1/2 day at Animal Kingdom

[jerzgrl]

Could you see a majority of AK in say 6 hours or do you need more time? The day we are planning on going there for the day, we probably will only have 5 hours in the park from about 10:30-3:30. We have a PS in MK and I don't want to spend all day at AK, may wear out the kids. But I wanted to know if I could probably see most of it in a short amount of time. I am wondering if I should save the AK day to a fuller day when we could get there earlier in the morning and instead do Epcot on PS breakfast day.

Thoughts?

 

[jaysue]

I would say it is possible to see almost all of AK if you started first thing at opening and went from there -

K. Safaris
Dinosuar
Prim Whirl
Kali River Rapids
Tarzan Rocks
Tough to be a bug
Camp Minne/Mickey
Performances

etc.

You would miss the Jungle Jammin parade

If time is short, I think AK is the park that you could see the majority of in less than a full day

Thanks
Jason

 

[mom_rules]

Great Plan Jason-I agree with you.

 

[erinch]

I love to go to Animal Kingdom first thing in the am because the animals are much more active and they have some lovely animals/greeters on display at hte entrance. If it were me, I would do the part-day at Epcot before MK, and save AK for an earlier morning

 

[donna in Oz]

Don't miss Legend of the Lion King . . . . .!!

If you're running short on time, I'd recommend seeing that show and perhaps skipping Primevil Whirl.

 

[mickeysaver]

I was the victim of all the "you can do AK in a half-day" stories when I went last September. Please, please don't believe it. If you like animals, shows, or even a few good rides, please don't short this park. If you kids like Animal Planet, don't short this park. There is just so much beauty and so much to see. I really felt bad that I shorted this park on time and by the time we got there it was too late in the vacation to do much about it. I say over plan on time and if you do all that you want to do there, then leave, but don't make the mistake that I did. The park is so Natazu! Mickey

 

[jaysue]

Mickeysaver, I do agree with you that AK has some amazing spots to savour over as I did after DW and DS checked back to the hotel for the afternoon swim and nap.

Then I strolled out of the park and hopped almost right away onto a bus to the TTC and then took the monorail to the MK and met with DW and DS for the balance of the day

A magical Disney Day

Thanks
Jason

 

[CJK]

I think it really depends on your interests. If your family really enjoys watching animals, then the AK park could take an entire day. Dh and I don't like to watch animals for a long time, so we easily do the park in half a day. We love the shows most of all so they're "must sees" for us, but conversely, we went with friends who didn't like any of the shows and much preferred wandering around taking pictures of animals. It's a subjective decision.

 

[Ratpack]

When we went last summer, we too took the advice of many about only needing a half day. WRONG! Yes you can see most attractions in a half day, but there are so many side things you miss. I could spend a half day just wondering through the different areas and exploring. This summer, we are spending 2 half days.

 

[kilarney]

If you are going to do this, you have to be sure to get there right at opening.
Here is what I would do:
- Go right to Kilamanjaro Safari and get fast passes for everyone in your group. Hopefully they will have you coming back somewhere from a 1/2 hour to an hour.
- Go ride Kali River Rapids. (the line won't be too bad since everyone goes to the Safari first)
- Return to the Safari and ride it using your fastpasses.
- Ride Dinosaur
- View "It's Tough to be a Bug"
- Watch "Legend of the Lion King"
- If you have time, you can ride Primeval Whirl or watch Tarzan Rocks.

I would recommend 3/4 of a day at least, but this will cover the best attractions. (admittedly leaving off some worthwhile attractions)

 

[mom_rules]

Well, considering May AK park hours are 9:00-5:00 and you plan to do 6 hours-I think you are spending almost a full day there anyway. Kilarney has a good plan too. I would probably go through the attractions with your family and have each choose their must sees and plan from there. Every family is different so individualize your plan and you won't be disappointed.

 

[mcnuss]

The advice to go there early is absolutely key. We did this 2 years ago in May and the animals were cool to watch. We entirely bypassed all the things to look at on the way in so that we could get to the far reaches of the park as quickly as possible.

We then enjoyed meandering back out. We saw the Tarzan show and the Lion King show. We also watched the bird show which was much better than I would have thought. My DD8 was picked to go up with the CMs and she loved it. DD has ZERO interest in the dinosaurs so we skipped it completely. (We went on another trip, and she despised the Dino ride, still talks about how creepy it was, and she is now almost 9!)

IMHO, AK feels the most crowded of all the parks, so the faster you can get over to the safari and then the rapids, the better. I think it is bc the walkways are narrower and they wanted to give the place a village-y feel.

