5 Significant Reasons Why Skipping Animal Kingdom Park Makes Sense on Your Disney Trip

Are you planning a Disney World trip and wondering if it’s worth skipping Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park?

From accusations of being a “half-day park”, a “boring park”, and more, there are many reasons why it makes perfect sense to skip Animal Kingdom Park.

Whether you’re taking a shorter trip, want to save money on Disney World tickets or want to spend more time elsewhere (ahem, Universal …), here is why you should consider giving Animal Kingdom theme park a miss on your next Disney vacation.

This post is all about the 5 major reasons why skipping Disney’s Animal Kingdom park makes great sense on your Disney World trip.

Animal Kingdom Park

1) Limited Rides for Kids

A pretty uncontroversial opinion is that Magic Kingdom is a great park with kids – particularly due to plenty of kid-friendly rides without height requirements.

Animal Kingdom, on the other hand, only has 2 rides without a height restriction: Na’vi River Journey and Kilimanjaro Safaris (unless you count Tricera Top Spin as the third – however, this ride is closing with DinoLand U.S.A. in 2025).

Sure, there are a few kid-friendly shows (namely Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!).

Animal Kingdom Disney — Festival of the Lion King show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

But when it comes to rides, there is hardly anything for kids at Animal Kingdom Park.

2) Animal Kingdom Park is a Half-Day Park Experience

Is Animal Kingdom worth a full day?

Animal Kingdom only has 8 rides:

Avatar Flight of Passage
DINOSAUR
Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Na’vi River Journey
TriceraTop Spin
Wildlife Express Train

Unless you want to experience all these attractions (and see all the shows), you probably wouldn’t need to spend the entire day here.

So, if you’re paying for a day ticket, but you’re only going to spend a few hours at Animal Kingdom, it may not be money well spent.

3) Construction at Animal Kingdom Park

After the announcement at D23 of the Tropical Americas Land and new rides (see this post for more information), we know this means construction – likely for the next few years at Animal Kingdom.

As Tropical Americas is replacing DinoLand U.S.A., it also means that we are losing two rides (DINOSAUR and TriceraTop Spin. It has been announced that DINOSAUR will continue to operate during 2025).

So, less rides means that we’re likely to see longer lines at the rides remaining open during this time.

Animal Kingdom can already struggle with capacity issues, but this is likely to get even worse over the next few years, until the Tropical Americas Land opens (and hopefully helps resolve this issue).

4) Shortest Park Hours of All Disney World Parks

As we all know, Disney World park hours can change. But usually, Animal Kingdom will open up to an hour before the other parks, but will also close up to a few hours before Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

It’s really not uncommon for Animal Kingdom to close at around 6 PM!

Even if you qualify to attend Extended Evening Hours (for guests of Deluxe and select Good Neighbor resorts), it is usually only 6 PM – 8 PM.

(Side note: Extended Evening Hours are usually only held at Magic Kingdom and Epcot. However, I went to Extended Evening Hours at Animal Kingdom for the first time in December 2024, so there are certainly exceptions to this!).

5) Lack of Special & Seasonal Events at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park

Disney World is famous for its magical celebrations.

For example, Epcot hosts four iconic festivals each year, with different food offerings, live entertainment and awesome displays.

Animal Kingdom Park, however, doesn’t offer the same level of seasonal festivity.

During the holidays, places like Magic Kingdom light up with special events like Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, offering exclusive parades, fireworks, and treats.

Similarly, Hollywood Studios hosts its own Christmas party, Disney Jollywood Nights.

Other than some Christmas decorations during the holiday season, not a whole lot happens at Animal Kingdom when it comes to special events each year.

All the other parks also hold After Hours Events (usually taking place between January and September) – but these events do not take place at Animal Kingdom park.

Frequently Asked Questions about Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park

Is Animal Kingdom the smallest Disney park?

Animal Kingdom is the biggest park at 500 acres, but has less attractions than the other Disney Parks.

What is so special about Animal Kingdom?

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park is all about nature and wildlife. The best way to experience this is on the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride.

Another way to see some of the wildlife is by visiting or staying at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge or Villas – where there is a savanna with other 30 species of animals. The best part? No park ticket is required to go to Animal Kingdom Lodge!

Ta Ta For Now

Have you ever skipped Animal Kingdom on a Disney World trip? Or, do you plan on skipping Animal Kingdom on a future Disney vacation?

Please share your thoughts in the comments!

This post was all about the 5 major reasons why skipping Disney’s Animal Kingdom park makes great sense on your Disney World trip.