The Best Animal Kingdom Experiences for Toddler and Preschoolers

In our last toddler and preschooler post we talked about all of the amazing attractions and experiences for this age group at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park. Today we have for you the best experiences for toddlers and preschoolers at Animal Kingdom Park! This park has a lot to offer for this group, especially if your kids love animals and/or dinosaurs!

Characters – Characters can be found throughout the park and which character meet and greets are best for you really depends on what type of characters your kids want to meet. Christian loves to meet Mickey and his friends, Doc McStuffins, and pretty much any character that involves a full costume and can’t talk to him. All of these, as well as “face” characters like Pocahontas, and more can be found throughout the park. Keep in mind that character experiences and locations are subject to change – be sure to check the My Disney Experience App and the Walt Disney World website for up to date information.

Wilderness Explorers – Kids of all ages, and grown-ups, too, will love exploring the park to look for and participate in all of the Wilderness Explorer’s activities around the park. The sign up station is located just after you cross the bridge to Discovery Island. Once you sign up you can take as little or as much time as you like to complete all of the activities around the park and to earn the rank of Senior Wilderness Explorer. Preschoolers, especially if they’re learning to write, will enjoy being able to fill out the booklet themselves.

Oasis

The Oasis Exhibits – Check out the exotic animals located just inside the park entrance. These exhibits include Giant Anteater, Exotic Boar, Barking Deer, Wallaby, and Spoonbill

Discovery Island
Discover Island Trails – These trails give you the chance to get up close to the Tree of Life and the plants, animals, and waterfalls that surround it. The Tree has hundreds on animals, and some hidden Mickeys, carved into it. Take some time to explore and see what animals you can find.

It’s Tough to be a Bug – If your kids like bugs this attractions is perfect! Enter the Tree of Life to learn about how important bugs are to the survival of the planet. Keep in mind that this attraction can be scary for some little ones due to darkness, loud noises, and the feeling of bugs crawling under your seat.

Creature Comforts – This is the Animal Kingdom Starbucks location, which is good for those coffee loving grownups, or kids. You can also pick out delicious Disney treats at this location, and what little one doesn’t love a sweet treat?

Africa
Kilimanjaro Safaris – Board a truck for a safari through Africa that your little ones, and you, won’t forget. Animals are, for the most part, free roaming and you never know what you’ll see – each safari is different. Lions, elephants, giraffes, okapi, rhinos, hippos and so much more live here!

 
Festival of the Lion King – Little ones will delight in the acrobatics, fire dancing, highflying entertainment, and favorite songs from this Disney Classic film – but performed live in front of their eyes.

 
Drums – Do you have a little musician? They can show off their skills at the drums just inside Africa.

Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail – After returning from your safari see even more animals as you explore the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. This trail can be explored at your own pace, so your little ones can take as much time as they want watching the animals play. Animal encounters on this trail include gorillas, fish, hippos, birds and more.

Tusker House – The whole family can enjoy delicious African inspired eats and meet characters like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy at Donald’s Safari meals at Tusker House. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all available at this location and all three meals feature characters.

Tamu Tamu Refreshments – Craving a Dole Whip? You don’t have to be at Magic Kingdom to enjoy one! Tamu Tamu offers Dole Whips as well as other cold sweet treats like a Malva Cake Sundae, Double Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich, and Mickey Ice Cream Sundae.

Zuri’s Sweet Shop – Stop in to satisfy your or your little one’s sweet tooth as you make your trek through Africa.

Asia
Expedition Everest – Older preschoolers can journey into the Forbidden Mountain and take on the Yeti on Expedition Everest. The height requirement for this attraction is 44in.

Kali River Rapids – If your kids are like mine and LOVE water then Kali River Rapids will be a big hit. Board the raft to explore the forest that is facing devastation due to deforestation before you splash down and get cooled off by the wave created by your raft. This is especially great for those hot Florida days.

Maharajah Jungle Trek – This self-paced walking trail will give your little ones the chance to see even more animals and to watch them do what they do. Animal experiences include tigers, bats, insects, birds and more.

UP! A Great Bird Adventure – Learn about exotic birds with Russell and Dug from UP in this new live show.

Rafiki’s Planet Watch
Wildlife Express Train – Kid’s love trains and this train ride that takes you to Rafiki’s Planet Watch also gives you a brief look behind the scenes at Animal Kingdom.

Affection Section – Kids of all ages will enjoy walking among, petting and brushing the animals like sheep and goats that call Affection Section home.

Learn – There’s tons to learn at Conservation Station and the stops along the way to it from the train station. Your kids will love seeing the types of food that the animals eat, and maybe even get to see an animal at the vet window. Learning without even knowing it!

Pandora
Explore – The newest land at Animal Kingdom has so much to see and explore from native plants to floating mountains. Your little ones, and you will enjoy exploring it all – especially at night when everything is glowing!

Na’vi River Journey – Take a peaceful boat ride through Pandora.

Flight of Passage – Your kids will love flying through the World of Avatar on the back of a banshee! This attraction has a height requirement of 44in.

Dino Land U.S.A.
The Boneyard – If your kids are like Christian they’ll want some time to not be standing in lines and to just run around and burn off from energy. The Boneyard is the perfect place for just that! This large fossil site playground features slides, cargo nets and a place to dig for fossils.

Dinosaur – If your kids love dinosaurs then the exhibits that are part of the queue for this attraction will ignite their learning spirit. The attraction is also a lot of fun, but it is loud and there are life-size dinosaur animatronics that could be scary. The height requirement for this attraction is 40in.

TriceraTop Spin – Christian loves this one! It’s like Dumbo, but its dinosaurs! Take to the sky in a dinosaur!

Finding Nemo the Musical – A fun, live performance of the story of everyone’s favorite clown fish can also be found in DinoLand.

Games – What kid doesn’t love games?! If you don’t mind spending a little extra you may walk away with a prize from the midway games.

Animal Kingdom has a lot to offer for toddlers and preschoolers! In the next few weeks we’ll cover the two remaining parks – they both have a lot to offer as well.

Are you ready to start planning your next magical vacation? I’d be happy to help! Contact me at miriyawhitaker@worldofmagictravel.com for your FREE quote and to get started planning! For more Disney and travel information feel free to follow me on a Facebook.