December 14, 2017 -- Animal Kingdom was the first park Robin and I visited on our 2017 Disney trip. I had never been. Animal Kingdom was the world's largest theme park (558 acres) when it opened in 1998. According to AI, it is the most visited zoological park in the world as of 2019. There were 12.5 million visitors in 2017. We were two of them.
12.5 million visitors in 2017
Sisters
It's a bug's life!
The park's icon is the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is a 145-foot sculpture of a baobab tree. It honors animals and the place they all share in the great Circle of Life. It features over 300 detailed carvings of existing and extinct animal species on its trunk and roots. It took 18 months to create and debuted at the same time the park opened.
Tree of Life
Over 300 carvings
My favorite carving
There was a section where the public could interact with domestic animals, a "petting zoo." Sheep and goats, mostly. They had some Katahdins. This section closed as of February 2026. How disappointing. Real animals aren't flashy enough for people today.
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Post created 26 April 2026
Post created 26 April 2026
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