Make Me Love AK

[kmarie99]

Like many people have been saying, the reason we love this part is that I don't feel rushed though this park like I am at the other parks. I feel like I get more absorbed in the surrounding instead of heading from one ride to the next. I love slowing down, grabbing a drink Dawa and walking through the trails. This is a great park for the middle of the vacation when you just need to slow down and relax. I love that!!

 

[Lady Marie]

To find magic in DAK, slow down and explore. It's not meant to be rushed through. Become explorers as you head into the Oasis from the main gate. Creep slowly around every turn, peer through the bushes. Who can find the capybera? Are the black swans out? Traverse the rope bridge. Are there bats in these caves? Feel the splash of the waterfall. How many baby ducks can you count? Then, just as you top the hill, there it is in all it's glory---The Tree Of Life. Amazing. Beautiful. How many animals can you count? Find the lion, horse, bats, elephant, etc. etc. As you move around, near, and under it, see how many of the 325+ animals you can find. Don't miss Jane Goodall's David Greybeard. Peer through the brush and find more animals on the roots. Don't miss the dinosaurs lurking under the tree on the way to the bugs.

Here is a park where the standby lines can be an attraction unto themselves. In the safari booking office in the Kilamanjaro Safari line, listen for the radio. In Kali and EE, there are ton's of authentic artifacts brought back by the imagineers from the places they visited in Asia for their inspiration.

Two live Broadway quality shows. Love them both!

Each gift shop has its own unique theme in the decor. See if you can figure out what they are.

Rafiki's Planet Watch is a unique place for learning. Animals, conservation, what you can do for the Earth. Find the dozens of hidden mickey's in the mural walls.

For me, the magic is in the exploration. For the other three parks, the magic is front and center. Fun, brilliant colors, themed lands with bright decor. Characters galore. With DAK, it may take a little coaxing, a little looking, a little more imagination. It's not fed to you here, you may have to look for it. So go find it, Wilderness Explorers! Adventure is out there!!!!

PERFECT! I agree completely!

DH and I did not love it at first, but once we slowed down and really took the time to look at the animal and the details, it was like a whole new world!

Even being adults, we did the Wilderness Explorers activity around the park (we LOVE UP!) and saw even more little details and learned interesting facts from the CMs.

I've been to zoos in my area and weren't really impressed, but here, everything seemed to be moderately active (not just sleeping under a tree). Fave memory: the gorillas at AK showing their masculinity and beating their chest just like in a movie. We were so impressed! We say it must be Disney Magic making this more of a extra fun zoo with rides and more!

 

[yeheyprincex2]

FOTLK is very disney too me. We love AK and can spend a day there easy. We also love our local zoo so that says it all. Nemo musical is great, of course the Safari and letting your kids go crazy on the drums in Africa.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

Our trip this past June was the first time we'd been to AK; I'd heard all the "half day park" talk, and based on that, as well as what I thought my kids could handle and what FPs were available, we scheduled that as the park to leave early to make an ADR elsewhere.

Boy, did I regret it, in some ways. It was sticky hot, so the little guys were cranky and we found out the hard way that shows are not my youngest's favorite. But Kali River Rapids was our last FP+, so we went out on a high note! I was the only one who wanted to do EE, so they did some wandering while I jumped in that line first thing. (My favorite roller coaster of all time, by the way. I thought I'd be terrified, but wanted to say I did it...and decided I could ride that thing ten times in a row.) And the CMs were fantastic for both information and recommendations.

There's so much to explore there, and I am sorry we weren't able to take the time to do it. My kids love zoos, and a less stressful touring plan with lots of rest in a place with lots to see everywhere means AK is a place that suits them very well. And I loved the theming. My spouse and I are doing a no-kids anniversary trip in 2015 and planning on an open-to-close day over there, as well as on our next whole-family trip in 2016.

 

[ttintagel]

The thing I love best about AK is that it has what MK and EPCOT USED to have, but no longer do to any great degree: when you walk through the gates, every little detail transports you to another place far away from the outside world. You can truly imagine you've left your real life behind for the day.

 

[Kimosabe]

Short answer: baby gorilla. Worth a trip to AK if this is the only thing you do.

