Animal Kingdom fans! What are your "must sees"?

[DebShauan]

We are going to Animal Kingdom in December. We haven't been since 2004! We loved Kilimanjaro Safari and The Boneyard, but things have sure changed since then! What are YOUR favorites at AK? Any out-of-the-way attractions that make a good day great? Also, how does Expedition Everest compare to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or Splash Mountain? I'd appreciate any advice you can give.

 

[beanbubbles]

I always make sure to catch the show, Festival of the Lion King. It's one of my favorites! I'm not great at comparing the roller coasters, but this past trip was my first time riding Expedition Everest and I absolutely loved it!!

 

[kaybird]

So much new since then, EE a must, Nemo is a great show, Yak and Yeti and Tusker are great TS, and my personal favorite to walk through is The Marharaja jungle trek, Beautiful!

 

[twokids0204]

And don't forget Nemo the Musical.

 

[lemondog]

For us we start our day at Donald's Safari Breakfast as Tusker House. Get an 8am ADR and you're in the park before rope drop. Food is awesome, too!

Our must-do attractions are Kilamanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Nemo, Lion King, It's Tough To Be A Bug, and the animal trail in Asia (forget the name). Have fun!

 

[Doctor P]

Festival of the Lion King, Expedition Everest, Kiliminjaro Safari

 

[carrie1626]

I LOVE ANIMAL KINGDOM!!! I like to get there at rope drop to go on Kilimanjaro Safari ( the animal sightings are usually better), but now I would make my way to EE FIRST to get a fastpass and then go to KS, hopefully going on EE soon after. After that I would want to see Finding Nemo and go to FOTLK. Also on my list is DINOSAUR, (one of my absolute favorites) and ITTBAB. I love having eats at the The FLAME TREE BBQ. Hopefully squeeze in the parade get soaked on Kali River Rapids and also Flights of wonder. AK is also one of my favorite places to shop and browse. Not to mention taking in the street entertainment.

AK is an ALL DAY PARK FOR ME!!

** and walking on the trails and viewing the animals, actually "taking time" to look into the forests/foliage to see animal and bird life ( people miss so much when they don't stop to smell the roses)

K Safari
E Everest
F Nemo
FOTLK
ITTBAB
K R Rapids
Dinosaur
Flights of Wonder
Parade
shopping
Flame Tree BBQ
street entertainment
walking trails

 

[carrie1626]

and in answer to the question of EE comparison to SM & BTM....EE is much more of a thrill ride! Awesome!!!

 

[pkondz]

Love EE. Used to say that BTMRR was my fave (still love it) but EE surpassed it!
Also not mentioned yet. Find out (from a CM) when and where Devine will be. She, all by herself, makes a trip to AK a must do! She's absolutely amazing and gorgeous!

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Safari

Devine - well worth seeking out

Kali River Rapids (great when done for the last hour or so of the park)

the parade! We love the parade

if you haven't done the more up close paths around the tree those are worth it. I didn't know about them until recently when someone posted asking about them. Walked them on our Sept trip and just loved it!

DD age 9 loves BTMR but didn't like EE (too fast, too dark for her) so that depends on the riders.

I second Tusker House if you're into character meals

If you like meeting characters Rafiki's Planet Watch is a great place for that (especially for finding Pocahontas!)

We love AK too!!

 

[ccudmore]

An overlooked treasure is going to Rafiki's Planet Watch first thing. First thing in the morning is when they bring in animals for medical procedures and if you head over there early in the day there's a good chance you'll see the veterinarian staff working on park animals.

 

[JamesLynn]

An overlooked treasure is going to Rafiki's Planet Watch first thing. First thing in the morning is when they bring in animals for medical procedures and if you head over there early in the day there's a good chance you'll see the veterinarian staff working on park animals.

That is an awesome thing to do! Last time DH and I were there, the vets were working on a tiger!

 

[TaraPA]

In my opinion EE is MUCH more of a thrill ride than BTMRR - MUCH higher, much steeper drops, backwards, higher speed. Not even comparable to Splash Mtn.

I absolultey love the walking trails at AK - there are 2 of them - the Maharaja Jungle Trek in Asia & the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail in Africa. The exotic animals are right there & are very active sometimes. I also love the Kilimanjaro safari, Dinosaur (thrill ride), Festival of the Lion King & It's Tough to Be a Bug. In Asia along the main path are several little shoot-offs that you can walk down to where the water is. It's so nice to grab a snack & head down there to enjoy the scenery!

I've only seen Devine once - and she is amazing!

 

[nicki.momof3]

Kilimanjaro Safari are the awesome first thing in the morning when it is cool and the animals are moving around.

Festival of the lion king is great. The best part is if you get in line early and you get a front seat - my kids got picked both times we have seen it - highlight of the day.

 

[sdteacher]

We loved the animal kingdom that we went there twice during our recent vacation. We loved the safari ride and EE! We went at rope drop and were able to ride EE three times in a row with hardly any wait at all! Awesome!
We also enjoyed the Bugs movie and the Dinosaur ride. We also ate at Tusker House for breakfast and really enjoyed it a lot.

 

[TaraPA]

Oh I forgot to mention the Parade! Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade is my favorite parade in all of WDW!

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Would you recommend Tusker House for breakfast or lunch?

 

[TillyMarigold]

Well, of course the safari, Festival of the Lion King, the two walks (Maharajah Jungle Trek in Asia and Pangani Forest Exploration Trail), Kali River Rapids if it's hot, Expedition Everest if you like thrill rides. Honestly there's nothing there I skip except Nemo (and that's more circumstances than because I don't want to see it). But to me "walking around and looking at things" is the best thing about it. Besides the animals mentioned above on the walks, make sure you see the macaws, the gibbons and siamangs, the lemurs, the otters (man, I could watch tme all day), the cavy, the babirusa ... they have both types of kangaroos, although the grey ones were off display when we were there. Try to guess the theme of each building in Discovery Island (things like "animals with spots and stripes") and in each room of Pizzafari. Look at the tree from as many angles as you can and see how many animals you can find.

The best trail, according to our Wild by Design tour guide (and we agreed after we did it) is if you go behind the tattoo cart opposite the baby care center and make your way towards the tree from there. It exists near the entrance to It's Tough to Be a Bug, at the lemurs.

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

Aside from everything that has been mentioned, make sure you see Flights of Wonder. One of the best animal shows ever.

 

[Elevationist]

I think that far too often, people either rush through or totally skip the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, and the Maharajah Jungle Trek. These, to me, and two of the most under-appreciated features of AK. Take your time a stroll through these, they are absolutely beautiful and fascinating. There is a storyline behind the Maharajah trail, too... Be sure to ask CMs about it! And look beyond the animals... the landscaping, scenery, murals, sculpture, theming... it's all just exquisite.