The Wilderness Explorers Program at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (A Resorts Gal Guide)
Wilderness Explorer is a free program at Disney’s Animal Kingdom geared toward children. This self-paced attraction allows guests to collect badges (stickers) in a Wilderness Explorer Handbook.
Throughout your day, you’ll encounter various checkpoints where you can stop to complete an activity. To earn the title of Wilderness Explorer, collect as many Wilderness Explorer badges as possible. Below, we’ll discuss the specifics of participating in the program. This is an activity you can pick up and do casually while touring the park. Or if you visit regularly, you might like to take the challenge full-on and spend the entire day completing it.
Disney describes this attraction as:
Set out on a series of fun, nature-themed challenges on your way to becoming an official Wilderness Explorer. Self-guided activities range from animal observation to learning important wilderness skills. Collect over 25 badges and earn the right to echo the Wilderness Explorer call: Caw! Caw! Roar!
First things first, you’ll want to pick up your Wilderness Explorer guidebook at the front of the park. After you pass through The Oasis Exhibits, you’ll see the Wilderness Explorers headquarters. It’s on the bridge between the Oasis and Discovery Island. A banner overhead has the Wilderness Explorer’s motto, “The Wilderness Must Be Explored!”
You can pick up a handbook whether you plan to complete it or not. From our experience, it is difficult to collect every badge over the course of an entire day. But since it’s self-paced, you can use it where you see fit.
Below are a few quick reference details for the Wilderness Explorers program.
| Wilderness Explorers | Disney’s Animal Kingdom |
|---|---|
Location: | Multiple Locations Throughout the Park |
Height Requirement: | None |
Lightning Lane: | N/A |
Ride Type: | Self-Paced Throughout Park |
Seats Per Vehicle: | Scavenger Hunt |
Rider Switch: | None |
Early Theme Park Entry: | N/A |
Good For: | Children |
Scary Factor: | None |
Must-Do List: | Low Priority |
Perfect For: | All Ages |
Special Mention: | This is a wonderful educational activity for children. |
Wilderness Explorer Program Overview
Once you collect your Wilderness Explorer handbook, you can begin searching for special missions in whatever area of the park you are touring. You’ll find activities scattered all over the Animal Kingdom.
Some of the locations for these activities include:
- Pandora, World of Avatar
- Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
- Maharajah Jungle Trek
- Rafiki’s Planet Watch
There are over 25 badge locations to complete. Each activity offers an opportunity to learn about various wild animals and essential skills for navigating the wilderness. You’ll find a badge guide or troop leader at each station who will teach you about the specific topic related to that station. Here is a look at one of the stations in the Asia area of the park. Notice there are badges (stickers) for the children to add to their books after the learning session.
The program’s hours are usually posted at the headquarters. Later in the day, you might not find cast members at the various stations.
Here is a copy of the handbook.
On the back inside cover of the book, you’ll find a ranking guide. It goes as follows:
- Collect 5 Badges (Tadpole)
- Collect 10 Badges (Minnow)
- Collect 20 Badges (Fish)
- Earn all Badges to become a Senior Wilderness Explorer.
A note says, “If you don’t complete all badges, bring your book back on your next visit to keep exploring. The Wilderness Explorers always print their handbooks on recycled paper.”
Take the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch before it closes for the day. You can earn several badges along the way and at Conservation Station.
The Resorts Gal Spin on the Wilderness Explorer’s Program
We give this activity the green light. Pick up a guidebook on your way inside the park and then complete it as time allows. We usually like to work on our book here and there. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the opportunity to complete all of the badges yet. But it’s something fun to do when my niece visits, and she enjoys learning more details about the animals and conservation. However, if we try to do too many, it becomes a little bit much, and she loses interest. And that’s okay. We can always work on it some other time if she wants.
Most of our favorite times at the Animal Kingdom together have been the days when we didn’t really ride anything and just hung out with the animals. Those days are pretty memorable. So, pick up a Wilderness Explorer handbook for your child when you enter the park, and let them collect a few stickers. If it gets to be too much, store it away for your next visit.
Bonus: Make sure to meet the OG Wilderness Explorer’s Russell and Dug at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. They meet on Discovery Island near The Tree of Life.
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.
For similar attractions at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you might enjoy these articles:
- Winged Encounters
- Rafiki’s Planet Watch Guide
- The Wildlife Express Train
- Kilimanjaro Safaris Ride Guide
In the Comments
Have you had the opportunity to participate in the Wilderness Explorers program at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? If so, please share your thoughts, questions, or experiences in the comment section below.
