Disney's Animal Kingdom attraction and entertainment history

Disney's Animal Kingdom is a theme park located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Here is a list of the attractions, past and present, therein, arranged by "land" and with brief descriptions.

Please note that restaurants, shops, and character meets are not listed in this article. The term "attractions" is used by Disney as a catch-all term for rides, shows, and exhibits.

Discovery Island

Current attractions

*It's Tough to be a Bug - At the roots of The Tree of Life, a 3D Film showing what life is like as a bug. Based on A Bug's Life,

Past attractions

*March of the Artimals Parade

Camp Minnie-Mickey

Current attractions

*Festival of the Lion King - A high-energy musical performance featuring songs and characters from the film The Lion King.

Past attractions

*Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends - A children's show with live animals based on the film Pocahontas. Backstage talks have been discontinued. As of September 2008, Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends is no longer performed. News has yet to be released on a replacement.

Africa

Current attractions

*Kilimanjaro Safaris - An open-sided safari vehicle. Animals from Africa freely roam through acres of savanna, rivers and rocky hills, featuring real giraffes, hippos, elephants, rhinos, lions and poachers.
* Night Kilimanjaro Safari - Discontinued. This ran during extended hours of the 2000 holiday season with a different plot. Unpopular due to low light and fewer animals on display. Also required two cast members per vehicle.
*Pangani Forest Exploration Trail - A nature walk through a verdant African valley filled with Nile hippos, birds and fish. Also features an exotic bird aviary, an underwater hippo viewing area, a savanna overlook, and a large troupe of gorillas

Rafiki's Planet Watch

Current attractions

*Wildlife Express Train - Ride the rails on this rustic African train that travels the savanna for a behind-the-scenes journey through several animal housing and care areas of the park. In just over five minutes, your guided train ride transports you to the core of the park's conservation center.
*Habitat Habit! - An adventure trail in which you can see endangered Cottontop Tamarin primates up close.
*Affection Section - An animal encounter with goats, sheep, pigs, chicken, llamas and more.
*Conservation Station - The center of Disney's efforts to promote wildlife conservation awareness, including wild animal experiences, interactive games and shows.

Asia

Current attractions

* Flights of Wonder - Performed on the "Caravan Stage". Shows birds such as vultures, hawks, colorful macaws, crowned crane and the American Bald Eagle up close.
* Kali River Rapids - Raft down the turbulent waters of the Chakranadi River aboard a 12-passenger raft through an enchanting Asian rain forest.
* Maharajah Jungle Trek - An 'adventure' into the wilds of the mystical Anandapur Royal Forest of Southeast Asia. Encounters with Komodo dragons, tapirs and tigers. Set among the ruins of an ancient palace.
* Expedition Everest - In this runaway-train roller coaster, Himalayan trekkers board refurbished steam trains on their way to the base camp of Mount Everest, using a shortcut that passes through the "forbidden mountain" guarded by the legendary yeti.

Past attractions

* Discovery River Boats. This ran from park opening in 1998, until 1999. During which time it was also known as "Discovery River Taxi", to stress its primary use was transportation, and "Radio Disney River Cruise".
* Lucky the Dinosaur. This ran in 2005 only and the first free-roving audio-animatronic figure created by Disney's Imagineers.

DinoLand U.S.A.

Current attractions

* The Boneyard - Slip, slide, slither and slosh through a play maze filled with fun fossils. "Exploration. Excavation. Exultation." is the motto of the Dino Institute and nowhere is this truer than here. Would-be paleontologists young and old play amidst a world of dinosaur discoveries like a Triceratops, T-Rex and Wooly Mammoth.
*DINOSAUR (formerly "Countdown to Extinction") - Whoosh back to primeval times for a wild ride of an expedition to complete your dangerous mission. The clock is ticking on your Time Rover and you have mere minutes to rescue a stray dinosaur.
* Animals located in Dinoland include an American Crocodile, Abdim's Storks, and Asian brown tortoises.
*Finding Nemo - The Musical - Debuted on November 12th, 2006, the original musical stage show developed by Walt Disney Creative Entertainment tells the story of the Disney/Pixar film "Finding Nemo" with new songs by "Avenue Q" composer Bobby Lopez and puppets designed by Michael Curry. Production combines dancers, acrobats, animated backdrops, and theatrical puppetry. Marlin, Dory and Nemo are depicted by actors holding larger than life puppets while other characters utilize a number of puppetry styles. (This theatre, "The Theatre In The Wild", originally was home to "Journey Into The Jungle Book" and "Tarzan Rocks").
*Dino-Sue - Visit Disney's oldest "cast" member, clocking in at 67 million years. Dino-Sue is a reproduction of the largest, most complete T-Rex ever found.
*Cretaceous Trail - A shaded walking tour amidst plants and animals that have outlived the dinosaurs.
*Primeval Whirl - Take a whirl into prehistory in one of these spinning time machines that are part of the zany fun fair of Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama! Thrill to the sudden dips, hairpin turns and tight curves of this rollicking coaster. Each colorful car spins independently so you never know how things will "turn" out!
*TriceraTop Spin - Take the family for a spin aboard this whirling, twirling, friendly flying dinosaur. Climb into one of these four-person dino vehicles and spin 'round, up and down. Expect a dino-sized surprise for kids rising from the giant tin top at the hub of it all.

Past attractions

*Tarzan Rocks - A music and acrobatics show featuring songs from Disney's animated film Tarzan. This was performed in "The Theatre In The Wild", and was eventually replaced by Finding Nemo - The Musical.

ee also

*List of Disney attractions
*Magic Kingdom attraction and entertainment history
*Epcot attraction and entertainment history
*Disney's Hollywood Studios attraction and entertainment history