Longer answer: We always treated it as a half-day park until August, when our girls (9 and 12) said they wanted to spend more time there and explore...and basically blamed us for shoving them out of that park too quickly each time! We said OK, and when I started studying the park map, etc., ahead of time, I realized that there was almost no way we could squeeze in everything within the park hours...and that was even with planning to skip Kali River Rapids (too short to get as soaked as you get - ha!).

We had always gotten out in half a day because we would skip the two big walking trails (Pangani and Maharaja), usually skipped Rafiki's Planet Watch, had virtually no idea that Flights of Wonder even existed, had never bothered to ride Dinosaur and had never stopped for a real "sit down" meal.

In one full day, we had pre-opening Tusker House breakfast, did two safaris, watched a monkey get a colonoscopy and played the Hokey Pokey with Chip 'n Dale out at Rafiki's, walked Pangani and Maharaja, saw FOTLK, Finding Nemo and Flights of Wonder, rode Dinosaur and Everest, had a late lunch at Yak & Yeti...and our kids completely finished the Wilderness Explorers book in one day (which I had read would be rather difficult to do, but they were determined!)...not necessarily in that order. Also had time for a little shopping, pin trading, and Vinylmation trading. We had unanimous agreement that it was one of our best days ever at WDW. The things we had been skipping for a few years were suddenly some of our absolute favorite things to do at WDW.

My wife and 9-year old daughter are now huge fans of watching whatever procedures the vets are doing out at Rafiki's. We had a kidless Food & Wine Festival trip this past weekend, and when we talked to her on the phone, her first question was not whether we had ridden Haunted Mansion or Winnie the Pooh...but rather "what operation were they doing on an animal?"

 

[chelseabun76]

We always treated it as a half-day park until August, when our girls (9 and 12) said they wanted to spend more time there and explore...and basically blamed us for shoving them out of that park too quickly each time! We said OK, and when I started studying the park map, etc., ahead of time, I realized that there was almost no way we could squeeze in everything within the park hours...and that was even with planning to skip Kali River Rapids (too short to get as soaked as you get - ha!).

We had always gotten out in half a day because we would skip the two big walking trails (Pangani and Maharaja), usually skipped Rafiki's Planet Watch, had virtually no idea that Flights of Wonder even existed, had never bothered to ride Dinosaur and had never stopped for a real "sit down" meal.

In one full day, we had pre-opening Tusker Breakfast, did two safaris, watched a monkey get a colonoscopy and played the Hokey Pokey with Chip 'n Dale out at Rafiki's, walked Pangani and Maharaja, saw FOTLK, Finding Nemo and Flights of Wonder, rode Dinosaur and Everest, had a late lunch at Yak & Yeti...and our kids completely finished the Wilderness Explorers book in one day (which I had read would be rather difficult to do, but they were determined!)...not necessarily in that order. Also had time for a little shopping, pin trading, and Vinylmation trading. We had unanimous agreement that it was one of our best days ever at WDW. The things we had been skipping for a few years were suddenly some of our absolute favorite things to do at WDW.

My wife and 9-year old daughter are now huge fans of watching whatever procedures the vets are doing out at Rafiki's. We had a kidless Food & Wine Festival trip this past weekend, and when we talked to her on the phone, her first question was not whether we had ridden Haunted Mansion or Winnie the Pooh...but rather "what operation were they doing on an animal?"

What a great positive report on AK, loved it!!!

 

[agavegirl1]

I could not imagine skipping AK. This trip, with park hoppers, I'll be going a few times. As mentioned before, this park needs to be "discovered". I never miss the trails. They are as essential to my enjoyment of the park as Expedition Everest. There is some really good advice on this thread so I'll just agree with many here who enjoy the park and encourage you to go.

 

[uofmfan2]

Sorry but gotta agree with you, rarely go to AK

 

[Octoberbaby]

OK DISers help me out.
We have always thought of AK as a throwaway park. We liked it but we don't love it like that other 3.
On our next trip, in 2016, we want to dedicate some time to AK since the kiddo will be tall enough to ride everything.
Share your love of AK with us and why you love it.
Thanks!

Hmmm....What I LOVE about AK is we can get in, do what we want (EE, Dino, and Safari), and get out within 3 hours and have the rest of the day to swim!

 

[Laura's Dad]

What is there not to love?

