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Little-Known Secrets of Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom

Two Disney characters dressed as explorers stand cheerfully outside a rustic building. The character on the left wears a green safari outfit, and the one on the right wears a beige explorer outfit with a hat. Trees and a wooden structure are in the background.
Credit: Disney

Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, the newest addition to the WDW property, celebrated its opening on April 22, 1998—Earth Day, a fitting choice for a park dedicated to nature and conservation. As of January 21, 2025, the park is approaching its 27th anniversary.

Despite being the youngest of Walt Disney World’s theme parks, Animal Kingdom boasts some impressive statistics. Covering approximately 580 acres, it stands as the largest Disney theme park globally. Here are some other surprising Animal Kingdom facts—how many did you already know?

The Tree of Life

It’s hard to miss the Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. Standing 145 feet tall, this iconic structure is adorned with approximately 102,000 artificial leaves and features 337 intricate carvings of existing and extinct animal species on its trunk and surrounding roots. You can examine it up close by wandering the Discovery Island Trails.

As realistic as the Tree of Life appears, it’s completely artificial—and completely magnificent! It took a team of three Imagineers and ten artists 18 months to meticulously create the animal carvings. Though they resemble wood carvings, the tree is made from concrete and built over an oil rig to withstand even the most devastating hurricane-level winds that Florida can sometimes dish out.

A large, illuminated tree with a thick trunk and sprawling branches is adorned with colorful lights and patterns. Bright spots resembling stars light up the night sky in the background.

Credit: Disney

Beastly Kingdom

Have you ever taken the time to read the dedication plaque at Animal Kingdom Park’s entrance? It welcomes guests to “a kingdom of animals… real, ancient, and imagined,” a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs, and dragons. Initially, three different lands were conceptualized by Imagineers for the park: one with real animals, one for extinct animals, and one for imaginary creatures, to be called the Beastly Kingdom.

Unfortunately, mostly due to budgetary reasons, the Beastly Kingdom and its dragons, unicorns, and sea serpents never became a reality. However, guests can still unearth remnants of this lost Animal Kingdom land if they look hard enough!

The park’s logo features a dragon front and center, various mythical creatures appear above the park’s ticket windows, the unicorn parking lot section is still in use, and there’s a sea monster head rock formation on your way into Pandora – The World of Avatar.

When is an Acacia Not an Acacia

You’ve probably seen the iconic flat-topped African acacia trees on the savanna while riding Disney’s Kilimanjaro Safaris. Or—have you?

Acacia trees are native to Africa but not to Florida, which posed a problem when creating the attraction. Instead of acacia trees, Imagineers decided to use oak trees—which are native to the area—that receive a very particular pruning to make them resemble acacia trees.

Walt’s Animal Connection

You may already know that Walt Disney adored animals (he was only four when he and his family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, and he started looking after farm animals).

Fast-forward to the 1950s! When Walt was creating Jungle Cruise for California’s Disneyland, he wanted to populate it with live animals, but his Imagineers told him real animals couldn’t be counted on to appear on cue for guests, so animatronic creatures were used instead.

Years after Walt’s death, his dream for an attraction populated by real animals finally turned into reality with Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safaris, which uses techniques like concealed food sources near ride vehicles to encourage animals to appear for guests. But even better: there’s now an entire Walt Disney World theme park bursting with real, live animals. We think Walt would approve.

Imagineer Globetrotting

It’s good to be an Imagineer. In preparation for the opening of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, a team of WDW Imagineers led by Joe Rohde traveled extensively around the globe, racking up hundreds of thousands of miles. They were researching life in the wild for inspiration for the park and bringing back plants and artifacts from every corner of the globe to display there.

In fact, in addition to populating the park with artifacts from the regions represented, Imagineers brought back plants from every continent except Antarctica to use in Animal Kingdom.

Pioneering Elephant Work

Did you know that North America’s largest group of African elephants calls Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park home? The scientists working in the park have even identified two new vocalizations that hadn’t previously been reported in elephant populations. The herd gets to spread out over seven acres of land and various habitats in Animal Kingdom Park, and you can visit them daily.

An elephant is standing in a shallow water body, with its trunk partially submerged. The background features rocky terrain and sparse vegetation, reminiscent of the scenes you might encounter on Disney's Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom. The scene suggests a natural habitat environment.

Credit: Disney

If you have an elephant lover in your party, you can get a closer look at the biggest mammals on Earth by booking a Caring for Giants tour, part of Disney’s Enchanted Extras Collection. On this hour-long tour, guests will speak with an elephant guide and learn more about the African elephant herd at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

You’ll also watch these amazing creatures from 80–100 feet away, much closer than you’ll be able to get during any other park experience.

Upcoming Developments

Looking ahead, Disney has announced plans for a new “Tropical Americas” area in Animal Kingdom, which will replace DinoLand U.S.A. This expansion will feature attractions inspired by Encanto and Indiana Jones and is expected to be completed in 2027.

Bottom Line

As any Disney guest knows, Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a wonderful place to travel, meet your favorite animals, and get lost in nature. Armed with these little-known facts, we hope your next visit to Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be even more magical.

About Stacy Milford

Stacy has lived in 4 countries on 3 continents, and travels whenever humanly possible. Passionate about music theatre, dessert, and adventure in the great wide somewhere, she visits Walt Disney World every year, usually during Halloween! Stacy currently divides her time between writing and teaching English as a second language to children in China, and is pretty sure growing up is over-rated.

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