-
DAK Resources
- DAK - Frequently Asked Questions
- FAQs about touring plans, disabled, transportation, etc.
- DAK - Frequently Asked Questions 2
- More DAK FAQs.
- DAK - Guidebook
- Full scans of the inside and outside.
- DAK - News Links
- Web news links about DAK
- DAK - News Clips 1
- Opening day press clips
- DAK - News Clips 2
- Pre- and Post-Opening press clips
- DAK - News Clips 3
- Press clips Aug 98 - Mar 99
- DAK - News Clips 4
- Press clips Mar 99+
-
WDW Resources
- WDW Prices, updates, faqs, hints, accomodation
-
Family Websites
- Other family sites
- Official Disney Links
- Walt Disney World
- Official Walt Disney World website
- Magic Kingdom
- Official WDW Magic Kingdom site
- Epcot
- Official WDW Epcot site
- Disney-MGM Studios
- Official WDW Disney-MGM Studios site
- Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Official WDW Disney's Animal Kingdom site
- Disneyland
- Official Disneyland website
- Disneyland Paris
- Official Disneyland Paris website
- Tokyo Disneyland
- Official Tokyo Disneyland website
Please sign our... Guest Book
l
DAK FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions about Disney's Animal Kingdom!
| Suggested DAK Touring Plan? |
The secret is to start early. DAK opens at 7am in peak season and 8am in off-peak. You should be there half an hour before opening. Pick up the current guidebook and study it when you're waiting. Look for the show times for Legend of the Lion King, closing times for Maharajah Jungle Trek and Kilimanjaro Safaris, and special Kilimanjaro Night Safaris if it's during Easter or summer.
Assuming you want to hit all of the major attractions at DAK, the longest wait times are usually for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Legend of the Lion King. (Since Kali River Rapids hasn't had a full summer yet, I'm guessing that on hot days it will have a very long line as well. It is a wet water ride.) How long is long? Generally the maximum waits get to be about 90 minutes; beyond that most people won't queue.
So the plan is to go early to the popular attractions and save the others for the mid-day when the crowds are the largest. But plan to ride Kilmanjaro again just before it closes. You're riding the Safaris to see animals, and they are the most visible and active first thing in the morning and around sunset, so these are the times to ride. Most of the complaints about lack of animals are during the mid-day, between 11am and 3pm. It's also bumper-to-bumper Safari Vehicle traffic during these times, which also discourages some animals. Also you will find keen driver/guides and 'script readers'.
Here's what I would suggest:
Suggested touring pattern for one day at DAK:
1. Get there early! The park opens 8am in winter, 7am the rest of the year. Get to the gate half an hour before it opens.
Pick up a guidemap and see when the Festival of the Lion King show is on and when Kilimanjaro Safari closes.
2. Head through the Oasis, left around the Tree of Life to Africa and on to the Kilimanjaro Safaris. Skip Pangani for now.
3. Go across to Asia to the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Do Kali River Rapids if you like water rides and getting wet.
4. Then go to Camp Minnie-Mickey to the Festival of the Lion King.
5. Then the DinoLand to Countdown to Extinction. Walk through Dinosaur Jubilee 99's tent. Skip the Jungle Book show.
6. Head across to Africa, to Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.
7. Then take the Wildlife Express to Conservation Station, explore and return to Harambe.
8. It's probably busy in the park, so check the Attractions board in Safari Village for wait times to see
which have the shortest wait times, like It's Tough to Be A Bug (continuous shows).
9. Explore the Tree of Life Garden and the Oasis.
10. If it's very busy in DAK, have a mid-afternoon lunch at Rainforest Cafe
11. Take another Maharajah Jungle Trek late, then
12. Take another Safari as late in the day as possible.
13. Have a good dinner at Rainforest Cafe.
| DAK Ticket Prices? |
DAK admission is the same as all of the Walt Disney World parks. My suggestion is to buy 4,5 or 6 day Hopper passes at AAA or a Disney Store (Magic Kingdom Club discount if you have it). This gets you into all of the parks - you can hop between them on the same day as many times as you like. You could do DAK in the morning, Magic Kingdom/MGM Studios in the afternoon and Epcot at night. These hopper passes never expire, so you can use them next time you visit.
You can also buy a one day pass, at about $45 each.
Park Hopper passes are about $173 for 4 day, $165 with discount; $200 for a 5 day, $190 with discount. There are child rates for 3-9 year olds. There is also an "All in One" Hopper pass (and a Length of Stay pass for WDW resort guests) at a higher price that lets you into the water parks (Blizzard Beach, Discovery Island, Typhoon Lagoon) and Pleasure Island. I don't recommend the extra cost for most people, because you're likely to spend a whole day at a water park, and the gate admission is only $25; you've paid the equivalent of $48 per day for the pass. It is more convenient.
You can purchase Walt Disney World 4 day ($189 plus tax) hopper passes at the ticket booth at all of the parks - Disney's Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios or Magic Kingdom. You can also purchase them at Disney Stores in the large malls, and at the American Automobile Association (AAA) offices. There is no Senior Citizen discount, but there are AAA and Magic Kingdom Club discounts.
