4. Super friendly cast members save the day

Video: YouTube, @MyKingdomForAMouse (Jett Farrell-Vega)

The good news is that Disney is on point with the cast members in this park. There were cast members everywhere we went on this visit, and they were insanely friendly.

On the same walk through the Maharajah Jungle Trek where we ran into some guest crowding, extra-magical cast members were available to save the day. We’ve been coming to that particular trail for years, and I have never seen so many cast members present. While it seems likely they are largely there to enforce mask use and social distancing, all of the cast members were familiar with the animals and shared fun facts about each Animal Kingdom-denizen. They were friendly and eager to answer questions, and when social distancing did occasionally become an issue, cast members were quick to intervene.

This was the vibe we sensed throughout the entire park—the hospitality of the cast members was fantastic. At the end of the day, they even lined the roads with Mickey hands and animal paw gloves, waving to departing guests with warm smiles. It’s the type of thing you sort of grow numb to at Disney, but the kindness of the cast members really stood out. Give that team a raise!

5. Ultra-low waits are still a thing

Banishing Fastpass+ might be the best thing possible for Disney’s Animal Kingdom—at least on weekdays, this park is still seeing historically low wait times, even as we head into the new year.

This park was becoming really weird for long waits before the pandemic hit—Avatar Flight of Passage regularly drew queues higher than 70 minutes, even on quiet days. Even the placid Na’vi River Journey usually clocked in with queues of at least 50-60 minutes.

During our visit, the two attractions with the longest waits were Na’vi River Journey and Dinosaur, both with highs around 45 minutes max. The queue times we recorded for Dinosaur are a little wacky because the ride suffered an extended shutdown early in the day—normally, it’s been having pretty short wait times in the morning. Na’vi River Journey admittedly surprised us—frankly, it’s an attraction I don’t think is worth a wait longer than 25 minutes. The long queue time makes sense, however, when you take into account that this ride is one of the few at Walt Disney World that hasn’t had plexiglass dividers installed. It’s already a somewhat low-capacity ride, so wait times rarely drop below 30 minutes. In our case, that 30 minute wait actually turned out to be closer to 40.

This is an amazing time to catch unusually short waits for Avatar Flight of Passage—so long as you don’t mind the lack of social distancing on the ride itself. While the ride may have experienced an early surge of visitors at the beginning of the day, from about 11:00 AM on, the queue for this insanely popular attraction fluctuated from 25 minutes all the way down to a mere 10 minute wait. That is impressive for a ride people used to wait four hours for!

The two real gems we saw were the wait times for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest—neither attraction had more than a 10 minute wait all day, and Expedition Everest remained for most of the day at the sweet spot where guests can marathon ride if they choose (by the way, the weird eagle at the top of the track is back!). It's Tough to Be a Bug also maintained low waits throughout the day (if you like a peppering of psychological torture with your Disney magic). Kali River Rapids remains under refurbishment for now.

Here's a few specific snapshots of wait times we saw…

11:40 AM

• Na’vi River Journey – 40 minutes (dropped to 35 by 12 PM)
• Avatar Flight of Passage – 25 minutes (dropped to 20 by 12 PM)
• Kilimanjaro Safaris, It’s Tough to Be a Bug, Expedition Everest – 10 Minutes
• Dinosaur – 5 minutes (before ride shutdown)

12:45 PM

• Na’vi River Journey – 45 minutes
• Kilimanjaro Safaris, It’s Tough to Be a Bug, Expedition Everest, Avatar Flight of Passage (Whhhhaaat?!) – 10 Minutes

1:40 PM

• Na’vi River Journey – 40 minutes
• Avatar Flight of Passage – 25 minutes
• Kilimanjaro Safaris, It’s Tough to Be a Bug, Expedition Everest – 10 Minutes

3:10 PM

• Na’vi River Journey – 35 minutes
• Kilimanjaro Safaris, It’s Tough to Be a Bug, Avatar Flight of Passage – 10 Minutes
• Expedition Everest – 5 minutes

3:30 PM / 4:15 PM

• Dinosaur – 45 minutes (after reopening)
• Na’vi River Journey – 30 minutes
• Avatar Flight of Passage – 15 minutes
• Kilimanjaro Safaris, It’s Tough to Be a Bug– 10 Minutes
• Expedition Everest – 5 minutes

6. Not a good time to visit Gorilla Falls Trail

The Gorilla Falls Trail (formerly the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail) is the most popular walking trail at Disney’s Animal Kingdom thanks to its proximity to Kilimanjaro Safaris and its popular exhibits. Normally, this is a must-visit attraction, but if you’ll be visiting in January or February, you may want to think twice.

