Over the past week we’ve been highlighting our Walt Disney World touring plans that reflect changes due to social distancing protocols and COVID-19 closures. Today we’ll focus on the Animal Kingdom One-Day Touring Plan for Parents with Small Children. This plan is designed for parents of children ages 3 to 8 who wish to see the very best age-appropriate attractions in the Animal Kingdom. Every attraction has a rating of at least 3.5 stars (out of five) from preschool and grade-school children surveyed by our site and book, The Unofficial Guide. The plan keeps walking and backtracking to a minimum. We start the plan off with Avatar Flight of Passage. It is important that you arrive at the front entrance of Animal Kingdom as early as possible (45 to 60 minutes in case they open early), and are one of the first groups of people to get in line for Flight of Passage so you can avoid a long wait in line.
| STEPS | |
|---|---|
|
Take flight on Avatar Flight of Passage as soon as the park opens. Avatar Flight of Passage is one of the most technologically advanced rides Disney has ever produced: a flight simulator in which you hop on the back of a winged, dragonlike Pandora banshee for a spin to take in the planet’s scenery. The flying effects are very well done. You can turn your head almost 90° either way, and about 45° up and down, to survey the Pandora landscape. Flight of Passage ranks high with all age groups.
|
|
|
Take a cruise on Na’vi River Journey The Na’vi River Journey is a 4½-minute boat ride through the Pandora jungle. You begin by boarding one of two small, hewn rafts joined together. Each raft has two rows of seats, and each row can fit three adults. The big star is displayed in the ride’s culminating scene: the Shaman of Songs, easily one of the most lifelike animatronic figures Disney has ever created. |
|
| 3) Kali River Rapids
Ride Kali River Rapids.
Kali River Rapids is an unguided trip in a circular rubber raft down an artificial river; each raft has a topmounted platform that seats 12 people. The raft essentially floats free in the current and is washed downstream through rapids and waves. Because the “river” is fairly wide, with various currents, eddies, and obstacles, each trip is different and exciting. Oh, and you WILL get wet.
|
|
|
Walk through the Maharajah Jungle Trek
This walk is similar to the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail but with an Asian setting and Asian animals. You start with Komodo dragons and work up to Malayan flying foxes. Next is a cave with fruit bats. Ruins of the maharajah’s palace provide the setting for Bengal tigers. From the top of a parapet in the palace you can view a herd of blackbuck antelope and Asian deer. The trek concludes with an aviary. Labyrinthine, overgrown, and elaborately detailed, the temple ruin would be a compelling attraction even without the animals. |
|
 5) Feathered Friends In Flight!
Watch Feathered Friends In Flight.
This is a bird show in Asia’s Anandapur Theater, formerly home to UP! A Great Bird Adventure. Expect some audience participation.
|
|
|
Take a trip on Kilimanjaro Safaris.
Animal Kingdom’s premier zoological attraction, Kilimanjaro Safaris offers an exceptionally realistic, albeit brief, imitation of an actual African photo safari. Guests board tall, open vehicles and are dispatched into a simulated African veldt habitat. Animals such as zebras, wildebeests, impalas, Thomson’s gazelles, giraffes, and even rhinos roam apparently free, while predators such as lions, as well as potentially dangerous large animals like hippos, are separated from both prey and guests by all-but-invisible, natural-appearing barriers. Another high ranking attraction for all ages.
|
|
|
7) Eat Lunch Eat lunch if you’re hungry. Try out Flame Tree Barbecue for a variety of meats. Another option is Restaurantosaurus in DinoLand. |
|
|
Explore Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail.
As the trail winds between the domain of two troops of lowland gorillas, it’s hard to see what, if anything, separates you from the primates. Also on the trail is a hippo pool with an underwater viewing area, plus a naked-mole-rat exhibit. A highlight is an exotic-bird aviary so craftily designed that you can barely tell you’re in an enclosure. |
|
|
Walk through Discovery Island Trails.
Winding behind The Tree of Life is a series of walking trails that include around a dozen animal-viewing opportunities, from otters and kangaroos to lemurs, storks, and porcupines. Besides the animals, you’ll find verdant landscaping, waterfalls, and quiet spots to sit and reflect on your relationship with nature. |
|
|
Take a spin in a triceratops on TriceraTop Spin. Another Dumbo-like ride. Here you spin around a central hub until a dinosaur pops out of the top of the hub. Ranks high with pre- and grade-school kids.
|
|
1) Avatar Flight of Passage
2) Na’vi River Journey
4) Maharajah Jungle Trek
6) Kilimanjaro Safaris
8) Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
9) Discovery Island Trails
10) TriceraTop Spin
There’s no FastPass+ being offered at this time so you’ll have to do only stand-by lines. Don’t forget, you can customize and optimize this or any of our other touring plans using our personalized touring plans creator on the site or in our mobile app, Lines. Be sure to check out our other touring plans that will help you save time and money in Walt Disney World.
The post Animal Kingdom One-Day Touring Plan for Parents with Small Children Updated For COVID-19 appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.