61 Dates To AVOID Animal Kingdom in 2025

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a great park to visit if you’re up for a WILD time!

There’s lots to do at this park dedicated to animals and the environment. You can go on a safari to see African animals, conquer Expedition Everest, soar above Pandora on Avatar Flight of Passage, and see the wildly entertaining Festival of the Lion King show. That’s not all there is to do and see here, of course, but we’re sure your entire family will have a blast exploring it all. However, we do want to warn you about a few upcoming dates in 2025 that you may want to rethink visiting Animal Kingdom.

Luckily, Animal Kingdom is usually Disney World’s least crowded park, but that doesn’t mean it can’t get wildly out of hand. Generally speaking, the weekends are typically busier than weekdays. But there will likely be a few specific days in 2025 that you’ll want to watch out for.

Major Holidays

The few days leading up to and the day of major holidays are busy all around Disney World. Lots of people enjoy experiencing these events at the parks, and if that’s what you’re hoping to do in 2025, we hope you love it! However, just know that there will likely be more people around and in line for attractions. Magic Kingdom will likely be the busiest park during these days, but the other parks can also see an influx of crowds.

• New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day
• 4th of July week (June 29th through July 6th)
• Thanksgiving week (November 23rd through November 28th)
• Christmas week (December 21st through December 27th)

People especially enjoy Animal Kingdom’s holiday decorations, so in the days leading up to Christmas, you may experience higher crowds at this park.

Three Day Weekends

Since people often get an extra day off on these weekends, they enjoy heading to the parks (especially Florida locals). So if you’ll be in Disney World these weekends, watch out for a few extra people.

• Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend –January 18th-20th
• Memorial Day weekend — May 24th-26th
• Labor Day weekend — August 30th-September 1st
• Indigenous Peoples Day weekend — October 11th-13th

Animal Kingdom’s Birthday/Earth Day

Did you know that Animal Kingdom was opened on Earth Day in 1988? What a cool piece of Disney trivia for your next trivia competition! Every year, Earth Day is a special day to be in Animal Kingdom and lots of people enjoy being there for the anniversary.

In 2025, Earth Day falls on April 22nd!

Competitions

Disney World hosts several different championships throughout the year. This brings the teams and their fans to the parks, increasing the number of crowds. Watch out for more people at Animal Kingdom at the following dates due to championship tournaments!

• National Dance Team Championships –January 31st-February 2nd
• Cheerleading Worlds — April 25th-28th
• World Dance Competition — July 9th-14th

runDisney Events

RunDisney events are loads of fun! It’s so much more than just running; it’s running in Disney World! There are several of these events throughout the year, including ones that have yet to be announced like the Wine and Dine Marathon for the EPCTO Food and Wine Festival. Since runners come from all over the world for the event, be prepared for more crowds these weekends.

The runDisney events that have been announced so far for 2025 are as follows:

• Walt Disney World Marathon — January 8th-12th
• Disney princess Half Marathon Weekend — February 20th-24th
• Springtime Surprise weekend — April 3rd-6th

  

  Even though Animal Kingdom is usually Disney World less crowded park, there are several days in the year that it does get crowded. The summer is peak season for the parks including Animal Kingdom, so also keep that in mind as you’re planning your next trip!

If you happen to go to the parks when it is busy (or anytime for that matter), you can always skip the lines by purchasing Lightning Lane Multi Pass and/or Lightning Lane Single Passes. These skip-the-line systems can come in handy for busy days in the parks. For a full breakdown of how these systems work, be sure to check out the link below.

Step by Step: How to Book Lightning Lanes Through Disney World’s NEW Skip-the-Line System

If you’re looking for a travel agent to help with your vacation, we recommend our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!

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Are you heading to Disney World in 2025? Let us know in the comments!