How We Spent Our Morning at Animal Kingdom With Kids
My husband and I recently brought our two young kids, currently ages 5 and 3, to spend the morning at Animal Kingdom. We live within driving distance of the parks and have been Annual Passholders for a few years now. Being able to spend time at Disney on the weekends is one of our favorite things to do together.
For this visit, we were taking a pretty laid-back approach. We weren’t able to get Lightning Lanes because only afternoon times were available, so we knew we would be relying on standby lines. Our kids were excited to check out the new Bluey’s Wild World experience at Conservation Station, and they always want to go on Kilimanjaro Safaris, so those were the two experiences we wanted to prioritize. I also wanted to leave some time to walk through the stores and look for my younger son’s first MagicBand. We knew we wouldn’t be able to see and do everything offered at Animal Kingdom during our morning, but we were okay with that.
In this post, we’ll walk you through how we spent our morning at Animal Kingdom, including a timeline of our day, the wait times we encountered, why we chose certain attractions and decided to skip others, and some practical tips and information you can use when planning your own Animal Kingdom day with young kids.
Our Animal Kingdom Morning Timeline
9:05 AM: Arrived in the Animal Kingdom parking lot
9:15 AM: Entered Animal Kingdom
9:26 AM: Joined the Kilimanjaro Safaris line
10:13 AM: Boarded Kilimanjaro Safaris
10:49 AM: Finished Kilimanjaro Safaris
10:58 AM: Joined the Wildlife Express Train line
11:05 AM: Boarded the Wildlife Express Train
11:14 AM: Arrived at Conservation Station
11:21 AM: Arrived at the Conservation Station building
11:25 AM: Joined the line for Bluey’s Wild World
11:48 AM: Entered the Bluey’s Wild World show area
11:50 AM: Bluey’s Wild World began
12:05 PM: Bluey’s show ended and we explored Conservation Station
12:27 PM: Boarded the Wildlife Express Train back to Harambe
1:00 PM: Sat down for lunch at Pizzafari
1:30 PM: Finished lunch
1:35 PM: Started looking through the shops
2:00 PM: Left Animal Kingdom
This timeline doesn’t include every bathroom or stroller break we took along the way. We also stopped at the Baby Care Center on our way from Conservation Station to Pizzafari, but I didn’t record the exact time of that stop.
Why Did We Start With Kilimanjaro Safaris?
Both of my kids love animals, and Kilimanjaro Safaris is such a fun way for them to see so many different animals, often closer than you might think. It’s on our must-do list pretty much every time we visit Animal Kingdom, and you can read our more detailed post about the experience here.
Since we didn’t have a Lightning Lane for this visit, we knew we’d be waiting in the standby line. Kilimanjaro Safaris is one of the more popular attractions at Animal Kingdom, and the wait times can get pretty long. If we don’t have Lightning Lane, we usually try to head there first before moving on to the rest of our day.
When we arrived, the posted wait time at the entrance was only 25 minutes, but as soon as we saw the standby line, we had a feeling it was going to be longer than that. The My Disney Experience app showed a wait closer to 40 minutes, which ended up being much more accurate. That’s something we’ve noticed from time to time when checking wait times. There can be a slight delay before the signs at the attraction entrance are updated, so it’s always worth checking the app too.
We usually try to keep our waits under about 20 minutes with our kids, but Kilimanjaro Safaris is one of the few attractions where we’re willing to wait a little longer. For one thing, you can bring your stroller through more than half of the standby queue before reaching stroller parking, which makes waiting with a little one much easier. The outdoor queue is also covered from the sun, and the Safari itself usually lasts around 18 to 20 minutes. If we’re going to spend extra time waiting for a ride, it helps when the actual experience is a little longer too.
Our actual wait ended up being about 45 minutes, but honestly, the kids did great. The line moved pretty consistently, which always helps when you’re waiting with young kids.
The Safari itself ended up taking longer than usual too. Once you reach the savanna, the animals are able to move freely throughout the area, which also means they occasionally decide the middle of the road is a perfectly good place to hang out. When that happens, the Safari trucks have to wait until the animals decide to move on their own.
That added close to 10 minutes to our ride time. Luckily, if we were going to get stuck somewhere, we ended up in a pretty great spot. Our truck was in the shade overlooking the savanna, and we could see zebras, wildebeests and giraffes while we waited. It was a particularly warm day, so we were also very glad we had brought a portable fan with us. Even though the trucks are covered and usually moving, they can get warm when you’re sitting still. If you’re visiting on a hot day, a portable fan is definitely something I’d bring along.
By the time we finished the Safari, we had spent a little longer there than we originally planned. We normally head through the Gorilla Falls walking trail after the ride, but Bluey’s Wild World was one of the main reasons we had come to Animal Kingdom that morning, so we decided to skip the trail and head straight toward the Wildlife Express Train instead.
How Long Did It Take Us to Visit Bluey’s Wild World?