Last year, we were going to skip AK completely, and changed our minds at the last minute. We got there in time for the parade, and sat in the nice cool shade at that BBQ restaurant. We sat in the upper portion, and while the view was not perfect, it was shady!! We then walked around aimlessly, having a great time having no plans, and then went over to the rapids where there was no line. (Most people were leaving at that point.) It was 90 plus degrees, and we ended up riding over & over again -- 5 or 6 times! - with another family. They just let us stay on since there was nobody there. They finally chased us out at 5:00 and we were among the last out of the park. As we were walking by the TTC, who should appear but Mickey in his safari outfit! Talk about perfect timing.

 

[Paris]

Jerz, everyone has suggested to arrive before the 9am opening. Is there a reason why you were set to start at 10:30? Do you have PS for a breakfast somewhere or are you just not the early riser type?

The only reason I ask this is that if you want to spend five hours at AK, the five hours in the middle of the day are the worst. The park is not very shady. Arguably the park's best attraction -- the Kilimanjaro Safari -- also suffers this way as the animals are the most active once the park opens and later in the day (they too, seem to eschew the hot sun).

I realize that there are a lot of people who prefer Animal Kingdom to the other three parks. They're the ones who take Disney's Nahtazu ad campaign to heart. Truth be told you can spend days there and still not see it all. It's not just the details it's the fact that animals are not audioanimatronic beings. They are random. They are always unique. Whether it's an animal in the safari or a goat in the petting zoo, it's a great place to get away from it all.

But since you asked if the park can be done on a day in which you have to be at MK later that night -- and the alternative is to lay out in the hotel or go shopping at DD and never experiencing the park at all -- go for it. Half a day is better than none and you will definitely have time for the major attractions and sample a few of the delicate touches that finds so many folks smitten with the park.

If anything try to schedule your half day early in your vacation to see where you fall. If you're blown away by the park you can replace it with a day later in your itenerary. If it lets you down, go about your trip and at least you know.

 

[Dodie]

I too think you can do it *IF* you arrive at 9:00 a.m. opening, instead of 10:30. The animals are so much more active and visible in the morning! Do Kiliminjaro Safaris first thing!

 

[TRAPPED-PARENT]

We were just there and only spent a half-day at AK .... HOWEVER, we have been there many times before, so just hit what we consider the highlights.

If this is your very first time, I concur with the others that:

Be there before park opening ... if you are a resort guest, try to be there for early entry

Start with the Safari

Use Fastpasses when/where possible

Try to plan a full day and then switch over to another park that is open later

If you cannot spend more than a half-day, then go over the attractions with your family and prioritize those that are of the most interest and see those first.

Also, if time is limited, do not spend it eating breakfast at the park ... eat at your hotel prior to park hours so you can knock-off some highlights before the crowds grow.

Most of all, have a good time.

 

[erinch]

I love the detailing and fun of the Rapids Ride, but really hate getting my hair wet (not only lose the styling but hair smells like the river). In particular if I'm going somewhere else the same day, I wear my poncho on the rapids ride and waterproof sandals. Saves the drowned rat look the rest of the day, or a trip back to the room to get ready again.

 

[kilarney]

We buy ponchos at the Dollar Store before we leave for Florida. This way, we don't feel too guilty when we throw them out. It beats having to lug wet plastic around all day... and it's much cheaper than the ponchos that Disney sells.
The best deal I saw was at Universal Studios in Hollywood. They sold ponchos for 75 cents. They were very thin, but they were perfect for a water ride.

 

[Ted and Holly]

In my opinion, if you leave out the Maharajah Jungle Trek and the Pengani Forest Exploration Trail, you are missing two VERY enjoyable aspects of the park.

AK for me is a full day park. We don't always do a full day and do EVERYTHING, but we go often enough that we don't feel bad about skipping things (in any park).

Ted

 

[webprinter]

We arrived at Animal Kingdom before it opened and did everything we wanted to and were out by 1:00pm. We followed the Unofficial Guide to Disneyworld touring plan. We did not care to see all the shows. We were trying to do 4 parks in 3 days as our 19 year old son was only there for 3 days. We went to EPCOT after Animal Kingdom and it worked quite well. We were there on the off season (Dec) which also helped.

 

[BrianD]

I don't think that you can "do" Animal Kingdom in a half day. You can see several of the attractions, maybe hit all the recommended ones, but to me, Animal Kingdom is kind of like Epcot. You can keep going back and see & discover new things every time. So much attention to detail has gone into this park (duh...it's Disney) and it really is more enjoyable, IMO, when done at a leisurely pace. For example, the first time we ever went to AK, we half-dayed it and thought the park was so-so. The next time we gave it a whole day to see it all and we still only got about 2/3 of the way around the park. I guess I'm just trying to say, don't judge your enjoyment of AK based on the half-day experience, because you will still be missing much of what the park has to offer.