Yes, I admit, I love Animal Kingdom. Give me a choice of parks to roam on my own and that’s where you’ll find me. I am fascinated with the wildlife and love to photograph. And then, of course, there is that menu thing we do here at AllEars 🙂 ( If you believe I have mislabeled any of the wildlife in this blog, please let me know!)
A few days ago I spent 2 consecutive mornings at Animal Kingdom. Both days were cool, 50s and 60s. The air was crisp and the park beautifully lit by the sunshine!
I like to stop by the Lemur area in Discovery Island Trails. This section is between the Cotton Top Tamarins and It’s Tough to be a Bug. Parts of the view area right behind Doug and Russell’s meet and greet area.
It is common to see the Ring-Tailed-Lemurs out (think King Julien from Madagascar) but very unusual to see the Collared Lemurs. In fact, I can probably count on one hand how many times I have seen the collared lemurs.
Always talk to the Cast Members in the viewing areas, even those on clean-up patrol. They can be very informative and helpful! On this day, the Cast Member at the Tamarins told me all the lemurs were out and that they were fed between 11-12 right now.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found both collared lemurs awake and roaming around.
RINGED-TAILED-LEMURS
COLLARED LEMURS
I decided to walk the park counter-clockwise and headed to DinoLand USA. I’m not sure how long the Abdim Stork exhibit has been there, but I don’t recall seeing it before.
Deeper into Asia, the Siamangs were out enjoying the sunshine! They were having a great time in their habitat and also walking the “tight rope” from station to station.
Next up Maharajah Jungle Trek!
The Komodo Dragon was out the 2nd morning I was there.. too chilly the first morning. I believe it needs to be 65 degrees or warmer for the Komodo to be out.
The Saurus Cranes – largest crane in the world.
The Banteng was enjoying the warmth from the sun.
I bypassed the bat house and went into the Aviary.
So many birds were out – walking on the ground, flying above, chirping loudly! Remember to talk with the Cast Members! They will point out where the birds are and share interesting facts!
Nicobar Pigeon
Pied Imperial Pigeon
White Headed Buffalo Weaver
Zebra Finches
Golden Pheasant
As I left the Aviary and the Maharajah Jungle Trek I heard music and as I got closer, there was a crowd. The Bhangra DJ Dance Party was in full swing!
It was great fun and all guests, young and old got into the celebration. What a great idea for this part of Animal Kingdom.
On my way out of Asia into Africa I saw Divine. Just LOVE to watch her.
Wandered into Pangani Forest Exploration Trail Aviary!
Golden Weavers – you’ll see them fliting about really fast as they build their upside down nests.
Blue Bellied Roller
Wattled Starling
Great Blue Turaco
I hope you enjoyed walking through Animal Kingdom with me. What is your favorite thing to do in Animal Kingdom?
Thanks for the photo’s and the mini tour.
I love this place and scratch my head anytime someone says this is a half day park.
There is one thing that eludes me though.
In all the times I have gone, I have yet to see Divine!! I hope when I come in April I will have some luck! I can’t wait as it is
verrrrry ccccold here in Vermont today!
I also hope that there will be a meet and greet when I am there (4/10-4/17). I have yet to catch one and would love to meet you all!
No matter how often I’ve done it before, I always have to spend lots of time examining the carvings of all the creatures on the Tree of Life. Thank you for the beautiful pictures and all the other things you do to make AllEars® such a wonderful website.
Awesome Pics!!!! Isn’t it funny as we get older its the tranquil scenery, along with the not so usual animals that becomes more interesting to us. I also just love to watch the siamangs play. I often tell my kids to go on their Attractions and meet me at the monkeys
(siamangs). I guess when they have kids, they will understand the other side on Animal Kingdom and other Disney Attractions.
I just LOVE the AK, and it saddens me to see so many people rush through places like the aviaries, saying “there’s nothing to see here.” You’ve got to stop and look for a while, but it’s well worth it to see these amazing birds.
This park is my favorite too. My family always seems to be in a hurry to leave it because they are too hot or too tired from walking it. We are going back in June 2013 and I am going to make an effort to spend more time there.
Hi Deb, Thanks for a great walkthrough and some beautiful pictures. I must admit that over the years AK has grown to become my favorite park. I was there the week it first opened and remember leaving a bit unimpressed, comparing it to an unusually large zoo. I think the unimaginable crowds had something to do with that initial impression. With each trip since then I have come to look at AK as one of Disney’s best and most underrated accomplishments. The detail placed into the creation of this park is astounding. Take out the rides and other attractions and I would still be content just walking around looking at the architecture and the attention to detail within each section of the park.
always wonderful to read these adventures, makes me feel like I am there with you! Thank you for all the hard work (and it really IS work!) you go thru to create such story-lines, I appreciate the effort! Looking forward to many more ‘adventures’ with you!