By the time we finished Kilimanjaro Safaris, it was getting close to 11:00 AM. We figured by the time we finished visiting Bluey’s Wild World, it would also be a good time to stop for lunch.
Bluey’s Wild World is located at Conservation Station, and the only way to get there is by taking the Wildlife Express Train. Luckily, the train entrance is right next to Kilimanjaro Safaris, so it was an easy next stop for us. We got in line just as a train was pulling away and waited about 7 minutes for the next one. The train ride itself takes about another 7 minutes, followed by a short walk to the Conservation Station building. If you want more details about getting there, we have a separate post about taking the Wildlife Express Train with young kids that you can read here.
Once we arrived at Bluey’s Wild World, we waited about 15 minutes before getting into the show area. My 3-year-old had a hard time standing in line and waiting for his turn, but once we got inside, both kids had a great time dancing and playing along with Bluey and Bingo. After the show, we spent some time looking at the critters and the animal treatment room inside Conservation Station before making our way back to the train.
Altogether, we spent about an hour and 15 minutes at Conservation Station, plus the time it took us to travel there and back on the Wildlife Express Train. If Bluey’s Wild World is something your kids want to do during your Animal Kingdom day, I would plan on setting aside more than just the 15 minutes it takes to see the actual show. We have a separate post about our experience at Bluey’s Wild World with more details about the show, wait and other things you can do at Conservation Station.
By the time we made it back to Harambe, it was around 12:30 PM, and both kids were definitely ready for lunch.
Where Did We Eat Lunch?
Mobile Food Ordering has become one of our favorite ways to make mealtimes a little easier at Disney with young kids. Restaurants can get busy around the typical lunch hours, and when my kids are hungry the last thing we want to do is stand in another long line waiting for food.
For this visit, we actually placed our Mobile Order for Pizzafari while we were still at Conservation Station. We picked a return time that would give us enough time to take the Wildlife Express Train back to Harambe, stop at the Baby Care Center and then make our way over to the restaurant. The timing ended up working out really well, and we sat down for lunch right around 1:00 PM.
Once we were close to Pizzafari and within our pickup window, we let the restaurant know through the My Disney Experience app that we had arrived so they could start preparing our food. My husband headed inside to pick everything up while I found a table and got the kids settled, which is usually how we divide and conquer mealtimes at the parks.
Pizzafari tends to be our go-to lunch spot at Animal Kingdom for the very simple reason that our kids are picky eaters and pizza is usually a safe choice. We also like that it’s centrally located near a lot of the things we tend to do at Animal Kingdom without adding a bunch of extra walking to our day.
There is indoor seating, but that can be harder to grab since everyone wants the air conditioning on a hot day. We found a covered table outside in the shade, pulled out our portable fans and were perfectly comfortable. We also ordered a few of the Bluey-themed treats that were available during our visit, which was a fun addition after we had just spent part of our morning at Bluey’s Wild World.
One of the little surprises during lunch was a Cast Member walking around with Bluey coloring pages and crayons for the kids. They loved having something to do at the table, and we were able to eat, take a break and be ready to move on in about 30 minutes.
How Do We Handle Bathroom Breaks and Diaper Changes?
One of the realities of visiting Walt Disney World with young kids is that you’ll need to make plenty of stops for bathroom breaks and diaper changes. We’ve been visiting the parks with our kids for a few years now, and I’ve learned a few things that help make the process a little easier, especially when you have a little one who is potty training.
On this trip, we used the bathrooms inside the Conservation Station building where Bluey’s Wild World is located. They’re relatively large, clean and, most importantly on a hot Florida day, air conditioned. Any parent who has handled a diaper change in the middle of summer when the real-feel temperature is over 100 degrees can probably appreciate just how nice an air-conditioned bathroom can be.
One little tip if you’re planning to see Bluey’s Wild World is to check the line and when the next show is starting before heading into the bathroom, if you can. We made the mistake of heading straight into the bathroom without checking and missed our chance to get into a show that was about to start. We ended up having to wait another 15 minutes for the next one.
We also almost always make a stop at the Baby Care Center when we visit one of the Walt Disney World parks. Each of the four parks has one, and Animal Kingdom’s is actually our favorite. You’ll find changing tables, private nursing rooms, a kitchenette, a place to sit and cool off, and bathrooms that we’ve found are usually clean and not very busy. We have a separate post about the Walt Disney World Baby Care Centers if you want to see where each one is located and what you’ll find inside.
Outside of the Baby Care Centers, I’ve learned to keep an eye out for convenient bathrooms as we make our way around the park. The ones near busy areas or popular attractions can sometimes have longer lines, so if we pass a quieter bathroom when someone needs to go, we’ll take advantage of it. I also like finding bathrooms inside or near show buildings because sometimes you’ll get lucky and find another air-conditioned option.
