Straight up, we’ll say, if you want some choice in your roller coasters at Walt Disney World, then you best go to Magic Kingdom, or perhaps Hollywood Studios. This is because, at Animal Kingdom, there are only two roller coasters; Expedition Everest and Primeval Whirl.
What roller coasters are there in Animal Kingdom?
There are only two roller coaster at Animal Kingdom:
- Expedition Everest, located in ‘India’ section of the park
- Primeval Whirl, located in ‘Dinoland USA’.
Expedition Everest Roller Coaster
This is one of the more intense roller coasters in all of Walt Disney World, and definitely in our top 5 of all rides across all 4 parks.
Themed around an excursion into the Himalayas, and around the mystical Yeti, who is protecting the Mystical Mountain (and not Mount Everest like in its name…). At one stage, this was the most expensive roller coaster in the world! It is the highest man made ‘mountain’ in all of the Walt Disney Parks globally, and Disney’s 18th mountain-themed attraction, and also the highest attraction in ALL of Walt Disney World (even higher than Tower of Terror!), and Expedition Everest was the first ride for Disney to have its trains travel both forward and backward.
Queuing for Expedition Everest
Being the only roller coaster in Animal Kingdom, wait times can be quite long, commonly around 45-60 minutes, but we’ve seen it the way up to over 200 minutes. It has a fun and curious queue, bringing you through collection of ‘treasures’ from previous expeditions, a tea garden, as well as ‘evidence’ of a mysterious being living somewhere in the Himalayas. If you have small children or those that do not wish to ride, this is one of the rides you can use Rider Swap on, allowing you both to go through the FastPass queue with just one FastPass booking. There is also a single rider line, which skips all of the interactive queue.
What is Expedition Everest like to ride?
The ride of medium intensity, high speed, and features an extensive ‘backwards’ section, where you will be sent backwards at high speed. Featuring several indoor and outdoor sections, there is a lot to see on this ride, and definitely will require repeat rides. The ride lasts about 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Each train has 17 rows seating two in each row, so total of 34 riders per train.
Some stats and facts about Expedition Everest:
- Type of coaster: Custom Coaster, specifically designed for Walt Disney World.
- Ride length: 4,424 ft (1,348 m)
- Top height: 199.5 ft (60.8 m)
- Top speed: 80 km/h / 50 mph
- Duration: About 2 minutes 50 seconds
- Opened: April 9, 2006
Primeval Whirl
In the opposite side of the park in Dinoland USA, Primeval Whirl is a very traditional Wild Mouse style roller coaster, the same as you would find at many travelling fun fairs across the country. This is a much more timid roller coaster than Expedition Everest in pretty much every way, but still worth doing at least once!
Queuing for Primeval Whirl
Queues are generally quite short for Primeval Whirl; we have had it as a walk on dozens of times. Sometimes, on a busy day, the queue can get up to 60 minutes or more. Anything over this, is not worth it; but generally, the queue moves fast, as there are two tracks and two stations, allowing for a fast throughput of guests. There is no theming to the queue.
What is Primeval Whirl like to ride?
The phrase ‘Mild but wild’ is appropriate here. Though you won’t have any huge drops, or big g-forces, the style of this ride can be quite ‘shaky’. Each ride vehicle spins independently while travelling along the tracks, meaning that each ride is quite unique. The ride is themed to time travel, moving back to the day that the meteor struck the earth that wiped out the dinosaurs. Each ride takes about a minute and a half.
Some stats and facts about Primeval Whirl:
- Type of coaster: Wild Mouse Spinning Coaster.
- Ride length: 1,377.9 ft (420.0 m)
- Top height: 42.7 ft (13.0 m)
- Top speed: 29.1 mph / 46.8 km/h
- Duration: About 1 minutes 30 seconds
- Opened: March 31, 2002
Disney From Ireland 