NEW Closure Announced for Disney's Animal Kingdom

Refurbishments and construction projects are currently ALL over Disney World. In fact, all four parks currently have some form of construction taking place!

Magic Kingdom is making way for the new Villains Land, EPCOT is building a new lounge, Test Track is getting ready to make its grand reopening in a few months, mysterious construction walls remain up in Toy Story Land, and Animal Kingdom’s DinoLand has begun to close in phases to make way for Tropical Americas. However, an animal exhibit in Animal Kingdom is about to temporarily close for refurbishment in just a few days, meaning it’ll be unavailable to the public for several weeks.

Disney World’s website currently states that the Bat Enclosure, which can be found on the Maharajah Jungle Trek, will be closed for refurbishment starting February 17th, 2025.

The area is expected to reopen in early March 2025, so hopefully we’ll only go a few weeks without being able to see our cute nocturnal bat friends. Now don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that the entire Jungle Trek is closing! The bat enclosure is an optional part of the trek, meaning that guests can choose to bypass it any time of the year. During this refurbishment, it’s suspected that guests will enter the bat enclosure building as normal, but the option to actually enter the second door and see the bats will not be available. Guests will enter the building and exit the other side without being able to see the bats.

This exhibit is home to Malayan flying foxes, one of the world’s largest bat species. They’re native to Asia and are named after their vulpine facial features, such as their long snout, oval ears, round eyes, and reddish black fur.

Unlike other bat species, these bats use their excellent eyesight and smell to eat instead of echolocation. Their main source of food is fruit, which also means they disperse the seeds they don’t eat onto the ground and therefore encourage new plant growth. Did you know that the reason they sleep upside down is because of their fragile hindleg bones? That’s right — the bones are unable to support their full body weight standing upright, so sleeping upside down is the way to go.

Also at the Maharajah Jungle Trek right now is the adorable newest addition to the park, Bakso! This adorable tiger cub can be seen on the Trek, often, with his mom Sohni close by. Warning — lines have been long to see him but in our opinion, it’s worth the wait!