Animal Kingdom celebrates its 20th anniversary with Party for the Planet
First thought of as the Disney zoo, Animal Kingdom has found the perfect balance between Disney magic and nature’s majesty. Party for the Planet will celebrate the park’s 20th anniversary.
Animal Kingdom is unlike other Walt Disney World Parks. While Mickey Mouse, Star Wars characters and other Disney favorites drive most of the Disney theme parks, Animal Kingdom focuses on animals and the planet itself.
While Pandora is a huge draw for the theme park — based on the location in the James Cameron movie Avatar — the movie’s message of eco-responsibility is as dominate as the thrilling rides. To celebrate the theme park’s 20th anniversary, Disney is hosting a two week-long Party for the Planet events.
Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, photo from Walt Disney World News media site
During the special anniversary celebration, Disney will focus specifically on its animals. From the Sumatran Tiger cubs to the newest baby hippo, Disney showcases the magic that nature has to offer in its own unique way.
A portion of Party for the Planet will feature “enhanced interactions” with some of the park’s animals. While Disney hasn’t quite defined these interactions, fans can speculate about potential encounters. Although it seems unlikely that guests will be taking a walking safari through the grounds, other hands-on animal encounters could happen.
Disney has a veterinary hospital on site, so one option will be a backstage experience to visit with animal experts. Although not often the predominant conversation, Disney does promote global wildlife conservation. Both children eager to learn and adults wanting to help could benefit from these expert encounters. Possibly, guests could even take a few educational tidbits home to make their community better.
The special event doesn’t need to be the focus of an entire day’s visit. Even if more families take a break from the continually long wait at Pandora and explore the animal exhibits, Disney as well as the animals and planet can benefit. While Disney often has docents scattered around these exhibits, a few extra helpers or educational facts would reaffirm its commitment to the cause. If one guest makes one change because of what they learned from Party for the Planet, everyone wins.
Although animals are a large attention grabber, Disney is also promoting eco-responsibility. One item that often goes unnoticed at this Disney theme park are the drinking straws. Every drink that has a straw uses a paper straw. Plastic straws are banned in this theme park. Because of the theme park’s animals and commitment to eco-responsibility, paper straws are a conscious choice.
With Party for the Planet kicking off on Earth Day, Disney can help start the planet conversation. Since Disney represents magical moments, the party with a purpose is less preachy and more approachable. Who wouldn’t want to listen to Disney characters as they encourage families to do better for the planet and its animals?
Of course, Disney wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to launch new programming and shows as well. A new UP themed show, UP! A Great Bird Adventure, will debut. Also, Dino-Land will explore how Donald Duck’s ancestors are related to the Dinosaurs. Additional special merchandise will be available for purchase.
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Fireworks and thrill rides aren’t the only magical memories at Disney World. Explore Disney’s Animal Kingdom and let nature’s majesty fill your Disney memories.
Animal Kingdom’s two-week celebration, Party for the Planet, runs April 22 through May 5. Some special events may require an additional fee.