Animal kingdom: Im heading to disneys animal kingdom in a few days. How close will i get to the animals? Close enougn for my 85mm, or my 300 or will they be in a field and ill need a...

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

Im heading to disneys animal kingdom in a few days. How close will i get to the animals? Close enougn for my 85mm, or my 300 or will they be in a field and ill need a 600?

Rodledge Loc: Alabama

They are relatively close. No need for the 600.

Largobob

bdk wrote:

Im heading to disneys animal kingdom in a few days. How close will i get to the animals? Close enougn for my 85mm, or my 300 or will they be in a field and ill need a 600?

Each of Disney's destinations were designed with user-friendliness in mind. Animal Kingdom has some great photo opportunities.....most fairly close. You shouldn't need the 600mm lens.

Road King Loc: Northern, IL

Unless you are going on the Wild Africa Express, you will be riding in a big truck, with four to six people in a row (about 8 rows per truck).

Animals will appear on both sides of the vehicle. And they don't always stop the vehicle. If you are on the left side of the truck,
you will struggle to get shots on the right side.

Dangerous animals will be in enclosures and could be 50 yards or more away. Tamer animals can be within a few feet of the truck.
You need a camera that you can manuever quickly and not hit someone in the Head.

djlouden Loc: Ocala, Florida

Animal Kingdom has some great photo opportunities. I used my 500 several time for shots of the lions and the meerkats and was glad I took it. Mind you I used a kids stroller to transport my gear around there so hefting stuff wasn't much of a problem. I used my 100-400 as my lens of choice most times.

Forget about the "safari ride" for much in the way of pictures. Every time I've ridden it the driver stopped long enough to say there's a ...... and off they went. Little time to compose or even focus. Try to maneuver your spot in line to get yourself an outside seat otherwise that big girl from pascagoolla will be in every shot.

Happy shooting

RKL349 Loc: Connecticut

bdk wrote:

Im heading to disneys animal kingdom in a few days. How close will i get to the animals? Close enougn for my 85mm, or my 300 or will they be in a field and ill need a 600?

Aside from the Safari ride (seated in a truck with about 40-50other people), there are some walking tours you can take where you can get some great shots. I have done well upon the walking tours with my 70-200 f/4 mated to my D7200.

owlmove

Disney may have great theme parks, but Animal Kingdom isn't one of them. For my money I'd check out Lowry Park Zoo and Busch Gardens, both in Tampa, if you really want an up close and personal animal encounter. Orangutans at Lowry and the tigers at Busch are especially good. If you're lucky, Busch veterinarians may be doing a surgical procedure in the animal care center. Superb !!

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

bdk wrote:

Im heading to disneys animal kingdom in a few days. How close will i get to the animals? Close enougn for my 85mm, or my 300 or will they be in a field and ill need a 600?

Animals vary in size and distance. Suggest you take the 300 and 600.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

A too-long lens would be more limiting than a shorter lens. There wouldn't be any room for cropping in post.

RKL349 Loc: Connecticut

owlmove wrote:

Disney may have great theme parks, but Animal Kingdom isn't one of them. For my money I'd check out Lowry Park Zoo and Busch Gardens, both in Tampa, if you really want an up close and personal animal encounter. Orangutans at Lowry and the tigers at Busch are especially good. If you're lucky, Busch veterinarians may be doing a surgical procedure in the animal care center. Superb !!

Actually, Disney will tell you what surgeries are scheduled and you can go to an area in Animal Kingdom where viewing is available to the public. With any animal, patience for the shot is critical. If a zoo is your preference, go for it. I think the OP was asking about lens selections at Animal Kingdom, not were there other choices 50 miles away. At least now they know they can blow off Disney if they decide they would rather spend time off property.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

gvarner wrote:

A too-long lens would be more limiting than a shorter lens. There wouldn't be any room for cropping in post.

Yea! I could see where the 85 mm lens would be great for a animal 100 yards away, I guess you really know your stuff.

Road King Loc: Northern, IL

To say Animal Kingdom is not a great theme park is one opinion.

If you haven't been to Animal Kingdom lately there are a couple of SPECTACULAR new rides in the Pandora - The World of Avatar.
Two of the best at all of Disney, in my opinion (right up there with Ratatouille, in France and Mt Everest at Animal Kingdom).

Largobob

owlmove wrote:

Disney may have great theme parks, but Animal Kingdom isn't one of them. For my money I'd check out Lowry Park Zoo and Busch Gardens, both in Tampa, if you really want an up close and personal animal encounter. Orangutans at Lowry and the tigers at Busch are especially good. If you're lucky, Busch veterinarians may be doing a surgical procedure in the animal care center. Superb !!

I agree. Lowry Park Zoo is a well-kept secret. Busch Gardens is cool too....but more "Disneyesque"

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

billnikon wrote:

Yea! I could see where the 85 mm lens would be great for a animal 100 yards away, I guess you really know your stuff.

Given the comments on this topic from people who have been there, the animals are not likely to be that far away. But that's likely a bit too much info for you to process. We don't have enough info from the OP . Just two primes? Crop sensor or FF? Take only one lens? Take both? So many questions, so few answers.

Road King Loc: Northern, IL

another issue is carrying too much gear through the crowds (Spring Break), standing in lines with it all day and taking it on or into rides/attractions.