How to become a Wilderness Explorer at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Have you seen the movie UP? One of the main characters, a young boy named Buddy is a Wilderness Explorer. When he knocks on a door to help his elderly neighbor to earn more Wilderness Explorer badges he is taken on the ride of his life in a house that is lifted up by balloons and flies to South America. If you haven't seen the movie I highly suggest you do before your next trip to Walt Disney World!

My daughter had a blast collecting badges (stickers) to become a Wilderness Explorer at the Animal Kingdom. As you can tell by the corners, the book has been loved! 

Just past the Oasis on the bridge to entering the Discover Island you will see the station to become a Wilderness Explorer. There a cast member will talk with your child about the booklet and how to collect stickers. The asked my daughter if she had to collect them all (while shaking their head no) she said "of course I have to!"

There are 37 stickers to collect in all. Each comes with it's own task. They vary from digging in the Dino dig area to listening to a message on a radio for a special code. One sticker was earned by copying down the market rates for various countries off a board. Here is a birding badge that we didn't get around to earning. Some take more time than others.

This book makes a visit to the Animal Kingdom fun for kids that love treasure hunts. It's fun searching for all of the badge locations. On our last visit to the Animal Kingdom we spent majority of the day trying to collect badges. If you have an extra 1/2 or full day then definitely try to collect them all. If you are only in the Animal Kingdom for 1 day then I suggest grabbing a book as you enter the park and collect a few. It has some great educational content and it can be a nice (FREE) souvenir from your trip to Disney World's Animal Kingdom! Here are a few other pics from my daughter's booklet. Have fun!

 

Don't forget to visit Buddy and the dog Doug while at the park. After entering the park they are to the left on your way to DinoLand. Doug likes it when you scratch his ears!