Disney’s Animal Kingdom Hours

Creating an itinerary for your Walt Disney World vacation is an important part of making sure you have time to see and do everything you and your family want to. If you have a trip coming up or are planning to visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we’ve got you covered. Here are Disney’s Animal Kingdom hours for 2021 (so far).

May 

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is open every day through May from 8:00am-7:00pm with no posted restrictions. 

June

Animal Kingdom is open 8:00am-7:00pm unless otherwise noted:

• 6/21: 8:00am-6:00pm
• 6/22: 8:00am-5:00pm
• 6:27: 8:00am-5:00pm
• 6/28: 8:00am-6:00pm
• 6/29: 8:00am-6:00pm
• 6/30: 8:00am-6:00pm

July

The park is open every day from 8:00am-6:00pm, however, times are not yet available from July 18th through the rest of the year. In 2020, Disney announced that it would be suspending Extra Magic Hours and adjusting each park’s hours to accommodate for an earlier closure. This was in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As a result, Disney releases park information, including hours, 60 days out. 

You can check for up-to-date park hours by visiting our website or checking the calendar for your preferred park on Disney’s website when it gets closer to your vacation date.

Read more: Fun Animal Kingdom Facts

Animal Kingdom Rides and Attractions

While not as populated as the other parks, Animal Kingdom is home to a variety of fun and unique rides and attractions that are a fit for the whole family. Here’s a list of all the rides and attractions at Animal Kingdom:

• DINOSAUR
• Avatar: Flight of Passage
• Kali River Rapids
• TriceraTOP Spin
• Na’Vi River Journey
• Kilimanjaro Safaris
• It’s Fun to Be a Bug
• Discovery Island Trails
• Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
• Maharajah Jungle Trek
• The Animation Experience at Conservation Station
• The Oasis Exhibits
• Wilderness Explorers
• Wildlife Express Train
• Affection Section
• Festival of the Lion King
• Expedition Everset – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain

Expedition Everest is currently undergoing a multi-day closure. No word has been released as to when it will re-open or why it’s been shut down. Perhaps, an update to Disco Yet? Like Rapunzel, we’ve got a dream! 

Read more: The Best Rides at Animal Kingdom

Upcoming Events at Animal Kingdom

After closing down due to the pandemic, The Festival of the Lion King is finally scheduled to return to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in May 2021. Fans of the 1994 film of the same name (or the 2019 remake, whichever you prefer) get to sing along to Hakuna Matata, Circle of Life and other favorite songs with Simba and his friends as they retell this Disney classic. 

Fans were obviously ecstatic when it was announced that this stage spectacular would be returning. In an effort to reduce clusters of people, Disney had made the decision to temporarily suspend all stage shows. This is one of the first ones to return and while it is returning as a modified experience, our team is hopeful that it’s a positive sign of things returning to normal at the parks. This modified experience will see an adjustment to certain choreography and the way the audience filters into the Harambe theater and how they watch the show in an effort to adhere to social distancing measures. In fact, Animal Kingdom has already started preparing for the show’s reopening and has started to implement social distant stickers on the ground outside Harambe theater (yay!)

Read more: Can’t Miss Disney World Shows

Final Thoughts

If you’re visiting Animal Kingdom, remember, you’re allowed to take maskless photos anywhere outside as long as you are socially distanced from others. As of right now, guests will have to wear their masks while on rides. So while your terrified scream on DINOSAUR will be covered up behind a mask, plans to have the parks resume to normalcy are on track for 2022. 

If this is your first time visiting Animal Kingdom, you can download and print out our helpful Animal Kingdom park map. Just click here.