Lines And Tigers and Beers, Oh My: How to Celebrate Earth Day Disney-Style
Earth Day is a dual celebration when enjoyed in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Consider the park’s theme of conservation; DAK literally goes wild in the days leading up to Earth Day with Wildlife Wednesday’s and new Earth and animal-themed merchandise and apparel appearing in Island Mercantile, one of the park’s primary shopping spots. The Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) also promotes the park’s message through its own commodities such as pins and magnets, a portion of whose sales benefit the organization.
It all culminates on April 22 in a jammin’, park-wide jamboree known as “Party for the Planet.” Sponsored by Disneynature (independent film label lovechild of the Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Pictures), the festivities revolve around environmentalism and Animal Kingdom’s birthday, or, “bEARTHday,” if you love wordplay as much as I do. Yes, that date was chosen on purpose, because in “yes-ville,” every detail is arranged with an intention, including park openings.
As mentioned in my previous Disney feature, Animal Kingdom was dedicated and opened to the public April 22, 1998 as the fourth and largest of the four theme parks making up the Walt Disney World Resort. The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, twenty-eight years prior. This year marks DAK’s entry into formal adulthood at eighteen years old. Like a regular eighteen-year-old, she’s on the cusp of exciting changes and privileges, like staying up past her usual closing hours of 6, 7, and 8 p.m.
In honor of this mother-daughter conservation combination, here are some of my absolute “Must-Do’s” for a proper DAK day of celebrating Mother Earth and to many more years of adventure.
Exotic Eats and Everything Else
For each of DAK’s four themed areas exist four varied greetings. Discovery Island says, “Viva Gaia!” Asia wishes Guests, “Namaste.” “Jambo,” is the salutation in Africa. Dinoland gives a hearty, “Howdy Cousin!” By the end of a day spent at Animal Kingdom, Guests leave with an array of dialect to try at home or anywhere if they’re feeling adventurous.
Speaking of being adventurous, I encourage Guests to exercise the bravery of their tastebuds with some excellent food and drink options. Those old and courageous enough can wet their palate with an assortment of exceptionally tempting and cleverly named alcoholic beverage options sold throughout the park. Several notable concoctions I sampled included a dark brew known as the Yeti Stout and a slightly lighter distillation called the Victory Golden Monkey Draft. These and other eclectic drinks were sold at the newly installed Thirsty River Bar & Trek Snacks, located only steps away from Expedition Everest’s queue. I would advise to ride Everest first, then wait for the line to die down a bit while nursing an Old Elephant Foot or Kingfisher.
Down the road near the Kali River Rapids is Yak and Yeti Quality Beverages, a bar connected to the Yak and Yeti quick-service food restaurant. I recently stopped for a Safari Amber after riding the Rapids (yes, I did get wet), and I drank the dark draft while my shorts dried. As I relaxed on the side streets of Anandapur, I enjoyed some free, quality entertainment available anywhere in DAK and throughout the Walt Disney World Resort: people watching.
The “Bear Necessities”
This is not a reference to DAK relishing in Disney’s latest theatrical release of its live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book. It instead refers to every Guest’s call to action, AKA, the internal struggle of which attraction to experience first. Usually the debate follows the lines of, “Everest or Safari? Are they close to each other?” Asia and Africa are neighbors in DAK, but the thrill factor of Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain should not be taken lightly if traveling with Guests prone to motion sickness or children who do not meet the height requirement of 44 inches tall. For those in good health and height who still wish to search the Himalayas for the elusive Yeti, a single-rider line exists, as does another brilliant resource for Guests known as the Rider Switch Service.
These small, paper slips reminiscent of the old paper FastPasses provide Guests the opportunity to still experience a height-specific even if they are traveling with a child who does not meet the height requirement or doesn’t want to ride at all. A Rider Switch permits one adult to wait with the non-rider(s) while the rest of the party enjoys the attraction without having to wait in the standby line a second time. Any attraction with a height requirement, including Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, and Primeval Whirl offer Rider Switch services.
Kilimanjaro Safaris is the less-intense alternative to the thrills greeted by height restrictions, but that doesn’t mean it is not worth visiting. On the contrary, next to Everest, Kilimanjaro draws some of the largest crowds, because it is the major manifestation of what DAK is all about: the majesty of animals in their natural habitat or in a close reproduction. Never refer to Animal Kingdom as a zoo. Doing so would completely undermine the heart invested in every corner of the park’s dedication and devotion to wildlife preservation and presentation of some of the most beautiful creatures on the planet. That said, if Guests of ages and heights wish to get the marquee “animal” fix of Animal Kingdom, Kilimanjaro Safaris is a marvelous expedition via bouncy safari jeep through DAK’s private savanna. The landscape is arranged to recall the savannas of East Africa. Fun fact: All 107 acres of the Magic Kingdom can fit comfortably inside Kilimanjaro Safaris’ 110. The savanna is home to more than forty species of wildlife, from blue wildebeest to African elephant.
When the sweltering Orlando sun embraces the limited shade space, Guests can either wander the merchandise shops, recharge with a Mickey Bar, or head over to Kali River Rapids to cool off on the choppy waters of the Chakranadi River. No matter where Guests sit in any of the twelve-person rafts, everyone will get wet. A few chosen ones will exit completely drenched. One of my favorite views of Everest can be seen from Kali’s highest point, the scene in which Guests maneuver around some illegal logging right before the attraction’s major drop. Parents, the drop itself is not on the same level as the descents on Splash Mountain in the Magic Kingdom, so Hakuna Matata (or carpe diem).
Whatever attraction you choose as your premier adventure, keep in mind DAK has multiple, less flashy animal-based activities for all ages. Both the Maharaja Jungle Trek in Asia and the Pangani Forest Trail in Africa are self-guided walking tours rich in exotic animals and intricate storylines. The Festival of the Lion King performs its hourly awe with a phenomenal, Broadway-style song and dance spectacle. The Boneyard in Dinoland USA keeps the prospective paleontologists occupied with plenty of fossils to unearth in the play area's unconventional sandbox, or, "jungle" gym. My favorite low-key way to take in DAK is through the Wilderness Explorers program, an interactive experience spread across the entire park and fit for explorer levels from amateurs to experts. Yes, even if Guests are in their twenties, they can still partake in the Wilderness Explorer call of “Caw! Caw! Roar!”
To view the previous post in this series, click here. To read the entire series from the beginning, click here.
