Starting this Memorial Day Weekend, guests will be able to enjoy Disney’s Animal Kingdom in a whole new way – after the sun goes down! Whether it’s riding Kilimanjaro Safaris at sunset, venturing down Kali River Rapids at twilight, dancing alongside African performers in Harambe, or reveling in a live musical celebration of Disney’s hit film “The Jungle Book,” park guests have a lot to look forward to.
Here’s a taste of what to expect:
- “The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic” Show – For the summer, Discovery River will become the stage for a limited-engagement show inspired by Disney’s hit live-action film “The Jungle Book.” “The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic” is filled with music and special effects that celebrates the new film and the classic songs, now infused with an Indian influence.
- The Tree of Life Awakens – Disney Parks Blog author Thomas Smith previously shared the first look at this amazing sight, in which the park’s iconic Tree of Life undergoes an extraordinary “awakening.” You can expect to see animal spirits come to life throughout the evening by magical fireflies. Each scene appears to emanate from within the tree itself and reveals stories of wonder.
- Kilimanjaro Safaris After Dark – Guests can enjoy Kilimanjaro Safaris in the evening hours, thanks to special lighting that will allow guests to explore the savanna – and its inhabitants – well into the night.
- Harambe Wildlife Parti – Guests can turn into “party animals” at the Harambe Wildlife Parti and enjoy lively African music, exotic foods and drinks, and explore the local marketplace.
- Discovery Island Carnivale – On Discovery Island, guests can join the local community in their celebration of their love for nature in this party that features music, dancers, stilt walkers, food and more.
- Tiffins – Guests can enjoy the park’s newest eatery, Tiffins, for both lunch and dinner. Check out this previous post for a peek at what to expect from the menu.
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- Nighttime Attractions – The park’s attractions, which will be operating in the nighttime hours, will take on a whole new life. For the first time, guests will be able to experience the thrill of attractions like Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids – surrounded by darkness. They’ll also be able to enjoy colorful midway games and attractions in DinoLand, U.S.A.
Comments
When will the hours and show schedule be out for Dec 2016 and Jan 2017? I will be visiting for New Years and was hoping to be able to enjoy AK at night. As of now I see they only have extended park hours through summer.
Will the River of Light be open in Dec 2016?
What are the showtimes for the Jungle Book show?
I guess we have the same question as some others. The shows are said to be permanent additions, yet the hours only go through the summer. Noting that the sun doesn’t set at 5pm in October, will there be extended hours or will the shows only be available for the summer?
Do you know when they decide and set the hours for November?
When will July hours be updated? We are already within the 60 day Fast Pass + window!
Do you know what the hours of operation are for the nighttime attractions? And also, will it continue until the end of October? Thanks!
We are planning a trip in October will any of these be available then? Especially the safari at night 🙂
I’m disappointed that hours weren’t extended through the whole summer. We are planning a mid-August trip and we’re really looking forward to once again experiencing night time at AK and seeing the new nighttime entertainments. Will they consider extending hours for the whole summer?
Hours at all the parks seem to be cut back. Planning a mid July trip and currently it shows closing times of Magic – 1000pm, Hollywood – 830pm, and Animal – 5pm the week of July 10. Much earlier than last summer.
What gives?
So excited about Animal Kingdom being open in the evening. Can you tell us if the Jungle Book water show will be accept FP?
Hi! My family and I are going on July 18 thru the 28 will the show be available and the extended hours to?
Already have our FPs for nighttime Safari and Everest in early June. Wondering if the River of Light show will be a FP or not? There is certainly a lot of seating….looks beautiful so far!
Will the park hours be extended for the whole summer, or just until July 2? We have a trip planned for the end of July and expected that we’d get to enjoy the new nighttime experiences. It’d be great to know so that we can make plans. Thanks!
Hi Jennifer:
Do you know if the rides and the tree of life awakening will be permanent or for
summer only. We are arriving the end of November and have been looking forward to this for months. Thank you
Permanent. 🙂
We are trying to plan out our fastpasses on May 30th at animal kingdom but we want to book the rides around the new jungle book show. What time(s) will that show be shown each night?
There WILL be FastPass+ made available for the new show, however I believe they’re still locking the performance times in.
This is very exciting news; thank you for sharing! I am wondering if I am understanding correctly though regarding fastpasses for the night time attractions. We won’t be able to even know which ones we can get a FP for until then? That is 2 days before we leave for our trip. Dining and other passes must be scheduled far prior to that time. It will be very hard to plan without knowing what the night time will look like until a week prior to the actual event.
Explain to me why the “extended hours” are only for the summer?
Our honeymoon is in September and late Animal Kingdom hours were advertised to us.