Thank you for the wonderful pictures and walk through. My family and I will be traveling to Disney in late June. We are looking forward to our second trip to the World. On our previous trip to Animal Kingdom it rained all day and we were not able to enjoy the park. Can not wait to do your walk through! The animals look amazing.
AK is probably our favorite park. I love the trails and the relaxed pace and the foliage . . . well, I could just keep on going. And the gorillas, I think I could spend hours just watching them. Thanks for all the great pics.
Thanks for the great video of the siamangs! We were just there a couple of weekends ago, and stood observing them for a while. However, they were hanging out on their “island” picking treats out of the little bags that were hanging on the scaffolding. We got to see them move around a lot, but I kept wondering if they ever went all the way across those tightropes. Thanks for answering my question with your video!
Diane
Great article – I love to do the same thing! Great shots too – you have identified for me some of the birds that I had taken shots of but didn’t know what they were! I love this park. Can be such a nice “quiet” alternative to all the hustle and bustle.
Thanks Deb for the wonderful photos. You are doing a great job with the camera. Looking forward to more walk arounds.
Our family absolutely loves Animal Kingdom. We’ve visited several times and enjoy the shows, th rides and of course, especially, all the animals.
We’ve also had the good fortune to meet an older gentleman, Micheal, in Asia, on several occasions.
Even by the wonderful standards of Disney, this cast member stands out. He took time to entertain our family with story after story about his life. We met him another year and our time with him was even more pleasant.
He is such a joy that my kids wrote him a Christmas card and we tried twice to find him last year (unfortunately he wasn’t working either day).
So…all in all, a super park in every way.
Thanks Disney.
Hi Deb,
We were there Wed. 2/6 because the weather was just too gorgeous not to be strolling around inside our favorite park.
Our favorite thing to do at AK park is to walk the exploration trail and spend time with the Gorillas. A very close second would be strolling along the Discovery Island Trails. I also love taking a ride on the Wildlife Express Train. We usually do it following our visit with the gorillas because by then our feet and legs need the rest.
AK is one of the most beautiful places to be on a nice day and we’re so blessed to have it here so close to home.
Thanks for the great blog and pics. ~ Johnny
Love the Animal Kingdom. On each visit my 13 year old and I get a “safari” day. We ride the Kilimanjaro Sarfari from park open to park close. Our only breaks are strolls through the trails while waiting for fast pass times.
The Golden Weavers have become our personal favorites because of their amazing building skills and their high level of activity. We learned from a CM that the males build multiple nests to attract a mate.
One of our favourites at AK is the bird show. Never miss it!!
What a lovely way to spend a morning!
We’d be interested in in a meet and greet at Animal Kingdom sometime! (Early June?)
Thank you for brightening a dreary day!
Hi Deb!
Thanks for sharing! You and Gary C. always have such great pictures on your posts! What kind of camera do you use?
DEB: Thanks so much. After years of loving my Lumix “point and shoot” and my Canon SX camera, I purchased the starter Canon EOS Rebel T3i. It came with a basic 17-55mm lens and a basic 55-250mm (zoom). Most of the wildlife photos are with the zoom. However, I will also mention that I probably took well over 300 photos and the ones I posted were the best ones. I deleted 90% of what I took. Most were blurry, bad lighting, etc. There is a LOT to learn with this camera and I’m slowly and I do mean slowly, learning.
Last spring I was lucky enough to wander over to the lemur habitat when there were some CMs actually doing some training with both sets of lemurs. I learned SO much! The CMs do reward-based behavioral traing (their favorite foods are the rewards) to encourage some of their natural behaviors. They also encourage them to get along as, in their natural habitat, they generally wouldn’t. The CMs also shared the names of the lemurs (which are escaping me) and a little story about each (at least two of them are rescues with some sort of injury; one has a stunted tail so they were also working on balancing exercises with him). They shared that generally “getting along” means each type of lemur sticking to it’s own ‘island’ in the habitat, and that the ring-tailed lemur is naturally more social. The CMs were excited to share with us and would’ve stood there as long as there were questions to be asked. As a matter of fact, they’d finished up training and were out of treats and there was still a small group of us chatting and asking questions. One of the ring tails was in denial training was complete and so kept leaning off of his branch, waaaaay over, and touching the CM shoulder as if to say, “Um, hi? Still right here. Got any more mango in that pocket for me buddy?” Very cute. I think I have some pictures and would be happy to share them with you.
My son shared your post with me. The unidentified bird is a Wattled Starling. Linda
DEB: Thank you!!!
Hi Deb!
WOnderful pictures. I like to photograph the animals here too. I especially like the bats and Tigers on the Maharajah Jungle Trek and the siamangs. I am usually there in the summer and it always seems that this park is more humid than the others. Must be all the extra foliage.
Cheers!
Lisa
DEB: Thank you! yes, Animal Kingdom gets very humid with the dense foliage. I agree. Best to visit early in the day!
The colors in some of the birds are just BEAUTIFUL!!!!