Objectively, the best days to visit Animal Kingdom are weekdays. Across the board, average daily wait times are lower Monday through Friday than they are Saturday or Sunday.
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The worst day of the week to visit has historically been Monday! Perhaps it's because people expect the weekends to be the busiest, so they go with a weekday instead. Nonetheless, Monday wait times might be a bit higher than you'd want.
Disney's Animal Kingdom is probably going to be one of the least busy and stressful days of your entire Disney vacation. While it is very possible to spend a whole day enjoying this park, Animal Kingdom doesn't have the same amount of traditional attractions that you can expect from the other parks.
While Disney has found ways to extend the fun into the afternoon and evening hours, most of the animals viewed here are far more active, and therefore visible, in the morning. I strongly recommend you arrive at the park at opening time, or as soon afterwards as possible, to maximize your visit.
Many write off Animal Kingdom as a half-day park or a glorified zoo. This park is indeed a premier animal care facility, but the attractions are as good as any of the other parks in Walt Disney World.
Disney's Animal KingdomAs such, animal lovers will likely spend more time here than basic theme park lovers. What is this? During your first visit(s), you'll want to do as much as you possibly can. On an average day, you can experience all the ride-based attractions in six or seven hours.
Some Guests feel that Disney's Animal Kingdom park is a half-day park. But you and I know that those naysayers are incorrect! With so much to do and see throughout the park, my family and I always plan to spend an entire day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It also happens to be our favorite of the four Theme Parks.
Walking around Animal Kingdom can cost you a lot of steps, since all of the attractions are quite spread out, as well as it's almost 2 miles to walk completely around the park. The two most popular places guests head once entering Animal Kingdom are Pandora and Expedition Everest in Asia.
I strongly recommend you arrive at the park at opening time, or as soon afterwards as possible, to maximize your visit. So yes, the Animal Kingdom is definitely a morning-centric park.
Animal KingdomThe longest wait there (on average) was Flight of Passage at 102 minutes. Na'vi River Journey followed with 64 minutes, and Kilimanjaro Safaris was next at 58 minutes.
The Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World is the most visiting theme park in the world so one of the other most popular questions we receive is, which day of the week is the slowest at Magic Kingdom? And as a general rule of thumb Tuesdays tend to be the slowest day at Magic Kingdom park.
Of all the Walt Disney World parks to visit at night, I would highly recommend taking the time to spend a few hours at Animal Kingdom after dark. This park is a totally different place at night, and has such a different feel than during the day. It's definitely worth exploring after dark!
Expect it to open at 8 a.m. daily, and possibly earlier during holidays and other times of peak attendance. On-site guests eligible for Early Theme Park Entry should arrive at the entrance 60 minutes before official opening (30 minutes before Early Entry) on all days.
As a general matter, Animal Kingdom is the park that requires the least strategy and is the easiest place to beat the crowds in all of Walt Disney World. It doesn't require Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes, and is pretty easy to knock out everything–and then some–if you stay for a full day.
For anyone who has spent time in Animal Kingdom, you may notice some HUGE differences from the rest of Disney World's parks! In addition to the fact that it's got legit live animals, this is also the ONLY park that doesn't have fireworks. It's a policy that likely won't change, either, for good reason. Here's why!
If you really just want to do theme parks every single day of your trip, then I'd suggest 2 full days at Magic Kingdom, 1 or 2 full days at Epcot, and then one day at each Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
When it comes to mornings at Animal Kingdom, the park can be broken into two parts—Pandora and everything else. If you have Early Entry, you have a good opportunity to get through the two rides in Pandora—Avatar Flight of Passage and Na'vi River Journey—which are (more or less) the two most popular rides in the park.
There are a total of 173 rides at Disney World Orlando. There are 41 rides at Magic Kingdom, 42 at Epcot, 17 at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and 46 at Animal Kingdom.