Lightning Affects Multiple Disney World Attractions

Lightning strikes closed multiple attractions at Walt Disney World.

Inclement Weather

Let’s be honest; no one wants to encounter stormy weather while on vacation. There are great ways to beat the heat and still have a magical day at Disney, even if you encounter a few summer showers during your trip. Guests traveling to the “Sunshine State” can plan for summer showers.

Many times, outdoor attractions will close for rain and lightning. The time of the closure is largely based on the length of the storm and also the upcoming weather forecast as well.

Lightning Strikes

Today, guests visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom experienced a light show that they did not expect. As guests dodged rain showers, they also saw lightning strikes in close proximity to the park. All guests were safe, but this is still not a great sign for your magical day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

These showers closed attractions around 1:00 pm. After the storms dissipated, many of the outdoor attractions reopened after being closed for just 30 minutes to an hour.

Unfortunately, two of Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s biggest attractions closed for a long period of time. Eventually, Expedition Everest opened around 5:30 pm. At the time of this writing, however, Kali River Rapids is still closed.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom offers fewer attractions than other parks, and these two attractions being closed affected wait times for the other attractions this afternoon.

Kali River Rapids is still closed at the time of writing, but Expedition Everest reopened recently.

What do you think of this long closure? Do you think this was an operational error, or do you think it may have been affected by the storm? Which attraction would you choose if these bigger attractions were closed for several hours? Share your thoughts with us and share this news with a fellow Disney pal.