After the birth of my son last year, my new zoo consumption has been non existent. That changed this past week when we spent some time in Orlando, and i naturally gravitated toward Animal Kingdom.
Everyone's got an opinion on this place, and it seems that few are alike. I went in a relatively dead season for Disney crowds, so this was a tremendous help.
From an animal exhibit standpoint, most are quite good. Some are possibly the best of their kind. Pagani Forest trail is outstanding, but I unfortunately did not see all of it b/c it was partially closed off. The gorilla habitats were amazing and lush, just as other Zoochatters have said. I found the Colobus enclosure to be nothing special, and the meerkat setup was terrific. It was so large that they were difficult to spot at first glance.
Kilimanjaro Safaris is another great exhibit, but perhaps not as great as I was expecting. There's no way that the ride lasted 30 minutes as the guide suggested. It seemed much shorter. Also, while there are many species of hoofed stock on the guide displayed on the bus, you'll likely not see them all. I was very much looking forward to seeing sable antelope, and they were nowhere to be found. No duikers or okapis, either. Add that to no gerenuk in Pagani, and that's a bit of a bust for me. While the proximity of the animals was better, as well as the landscaping, I think I enjoyed Busch's Journey into Africa just as much. The fact that I can see all of the different species their is a major advantage for Busch, on top of the fact that many of the animals there can be viewed for a much longer period of time. Don't get me wrong, it's a must see. Animals literally can come right up to the vehicle. We has a giraffe standing just a few feet from the bus, as well as an ostrich that stalked us all the way though it's exhibit. One very positive thing about his ride is the large groups of huge animals like hippos, rhinos, and elephants. I doubt that many zoos have the space to do what Disney does with these species and still make it look great.
Maharajah Jungle Trek was another great complex with terrific exhibits. Komodos, flying foxes, blackbuck, Eld's deer, and birds set the table for the featured species, the tiger. All enclosures are top-notch here. My only complaint is that they didn't do more with it species-wise. A company with Disney's deep pockets could do better IMO. Megefauna like Indian rhinos, tapirs or even gaur would be a help to this complex. A primate would also be great. Given the Disney connection with The Jungle Book, I was a bit surprised to see no bears, leopards, monkeys, wolves, pythons, or orangutans in the mix here.
Discovery Island and the Oasis are the other main animal exhibits here, with a few stragglers around the parks such as gibbons in the Asian zone and American crocs and Burmese mountain tortoises in Dinoland USA. Much of the exhibitry in these areas consists of bird displays, which are all well done. Exceptions are lushly planted homes for rhino iguanas, babirusas, giant anteaters, small-clawed otters, and some huge shark catfish. The babirusa and anteater setups may be the best I've seen for the species.
All in all, I'd give DAK very positive marks. I'm with fellow Zoochatters who dislike the breakneck speed of Kilimanjaro, but it's not my biggest beef. My issue is the lack of species diversity form an institution that's capable of more than any zoo in the US, possibly on the planet Earth. There are so many theme parks in the Orlando area that you could spend a month there and still miss a few. Why not focus on the animal aspect of the park instead of building a new Avatar area? You can see Tranformers, Harry Potter, Marvel, Legos, Mickey Mouse, and Star Wars experiences just minutes from
DAK. Why does anyone need another movie-themed park zone? I'd rather see an expansion of the Asian Zone or a South American area added. As a zoo geek, perhaps this sentiment is particular only to people like me, but I wish DAK went in the direction of the old SDZ rather than SDZ trying to become more like DAK. Lord only knows what it could become if Disney concentrated it's efforts and resources into building the best zoo it possibly could.
Everyone's got an opinion on this place, and it seems that few are alike. I went in a relatively dead season for Disney crowds, so this was a tremendous help.
From an animal exhibit standpoint, most are quite good. Some are possibly the best of their kind. Pagani Forest trail is outstanding, but I unfortunately did not see all of it b/c it was partially closed off. The gorilla habitats were amazing and lush, just as other Zoochatters have said. I found the Colobus enclosure to be nothing special, and the meerkat setup was terrific. It was so large that they were difficult to spot at first glance.
Kilimanjaro Safaris is another great exhibit, but perhaps not as great as I was expecting. There's no way that the ride lasted 30 minutes as the guide suggested. It seemed much shorter. Also, while there are many species of hoofed stock on the guide displayed on the bus, you'll likely not see them all. I was very much looking forward to seeing sable antelope, and they were nowhere to be found. No duikers or okapis, either. Add that to no gerenuk in Pagani, and that's a bit of a bust for me. While the proximity of the animals was better, as well as the landscaping, I think I enjoyed Busch's Journey into Africa just as much. The fact that I can see all of the different species their is a major advantage for Busch, on top of the fact that many of the animals there can be viewed for a much longer period of time. Don't get me wrong, it's a must see. Animals literally can come right up to the vehicle. We has a giraffe standing just a few feet from the bus, as well as an ostrich that stalked us all the way though it's exhibit. One very positive thing about his ride is the large groups of huge animals like hippos, rhinos, and elephants. I doubt that many zoos have the space to do what Disney does with these species and still make it look great.
Maharajah Jungle Trek was another great complex with terrific exhibits. Komodos, flying foxes, blackbuck, Eld's deer, and birds set the table for the featured species, the tiger. All enclosures are top-notch here. My only complaint is that they didn't do more with it species-wise. A company with Disney's deep pockets could do better IMO. Megefauna like Indian rhinos, tapirs or even gaur would be a help to this complex. A primate would also be great. Given the Disney connection with The Jungle Book, I was a bit surprised to see no bears, leopards, monkeys, wolves, pythons, or orangutans in the mix here.
Discovery Island and the Oasis are the other main animal exhibits here, with a few stragglers around the parks such as gibbons in the Asian zone and American crocs and Burmese mountain tortoises in Dinoland USA. Much of the exhibitry in these areas consists of bird displays, which are all well done. Exceptions are lushly planted homes for rhino iguanas, babirusas, giant anteaters, small-clawed otters, and some huge shark catfish. The babirusa and anteater setups may be the best I've seen for the species.
All in all, I'd give DAK very positive marks. I'm with fellow Zoochatters who dislike the breakneck speed of Kilimanjaro, but it's not my biggest beef. My issue is the lack of species diversity form an institution that's capable of more than any zoo in the US, possibly on the planet Earth. There are so many theme parks in the Orlando area that you could spend a month there and still miss a few. Why not focus on the animal aspect of the park instead of building a new Avatar area? You can see Tranformers, Harry Potter, Marvel, Legos, Mickey Mouse, and Star Wars experiences just minutes from
DAK. Why does anyone need another movie-themed park zone? I'd rather see an expansion of the Asian Zone or a South American area added. As a zoo geek, perhaps this sentiment is particular only to people like me, but I wish DAK went in the direction of the old SDZ rather than SDZ trying to become more like DAK. Lord only knows what it could become if Disney concentrated it's efforts and resources into building the best zoo it possibly could.
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