2017 brought a whole new era for Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Gone were the days of Animal Kingdom being considered a one or even half day park. 2017 was the year when the Animal Kingdom officially became a Mega Park. With attractions including Flight of Passage, Kali River Rapids & Expedition Everest the list of must-do attractions keeps increasing. Apart from 1 or 2 exceptions, you will want to do it all, but if time is tight, this might not be possible. If you are only visiting the Animal Kingdom for one day, these are 5 Attractions to Skip at Animal Kingdom so you can still enjoy the best of the park.
Rafiki’s Planet Watch or UP! A Great Bird Adventure
Rafiki’s Planet Watch is currently closed, and it seems a little uncertain whether it will ever open again.
The attraction consists of a rather lengthy train journey to visit a conservation area and petting zoo. An odd character will also be found there but sadly no longer Jiminy Cricket. Rafiki’s Planet Watch is quite pleasant, but the train journey does take out a considerable time out of your day.
Assuming Rafiki’s Planet Watch does not reopen we need to add a new number 5 to this list for 2019. Unfortunately, we have decided to add UP! A Great Bird Adventure which is only mildly better than the show it replaced Flights of Wonder. It is sad to add the latest addition to the Animal Kingdom, but it just isn’t that exciting.
Primeval Whirl
Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama is perhaps the worse themed area in Walt Disney World. A concrete jungle in the middle of Animal Kingdom is just wrong. Plus the two rides in this area are possibly some of the most unimaginative ever created in any Disney Theme Park.
Primeval Whirl tops this list of attractions to skip. It is a not very exciting spinning roller coaster with very poor theming. To make matters worse most of the family cant ride Primeval Whirl, it has one of the tallest height requirements at Walt Disney World at 48 inches.
TriceraTop Spin
The other attraction at Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama. Small children do enjoy this Dumbo styled ride.
However, unlike Dumbo this will never be a classic.
It’s Tough to be a Bug!
There is nothing wrong with this attraction. In fact, it is rather good.
However; 4D films do feel a bit too 1990s. If you have plenty of time, give it a go, but if time is tight, it is another to put on the skip list.
However small children do find this attraction terrifying, and many families might want to skip purely for this reason.
On a previous version of Attractions to skip at Animal Kingdom, we suggested Expedition Everest might be an attraction to consider skipping. We are not the biggest fans of Expedition Everest, but it seems many of you are. Our advice for 2019 is you should use the Single Rider Line. Does it matter who you ride next to if you can save time?
Rivers of Light
I know it is controversial.
Animal Kingdom’s big new night-time spectacular and I am telling you to skip it!
It might seem nonsensical to skip it but let me explain why I think you should consider skipping Rivers of Light.
Although Rivers of Light is good, I don’t think it is better than the night-time shows in the other parks. In my opinion Rivers of Light just isn’t as good as Fantasmic or IllumiNations. I feel it is rather short and takes quite a bit of time to get going. In addition, you have to arrive early to get a space or use a valuable Fastpass.
I suspect most 1-day visitors will not want to miss either attraction in Pandora. Unfortunately, you can only reserve 1 Fastpass prior to your visit and the likelihood of getting a second after your initial selections are slim.
Wait times do drop dramatically during Rivers of Light. We walked on Na’vi River Journey during this period.
If you only have 1 day and want to do all of Pandora give serious consideration to dropping Rivers of Light.
That is our 5 Attractions to Skip at Animal Kingdom in 2019. What do you think? Do you have any other suggestions of what to skip if time is tight?
Read More
Reading our Guide to Walt Disney World is a great starting place for your Disney World Vacation Plans.
We have also created a Guide to Disney’s Animal Kingdom which has plenty of Hints, Tips & Tricks.
Webdy says
October 26, 2017 at 9:49 pmWe just got done visiting AK. We enjoyed expedition everest more than the Naivi river. I would not wait an hour in line for it. It’s a grown up Small World ride. I would skip it before Expedition Everest.
@Modlifeisgood says
October 27, 2017 at 11:28 pmHi Webdy
Thanks for your comments.
I agree Na’vi River Journey is a little bit like a Small World on acid! However; I do think it is a great attraction.
I would be reluctant to skip Everest but I wouldn’t personally skip the River Journey.
I think the Single Rider option is the best option for Expedition Everest and allows most guest to experience both attractions.
It is unfortunate Disney do not offer single rider on more attractions like Universal.
David
Michelle says
November 7, 2017 at 5:11 pmExpedition Everest is by far my favourite ride at AK. I could not imagine skipping it.
@Modlifeisgood says
November 7, 2017 at 11:25 pmHi Michelle
Thanks for your comment.
I agree it is a good ride and it isn’t something you would usually skip.
However; if you have only 1 day would you?
Personally I would. On a 1 day visit I would consider the following as must-do attractions for most guests:-
Flight of Passage
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Kali River Rapids
Dinosaur
Na’vi River Journey
Rivers of Light
Based on what fastpasses you can get and likely wait for others something has to go.
In my opinion that is Everest.
Unless you are happy to ride single rider.
Controversial opinion I know but to me although good it isn’t a special attraction.
David