Touring the Discovery Island Trails at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
A trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom is incomplete without exploring the Discovery Island Trails surrounding the Tree of Life. These luscious trails offer unique animal encounters, scenic views, and a quiet place to escape the crowds.
You’ll walk through the Oasis Exhibits upon entering Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Soon after, you’ll come to a large opening where the Tree of Life, the park’s icon, comes into view. Discovery Island is the immediate area surrounding the Tree of Life. It’s also home to the Discovery Island Trails, which circle the tree, forming one of the park’s most private and intimate areas.
Most guests are unaware these trails exist. For this review, we’ll focus on the Discovery Island Trails and the Tree of Life Garden Trails. One trail wraps around the front side of the Tree of Life—the second trail winds around the backside of the tree. Additionally, we’ll discuss the animal encounters available in this area and look at a few tips on utilizing the trails during your day.
Here are a few quick references for the Discovery Island Trails:
| Discovery Island Trails | Disney’s Animal Kingdom |
|---|---|
Location: | Discovery Island |
Height Requirement: | None |
Ride Type: | Walking Trails |
Seats Per Vehicle: | None |
Rider Switch: | None |
Good For: | Everyone |
Scary Factor: | None |
Must-Do List: | Medium |
Perfect For: | All Ages |
Special Mention: | Count how many wood carvings you can find on the Tree of Life from the trails. |
Accessibility: Guests may remain in wheelchairs and ECVs.
The Discovery Island Trails are available during the park’s operating hours. They can be enjoyed at your leisure but are not considered an early theme park entry attraction.
Discovery Island Trails Review
You can expect to see a few things while touring the Discovery Island Trails. For example:
Front of the Tree (Near Entrance)
- Winged Encounters (Macaws)
Tree of Life Base and Exhibits around Discovery Island
- White Stork
- Lesser Flamingos
- Asian Small-Clawed Otters
- Ring-Tailed Lemur
Tree of Life Garden Trails
- Red Kangaroo
- Lappet Face Vulture
- West African Crowned Crane
Discovery Island Trails
- Galapagos Tortoise
- African Crested Porcupine
- Saddle-Billed Stork
Winged Encounters at Discovery Island
Winged Encounters is a performance in front of the Tree of Life that occurs several times daily as weather permits. It usually takes place between 9:15 a.m. and 3:15 p.m.
Winged Encounters is one of those things that you might run into while touring. But if you are interested in showing up for an exact time, check the My Disney Experience app for the schedule on the day of your visit. That said, I recommend stopping if you are in the area to see these beautiful macaws starting to perch on their designated landing area.
Related: Winged Encounters at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
A few bird experts will be out to provide information on macaws. They’ll instruct you to take a video before the birds take flight directly over your head.
They get incredibly close.
Macaws are beautiful and can have wingspans up to four feet in length.
Discovery Island
Walking down to the area in front of the Tree of Life, you might see a bird in the distance. This animal encounter is the white stork.
On the left toward Africa, you’ll encounter two additional animal habitats before the first trail. First, we see the Lesser Flamingos. During the busier times of the day, a cast member is usually out sharing information about these beautiful creatures.
The next encounter past the Lesser Flamingos is Otter Grotto. A few steps lead to a cave-like area where you might be able to catch a few otters swimming by.
When you step back out of the opposite cave, you will find an additional outdoor viewing area with information about the otters. Here are a few now.
Traveling to the opposite side of the Tree of Life, you’ll encounter a Ring-Tailed Lemur exhibit. These creatures play hide-and-seek a bit, so you might have to look for them. One thing to keep in mind is if the animals at various encounters are not out, they will usually have something draped over their signage to help indicate their absence.
Related: Animals at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Tree of Life Garden Trails
After Otter Grotto, you’ll run into a sign and a pathway to the right. This is the Tree of Life Garden Trail entrance, one of the Discovery Island Trails.
The trail winds around, showing off wood carvings displayed in the roots and the trunk of the Tree of Life.
You’ll see numerous animals. We see something new every time we visit.
The Tree of Life Garden Trail offers a few animal encounters, like the Red Kangaroos. You can usually see several out lying around in the shade.
This enclosure is also home to the Lappet Face Vulture. It’s an odd sight to see vultures and kangaroos together. The Red Kangaroos’ viewing habitat usually closes to the public in the afternoon, and that portion of the trail will be roped off. I’m pointing this out because if you visited the path around 6:00 p.m., you might not walk by the kangaroo area.
