Roller Coaster Guide to Disney's Animal Kingdom: Every Coaster Ranked

Here's the headline: Disney's Animal Kingdom has exactly one roller coaster. But that one coaster is a legitimate top-ten Disney attraction worldwide, and the park's thrill lineup around it is stronger than its reputation suggests. Here is the full ranking, plus how to ride everything right.

1. Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain

The only coaster in the park, and it would headline almost any park on Earth. Expedition Everest sends a tea-train up the tallest of Disney's mountains, then everything goes wrong. The track ahead is torn apart, the train plunges backwards into a pitch-black helix inside the mountain, and a massive Yeti figure looms over the finale.

• Ride experience: an 80 foot drop down the mountain face, around 50 mph at full tilt, and that famous backwards section where you lose all sense of orientation inside the dark. The forces are real but never punishing, which is why it works for almost everyone.
• Height requirement: 44 inches
• Best seat: back row for the drop, which pulls you over the edge with genuine force. Front row is the pick at night or for first-timers guide who want to see the broken track reveal cleanly.
• Best time to ride: honestly, almost any time. In our wait data Everest averages just under 10 minutes, the best headliner-to-wait ratio at Walt Disney World, thanks to enormous capacity and a single rider line. Dusk rides, when the mountain glows against the sunset, are the connoisseur move.

The Coaster That Got Away

Primeval Whirl, the spinning wild mouse in DinoLand, was removed in 2020, and the rest of that corner of the park has since closed as Disney rebuilds it into the Tropical Americas area. Until that project opens, Everest carries the coaster load alone.

The Rest of the Thrill Lineup

Rank your day around these, because Animal Kingdom's thrills are not all coaster shaped:

• Avatar Flight of Passage: the best simulator Disney has ever built and the park's true queue king. Our data has it averaging 25 minutes, the longest in the park, and peak-day waits run far higher.
• Kali River Rapids: a short but drenching raft ride. It averages around 11 minutes but you will be soaked, so time it for the hottest part of the day.
• Kilimanjaro Safaris: not a thrill ride, but the park's other must-do. Averages about 11 minutes and is best in the first two hours when the animals are active.
• Dinosaur is gone with DinoLand's closure, so do not build your plan around it like older guides suggest.

First-Timer Order

1. Avatar Flight of Passage at rope drop, it is the wait that punishes procrastination 2. Kilimanjaro Safaris while the morning is cool and the animals are moving 3. Expedition Everest late morning, standby or single rider 4. Kali River Rapids in the afternoon heat 5. Everest again at dusk for the glow ride

Enthusiast Order

1. Expedition Everest at rope drop for two or three empty-park laps, front then back 2. Single rider re-rides whenever you cross Asia, the line is usually a five minute formality 3. Flight of Passage once, because forces are forces even in a simulator 4. Kali only if the temperature demands it 5. Final Everest lap in the back row after sunset, when the drop into darkness actually feels dark

The Bottom Line

One coaster does not make a coaster park, but Everest is good enough to justify the trip on its own terms. Treat Animal Kingdom as a half-day coaster stop with world-class scenery, marathon Everest while everyone else stands in the Pandora line, and you will leave wondering why more parks cannot build one ride this complete.