I know a lot of people prefer Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time, but I’m not one of them. The reason is simple, Disney’s Animal Kingdom will often be dark when it closes. If you haven’t been, it’s simply spectacular.
I’ll start with one of my favorite things at Walt Disney World; Tree of Life Awakenings. It’s a short projections show on the Tree of Life, complete with the perfect soundtrack. There are several different shows, and they run every few minutes. The Tree of Life really comes alive with Tree of Life Awakenings. A holiday version runs each year, which will really get you into the spirit of the season! If you aren’t visiting during the holidays, the regular version is also well worth it.
I like to watch Tree of Life Awakenings in Africa instead of Discovery Island. It isn’t crowded in the back of the park, but it can be in the front. When I recently watched it was raining and the front still had a lot of people watching.
Standard Time also means that we can once again enjoy Pandora – The World of Avatar after dark. It feels like an entirely different land! Everything is aglow, including the ground. Things seem to have dimmed a bit after dark since Pandora opened in 2017, but it’s still really cool.
Sadly, Standard Time doesn’t mean that Disney’s Animal Kingdom will always be open late enough to enjoy the night. There are still plenty of days when the park closes at 6:00. That means no Tree of Life Awakenings, even during the holidays.