shared commonality is that they use freshly-baked, house-made cookies. As a result, they’re all excellent.
If you find yourself on the other side of the park, Creature Comforts Coffee Shop and Bakery is Animal Kingdom’s Starbucks location, and they also have some crazy animal cupcakes. They have a rotating lineup of Lion Cub, Zebra, White Chocolate Elephant or Cotton Top Tamarin cupcakes that are each like 3 feet tall (slight exaggeration).
Honestly, I think these cupcakes are more about the novelty of the giant cupcake than they are the taste. These are a large, filling breakfast/snack that will make for a fun Instagram photo that will make you the envy of all your friends stuck back home. SUCKERS! 😉
Otter Odyssey – At this point, you can reasonably slow down and start enjoy walk-through trails and animal-centric attractions while “waiting out” the crowds.
One we’d direct your attention to that’s easily overlooked is Otter Grotto (near the aforementioned Starbucks). It’s just around the corner from Creature Comforts and features some of Animal Kingdom’s most fun and rambunctious critters.
Strategically, there is no good or bad time for any of the various animal trails and exhibits, but you’ll want to space them throughout your day at Animal Kingdom to avoid fatigue of the park’s zoological features.
Lunch – Animal Kingdom really brings it when it comes to dining. For lunch, we recommend slowing down and having a table service meal. Animal Kingdom gets pretty hot midday, and this is a great time to escape that heat with a longer, relaxing meal. Currently, our #1 pick for those wanting an exceptional, fine dining caliber (in a realized setting) meal is Tiffins. The best meal at Animal Kingdom, and one of the best overall at Walt Disney World.
If you don’t want something fancy, opt for the excellent Yak & Yeti instead. You can’t go wrong with either of these for table service dining in Animal Kingdom. If you want a character meal, Tusker House has also returned as a family-style meal, although our experience there was not the best.
Flights of Fancy – Previously known as UP! A Great Bird Adventure, this show is now called Feathered Friends in Flight and has mercifully cut Russel and Dug from Up. It’s still a bird show targeted towards families with small children, but it no longer feels dumbed down to a 3 year old level. No offense to the characters from Up–a movie we love–but this show is much better without them. Feathered Friends in Flight showtimes are sporadic, so you might need to fill time before/after this (and other) shows that are included in this plan.
In any of these cases, take time to explore trails or watch various animals in the park. From fully-fledged attractions like Pangani Forest Exploration Trail to smaller exhibits around the Oasis, Animal Kingdom has a lot to see that’s often overlooked. Slow down and take the time to explore, discovering various animals and details tucked away in quiet corners. Stumbling upon these hidden gems is very rewarding!
Maharajah Jungle Trek – This is another animal trail that you could really do whenever. Regardless of when you choose to do it, we strongly recommend that you don’t skip this one.
Maharajah Jungle Trek is another under-appreciated Animal Kingdom attraction, as this walk-through exhibit has some beautifully imagineered environments. Definitely don’t skip it, but you also don’t necessarily need to do it in this spot.
A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King – One of two excellent Animal Kingdom stage shows has returned! Technically, the show is A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King, which is a result of modifications to the full show. This essentially means physical distancing, most notably the removal of the Tumble Monkeys and aerial performers.
We’re hopeful the full show makes its triumphant return, but we’ll happily take this for now. Festival of the Lion King is an exceptional show, and Animal Kingdom really needed a relaxing, indoor way to break up the day. Since returning, physical distancing has been dropped and several showtimes have been added, making it easier to see without significant waits. For lower crowds and shorter waits, we recommend one of the late afternoon shows.
Winged Encounters – Periodically, there’s a show directly in front of Tree of Life called “Animal Kingdom: Winged Encounters – The Kingdom Takes Flight.” This does not have specific times in My Disney Experience, so you might want to ask a Cast Member around the Tree of Life when it’s scheduled to occur.
This is not a major show, but it’s a magical one that is absolutely worth seeing. Try weaving it into your itinerary as you head back towards the front of the park. Also make an effort to see the other birds and critters around the Oasis, which are otherwise easily overlooked.
Insect Interlude – It’s Tough to Be a Bug is a good option to round out the middle of the afternoon here. It’s a fun 3D show housed inside the park’s iconic Tree of Life, which is arguably the coolest thing about the experience.
With that said, you can truly do It’s Tough to Be a Bug whenever. No strategy required for this one, so slot it in whenever is convenient for you.
