Yesterday, Walt Disney World announced that the Affection Section petting zoo would be one of several offerings at Disney’s Animal Kingdom that would close temporarily to make way for the upcoming Bluey and Bingo meet and greet. In fact, all of Conservation Station and the Wildlife Express Train is going to go dark for a while as Disney prepares to welcome the popular Blue Heeler duo. Today, we have an update on the future of the Affection Section petting zoo, and some remaining questions. Here’s the latest.
Affection Section Staying, Will Contain Australian Animals; Questions Remain
The headline here is that the Affection Section is staying in name, but that the current animal residents are all leaving. That said, there are some questions about what the Affection Section will look like when it reopens this Summer. Let’s get up to speed.
As you may know, the Affection Section is the petting zoo offering at Conservation Station. Currently, guests can enter an enclosed area with a number of roaming animals, interacting with them in a petting zoo-style offering. Back in mid-January, we published a rumor that the Affection Section would be closing permanently. Now, it doesn’t look like that will be the case, but what will the Affection Section experience be when it reopens?
Disney has previously announced that guests would be able to “step outside to discover an experience with animals native to Bluey’s home country of Australia”. While not expressly stated in the original announcement, we now know that those Australian animals will be found in the Affection Section.
All of the current animal residents will be relocated to other facilities.
When it reopens this Summer, the Affection Section will retain the same name as before the closure. In terms of our remaining questions, Disney still has not announced what Australian animals will be present when the experience reopens.
Also under some question is to what extent guests will be able to interact with the new Australian animals. Disney has not commented on whether or not the petting zoo element of the Affection Section will remain. It would stand to reason that if the Affection Section name is staying, so too would the petting zoo element, but that’s not confirmed yet.
While the fun part of the Affection Section was the free-roaming animals in the petting zoo environment, the Affection Section also had animals that were in pens like the one seen below. These are areas where guests cannot walk, but guests can interact with animals should they approach the gates.
Without more information about what animals will be in the Affection Section when it reopens, it’s impossible to speculate what extent guests will be able to interact with them. I’d imagine that there are more than a few animals from Australia that look fun and cuddly, but might not be conducive to a petting zoo experience.
To that end, we’re going to say that we’re cautiously optimistic that the Affection Section will not only return in name, but in spirit too. For now, we can say that our rumor of its closure was incorrect, but the jury is still out on how much of a petting zoo will remain when it’s all said and done.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
I’m really hoping they do something like the kangaroo exhibit at the Nashville Zoo — guests can walk through but have to stay on the sidewalk, and any kangaroo within arm’s reach is allowed to be pet. It would probably require a larger staff presence there, so maybe not feasible, but petting a kangaroo is so awesome and would fit with the Bluey theme!