Happy 20th anniversary to Disney’s Animal Kingdom!

rteetz

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
In 1998 Disney’s fourth park in Walt Disney World opened to the world as a place that celebrates life of the past, present, and imagined. So much has changed and grown at this park over the past 20 years. New lands have opened such as Asia and Pandora. Shows have come and gone and animal conservation remains at the forefront.

Today we celebrate the 20th anniversary of arguably the most immersive Disney theme park in the United States of America. We also celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd which is a fitting day for Animal Kingdom to have debuted.

Here is to 20+ more years of my favorite Disney theme park!

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Happy anniversary, Animal Kingdom!party:

Beautiful pictures RTeetz. Thanks for posting them and reminding us what a special place it is. :)
 
Happy anniversary, Animal Kingdom!party:

Beautiful pictures RTeetz. Thanks for posting them and reminding us what a special place it is. :)
I’d love to see photos from others journeys at Animal Kingdom! These photos I posted have are making the rounds on social media.
 
Remember when people used to think this was only a half day park, and many didn’t even want to go? Remember when people said Pandora would be a failure? Animal Kingdom always proved the doubters wrong!

I mean... is there any other park that has such a unique theme, an impeccable level of detail, incredible attractions, great food, and great entertainment??

Happy birthday to inarguably one of the all time greatest theme parks ever built!
 


Remember when people used to think this was only a half day park, and many didn’t even want to go? Remember when people said Pandora would be a failure? Animal Kingdom always proved the doubters wrong!

I mean... is there any other park that has such a unique theme, an impeccable level of detail, incredible attractions, great food, and great entertainment??

Happy birthday to inarguably one of the all time greatest theme parks ever built.
Couldn’t agree more!
 


IDK where I put them, but I have printed photos from when Disney did a nationwide promotional tour for the brand new Animal Kingdom.

I learned about it on the radio and the Community Board here. It came to the athletic field of the University where I live. They set up a boneyard, blew up gigantic balloons, and held meet and greets with Minnie and Mickey dressed in safari gear.

My son was three-ish at the time. I can’t remember if this event was before or after we went to Animal Kingdom for the first time in February 1999. He was 2 1/2 then. Could have been a few months afterward in the spring of 1999. :)
 
Anyone who is there today - have you noticed any new costumes? I remember it being said that today was the debut day for a ton of them. As a former DAK Vacation Planner, I'm SUPER curious how they changed up that costume!
 
I first visited Animal Kingdom in 2008 and thought it was the most beautiful and atmospheric of all the parks, and the level of immersion in every corner is astounding. Even the oft-mocked DinoLand area has a wildly detailed backstory, with traces of that story visible in the details around the land. (If you're ever bored, look up the story of the DinoRama and DinoLand. Just... nerdery run amok. It's incredible).

It's my favorite park for exploring. I even love the conservation station. Animals! Education! Disney!
 
Anyone who is there today - have you noticed any new costumes? I remember it being said that today was the debut day for a ton of them. As a former DAK Vacation Planner, I'm SUPER curious how they changed up that costume!

As a current vacation planner who picks up at DAK a lot, I can tell you that the new costumes are way more comfortable, especially the pants!
 

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