Bluey’s Wild World opened at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on May 26th, nearly two years after a Bluey partnership was announced at the 2024 D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. As a mom, Bluey and Disney just makes sense and my family has so enjoyed the Bluey experiences at both Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line. Bluey officially took over the Animal Kingdom’s Conservation Station and now includes Jumping Junction, the kangaroo and wallaby walk-through habitat.
You can read about my first impression of Bluey’s Wild World here and almost two months after its opening, it was time for a re-visit. So my four-year-old and I boarded the Wildlife Express excited to see the Bluey experience only had a 10-minute wait. That excitement was quickly met with a long line, tears, and many heated family arguments.
Despite My Disney Experience and the actual attraction listing a 10-minute wait, the line stretching outside was our first sign this would not be an easy 10 minutes. In fact, we ended up waiting 45 minutes. Once inside, I noticed the addition of potted palms to sort of block the view of the show and discourage people from jumping into the show area. You can still see the entire show from points within the line and this only tells me Disney is aware that the set-up is not ideal for families.
Just like our first visit, my son got very upset to wait in a long line to watch other kids play with Bluey and Bingo. In fact, we watched the entire show three times before it was our turn. The commentary of families around us was almost comical. So many people didn’t understand what the show experience actually is and were instead hoping for more of an actual performance and a meet and greet. There were many tears, arguments, and families debating whether or not they should leave the line.
When it’s your turn to experience Bluey’s Wild World, it’s chaos. The show is meant to be interactive so you’ll be moving around the space for the entirety of the show. Many of the parents stand up front near their kids which makes it super crowded and hard to see. Once the playtime begins, it’s very hard to keep up with your kid and even though it’s a somewhat enclosed space, I felt panicked more than once.
The positive of Bluey’s Wild World? The Entertainment Cast Members are incredible. They’re fun, engaging, and do a wonderful job of creating structure the best they can. Honestly, these Cast Members are the best of the best and I don’t know how they do it. And after a tearful wait, my son had a great time dancing with Bluey and Bingo. It ended up being his favorite thing from our Animal Kingdom day and his joy was infectious.
If you or your kids love Bluey, you’ll likely leave Bluey’s Wild World with a smile on your face. The problem is you’ll pay for that smile with a stressful line experience. In comparison to the Bluey offerings at Disneyland and on the Disney Dream and Wish, Disney World got the short end of the stick. In fact, it feels like one of Disney’s worst bait and switches. Board a train, wait in line, only to play with Bluey for 10 minutes. If you add in the Jumping Junction experience, you can plan on spending almost two hours at Conservation Station. Again that’s two hours for 10 minutes with Bluey and Bingo. As a parent, the 45 minutes of my son and everyone’s unhappiness around me was not worth it. It’s so disappointing to see all the hype and all the merchandise, for what feels like minimal effort from Disney. Bluey deserves an actual stage show or a character meet and greet. In fact, Bluey has enough popularity to justify an attraction or even a small land.
Since Conservation Station is still where some of the park’s animals receive medical care, Disney really stretched the theming to try to make it make sense. When I saw this cartoon skeleton, I couldn’t help but laugh. This is exactly how I felt the entirety of my two hour visit to Conservation Station – trying to smile but dying on the inside.
