The End of Most Flotillas?

I have sad news, my friends. It appears that most of the Flotillas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom are gone. Discovery Island Drummers still cruise around the Discovery River, but the character Flotillas have been removed from the entertainment list on the My Disney Experience App. The end of the character Flotillas has not been confirmed by Walt Disney World, but in instances like this things will just quietly go away.

I’m not surprised that the character Flotillas are gone. Characters have slowly moved back to in person meet and greets. When Dug and Russell returned to Wilderness Explorers Club House and there was no new replacement Flotilla, I had a bad feeling. Pocahontas is greeting again in The Oasis, and Timon and Rafiki will return to Rafiki’s Planet Watch on June 10. That’s three character Flotillas gone.

The character Flotillas still have a page on the Walt Disney World website. That means nothing. The Russell and Dug Flotilla is listed there, and that’s been gone since the beginning of March. The Walt Disney World website had Star Wars Weekends listed as “returning in 2017” for months after it was officially canceled. I’ve found plenty of other mistakes on the Walt Disney World website as well. For entertainment, the My Disney Experience App has more accurate information.

There is always the possibility that more character Flotillas will float out in the future. They’re a great way to see characters without having a long line form. For special events like Earth Week, Halloween, or the holidays, rare character Flotillas would be a great way to add some extra entertainment and characters to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

The character Flotillas are one of the few changes that I’ve enjoyed since Walt Disney World reopened in 2020. I had a feeling that they wouldn’t be around forever. I even mentioned that when I called the Flotillas a “hit” in my “hits and misses” series. I said then that I hoped that Disney would keep them around. That said, I’m kind of surprised that they stayed as long as they did, especially when most of the Character Cavalcades ended.

Thank you, Walt Disney World, for keeping the character Flotillas around for as long as you did. I have almost four years’ worth of great pictures and videos, as well as priceless memories.