My best friend and I spent a girl’s weekend in Orlando which included a day at Animal Kingdom. This was my first time going and her first time without kids so I did extensive research before we went to be sure we wouldn’t miss anything! Here are my tips on What To Do At Animal Kingdom With No Kids!
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What To Do At Animal Kingdom With No Kids
- Fast Pass Your Highest Priorities– This should go without saying but do research on what rides you want to do so you can grab fast passes. The hottest ticket in the park right now is Pandora Flight of Passage (and well worth the hype). I watched a few POV videos on YouTube to decide my other two fast passes would be Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris.
- Get a Magic Band Even If You Are Just There A Day– I was only at the park for one day so I didn’t receive a magic band for free. When I went online and did research I would have had to use the My Disney Experience app to show my ticket into the park as well as to show my fast passes for rides. The app isn’t always speedy, my phone isn’t the fanciest and I didn’t want to risk it.
So I had my mom grab me a $15 band on an earlier trip and I attached it to my profile in the app (you can buy them online as well). It worked perfectly. I saw several people in the park trying to use their phones for fast passes and couldn’t get them to load. I just touched my magic band to the Mickey Mouse shaped pole at the entrance and ran right in! The band is attached to my profile now so I can use them on future visits. It’s $15 well spent. And no, you can’t reuse someone else’s- I checked into it. - Get There an Hour Early for Rope Drop– This my biggest tip and I cannot emphasize it enough. When you go online to see what time the park opens plan on arriving an hour early. On the date we went the park was scheduled to open at 9 so we arrived around 7:55 and found about 200 people ahead of us already (see picture below).
At 8:10 an announcement came over the loud speaker that the park would be opening to allow guests into select areas. We already had a Fast Pass for Pandora Flight of Passage scheduled for the afternoon but I thought it was worth seeing if we could ride it first thing in the morning in case it really was as good as people said. After entering the park we just followed the crowd to the bridge that leads to the Pandora area. We all waited until 8:30 when they opened the next gate and poured into the queue for Pandora Flight of Passage- practically running through the line. 
There are so many beautiful picture taking spots we would stop for just a second, snap a shot and then run to catch up. We were on the ride and back into the park by 9:02- two minutes past when the park officially opened. - Laugh at the “Magical Moments”– a “Magical Moment” is any time you pass a kid screaming their guts out. Maybe it’s nap time, maybe they missed Mickey Mouse, maybe they want to eat food off the ground. Whatever the reason enjoy the fact that you don’t have to stop someone small from screaming and you can move on with your day.
- Enjoy a Leisurely Drink– I think Animal Kingdom had more opportunities for an alcoholic beverage per square foot than Temple Bar in Dublin. And while I did not witness even one person who seemed to have consumed more than they could handle I saw quite a few fun looking drinks in the adults hands. Do some research before you hit the park and plan on a drink or two during the day.
- Skip Dinoland USA– Just walking by this section of the park raised my blood pressure. We did walk through briefly to meet Donald, Daisy and Goofy but otherwise we stayed out of this area crawling with kiddie rides. Just stay outside the giant dinosaurs and away from the chaos.
- Eat In A Nice, Quiet Sit Down Restaurant With a Reservation (I Recommend Yak and Yeti)– Animal Kingdom has some nice sit down restaurants inside that provide a more peaceful environment after the craziness of the day. You can go online (or in the app) and make reservations ahead of time so you don’t need to wait an hour for somewhere to eat.
- Be Sure To See “Rivers of Light” (Maybe More Then Once)– It might be past bedtime with the kids as adults you can stay to catch the beautiful “Rivers of Light” showing currently in the lagoon (Asia). While we were there the park closed at 8 but the last showing was actually at 8:15. It gave us a chance to extend our time in the park just a bit.
The show uses water screens, fountains, lasers, music, boats, floats, and fire to show the colorful world of animals and nature. It is STUNNING. People online had played down how great it was (I mean it’s not a giant castle with fireworks) but it fits really well with the laid back animal focused feel of the park. It was a spectacular way to end the day. - Carry a Small Backpack (Disney Makes It Easy To Store)– My sister told me before we went that having a backpack would be no big deal. I didn’t believe her- but she wasn’t lying. I had wanted a small waterproof backpack in the park to carry some snacks and bottled water. But I hate having to deal with it on rides. Everything we did had some small compartment for the backpack. It went with me on every ride we did- even the coaster! Every show there was somewhere convenient to put it. So bring your own water and snacks into the park- you won’t even have to share them with anyone.
- See All The Shows– The day we were at the park we saw every show except Up! A Great Bird Adventure. And all of them were spectacular. Some are just performers in different sections of the park and some were in a proper theater (like Finding Nemo- The Musical).
But a park favorite is The Festival of the Lion King (shown above). The auditorium seats plenty of people so we were able to arrive about ten minutes before it began and get a fine seat. Nothing I saw while we were there demonstrated a need to use a Fast Pass for a show when it could be used for a ride but during busy season that might be something to consider.
Here were some other fun photos from our trip:
Some of the picture places they will add characters in with you. This one is by the Tree of Life!
Meeting Mickey and Minnie!
Everyone should have their picture with a Dinosaur!
The Dinosaur ride was great- and scarier than I thought!
Pandora is just breathtaking. I took this picture with the people in it to show how massive everything is!
Projection show on the big tree after the sun goes down!
The floats in the Rivers of Light show were beautiful!
The animals on the safari ride were amazing to see. It was rainy and early so they were pretty active for us.
We had a fantastic day at the park and I highly recommend the visit- even if you chose to take kids!
