5 Best Animal Kingdom Rides
Disney Animal Kingdom is known for its focus on animals in their habitats and its conservation efforts. If you haven’t been to the park, you might not realize that it also has some pretty fantastic rides. There are 5 that we think are the best Animal Kingdom rides.
5 Best Animal Kingdom Rides
Animal Kingdom is probably the Disney World park with the smallest number of rides.
Don’t let that fool you, though. This park has some really unique thrill rides!
When planning your day in the park, these are the 5 best Animal Kingdom rides to prioritize:
1- Avatar Flight of Passage
There is nothing that can even compare to this ride.
On your walk through the queue, you will get to see areas of Mo’ara you won’t otherwise be able to see.
You will cross land bridges, get up close to waterfalls, and walk through a totem garden.
When you enter the cave system, you will be led into an abandoned RDA laboratory where you will get to see scientific experiments.
After your tour of the lab, you will have to undergo genetic matching. Your body will be scanned and then given a personal avatar that you will connect to in order to take flight on a banshee.
When you step onto the virtual ride simulator, you will actually feel like you have straddled the back of a banshee.
You will feel it breathing and its heartbeat.
When the ride begins, you will feel as though you have been transported to the world of Pandora. The flight, while intense at times, is a full immersion into the world of Avatar.
You will feel the wind blowing your hair, the dips and dives of the Banshee, and even the spray of water when you near the ocean.
The entire experience will leave you in awe.
2- Expedition Everest
When it comes to roller coasters, Expedition Everest is one of the best rides in all of Disney World.
Before you board the train to take you up the Himalayan mountains, you will learn about the Yeti, the mysterious and elusive creature that is said to guard this sacred place.
When you take the train, you will venture deep into the lair of the yeti when you find that the tracks seem to disappear.
Your train will have to go backward through the fog before stopping in an ice cavern where you come face to face with the Yeti.
To get away, your train must leave and fly down the mountain
3- Dinosaur
This ride takes you on a trip back in time to when Dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
When you first arrive, you will be debriefed about the ride.
The premise is that you are going to be transported back in time to allow you to witness dinosaurs as they once were.
Instead of getting your safety briefing, the scientist decides to change the direction of the adventure because he wants to bring the Iguanodon from extinction and it is your job to find it.
You will board a jeep and explore the jungles during a time period when dinosaurs lived. On the adventure, you will roam the jungles in the dark looking for the Iguanodon.
The ride is extremely bumpy with lots of dips, turns, and sudden jolts, and since it is in the dark, you never know what is going to happen next!
4- Kali River Rapids
Looking to get wet in Animal Kingdom? This is a ride where you can almost guarantee to walk off feeling much cooler than when you got on!
This ride is actually a rafting expedition along the Chakranadi River, courtesy of “Kali Rapids Expeditions.”
You are being taken on a journey that promotes the natural beauty of the region to help you understand how detrimental the logging industry is to the area.
Along the way, you encounter twists, turns, and some elephant statues that spray water.
Do yourself a favor and wear a poncho!
5- Kilimanjaro Safari
If you have come to Animal Kingdom to see the animals, one of the best rides at Animal Kingdom is Kilimanjaro Safari.
This safari ride takes you on a journey through the 110-acre Harambe Wildlife Reserve of Animal Kingdom Park, where you can see up to 34 different species of animals!
This safari gets you as close as you can to the animals in the nature reserve!
Using Lightning Lane for Rides at Animal Kingdom
If you are hoping to ride some of the most popular rides at Animal Kingdom, you might want to consider purchasing Lightning Lane passes.
We think you should utilize Lightning Lane Multi Pass for rides that seem to fill up pretty quickly, like Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safari.
There is only a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Avatar Flight of Passage.
Planning a Disney World vacation and you don’t know where to begin?
Start with our Disney World planning guide! This will give you all the information you will need, including a guide to all four Disney World parks, list of Disney World Resorts to consider, Disney World crowd calendars and a full list of what to pack for Disney.
Looking for the best deal on Disney World tickets? There are ways to save money on tickets to Disney. We always use a third-party ticket broker because they give us the best savings per ticket.
Are you traveling to Disney World while pregnant or with grandparents who might not be able to do all the rides? The park can still be magical. We have plenty of information on things to do at Disney World besides rides.
We’ve been traveling to Disney World for decades and because of this, we can share all the best Disney World Tips.
We encourage you to check out our entire site!
Do you have a favorite Animal Kingdom ride?
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