And if you have a younger child who is potty training, one of my biggest tips is to make one last bathroom stop before leaving the park. Getting from the park back to your car or hotel can take longer than you think. You might end up waiting for a bus, standing in line for a parking lot tram or having a longer walk back to the car than your little one can comfortably handle. We’ve gone through the potty training at Disney stage ourselves, and I also have a separate post about things we like to bring with us to the parks with a potty-training toddler if you’re preparing for that stage of Disney visits too.
For little ones who still need diaper changes, the one thing I recommend bringing most is a portable changing pad. Outside of the Baby Care Centers, the changing areas in the regular park bathrooms are typically a hard surface without any covers or padding. If you know that you’ll need to lay your little one down in order to change them, having a portable changing pad is really helpful.
Shopping Before Heading Home
As we started making our way toward the front of the park, we decided to walk through the shops to see what they had and what MagicBand options we could find for my younger son. I was hoping to find something animal-themed and figured Animal Kingdom would be our best chance.
There was a lot of Halloween merchandise, which wasn’t too surprising. Halloween starts in early August at Disney, and honestly, it’s one of my favorite times to be in the parks. Everything was super cute, but it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. The MagicBand section seemed a little limited too, so we decided we’d check out another store at Disney Springs or one of the other parks another day.
My kids did find a really nice Tree of Life playset that ended up coming home with us. We already have a Cinderella Castle playset, so it felt like we were adding another toy to our “park icons collection.” It comes with a few different animals, Mickey and Minnie figures and some accessories, and the Tree of Life lights up and plays sounds when you push a button. It was a little on the pricier side, but the kids have been having a lot of fun playing with it together. It’s actually become one of my favorite purchases we’ve made from the parks recently.
With our newly acquired Tree of Life in hand, we decided to call it a day at Animal Kingdom and head back out to the car.
Why We Kept Our Plans Flexible
We went into our morning at Animal Kingdom with a general idea of what we wanted to do and knew from the start that we probably weren’t going to see everything in the park. We didn’t have Lightning Lanes, it was a really hot day, and the standby lines for some attractions were longer than we wanted to wait with our kids.
Because Kilimanjaro Safaris and Bluey’s Wild World were the two things we really wanted to prioritize, we were okay with skipping some of the other experiences we normally enjoy. We didn’t walk through Gorilla Falls or Maharajah Jungle Trek, see any of the shows, or make our way over to Pandora. We also know which rides our kids enjoy and which ones they’re currently tall enough to ride, so that helps us narrow down our plans before we even get to the park.
One thing we’ve learned from visiting Disney with young kids is that it helps to have a plan, but it’s just as important to be willing to change it. Sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate, an attraction unexpectedly goes down, or a wait time is much longer than you anticipated. And sometimes the ride your toddler has been talking about for months is suddenly the one thing they absolutely do not want to go on. We’ve had that happen too.
For us, having a few things we’d really like to do and then being flexible with everything else makes our park days a lot easier. On this particular morning, Kilimanjaro Safaris took longer than we expected, so we skipped Gorilla Falls and headed straight to Bluey instead. Other days will look completely different, but being able to pivot when something doesn’t go according to plan can make a big difference when you’re visiting Disney with young kids.
Final Thoughts
Our family had a really great morning at Animal Kingdom. We got to go on Kilimanjaro Safaris, see Bluey’s Wild World for the first time, have lunch together and spend a little time shopping before heading home. We didn’t find my younger son’s first MagicBand, and even though we spent almost five hours in the park, there was still a lot that we didn’t see and do. Overall though, we were really happy with how we spent our morning.
If we’re able to find Lightning Lanes that work for our schedule on our next visit, our day will probably look a little different, especially with how much time we need to spend waiting for Kilimanjaro Safaris. Lightning Lane can be a helpful way to fit more into your day if seeing and doing as much as possible is important to your family. Just keep in mind that not every experience offers it, including Bluey’s Wild World.
There are other little things that can help you make the most of your time too. Mobile Ordering lunch worked really well for us on this visit and saved us from waiting in another line when the kids were hungry. Getting to the park right around opening can give you more time to work with, and on a really hot day, adding an indoor show can give everyone a chance to sit down and cool off for a little while.
But more than anything, I think it’s important to visit Disney on your own terms and at a pace that works for your family. What worked for us on this particular morning might not be exactly what your family is looking for, and that’s okay. We’ve had other Animal Kingdom visits where the Safari had almost no wait, we didn’t visit Bluey’s Wild World, or we had Lightning Lanes and were able to see and do more. This is just one example of what our family was able to do during a morning at Animal Kingdom with two young kids.
I hope sharing our actual timeline, along with the waits, stops and little changes we made throughout the morning, helps you plan an Animal Kingdom day that works for your own family. If you have any questions about visiting Animal Kingdom with young kids, planning tips or anything else we talked about in this post, we’d love to hear from you. Let us know in the section below, and we’ll do our best to cover your questions in future content on the site.