What about the Animal Kingdom?

[pumpkinpatchquilter]

I see a lot of people disappointed with Hollywood Studios - but what about the Animal Kingdom? This is one I never hear much about. I have a feeling we will spend a lot of time at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and at least half day at Hollywood Studios since we booked the Fantasmic package...but what are your thoughts on the Animal Kingdom? I really want to do the safari - what else is there to do there???

 

[LSUfan4444]

There's not ALOT of attractions there, but the things they do have are very nice and the park usually takes quite a bit of time.

Alot of info here http://allears.net/tp/ak/ak.htm

Some of our favorites are the safari, expedition everest, little mermaid show, lion king, finding nemo show, dinoland and flaming tree bbq just might be the best counter service in all of wdw.

 

[Pirate4Ever]

Every single ride, show, and trail is exceptional at AK. What it lacks in quantity, the park makes up in AMAZING quality.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

Every single ride, show, and trail is exceptional at AK. What it lacks in quantity, the park makes up in AMAZING quality.

Agree.

AK gets a bad rap on here alot of times as a half day or park to skip but we love AK and couldn't go on a trip without visiting there. Even if all I do is ride EE and see FOTLK its totally worth the price of admission.

 

[DisneyCrazyMomma]

We love AK too! For us it's a one day place... but I can't imagine not going there while we were in Disney. The Safari and Tusker House breakfast alone are worth it! Ohhh, the juice!!!

Don't discount Hollywood Studios just yet either... we LOVE it there... try it for yourself... not everyone likes the same things... that's just me, a believer in making my own decisions based on my own experiences!

 

[aznshents]

Animal Kingdom is very underestimated IMO. They have a lot of cool stuff that is fantastic if you are the slightest bit into the animal world.

Things to check out:
1) Kilimanjaro Safaris
2) Finding Nemo the musical (I thought I would hate it, but I loved it. HOWEVER, I am a big performer buff, so YMMV)
3) Kali River Rapids (AWESOME on a hot day)
4) Expedition Everest (do the single rider line if you don't have that many people in your party)
5) Festival of the Lion King! This show is FANTASTIC, interactive, and a LOT of fun (and not just for kids). Stunts, fire, fantastic voices.
6) Dinosaur. Warning. This ride is startling to some. Including me.
7) The various trails they have to walk and take pictures of animals.
8) Characters. Especially in Rafiki's Planet Watch. If you're into characters it's a great place. You can also meet Russell and Dug from Up

 

[luckybrew]

If you booked a fantasmic package PLEASE go for a full day. If you get there mid afternoon, you will only have time for an attraction or two before lining up for the show. Do yourself a favor, make it a full day!

 

[DisneyFive]

Our first trip in 2010, we came home with Animal Kingdom as our second favorite park behind Magic Kingdom. You really don't know until you give it a try yourself.

It has incredible theming, and is a very immersive environment.

In order, my favorites at AK.
Expedition Everest
Kilimanjaro Safari
Finding Nemo Show
Lion King Show
Dinosaur
Kali River Rapids
It's tough to be a bug

Awesome little touches as well, like Divine.


What's funny is that the other park you mention, HS, became our second favorite park as of last year. (with AK third) The kids (and my wife and I) love the rides and shows there. You just need to try them to find out yourself. We don't have much interest in Epcot besides a few attractions in Future World.

Dan

 

[luckybrew]

And AK is a FULL day park if not two... You have to go in with the mindset that you will look up, down and all around. Hopping from attraction to attraction will only cause you to miss what AK is all about - DETAILS!

 

[sydsmom1997]

Everybody is different in their likes and dislikes, but my family really enjoys AK. It is usually a one day park for us. It is very beautiful and scenic. To see the Tree of Life in itself makes it worth it to us. It is a beautiful sight. We also love EE, Lion King show, Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, and It's Tough To Be a Bug! As PP said, Flame Tree BBQ is delicious, but we are doing Rainforest this time. As I said before, to each his own, but if your family loves animals, you will probably really enjoy AK.

 

[phillymummer]

I was only at AK once and I don't plan on going back. The char breakfast at the Tusker house was great, but everything else- meh . We did the safari, the rapids (my favorite ride of the day), the boneyard, and the triceratops spin. After that there were no other rides my daughter could do and she didn't want to watch anymore shows. She just wanted rides. So we left and went to MK. For me, it wasn't that exciting. After the character breakfast, I just didn't feel the magic! To me, it was a big zoo.

