Wildlife Express Train

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park was the last park constructed at the Walt Disney World Resort, but it has influences from Walt Disney running all the way through it. While the creator of the Disney empire passed away long before even the planning of this park took place, they still managed to convey his love of animals with the premise of this theme park, while also paying tribute to another of Walt’s love, steam trains, with the creation of one of the attractions – the Wildlife Express Train.

The Wildlife Express Train was built as a means of transportation for guests to get from the land of Africa to Rafiki’s Planet Watch; in fact, it is the only way guests can arrive at this conservation-based area. But, while transportation serves as its No. 1 function, Disney also managed to make it into an attraction as well, giving guests a behind-the-scenes look at the park during this 1.2 mile round-trip journey.

Upon boarding the fictional Eastern Star Railway (the name of the train), the first thing you will notice on the Wildlife Express Train is that all of the seats in the cars face outward. This was designed that way on purpose to maximize your time on the train and to, as we mentioned before, make it more like an attraction itself. Your adventure begins with a look at the African savannah that houses the Kilimanjaro Safaris, including a small animal viewing area, and also passes by animal holding buildings for rhinos and elephants. The entire ride is audio guided as well so that the guests on board can learn more about how Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park cares for its animals and what steps they are taking to promote conservation in the world.

The entire ride to Rafiki’s Planet Watch takes only approximately seven minutes to arrive from Africa and only five to get back, and there should never be more than a 10-minute wait or so to board if there are multiple trains running that day (each locomotive seats about 250 guests). While boarding the Wildlife Express Train may be your only option to arrive at Rafiki’s Planet Watch at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, you have many options when it comes to how you can access all of the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks – and all of the other attractions in the Central Florida area. But while your options may be plenty on where you can purchase your tickets, the best place to do so is right here at OrlandoFunTickets.com! In addition to being Orlando’s largest ticket store, we are also the No. 1 option for discounted theme park tickets for the Disney Parks, Universal Orlando Resort, Sea World Orlando – and much more! Your savings and options are innumerable at OrlandoFunTickets.com; if you don’t believe us, click here to get started planning your next Central Florida vacation now!