Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the latest Walt Disney World theme park. Opening on Earth Day, April 22, 1998, it was Disney’s experiment to blend a zoological park with a full operation theme park. Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the largest theme park in the world, covering 580 acres; Kilimanjaro Safari’s alone can hold all of the Magic Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is themed and operated entirely around natural environment and animal conservation, a role which the park fulfills well.

Animal Kingdom’s central icon is the Tree of Life, an artificial baob tree located on Discovery Island. The tree is 145 feet tall, 50 feet wide, and cover in sculpted concrete depicting hundreds of animals all around the tree. Many visitors will stand around a try to find as many animals as they can sculpted into the tree.

 

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Dedication:

Welcome to a kingdom of animals… real, ancient and imagined: a kingdom ruled by lions, dinosaurs and dragons; a kingdom of balance, harmony and survival; a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama, and learn.