It Just Got Trickier to Ride Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney World

If you’re planning on visiting Disney World soon, you’ll want to be aware of a change that could complicate your plans.

Animal Kingdom

Visiting Disney World in the latter part of the year comes with its own set of challenges — more crowds, modified park hours due to special events and parties, and even park closures. But there’s one unexpected change that could still sneak up on you if you weren’t prepared for it!

Kilimanjaro Safaris is a popular attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and for good reason. It’s a great way to cool off on a hot day, riding around in a vehicle while listening to your guide point out all the cool animals you can spot along the way.

Kilimanjaro Safaris

This attraction knows how to pack a crowd and since their pace sometimes is dictated by animals choosing to stand in the pathways (and for how long), it’s hard to find it with lower wait times except for early in the morning and later in the day. However, if you’re choosing to use that later strategy to ride, you’ll want to pay close attention to what time of the year you’re visiting.

Giraffe on Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom

We’ve noticed this attraction closing earlier recently and it piqued our interest so we asked a cast member about the change and the answer they gave us made total sense.

©Disney

It’s for sunset! (I know, a collective “oooh” was just heard from here). This attraction does have set times to wind down for the day, but at times of the year when the sun sets earlier, they have to be done sooner (like when Daylight Savings Time is over). When this occurs, all of the animal experiences have to close earlier due to safety for the animals and the visitors. This happens more often than you’ll probably take notice but following the current attraction times updated on the My Disney Experience app allows you to change your plans if this is an important attraction to see while you’re visiting.

It’s always a good practice to continue to check your plans against the posted times in the My Disney Experience app and website even during your vacation to Disney World as times are subject to change without notice. Stay tuned for even MORE Disney news and updates soon, right here at AllEars.net!