If you are a Florida resident, you can also purchase a special Seasonal Florida Resident Theme Parks pass for $168.54 that will give you unlimited admission to all Disney Theme parks for one year, EXCLUDING the following dates: June 14 - Aug. 22; Dec. 24 - Jan. 2; March 28 - April 9. You can call 1-407-934-7639 for more info.
Prices are listed at wdw prices.
| Using Motorized Scooters/ECVs? |
If you're driving, tell the parking booth attendant that you have your own ECV - they will direct you (via parking lot colored lines) to special spaces that are close to the entrances.
At the entrances, stop at Guest Relations and pick up the booklet "Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities". It explains which attractions require you transfer out of your ECV, which allow ECVs and which require you to switch to standard wheelchairs.
For Disney's Animal Kingdom, you will need to transfer to a standard wheelchair for Kilimanjaro Safaris; and transfer to the ride vehicle for Countdown to Extinction (caution - this ride throws you around considerably) and Kali River Rapids (caution - this is a water ride, you will get wet, and the rafts bounce around the rapids). Otherwise you can enter all of the other attractions at DAK directly. This is one advantage of a newly built theme park - it has been designed for access by all kinds of guests. In fact the new construction at Kilimanjaro Safaris is a new loading station for wheelchairs.
| Complaints about Safaris being too artificial? |
The actual animals' habitat is a 'modern zoo' style, where walls, fences and moats around small pens have been replaced by large open areas with 'natural' barriers - cliffs, streams/gorges - for the most part. Thousands of trees and shrubs were planted to give the animals some native habitats and vegetation. Animals were introduced to these habitats gradually over a 6 month period and all of them came from zoo environments - many were raised specificially for DAK. I received a note from a person who worked at a zoo that had raised most of the gorillas and recognized them from my pics.
Animals are placed into groups that generally co-exist - the giraffes, eland, tommies, kudu, zebra and ostrich are all together on the open grassland; the lion and cheetah environments are isolated. As zoo animals, they are used to being fed on regular cycles.
At DAK, feeding and nutrition are important and not only is this a prime concern, but there is a lab area at Conservation Station devoted to showing the General Public what they do. The animal hospital here is also open to viewing. In addition, a large part of the building is devoted to education about preserving rainforest and conservation efforts. Our Conservation Station tour.
Yes, the animals are fed nutritionally balanced diets that are custom tailored for each, and yes, these feedings are in places that the Safaris go past so that there are usually certain animals in certain places. That's the way the park was designed, since very few visitors want to see a hundred acres of trees and grasslands with no animals. So yes, there are feeding stations built into some of the 'trees' for the giraffes. There are also a lot of natural trees planted that they can chew on and eat.
For authenticity, the original staffing of the Safari vehicles was predominantly African students. There's an article on this in the News sections on my site.
I had a comment from someone who had spent four months in Africa who felt that this was a good representation of a Safari, except that you saw more animals and that there was a lot more water at DAK.
As far as the new Asia, the Maharajah Jungle Trek is the featured animal area. It's a walk-through so there is no 'storyline'. The animals are presented in a 'ruined old maharajah's palace', which is very elaborately done. The tigers seem to be right at home, and the bats are surprisingly large. I don't think we'll see any criticism of being 'fake' here. The white water rafting ride is just that - a ride.
You should read the three news clips sections on my website:
Opening Day
Pre-opening
Post-opening 98/99
There's a fair amount of background discussion and also a recent clip on the accreditation from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA).
| TV shows from DAK? |
The only regular TV show produced at DAK is "Secrets of the Animal Kingdom". It is typically on ABC,
and in my market is on Saturday at 7am :(
Last time I was there (Sun Jan 24th), the show's casting manager was looking for three or four families to be background at Harambe Station for the program.
This was at the entrance gate at 7:45 am (DAK opened at 8am). They were shooting most of the scenes across from Pizzafari in front of the Tree of Life.
If you haven't caught Secrets of the Animal Kingdom, check your TV guide or contact your local ABC station. Thank goodness for VCR timers.
| WDW Transportation to DAK? |
Yes, Disney runs their regular bus services from all of the on-property hotels directly to
Disney's Animal Kingdom, just like the other three theme parks.
The bus depot is to the left side of the entrance as you face the entrance and is a couple of hundred feet - a little further than
Disney-MGM studios and a little closer than Epcot. There are also buses between the parks here. When I was there at the end of January, the same bus went to MGM and Epcot.
By the way, if you're leaving the Magic Kingdom, they are running buses directly to the hotels from the depot to the left as you exit the main gates
| Back road to DAK from 192 West? |
I know the road by sight, but I can't remember the exact street names. Turn north at the Holiday Inn Maingate West at Sherbeth Dr. Stay to the right on Sherbeth, not to the left on Black Lake Rd. This road (Sherbeth?) runs about a mile north, passing Cast Wardrobe on the right, then turns to the left at the west extension of the Osceola Parkway and runs along side then turns right. Take the first right onto the Parkway. You'll pass the DAK parking toll booths, then on your left there's a U turn back into the entrance.
Click here for Our Disney Home Page
Email Disney/WDW: http://disney.go.com/Mail/DisneyWorld/index.html