1. Kilimanjaro Safaris is excellent. I have never been disappointed on that ride.

2. Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, and It's Tough to Be a Bug are outstanding and are as good as any rides at WDW.

3. The Legend of the Lion King, Flights of Wonder, and the Nemo show are really good.

4. The themeing is excellent: Africa, Asia, and Dinoland USA are all well themed. Africa and Asia are realistic, Dinoland does exactly what it is supposed to do. The two animal trails are well executed.

5. It has two of the best WDW restaurants : Counter service at Flame Tree Bar-b-Que and Table Service at Yak and Yeti. It also has the best theme park bar ever in the Dawa Bar.

6. The details are excellent. You have to look around instead of rushing from one thing to another. I am going during the week of Thanksgiving and cannot wait to experience the park at dark with it staying open until 8 pm. The rest of my family is leaving after Yak and Yeti at 3 pm (late lunch/early dinner) to do other things but I will ride EE a couple of times and chill out at the Dawa Bar until the park closes.

7. The expansion with Rivers of Life is exciting. The Avatar land not so much. I will judge that after it is built. It cannot be all bad.

8. What is not good?

 

[chelseabun76]

My concern about AK, and maybe some of the AK lovers here can help me out... is that my mom is insanely petrified of spiders. I remember walking one time from our hotel to the park in DL, and there were big spiders in the trees and she almost walked on the busy streets to get as far away from the trees as possible and after the first day bought us passes to take the bus there and back the rest of the trip. Tough to be a Bug is OUT, I have read reviews and I fear she would not make it out of there alive. What about the trails, will she be able to walk those without jumping and screaming and embarrassing the heck out of me? Would love to explore what we can, but I want her to feel comfortable.

 

[DisneyFan2013]

My concern about AK, and maybe some of the AK lovers here can help me out... is that my mom is insanely petrified of spiders. I remember walking one time from our hotel to the park in DL, and there were big spiders in the trees and she almost walked on the busy streets to get as far away from the trees as possible and after the first day bought us passes to take the bus there and back the rest of the trip. Tough to be a Bug is OUT, I have read reviews and I fear she would not make it out of there alive. What about the trails, will she be able to walk those without jumping and screaming and embarrassing the heck out of me? Would love to explore what we can, but I want her to feel comfortable.

I never noticed any spiders in AK or any other park.

 

[Laura's Dad]

My wife doesn't like them either. They are prominent on "It's Tough to be a Bug"

 

[jon18uk]

Short answer: baby gorilla. Worth a trip to AK if this is the only thing you do.

Longer answer: We always treated it as a half-day park until August, when our girls (9 and 12) said they wanted to spend more time there and explore...and basically blamed us for shoving them out of that park too quickly each time! We said OK, and when I started studying the park map, etc., ahead of time, I realized that there was almost no way we could squeeze in everything within the park hours...and that was even with planning to skip Kali River Rapids (too short to get as soaked as you get - ha!).

We had always gotten out in half a day because we would skip the two big walking trails (Pangani and Maharaja), usually skipped Rafiki's Planet Watch, had virtually no idea that Flights of Wonder even existed, had never bothered to ride Dinosaur and had never stopped for a real "sit down" meal.

In one full day, we had pre-opening Tusker House breakfast, did two safaris, watched a monkey get a colonoscopy and played the Hokey Pokey with Chip 'n Dale out at Rafiki's, walked Pangani and Maharaja, saw FOTLK, Finding Nemo and Flights of Wonder, rode Dinosaur and Everest, had a late lunch at Yak & Yeti...and our kids completely finished the Wilderness Explorers book in one day (which I had read would be rather difficult to do, but they were determined!)...not necessarily in that order. Also had time for a little shopping, pin trading, and Vinylmation trading. We had unanimous agreement that it was one of our best days ever at WDW. The things we had been skipping for a few years were suddenly some of our absolute favorite things to do at WDW.

My wife and 9-year old daughter are now huge fans of watching whatever procedures the vets are doing out at Rafiki's. We had a kidless Food & Wine Festival trip this past weekend, and when we talked to her on the phone, her first question was not whether we had ridden Haunted Mansion or Winnie the Pooh...but rather "what operation were they doing on an animal?"

Sounds like a great day!