Eventually, you’ll reach the base of the Tree of Life. Don’t worry. It’s not a long trail, but it’s a great place to take your time.
The Garden of Life Tree Trail is startlingly impressive, and I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying the walkthrough. You’ll get to see so many details up close that aren’t visible from the outskirts of the Tree of Life.
Below is a picture of the gardens you’ll encounter after passing by the Tree and going under the waterfall.
If you take the trail across, you will come out on the Asia side of the park around the entrance of “It’s Tough to be a Bug” and the Wilderness Explorer’s Clubhouse, where Dug and Russell meet.
This trail can be taken almost any time during the day at leisure. But if you have a full schedule, you might want to take it at certain times as you travel across the park. The Tree of Life Garden Trail is good to take when:
- Traveling from Pandora over to Asia.
- Traveling from Harambe over to Dinoland.
These are by no means shortcuts. However, you shouldn’t experience any crowded areas on your way over on these trails.
If you continue walking past the Tree of Life Garden Trail toward Africa, you will run into another animal encounter, the Cotton-Top Tamarins. This trail begins right before the bridge to Africa from Discovery Island.
There is a subtle sign at the beginning of the trail. Here is a view from the pathway, looking back out to Creature Comforts across the way.
This path continues down around the backside of the Tree of Life.
Animal Encounters on Discovery Island Trails
On the left-hand side at the first opening, there is usually a Saddle-Billed Stork. Then, down on your left, you’ll run into the Giant Galapagos Tortoise exhibit.
Here, you’ll find the giant turtles roaming about in their habitat.
Sometimes, they float in a pool, and I’ve seen them munching on a few green leaves.
The African Crested Porcupines are nearby. You might have to look for them. They tend to hide.
But if you see them, you’ll know it. These guys are larger than you would imagine and quite intimidating looking.
Moving down the trail, you will enter this cave under the waterfall.
Children enjoy exploring this area and getting a hands-on look at the animal carvings. The picture below details how many people you will probably see in the area. None.
The only time you might encounter a crowd is on a busy day when the “It’s Tough to be a Bug” theater lets out. If that happens while you are in the area, I suggest pausing where you are and letting the crowd clear.
I always find it kind of funny because guests think they are exiting the theater with the rest of the crowd. They never realize they are on a beautiful trail with animal encounters, character meets, and more.
I can’t fathom how much work went into this area. The back side of this Tree of Life trail ends near the entrance to the Asia Bridge from Discovery Island. Adventurer’s Outpost sits across the walkway from the end of the trail. This is the only place in the parks to meet Mickey and Minnie together.
Related: Adventurer’s Outpost at Animal Kingdom
The Resorts Gal Spin on the Discovery Island Trail
We give the Discovery Island Trails the green light! They are a treat to experience on your visit. When you are on the trails, you can inspect the different wood carvings on the Tree of Life up close and personal. Disney’s Tree of Life at the Animal Kingdom stands over 145 feet tall and features more than 300 animal carvings. I could stand there for hours and find different animals in the carvings.
Resorts Gal Traffic Signals
Green Light
We give an attraction the green light if we consider it a must-do, regardless of the posted wait. We also give the green light for attractions we deem suitable to experience anytime. For example, some attractions have high capacities. Therefore, the lines continuously move and you shouldn’t have a long wait unless the attraction experiences downtime.
Red Light
We recommend checking the posted wait times for red light attractions. Then, make a quick judgment call on whether to wait, skip it, or return later. We also red light some attractions that we feel might not be suitable based on our experience.
If you think of the Tree of Life as only a beautiful centerpiece to see in the distance or have your family photo made in front of, then you are missing out. Animal Kingdom is more of an experience park with a few exceptions like Pandora, World of Avatar, and rides like Expedition Everest.
For instance, Kilimanjaro Safaris is the ultimate experience. There are also multiple trails with habitats, like visiting the Sumatran Tigers on the Maharajah Jungle Trek or seeing the gorillas on the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail.
If you want more information, we specialize in providing information about resorts. Check out our complete list of Disney World Hotel Reviews. Some of our favorites in the area include:
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Review
- Coronado Springs Resort Review
- Caribbean Beach Resort Review
- Art of Animation Resort Review
Make sure to take the time to experience the Discovery Island Trails during your Animal Kingdom day. I can assure you that you won’t regret it.
