If animals are extinct, how can families consider sustainability issues, and conservation? Dinoland at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Park makes that possible for travelers with protect-the-world intentions.
Consider Sustainability at Dinoland in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park
Art enhances imagination about extinct animals at Dinoland. Photo by Christine Tibbetts, Blended Family TravelingMom
Looking down is as important as gazing up in Dinoland at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom because that’s where to find fossils … or facsimiles of earlier eras when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Etched into concrete walkways are faint footprints of creatures I encountered only in sculpture. This is reality in pretend form and fossil recreations were easier to believe than the full-body animals.
Contemplating all the dino-allusions in this section of an alluring park felt important to me and I wished for my grandchildren to chat a bit about extinction.
Preventing extinction
Plenty to say about how we as a family can help prevent extinction of animals living and breathing today. Dinosaurs provide a stunning backdrop for conservation and sustainability notions.
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The children might have thought me boring but would have scurried to cheerful college-age cast members in wilderness scout uniforms with the same message.
Wilderness Explorer badges
That’s the way to earn badges to become an official Wilderness Explorer with thoughtful projects all around Animal Kingdom; follow easy steps in a handy booklet and point the kids towards these look-like-scouts very engaging guides.
Wilderness Explorer badges propel kids to knowledgeable scouts. Photo by Christine Tibbetts, Blended Family TravelingMom
Read more about the Dinoland Boneyard to see how extensive fossil hunting can be, way more than the footprints on my walk.
Hang out at the flags near the entrance to Dinoland; they’re colorful and a big part of sustainability realities with messages like “Fire danger high today” and “Wild animal spotted, use caution.”
Nine signal flags and a uniformed guide to assign a badge, talking perhaps about energy conservation with communication strictly by flapping a flag.
Subtle messages
Sustainability fits the mood if you pause by the mosaic creature, noticing recycling of broken glass and upcycling of artistic talent to enhance animal encounters in a land of extinction.
Step on andover sidewalk fossils, but notice them too! Photo by Christine Tibbetts, Blended Family TravelingMom
Dinoland has a carnival atmosphere and little kids will be lured into that frenzy. A calming little stroll into a lush jungle where dinosaurs statues almost hide behind the foliage is a good breath catcher, and fossil discovery time if you watch the sidewalk.
What have you found is a good way to inject some thoughtfulness about great big important issues in the midst of fun? Just a side stroll?
To plan a meal in Dinoland, check out some TravelingMom tips.
