Knowing how to get around Disney World is a crucial part of planning your WDW vacation, and this guide shows you all the ways to get around Disney World. If Magic Kingdom is the trickiest park to get to, and Epcot offers the most options for getting to the park easily, then Animal Kingdom is the most straightforward park to get to at Disney World.
Basically, you go to Animal Kingdom either by parking in the parking lot, taking an Uber or Lyft, or taking one of Disney’s buses. In this entry of our Guide 2 Disney World Transportation, we’re going to go in-depth over every scenario of how to get to Animal Kingdom, whether you’re driving, coming from another theme park, or getting from your resort.
Update 7-20-2022 – Minnie Vans have returned to Disney World. This article has been updated to include information on Animal Kingdom’s drop off and pickup location for Minnie Vans.
What Is Animal Kingdom’s Address?
551 Rainforest Rd, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
How to get to Animal Kingdom if you’re driving
If you are driving to Animal Kingdom, you will want to park in the parking lot. Set your GPS for 551 Rainforest Rd, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830, or just put in Animal Kingdom in Google Maps or Apple Maps. There’s only one way into the parking lot, and that’s through the Animal Kingdom Toll Plaza, located off of
Like Epcot and Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom has a massive, uncovered parking lot located outside the park’s entrance. The parking lot is divided into 6 sections:
- Peacock Parking Lot
- Giraffe Parking Lot
- Unicorn Parking Lot
- Dinosaur Parking Lot
- Butterfly Parking Lot
- Yeti Parking Lot
Peacock is the closest lot to Animal Kingdom’s entrance. Parking is currently $25 per day, and is first come, first served. So the first guests will be able to park closer to the entrance.
For almost double the price ($45-$50 per day), Disney World theme parks offer “Preferred Parking,” which gives you access to the closest parking.
After parking, make note of where you parked and follow the signs to the park’s entrance. As of this writing, parking lot trams are still not running at Walt Disney World. We expect them to return sometime in 2022.
Animal Kingdom Minnie Van Drop Off Location
Minnie Vans are Disney World’s official on-demand ride share vehicles that service official WDW properties. They cost more than a typical Uber or Lyft, but one of the big advantages is that they can drop you off and pick you up closer to the theme park entrances — although Animal Kingdom has arguably the least advantageous Minnie Van drop off of any Disney World park.
The Animal Kingdom Minnie Van drop off is located in the bus drop off location. The ride share location is located by the parking lot, near where the trams drop off. Both are short walks.
Minnie Vans service official Disney World hotels, theme parks, and Disney Springs. You can summon a Minnie Van through the Lyft app. Find out more about how to ride in a Minnie Van in our guide.
Can I take an Uber or Lyft to get to Animal Kingdom?
Yes! It will drop you off at the designated ride share drop-off and pickup outside the entrance. Just enter “Animal Kingdom” into the app, or use 551 Rainforest Rd, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830 as the address you enter.
The same applies to using a cab, if you’re old school.
How to Get to Animal Kingdom by Bus
If you don’t want to drive or Uber, using one of Disney World’s buses is your only other option to get to Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom has a bus station located outside the main entrance. Here are all the locations where you can get
on a bus to Animal Kingdom:
- Magic Kingdom
- Epcot
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Disney Resorts
- Disney Good Neighbor Hotels
How to get to Animal Kingdom from Magic Kingdom
Head to the bus station directly outside Magic Kingdom’s entrance. You can take the bus from Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom. The buses run every 15-20 minutes.
How to get to Animal Kingdom from Epcot
Head to the bus station directly outside Epcot’s main entrance. To get there, leave Epcot via World Celebration (near Spaceship Earth) and veer left after exiting the park. You can take the bus directly from Epcot to Animal Kingdom. The buses run every 15-20 minutes.
How to get to Animal Kingdom from Hollywood Studios
Head to the bus station outside the Hollywood Studios entrance, to the right as you’re leaving the park. The buses to Animal Kingdom run every 15-20 minutes.
How to get to Animal Kingdom from Disney Resorts and Disney Good Neighbor Hotels
At Disney Resorts, head to the bus station and take the bus to Animal Kingdom. Check the board for the bus schedule, but buses to the parks should run every 20 minutes or so.
At Good Neighbor Hotels, check your hotel’s bus schedule, as they vary from resort to resort. When we’ve stayed at Good Neighbor resorts, the buses to the parks tend to run every hour. This can take a lot of time, so it might be worth it to get a Lyft or Uber to save time.
How to get to Animal Kingdom from Disney Springs
While they used to in the past, Disney doesn’t offer a bus directly from Disney Springs to Animal Kingdom. If you want to get from Disney Springs to Animal Kingdom, your best bet is to take a bus to a Disney resort, and then transfer to the Animal Kingdom bus. This will take awhile, so a quicker option will be to take an Uber or Lyft.
If you want to get to Disney Springs from Animal Kingdom, Disney offers a bus after 4 pm.
Can you walk to Animal Kingdom?
No. Unlike the other three theme parks at Walt Disney World, there are no resorts with a walking path to Animal Kingdom’s entrance. You may be surprised to learn that you can’t even walk from Animal Kingdom Lodge. Driving, rideshare/cab, or bus are your only options.
Can you take the monorail to Animal Kingdom?
No, not really. You can take a monorail to Magic Kingdom or Epcot and then transfer to the Animal Kingdom bus, but that wouldn’t be a fast way to get to Animal Kingdom.
Can you take the Skyliner to Animal Kingdom?
No. You could take the Skyliner to any of its stops and then transfer to the bus to Animal Kingdom, but also each of those stops offers a bus to Animal Kingdom (except Epcot’s International Gateway), so you would just be adding an extra Skyliner ride to your trip to Animal Kingdom.
The Guide 2 Disney World Transportation
If you found this helpful, be sure to check out our other entries in the Guide 2 Disney World Transportation.
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