Bluey’s Wild World is now open at the Conservation Station at Disney’s Animal Kingdom! Families can hop on the Wildlife Express in Africa to enjoy play time with Bluey and Bingo plus the opportunity to see kangaroos and wallabies, native to Bluey’s home country of Australia. To celebrate Bluey’s arrival at Disney World, special treats and merchandise is available throughout Animal Kingdom.
Disney originally announced Bluey coming to Disney Parks and Disney Cruise Line at the 2024 D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event and the demand for Bluey has only grown since then. When Bluey debuted on the Disney Dream and Disneyland Park earlier this year, both experiences were met with glowing reviews. Unfortunately, the Disney World Bluey experience has been mixed at best.
As a mom of a four-year-old who’s seen Bluey on Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and now Disney World, here’s what to expect when visiting Bluey’s Wild World!
The train ride to Conservation Station is generally a 5-minute wait with a 7-minute train ride. The train ride is great for kids – peaceful with a backstage look at some of the animal enclosures for Kilimanjaro Safaris. New to the Bluey experience, Robert Irwin narrates the train ride with fun animal facts and what to expect once at Conservation Station. You can bring your stroller folded up on the train or if you can’t fold it, there is stroller parking before boarding the train.
Guests no longer need to enter a virtual queue to experience Bluey’s Wild World. The good news, it’s generally a 30 minute or less wait inside in the air conditioning.
The Good
The involvement in Bluey’s Wild World is incredible and infectious – it’s hard not to smile seeing kids of all ages participating. The Cast Members are a big part of this, making sure everyone is included and somehow keeping the show structured. Seriously these Cast Members are the best of the best. I don’t know how they manage to keep kids from crawling all over Bluey and Bingo while also smiling and helping kids participate in the activities.
It’s magical to see your kids play games from the show like “magic asparagus” and “keepy uppy” with Bluey and Bingo “for real life”. My son was SO into each of the activities and I was emotional to see him experience moments from a show that’s been such a big part of his childhood. As a parent, these are the moments at Disney that keep me coming back.
The integration of Bluey in all the signage plus the addition of photo ops made the Conservation Station location make more sense. We saw many families stopping to take a picture at every single photo op. There’s also a merchandise location outside near the Jumping Junction area. In addition to Bluey merch, there are select essentials like cold drinks and sunscreen.
The Jumping Junction area hasn’t been talked about much since the kangaroos and wallabies are adjusting to their new habitat. However, when it’s fully open this area will be incredible. Guests will be able to walk in the enclosure and get up close to the animals.
The Bad
Unfortunately, not all of Bluey’s Wild World is a win for kids or parents. Remember when I said you wait inside for the show? It’s great for the air conditioning but bad for your kids’ patience and feelings. You will watch the show 2 – 3 times while waiting in line. My own child and many around me were crying, not understanding why they couldn’t play with Bluey and Bingo. This is a hard concept for little ones who only see other kids playing with Bluey and Bingo and wonder why not them. I also heard a lot of disappointed parents. Many guests didn’t understand what the experience was and expressed the feeling of, “Wait. This is it?”. Yes, you ride a 7-minute train to wait 30-minutes for a 10-minute “show”.
Once your group is called into the “show” area, the kids are invited to sit-down in the front. There’s a weird mix of parents standing in the back and parents standing near their children. The truth is, it doesn’t matter. As soon as the show starts, the kids are up playing, dancing, and moving across the space. So where you sit at first doesn’t matter and despite your best attempts, it’s almost impossible to stay with your child the entire time. This part did stress me out. It was the chaos of a ’90’s Black Friday sale on TVs, except your child is the one in the thick of it. The space is roped off and the Cast Members did a great job of keeping the kids participating and where they should be but I did have to frantically grab my child at the end of the show.
Overall Thoughts
After experiencing Bluey at Disneyland, I was pretty disappointed with Bluey’s Wild World. The space isn’t a natural fit and there’s so much more Disney could have done. Once the demand levels out, I could see this being a nice reprieve for young families to let their children explore. As it stands today, it feels like an unnecessarily long trek to have an experience that only leaves you wanting more. Disneyland is an easier, more immersive experience. If that couldn’t be done at Disney World, I wish there was also a Bluey meet and greet.
The bottom line – your kids will probably have a great time. My heart did soften after seeing my son filled with joy playing with Bluey and Bingo. If you set your expectations and prep your child for the experience ahead of time, you’ll be okay. Is it possible this experience will get better over time? Absolutely. Does Bluey’s Wild World need more? Also, yes.