KiteTails – Disney KiteTails is unlike anything you’ve experienced at Walt Disney World, I assure you. We already sang the praises of this absurd and weird and totally chaotic kite show, but it bears repeating. A lot of Walt Disney World guests are still sleeping on this or have deemed it beneath being worthy of their limited vacation time. If that’s you, all I can say is that you’re wrong about KiteTails.
Up until fairly recently, there was an entire subset of Weird Disney World productions that didn’t take themselves too seriously and were all the better for it. Unadulterated fun, because that’s what really matters at the end of the day. KiteTails is exactly that. It’s not lavish, big budget, or wow-inducing.
In fact, about the only time it produces an audible reaction from audiences is when the gigantic kites do something unexpected, have a near-miss with the water, or “conclude” their performance. But the performers have a ton of heart and put their all into it, and the end result is something special. Ridiculous, but special. So grab the closest seat you can find to the crash zone, buckle up (not literally, although maybe not a bad idea if it’s windy), and let yourself have some fun. (You can also see KiteTails from the Flame Tree BBQ seating area, but the crash landings aren’t nearly as impressive there.)
Two-Week Sunset Safari – We’ve already gone to different corners of the globe, scaled the Earth’s highest mountain (a couple of times), and now, we’re going to do a few weeks worth of safaris. That’s more impressive than going around the world at Epcot in a day!
For this ride aboard Kilimanjaro Safaris, we recommend waiting until late afternoon, getting closer to sunset time. Along with the early morning, the animals are most active in mid to late afternoon, so this experience should be different from the first but equally eventful.
Unwind at “Dinner” Time – Animal Kingdom is not open late enough for most guests to do both lunch and dinner, but this is our advice if you don’t mind living the high life and eating twice in the span of ~4 hours. In addition to that issue, one of the biggest “problems” you’ll have with visiting Animal Kingdom is that there are too many good places to eat. I guess that’s a good problem to have. First, there’s Satu’li Canteen in Pandora – World of Avatar. This counter service restaurant has inventive, high-quality, and even healthy cuisine that is excellent.
If you’re looking for something unhealthy and distinctly carnivorous, Flame Tree BBQ is our top pick. One of the greatest things that Animal Kingdom After Dark brings to the table is nighttime views of Everest from the seating area. Of course, the food is amazing at Flame Tree BBQ, which shouldn’t be overlooked. Delicious smoked meats and a wonderful view makes this an almost transcendent Walt Disney World experience. (Well, for hardcore, mountain-loving carnivores like me… 😉 )
Travel 4.4 Light Years Away… – The final stop of your day needs to be Pandora – World of Avatar. Right now, we recommend arriving to the land around 90 minutes before park closing. At that point, Na’vi River Journey should have a posted wait time of 55 minutes or less, with an actual wait time usually around 30 minutes. (Adjust your arrival accordingly based on the wait time in My Disney Experience.)
That should be a sufficient buffer to finish the boat ride and make your way to the park’s headliner, Avatar Flight of Passage, with 15-30 minutes left in the day. At this point, the posted wait for Flight of Passage will likely be over an hour (it might even be triple digits!), but the actual wait time will be significantly lower than that. If you don’t arrive within the first 30 minutes Animal Kingdom is open, these will be the shortest waits of the day at both Pandora attractions.
On your way out, be sure to watch the Tree of Life Awakenings, which are brief montages that play on the Animal Kingdom park icon. That should mark the conclusion to a satisfying day at Animal Kingdom. While the park is still relatively relaxed and less stressful of a touring experience than Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios (especially after the 3 pm mass exodus), you should still follow this strategy to avoid the few headaches that do exist at Animal Kingdom.
Even a few years after Pandora – World of Avatar opened, wait times for both Avatar attractions can still be quite long, especially at rope drop, so pack your patience! If you want to experience other attractions besides those we’ve listed, make sure to check out our Animal Kingdom Park & Attractions Guide, which rates and reviews all attractions.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What would you include in your ideal day in Disney’s Animal Kingdom? If you’ve been back to DAK since Genie+ and Lightning Lanes launched, what was your experience with crowd patterns and wait times? Did you do Na’vi River Journey and Avatar Flight of Passage first, last, or somewhere in between? What did you think of Pandora – World of Avatar? If you haven’t visited Walt Disney World, what do you plan on doing during your day in Animal Kingdom? Any questions? Share your questions and thoughts in the comments!
