MyWDW: Animal Kingdom

As you pass the turnstiles to enter Animal Kingdom, you're instantly transported to a dense, lush jungle landscape, with the choice to take a left or right path to continue on your trek deeper into Animal Kingdom. Each of these jungle paths features a different selection of animals, and you may wish to explore the Oasis before pressing on into the main body of Animal Kingdom.

Whether you take one path on your way in and the other on the way out, or take your time and wander the area, if you're an animal lover, be sure to check out the entirety of the Oasis, as there's quite a number of wonderful creatures to be discovered amidst the jungle foliage.

Once you emerge from the shady foliage of the Oasis, you find yourself in a wide open expanse, an enormous tree, the Tree of Life, before you, hundreds of animals etched in its trunk. Once you cross the bridge, you find yourself in an extremely colorful village, surrounded by food carvings of animals of every shape, size, and color imaginable.

Here on Discovery Island, you'll find much of the shopping to be had at Animal Kingdom, as well as a show about the importance about being kind to our smaller animal friends in the insect kingdom. There are, of course, also more animals to look at around Discovery Island, and the island itself serves as a hub for getting around the Animal Kingdom.

It should also be noted that Discovery Island was formerly the name of an animal and bird observation area located in Bay Lake at the Walt Disney World Resort - the exhibits of which were moved to Animal Kingdom upon its opening.

Heading counter-clockwise around Animal Kingdom, the first stop on your tour is Dinoland, USA, an area divided between the dirt covered world of paleontology and a bright, vibrant carnival featuring the colorful dinosaurs children grew up loving.

You can take a visit to the Dino Institute and find yourself transported to the pasted with living, breathing dinosaurs, ride a crazy, spinning roller coaster, or take a walk to the nearby Theater in the Wild to catch a musical spectacular featuring everyone's favorite clownfish, Nemo!

As you leave the prehistoric past behind you, you find yourself in the village of Anandapur, a village in southeast Asia, near the Himalayas. Here, the locals have dedicated their lives to preserving the wildlife and forests handed down to them by the benevolent maharajahs of the past.

There are many adventures to be had in this colorful village, from a trip up the Forbidden Mountain into the realm of the mysterious yeti, to a rift rafting trip intended to promote the preservation of the Asian rainforests. Or, perhaps, you'd prefer to take the Maharajah Jungle Trek, and dive deep into the ruins of ancient Anandapur to see tigers, large bats, and even more of the population of this region of Asia.

Lastly, on your way from Asia to the next land on your itinerary, you may wish to stop in and catch the show Flights of Wonder, featuring majestic birds of prey showing off their abilities for their audience.

Continuing around Disney's Animal Kingdom, you find yourself in a weathered African village. This is Harambe, which means "come together" in Swahili - a village which is the amalgamation of several favorite places of Disney's research team who went to Africa to accurately recreate a modern African village for Animal Kingdom.

Here in Harambe, you will find yourself at the edge of a large wildlife preserve, with plenty of chances for excursions out into the wild savanna, although the preserve, like many in Africa, is plagued by poachers, and visitors are encouraged to keep an eye out for these ruthless criminals.

Whether you choose to travel by safari vehicle, take a walking tour, or take a train ride up to Rafiki's Planet Watch to get a closer look at how Disney takes care of the animals at the Animal Kingdom, you will find plenty to do in Harambe before you move on to your last stop at the Animal Kingdom.

As you head into Camp Minnie-Mickey, you'll find yourself out of the exotic lands you've been wandering through to this point, and to something a bit more American - the forests of the Adirondacks. There is not a whole lot to experience in this land, unfortunately, although the one stage show that is presented here, the Festival of the Lion King, is not to be missed.

Camp Minnie-Mickey was placed in Animal Kingdom as a placeholder, as Disney had gone over-budget and scrapped the final land to be added to the park: the Beastly Kingdom, a land of the creatures of myth like dragons and unicorns. Still, the area is quite beautiful, and offers character greetings throughout the day. It's a nice place to sit down and cool off to enjoy the show as your day at Disney's Animal Kingdom winds to a close.