Animal Kingdom re-opening experience by Dealing with Disney

My day visiting Animal Kingdom Park under reopening of the Walt Disney world resorts ! 

Current hours 8am -6pm

I am still allowing myself a full hour of transportation time when traveling to another Disney location. With the strict reopening guidelines I feel it’s just good rule of thumb! 

See my experiences HERE on traveling to parks! 

This was are arrival day! 

I felt I could get all done we wanted done  with current park hours and our plans. 

From our hotel we took the bus. 

Went through temp check, ‘baggage’ check and scanned into park by 2:15pm

Things to keep in mind. I leisurely walked -stopped to take pictures and look over some things! I wanted to take advantage of low crowds for picture opportunities. 

Immediately headed to Pandora 

2:23 got in line for Flight of passage 

It felt like a continuous slow walk right to the boarding. We did have to watch the pre-boarding video (not my fav) lol. 

Directly after we headed on over to Na’vi River -got in line at 2:56 and walked off ride at 3:22. 

Our next adventure was on to Kilimanjaro safari. I was sad not seeing the African dancers, musicians in this area as we walked through. I always enjoyed watching them. The music is beautiful. 

My time Started in queue at 3:29 and off by 4:03.

(Side notes)

I did skip kali river rapids and expedition Everest. As much as I enjoy both of these attractions it didn’t fit our touring needs. 

My touring partner can’t handle extreme coasters. We also didn’t want to get wet on kali. We had dinner plans -unable to go back to resort for a change. Kali can get one soaked. I don’t usually mind that especially on a hot day! 

I don’t have the best neck-as much as I absolutely love this coaster, it does cause some neck issues. I would rather ride with a fun partner for the possible neck pain versus just myself. Not as much fun alone or worth the risk. 

Some things to keep in mind for Kali and getting wet on attractions. Make sure to wear clothes you can be comfortable in when wet. I try to plan on quick dry clothes. 

The shows are still

Closed so no Nemo show! 

And on with our plans! 

We took a walk around Dinoland USA 4:15

Triceratops was in action with practically no one there. The side show games were not in operation. 

Primeval whirl is officially closed. The attraction vehicles have already been removed. So sad!! Was a great ride!

The boneyard dig (playground) is also closed for now. My kids loved this playground. 

No characters out here for meet and greets! Boo. Love meeting launchpad and Scrooge.  Watch for a barge that comes through the river in the park carrying some of your favorite Disney characters! We actually spotted them 2 times! 

Onward we go!! 

Hit Dinosaur at 4:33pm 

So for this show. They didn’t do a very small pre-show on very beginning of ride. 

How does this matter, actually a good bit. 

This little part of the story actually serves two purposes; One is background of story and two , it allows your eyes to adjust to lighting. So many parts of the ride seems so much darker than before. In fact, some parts I felt I couldn’t really see anything.  Amazing how much this transition can really make a difference. 

And we are done! 

A Bugs Life was open but we decided not to do it. It was just me and another adult. We didn’t feel compelled to do it. I’ve done it many times and I do enjoy it. We had time. My goal was to leave by 5:30 to get to our dining by 6:30 located at Disney springs. We just decided to head on out to Disney springs to not worry/stress about time with our plans. One can’t get directly to Disney springs from/to a Disney park via a Disney transportation mode.  

Left at 5:02

Our best most logistical transportation options were to take a bus over to Disney Saratoga Springs resort. This resort is the closest one to Disney springs. 

I exited the bus on the 4th stop at resort (congress stop) from here we could just walk the path over to Disney springs. 

Things to keep in mind for Animal Kingdom 

No current shows sadly! 

We didn’t take time to look at the wildlife exhibits available. I never get tired of seeing wildlife! I love nature. I definitely recommend taking advantage of what’s available here! Since animals are so unpredictable-you never know what you may see new! 

On a normal day , we could easily fill our entire day with what Animal Kingdom offers. There were so many side attractions/entertainment to enjoy. 

Due to lower capacity and even with operational restrictions-we were able to get everything we wanted to do done in only 2 hours 45 minutes. Not too bad! 

I probably would have enjoyed doing some attractions again and maybe next visit we will. 

The Wilderness Explorer Club is up and active!! CLICK HERE for explanation on what this is!

At Disney springs we Walked around to have a look see. We had to go through temp check station again.  Our dinner plans were here as well!! 

I didn’t want to use our park hour time for dinner. I wanted as much time as I could under park hours for the actual park due to our limited time. 

We had dining reservations at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ for 6:30. We checked in at 6 and thankfully they were able to go ahead and seat us.

You can sit inside or outside covered with fans. We chose outside and the fans really felt great without being overpowering. 

The staff have always been so friendly with each experience. 

This trip we were on a budget. I didn’t want to over spend unnecessarily but I still wanted to enjoy ourselves. Plenty of opportunities to do this at Disney!! 

I’ve Eaten at Chef Art Smiths multiple times and it’s never disappointed. 

For this meal we decided to share two appetizers!! 

Our choices were the thigh high chicken biscuits ($16.) and bunch of puppies ($10) 

Total bill $26.00 +tax/tip =not bad for a table service meal!  

You get 3 large chicken biscuits and a good helping of hush puppies. The food is pretty filling and definitely yummy 

On each occasion I’ve experienced at this location, I’ve enjoyed each one. The entrees are large and can easily be shared. The desserts are huge portions-definitely recommend sharing or order more than one and then plenty to share/try each option. Ways to save; order one entree and appetizer then share between two. It can be hard to agree on one choice though when everything is super yummy. 

Their drinks are always strong but still delicious!! I can’t give you any money savings tips here!! It’s pricey and will make the tab go up but definitely worth it! 

They do offer a souvenir cup/koozee. Not too bad of a deal. Costs $20 and filled with your drink. You can come back and get free water/soda refills with it anytime. 

After our meal we headed back to our resort to relax. One of the benefits to shortened park hours is free time to relax. Relaxing seems to be a forgotten treasure to do while at Disney. It’s great to hit up the pool, hot tub , walking paths , lawn chairs or even resort activities that are available. I highly recommend it.