 

[mrzrich]

I am going to go against the grain here. Most people go to AK first thing in the morning and get out. We do the opposite. We sleep in on our Ak day, swim at the pool, have a nice lunch at a nearly empty resort restaurant. Then we head to Ak after 3pm. Most of the rope droppers have left by then, and even the late comers are leaving. FP+ makes this strategy even easier. I love Ak at sunset, and the lines are nice and short as closing approaches. Choose a day when the park closes at 7 or 8 pm. I really miss Ak evening EMH. We were there till 10pm one night. It was awesome.

 

[goofy4tink]

AK is my favorite park to go solo in! Most of my friends are of that 'half day' mentality...and seldom spend more than a few hours in AK! I love just ambling around..taking my time to see all that there is to see. AK is not 'in your face over stimulation' like the other parks are. So, sure, people think it's kind of boring. But for me, I love the slower pace, the ability to just take my time and do exactly what I want to do. I like the rides, I don't mind DinoLand (too much anyway!), I love the funny little side paths, I love the different gift shops. It's a great place to slow down and breath. I always feel refreshed when I leave AK..unless it's summertime!!!

 

[gorkt]

I love AK! It is my favorite park after MK. I love animals and nature and it is one of the few parks that really rewards a non-commando touring style. I can have a great day at AK by just moseying around, ducking into some of the side trails and looking at the animals. Heck, I could spend an hour or two just looking for animals on the Tree of Life.

AK also has my favorite WDW coaster for theming - EE. If only they would fix that Yeti....I was one of the fortunate few that got to see it when it was working.

AK ALSO has my favorite show on property - Lion King - so awesome!

The other great thing about AK is that it is a nice size for seeing almost everything in one day touring. At the same time, it lends itself to repeated trips very well because you never see the same "ride" twice when it comes to the Safari, or the walking trails and animal shows.

I used to think the restaurant choices there were sub par, but I have had great meals the last few trips there including Yak and Yeti, Flame Tree and best of all, the Tusker House brunch. I could go for some Jungle Juice right now.

 

[skier_pete]

It's funny that one of the early posters commented AK is "less Disney". I think it is probably the MOST Disney park after MK.

The theming in AK is outstanding. The level of detail that went into the park is incredible.

The reason a lot of people don't "get" Animal Kingdom, though is right in that comment - it's "less Disney".

But AK is about exploring. It's shouldn't be a standard theme park experience, ride this ride, see this show. There in fact isn't a lot to "do" in AK, but there is a lot to "see".

Particularly I love the Africa and Asia sections of the park. Looks around the Village of Harambe and Anadapour. Explore the markets. Listen to the sounds. (There are recordings playing of the "life' of the village if you listen closely enough.)

When taking the explorer trails, stop and listen to and talk to the Cast Members. The biggest thing that sets it apart from a zoo is these people. Ask questions, it can be really fascinating. Last trip we were limited on our AK time because it was pouring rain the day we went there and we just got tired of it after a while, but on the way back from riding EE to meet my DW and DD, I stopped at the howler monkey pen and had a lengthy conversation with the CM that was stationed there, asking why there were only the two monkeys in the enclosure. I won't go into details, but it was really interesting. And I think these CM really appreciate when someone takes an interest.

If you have little ones (or even if you dont') do the Wilderness explorer badges.

Make sure to take the trail along the backside of the tree of life (assuming it's open.) You can get to it through the exit of ITTBAB or right before the bridge to Africa. A few cool animals back there, but even better are the close up views of the tree.

Note that in Dinoland all the vegitation is period correct. Yes that's right, the plants are all plants that existing 60 million years ago. This is the level of detail at AK.

Experiencing a theme park that way isn't for everyone's tastes. Some people just aren't interested in that. For me, I love this park.

 

[kkproulx]

My family absolutely LOVES this park! We get there before the park opens with a breakfast at the Tusker House and head right to the Kilimanjaro Safari when the park opens. We take our time throughout the day getting done what we want to see (gorillas for sure!) and ride our favs (Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids) eat a light lunch at Yak & Yeti, sometimes we make the parade and sometimes we head back for a pool day to rest up for the night. It all depends on the day. Out of the 7 times we have been there it was raining all but two and it was still a blast! We can't wait to make it back there the next couple weeks! Our AK day is 10/30/14!!!