 

[luckybrew]

Everybody is different in their likes and dislikes, but my family really enjoys AK. It is usually a one day park for us. It is very beautiful and scenic. To see the Tree of Life in itself makes it worth it to us. It is a beautiful sight. We also love EE, Lion King show, Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, and It's Tough To Be a Bug! As PP said, Flame Tree BBQ is delicious, but we are doing Rainforest this time. As I said before, to each his own, but if your family loves animals, you will probably really enjoy AK.

Flame Tree is awesome. Make sure to go to the very back of the seating area by the water so that you can see Everest while you eat. Its things like this that people miss when they hop in for a "half day".

 

[akclayton]

We LOVE AK also.. EE is great fun. Not a huge fan of Dinoland but the kids (niece and nephew) (7&9) enjoyed it. Especially the 9 year old. He's a dinosaur freak..
FOTLK show is awesome fun. Nemo isn't bad either. We love the safari ride. We like the ride it early then later in the evening. Each trip you see different things and some drivers are a bit more entertaining than others. There are 2 trails there that a lot of people seem to avoid. They have lots of animals throughout them. It's not just the animals that make the trails. The details that go into the decorations and the atmosphere help make it as well. Lots of beautiful landscaping and artistry around the park that is neat to look at.We went over to Rafiki Planet Watch and enjoyed it. The kids got a Discovery Card and could do different educational and fun activities to get stamps on this card. Lots more to do than just this but it's some of the stuff we enjoy. I'm on my lunch break or I'd add more on.

 

[luckybrew]

I was only at AK once and I don't plan on going back. The char breakfast at the Tusker house was great, but everything else- meh . We did the safari, the rapids (my favorite ride of the day), the boneyard, and the triceratops spin. After that there were no other rides my daughter could do and she didn't want to watch anymore shows. She just wanted rides. So we left and went to MK. For me, it wasn't that exciting. After the character breakfast, I just didn't feel the magic! To me, it was a big zoo.

Oh wow.... this makes me sad. ITSNOTAZOO and was never intended as one. There are so many gems to AK. You ha e to set aside the mindset of "rides". Disney in general wasn't built specifically for rides. Its about learning and exploring.

 

[KeroKero]

I agree with PP, there definitely aren't a lot of attractions. The park is so big however, that it takes a while to navigate to all of the different areas.

Must do attractions for us are the Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, It's Tough to be a Bug, Kali River Rapids, Festival of The Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical.

That's pretty much the park in a nutshell. It's definitely easier to make it a full day at HS.

 

[akclayton]

Oh wow.... this makes me sad. ITSNOTAZOO and was never intended as one. There are so many gems to AK. You ha e to set aside the mindset of "rides". Disney in general wasn't built specifically for rides. Its about learning and exploring.

I Agree 100% with this!!!

It seems like a lot of people are in it just for the thrill rides. Some times, it's not about the thrill rides. It's about the small things. The rides are fun yes! But, the shows here are entertaining IMO. There are street performers that perform and I love watching them. I love the detail that's put into the scenery. Explore and you shall find more!

 

[luckybrew]

I Agree 100% with this!!!

It seems like a lot of people are in it just for the thrill rides. Some times, it's not about the thrill rides. It's about the small things. The rides are fun yes! But, the shows here are entertaining IMO. There are street performers that perform and I love watching them. I love the detail that's put into the scenery. Explore and you shall find more!

Exactly. If I want rides, I would do Kings Island or something of that nature. I think people blast into the gate and do ride after ride then leave. You have to go in and look around, ride a ride, do a show, ride a ride, eat, do an attraction, ride a ride, walk a trail, etc...... You ha e to take your day in stride all while soaking up every aspect of the details while doing so. And remember, No, ITSNOTAZOO!

 

[twojay]

I love AK. The only thing I don't like there is Bug's Life because I'm terrified of bugs. I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet: the parade is amazing.

 

[Moms]

We like AK well enough but if we have to skip a park that's the one we will skip. We often go in the summer months and the heat is a factor as the park has fewer indoor attractions and little protection from the afternoon thunderstorms!

We are heading to WDW this December/January for our first winter trip so we plan on spending one full day at AK to catch up on the what we have been missing!

 

[Blissikins]

We spent a day in AK, and to be honest I don't think we got the best out of it (due to illness in the afternoon). We did Camp Minnie-Mickey, FOTLK, Nemo, Bug's Life, Flame Tree BBQ, and wandered around The Oasis, but that was as far as we got and for some reason we never went back.

I look forward to visiting it again next time though! The other parks we gave at least two days each, and set off in an alternative direction each day to make sure that we covered as much as possible.