Operating hours of various Animal Kingdom attractions being reduced

Oct 15, 2018 in "Disney's Animal Kingdom"

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Posted: Monday October 15, 2018 9:56am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The operating hours of several attractions at Disney's Animal Kingdom are being reduced through the remainder of the year.

Kilimanjaro Safaris After Dark

Part of the relaunch of the park as a nighttime destination last year, the park is now typically open until 8pm. However, Kilimanjaro Safaris has moved to a 7:45pm closing for this week, and then moving down to a 6:30pm closing in November.

Maharajah Jungle trek is now operating with a delayed open at 10am, and closing early at 5pm.

Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail is similarly now opening after park open at 9:30am, with an early closing at 4:30pm.

Kali River Rapids is also opening at 9:30am, with early closing at 7:30pm.

Discuss on the Forums

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xdan0920Oct 17, 2018

Supply and demand?

erasure fan1Oct 17, 2018

But isn't that kinda being the fastest turtle? ;)

Ripken10Oct 17, 2018

While you make some facts here, you aren't comparing apples to apples. Disneyland has more locals then Disney world. Many who travel to Disney World in the fall and winter time frame, don't pack swimming suits, even with the temps being warmer than other areas of the country. It's just natural that less people will be "prepared" for these type rides and less interested. I am taking a trip this December, and while I enjoy Kali, it isn't in my plans as a must do this trip. My mind tells me that this trip isn't for water rides. Again, you make good points, but I don't think this is as bad as you make it out to be. IMO of course

eddie104Oct 17, 2018

So your saying they should cut DCA operating hours as well or....I really don't get this random post.

cjkeatingOct 17, 2018

It’s more of a full day park than Epcot or DHS in my opinion.

TP2000Oct 17, 2018

Agreed. And just to put the last nail in the coffin of the whole "They close Kali early because it's colder in the fall... Brrr!!!" excuse, here are the inconvenient truths from this October evening.... At 4:30pm Pacific Time, I checked my iPhone for the temperature in Orlando at 7:30pm Eastern Time, and jotted it down for this post. At 7:30pm Eastern Time today in Orlando it was: 85 Degrees, 65% Humidity, RealFeel Temperature of 92 Degrees Now at 7:30pm Pacific Time today in Anaheim it is: 71 Degrees, 17% Humdity, RealFeel Temperature of 70 Degrees For those of us who visit both coasts regularly, there's a noticeable nip in the air in Anaheim when it's extremely dry as it always is in the fall, compared to the more humid climate of fall in Orlando. This evening, a random Tuesday in mid October, Disney California Adventure is open until 10:00pm. Currently at 7:30pm Pacific Time per the Disneyland App, Grizzly River Run has a 5 Minute Wait, with Fastpasses available immediately for a 7:35pm to 8:35pm boarding window. And within a 5 minute walk from Grizzly in DCA tonight, Soarin' has a 45 minute wait with no Fastpasses available, The Little Mermaid has a 10 minute wait (no Fastpass at the DCA version), Radiator Springs Racers is 70 minutes, Incredicoaster is 35 minutes, Guardians of the Galaxy is 80 minutes, etc., etc. The point? The same theme park company that is now shutting down Kali River Rapids at 7:30pm in Orlando is keeping the similar, yet longer and wetter, Grizzly River Run open until 10:00pm even though it's a total walk-on in a chillier Anaheim theme park that has twice as many rides as a warmer Animal Kingdom that closes two hours earlier, and even though Grizzly River Run is in a theme park that allegedly has 3 Million less annual attendance and allegedly only caters to casual SoCal locals instead of hardcore International tourists. Why would that be exactly??? o_O

doctornickOct 17, 2018

If they are going to cut back on stuff at DAK, wouldn't it be nice if they could just close Everest for a while (save the operation cost) and actually I dunno fix the Yeti? (Yeah, I know, that doesn't save money, so defeats the point.)

erasure fan1Oct 17, 2018

Return? Did it it ever leave? I guess if you count waiting half the day for Pandora then the other half of the day doing the rest of the park, it's a full day. 😉

MaximumEdOct 16, 2018

I’ll be visiting from out of state next week. Not too happy about being met with all the new cuts.

Kman101Oct 16, 2018

Yep. Why not just close the park at 6 again? I've given them leeway on certain things closing earlier than the park but I'd be angry if I was a visiting guest from out of state and was met with all this.

geekzaOct 16, 2018

He's had more time off than time on. lol Poor thing can't even scare people into not throwing their hair bands onto the top of the mountain.

lazyboy97oOct 16, 2018

Why would one of the busiest theme parks in the world need attraction capacity? You people don’t understand business.

Disstevefan1Oct 16, 2018

Raise prices on everything + reduce staff and operating hours = Very happy shareholders. Side effect, very sad park guests...

Animaniac93-98Oct 16, 2018

Disney basically thinks they’re a bank at this point. They’re open as few hours as possible (with minimal staff) they charge fees wherever they can, they want you to do everything yourself online and they insist that if you keep giving them money it’s a good long term investment. They’re also too big to fail.