Disney’s Animal Kingdom is incredibly rich in details. The winding pathways invite you to explore. You never know what you may discover! In Animal Kingdom, the attractions I skip simply can’t tempt me away from my wanderings.
I love Animal Kingdom. While Epcot will always reign supreme as my favorite theme park, Animal Kingdom is a very close second! Unlike Magic Kingdom, there are actually very few attractions that I skip at Animal Kingdom. I tend to spend a fair amount of time at this park, simply enjoying my surroundings and exploring the small details that make this park so extraordinary.
That said, I did manage to find a few attractions that just never seem to make my “must do” list in this park!
Pandora Attractions I Skip – NONE!
Pandora is a the newest land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Inspired by the film Avatar, Pandora has two attractions – Flights of Passage, and the Na’vi River Journey. Both of these are must do attractions for me, for very different reasons! Nothing to skip here. See everything and be sure to come back at night!
Africa Attractions I Skip – NONE!
“I thought this post was about what attractions to skip?” And yet, here we have another section of the park where I skip NOTHING. What can you do? The Imagineers really did a great job with Disney’s Animal Kingdom!
In fact, this section of the park may be my favorite. I love Festival of the Lion King, Kilimanjaro Safari, Gorilla Falls Exploration Trails… all of it!! I could spend an entire day just in this section alone. No skipping here!
Attractions I Skip in Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Back to our originally scheduled topic – which attractions I actually skip! And as much as I love the Asia section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom (I could ride Expedition Everest all day long), there are actually two attractions I skip virtually every time.
Kali River Rapids – This flume ride pales in comparison to Walt Disney World’s other big water ride, Splash Mountain. (Problematic theming aside and that is being changed!) I HATE getting wet on rides. I do not have hair that responds well to the combination of wind and water! I’ll deal with it for Splash Mountain because I enjoy the pace of the ride and the current soundtrack. But Kali River Rapids simply does not offer enough story to make it worthwhile!
Feathered Friends in Flight – This show has gone through a few evolutions over the years. I have to admit, I haven’t even seen all of them. The show is cute but birds just aren’t my thing!
Attractions I Skip In The Oasis
The Oasis Exhibits – Did you even know there was anything in The Oasis? I admit, I basically run through this section at the front of Disney’s Animal Kingdom in my excitement to get to the “good stuff.” The Imagineers tried so hard to create pathways and interesting exhibits to encourage guests to slow down. Sadly, this is one of the few sections of the park that I just breeze right through!
Attractions I Skip In Discovery Island
It’s Tough to Be A Bug – This is a “once every few years” attraction for me. I’m not a big fan of insects in general or things that make me jump. Since this attraction is based on these two things, it goes on the skip list for me most trips! It’s not “scary”, but there are a few elements designed to surprise unsuspecting guests. The story line is charming and the pre-show area is delightful. But it’s just not enough to make it on to my regular rotation!
Attractions I Skip in DinoLand U.S.A. – The Entire Land
Honestly, on most trips I never even step foot in Dinoland, U.S.A! Aside from the occasional ride on Dinosaur, (“Definitely not our Dino. Go! Go! Go!”) this land just never resonated with me. Honestly, I’m still kind of mad that Disney didn’t tie in my beloved “Dinosaurs” TV show from the 90’s… “Not the Mama!” Now THAT I would be sure to ride!
Triceratop Spin – If you read my post on Magic Kingdom, then you already know my position on rides that do nothing except spin. No, thank you.
Conclusion
So that does it for the attractions I skip at Disney’s Animal Kingdom! Do you agree with my list? Have I been missing out on one of your favorites? Let me know in the comments!
If this is your first visit to Walt Disney World, don’t let this list stop you from trying any of these attractions! As my Mom used to say about Lima beans, “How can you say you hate them if you won’t try them!” (Spoiler alert – I still hate Lima beans.)
Coming up next? Which Attractions I Skip in Hollywood Studios!
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We are your Disney Park Princesses – Sara, Sharla & Heather! (From left to right) We are three friends who work together, travel together, and love to treat ourselves. We believe that everyone should get to feel like royalty on their Disney vacation. 
Agree! Agree! Agree! I haven’t ridden Kali in a while, but when my son rode it on the last trip he was disappointed. They’ve somehow shortened it, according to him, and not everyone gets wet now.
I’m glad it’s not just me! They made some significant changes to the ride a few years ago and I feel it definitely hurt the story.
I rode Kali last fall, ONLY because a lot of the water spouts were turned off. I loved it “dry”, but would not ride if I would get soaked!!
Tough To Be A Bug – I think it’s super cute, but we don’t go every trip either.
Oh that must have been very cool! I bet Kali would be a completely different experience “dry.”
When we went in May, we stumbled into Feathered Friends. Absolutely amazed at what we saw. The unison. It was like watching a living rainbow. Perfect for pride month. Definitely going to time a walk-by the tree of life to catch this and get pictures.
I love the Feathered Friends! And you are so right – those macaws are perfect for Pride! 🌈
I’ve never been on Kali River Rapids. I watched my kids & niece do it once. That’s good enough for me !
But I LOVE Dinosaur!! I cannot miss it.
If you have friends and family on the Kali River Rapids, Heather’s favorite thing to do is to go use the elephant water fountains to squirt them as they go under the bridge!
For me there is no reason to go until they reinstate Fastpass. Avatar is great but not worth a half day wait and Navi is a ‘bottom 5’ Disney attraction. The safari and a few runs on Expedition Everest. Then back to the other parks. Or if I drive to Blizzard Beach. Oh I do stop and see Doug.
When we went in May Flight of Passage took a whole hour and ten. That was at four pm.
I agree on most, except I love Kali. I don’t want to get soaked, but my son and I have a blast anticipating who is “gonna get it”. I’ll admit that we also enjoy psyching out other riders, especially newbies: “Uh oh, this isn’t looking good for you…” style. All in good fun. I’ll also say that while I don’t love the Dinoland attractions (I do ride Dinosaur), I really appreciate the theming since I read the backstory in the Imagineer’s Guide.
I haven’t read the Imagineer’s Guide! I’ll have to check that out.