Extended hours only go until July 2? I was hoping this would be a more permanent change rather than just a 2 month thing 🙁
The extended hours only go to July 2nd. We go in the middle of July and was advertised these activities in our package. Will they continue the 11pm closing throughout summer?
Is there any chance that Passholders will be able to experience the Rivers of Light show PRIOR to the opening of Memorial Day weekend? I hope, I hope!
With Soarin FP+ information released for a June 17th opening, what about some FP+ info for the sunset Kilimanjaro Safari. We will be at AK on June 3rd and June 7th and would like to modify our FP+ selections accordingly…
The operating hours for the park have been extended and we’ll have more information about FastPass+ availability during the extended hours on May 20.
Will the safaris be available to all who are there or only to Animal Kingdom Hotel Guests?
Kilimanjaro Safaris will be open to all Disney’s Animal Kingdom park guests. (I think you’re thinking of the Wanyama Safari, which takes place at DAK Lodge).
Hi any news as to when the park hours will be changed ??
Operating hours for Disney’s Animal Kingdom have been updated. Please check http://www.disneyworld.com for the summer schedule.
Will there be a special ticketed event for one of these evenings? I know when the new Harambe theater opened they had special Harambe nights and I was wondering if they would be doing something similar to that for this limited time show and night offerings?
No, this will just be nightly fun available to everyone at the park.
Will Jungle Book Alive with Magic start on Friday, May 27 or Saturday, May 28? We leave on May 28 so I am really hoping that it premiers on May 27 which is already our planned Animal Kingdom Day. With not being able to see Frozen attractions at Epcot, Rivers of Light being delayed and Soarin’ closed, a Friday premier would really shake the fairy dust on our first Disney World trip and make it all the more magical.
We hope to have a date to share soon.
love dis so much
Can you tell us when the park hours will be extended for June and when FP+ will be available to book for these nighttime offerings since it has an official start date Memorial Day weekend?
The operating hours for the park have been extended and we’ll have more information about FastPass+ availability during the extended hours on May 20.
Great to hear some news!! The preview videos look awesome! Any idea when park hours will be updated or FP+ be available?
Will dining at Tusker House be available during the extended hours?
Closing times may vary, so please check http://www.disneyworld.com.
I can’t wait. I will be there in november.
I hope you enjoy your trip!
Will the hours be extended prior to Memorial Day weekend? Will be there on May 14th and wishing for some extra magic make this happen!!!
I guess this means Rivers of Light won’t be opening this summer then? If the jungle book is going to be played there?:(
The Jungle Book show will run for a limited time. We’ll have more information on the debut of Rivers of Light soon.
The times have not changed on the website. Is this really going to happen Memorial Day Weekend! We are coming to stay for a week May 28th. I have the 30tn as our day for Animal Kingdom. We already have our FP for the morning part of the day. When will FP be available for the evening??
Lol
Yay
I like that you are adding the Jungle Book show as Rivers of Light isn’t ready yet, but I hope you will still be able to debut the full Rivers of Light show as soon as possible.
We are arriving in September and this is one of the main things I am looking forward to seeing, will be disappointed if it isn’t ready.
We have been so looking forward to Rivers of Light, if we are visiting WDW from 18 to 21 May. And now “Disney’s Animal Kingdom Awakens at Night” will happen too late for us. We are very disappointed!
What happened to rivers of light? I absolutely loved the Jungle Book movie but I would much rather have the original planned attraction for the river!
Rivers of Light is still on the way. In the meantime, guests will be able to enjoy this limited-time show.
When will dining reservations become available for Tiffins?
We will have more information on Tiffins reservations available in May.
Very sad to see Jungle Book replace Rivers of Light. Here’s hoping it doesn’t take too long to get Rivers of Light up and running. It looks spectacular.
Any updates on Rivers of Light? With the new Jungle Book show, does that mean Rivers of Light won’t be ready until after summer?
We hope to have an update soon on the start date for Rivers of Light. When we know, you’ll know.
When can we start making reservations for Tiffins? We are well within the 180 days from opening.
Thanks
We won’t have Tiffins dining reservation info coming until late May. (The restaurant is still being built). Please stay tuned.
What is the exact date this will start? Friday or Saturday of this weekend? We are leaving Sunday morning and would love to see everything!
What day of Memorial weekend will this begin? We leave Saturday :/
Hi Jenn! Will the new Jungle Book show have fastpass?
We hope to have more details on this show soon – stay tuned!
Hi Jennifer
When can we make reservations for Tiffins and FP+ for the nighttime attractions? Thanks!!
We’ll have more information about FastPass+ availability during the extended hours on May 20.
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