Africa

Kilimanjaro Safaris is not a ride with animals in it. It is a working 110-acre zoological exhibit that you cross in an open-sided truck, and it is the largest single animal habitat of its kind attached to a theme park anywhere. The savanna holds African elephants, white and black rhinoceros, reticulated giraffes, lions, cheetahs, hippos, Nile crocodiles, wild dogs, okapi, bongo, wildebeest, Grevy's zebra, ostriches, flamingos and more, separated from the road by hidden moats, grade changes and ditches rather than fences you can see.

Gorilla Falls runs behind Harambe on a self-paced loop that takes twenty to forty minutes depending on how long you stand at each habitat. It opened with the park in 1998 as Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and was renamed in 2016. The headline residents are western lowland gorillas, held in two separate habitats - a bachelor group of males near the start of the trail and a family troop with a silverback, females and, frequently, juveniles at the far end.

Festival of the Lion King has run since the park opened in 1998 and moved into the purpose-built Harambe Theatre in 2014. It is staged in the round, with the audience divided into four sections around a central floor, and it borrows its structure from the tribal-celebration framing of the Broadway production rather than retelling the film's plot.

The Wildlife Express is a narrow-gauge train running between Harambe station in Africa and Rafiki's Planet Watch. There is no walking path and no bus; if you want Conservation Station, the Affection Section petting yard or the Animation Experience, this train is the only route in and out.

Harambe is designed as a real East African port town, down to the peeling stucco, the layered paint and the hand-lettered signage, and the street performance program is what makes the design work. Through the day a rotation of live acts sets up in the small squares near the Harambe Market and the theater entrance: a drum troupe that pulls guests in to play, acrobats and tumblers, and a cappella vocal groups.

Wild Africa Trek is the park's flagship upcharge tour and the only way to get physically close to the savanna habitats. You are fitted with a harness and vest, walked along cliff paths above the hippo pool, clipped to a safety line to cross two rope bridges - one over hippos, one over Nile crocodiles - and then loaded into a private open safari vehicle for a slower, longer run through the savanna than the standard ride allows.

Caring for Giants is the short, affordable end of Animal Kingdom's tour program. You are transported to a viewing area near the elephant habitat and spend roughly an hour with animal-care staff talking about herd structure, individual animals, daily husbandry and the conservation work the park funds in the field. The elephants are typically around a hundred feet away, doing whatever they were already doing.

Up Close with Rhinos takes a small group to a viewing area on the savanna where white rhinos are managed, and hands you over to the keepers for about an hour. You watch feeding and husbandry behaviors, hear how the park's breeding program fits into the wider zoological network, and get close enough that the scale of the animals registers properly - which it never quite does from a moving safari truck.