The Gorilla Falls Trail is currently being offered only in a modified form that loops back on itself before reaching the aviary (our beloved weaver birds!). The reason for this is apparently the bridge to the aviary was in urgent need of construction—the trail will remain under partial refurbishment for at least the next 6-8 weeks.

I’m a sucker for the aviaries at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, so this was enough for us to turn back pretty quickly once we realized our favorite part of the trail wasn’t available. The modified path makes for a somewhat cramped experience, and in some spots, social distancing is a challenge (though lots of cast members are present to keep an eye on things). If your heart is set on seeing gorillas, apes, and zebras, go ahead and brave it, but if not, you might as well just skip it. If you’ve never tried the Maharajah Jungle Trek in Asia (near Kali River Rapids), we highly recommend that trail as an alternative. Some would argue it’s the better of the two!

7. A really good time to visit Tiffins

We gushed about Tiffins before the pandemic, and we’ll continue to do so—this place is still fantastic.

On other excursions throughout Walt Disney World since the parks reopened, we noticed that reservations at sit down restaurants have proven harder to come by than before due to limited capacity. While this has proven the case at Disney’s resorts and some locations at other parks, Tiffins did not seem to be affected by this phenomenon. We were able to get a last minute reservation easily with lots of choices to pick from.

For those unfamiliar, Tiffins is the park’s only signature restaurant, themed after the adventures of the Disney Imagineers who built Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The restaurant features an eclectic menu of African and Asian-inspired cuisine, with a number of dishes you won’t find anywhere else in Walt Disney World. There is plenty to rave about on the menu, but the unassuming Gobi Manchurian (a spicy fried cauliflower) remains one of the best things we’ve had at The Most Magical Place on Earth—and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t normally do cauliflower.

The menu has undergone some slight modifications (we were sad to see the Crispy Sadza missing), but there was still plenty to pick from. I thoroughly enjoyed the North African-spiced Tofu, and my husband had the Whole-fried Sustainable Fish (snapper). As usual, the cast members were amazing, and our server was extremely knowledgeable and friendly.

If Tiffins is a bit much for what you’re looking for, you can enjoy a simpler experience at Nomad Lounge outside, offering a number of libations along with Nomad bowls, sliders, Tiffins bread service, churros, and coffee/tea press pots.

8. The return of park hopping!

Ohhh, how we missed you…

I understand some guests prefer to stick to one Disney park a day, but for those of us who love park hopping, this season has been weird. It’s broken my brain more than once realizing I can’t just walk back and forth between Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot. For Passholders in particular, the lack of park hopping throughout the fall months has been a major bummer.

Fortunately, park hopping is back both for Passholders and guests who purchase a park hopping add on to their tickets. The new system is a little bit different than the old free-for-all version—guests still need a Disney Parks Pass reservation for whatever park you will be starting your day at. You must visit that park first no matter when you arrive. After 2:00 PM, you can hop to any other Disney park you choose—even visiting all four if you wish.

The return of park hopping is important for visitors to Disney’s Animal Kingdom—its early opening and closing times make it the best park to start at if you want to park hop. You can get a pretty long day in at this park before 2 PM hits, then easily head to any of Disney’s other parks. Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot remain the two easiest parks to hop between thanks to their proximity and multiple transportation options. Magic Kingdom can still be a slight pain to get to no matter which route you choose—the Transportation & Ticket Center are a required stop if you’ll be parking a car there, and while Disney’s busses can get you closer by dropping you at the front gate, expect delays as the busses have been running slower since the parks reopened.

Whichever park you decide to hop to, pay attention to closing times. If you push your stay at Disney’s Animal Kingdom all the way to 5pm, you’ll only have two hours left to enjoy Magic Kingdom or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Epcot offers a bit more flexibility with its 8pm closing time. Just be aware that if you hop to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you will not be able to get a Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance boarding pass—you have to have a reservation to that park to access those, and they’ll already all be gone by 2 PM.

Enjoy this article? Keep reading to hear why some guests hate this controversial Disney’s Animal Kingdom attraction or explore 10 Crazy (and Adorable) Things You Totally Did as a Disney Kid…