2 Touring Plans for AK. Need help deciding which is best.

[AngieInOH]

I have two plans made out. Wondering if you see an advantage/disadvantage of one over the other. Crowds are predicted to be 1-2 and it closes at 5:00. Plan 1 may have a bit more walking but I believe there may be an advantage of getting to ride Everest multiple times.

Plan 1
9:15 Everest (FP, may get to ride more than once)
10:00 Maharajah Jungle Trek
10:45 Flights of Wonder
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Kilimanjaro Safaris (FP)
1:00 Lion King (FP)
1:45 Pangani Forest
2:15 Tree of Life/Bug
3:15 Primeval Whirl/Boneyard
4:00 Nemo
4:45 Dinosaur/Boneyard

Plan 2
9:15 Kilimanjaro Safaris (FP)
10:00 Pangani Forest
11:00 Lion King (FP)
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Tree of Life/Bug
1:00 Maharajah Jungle Trek
1:45 Flights of Wonder
2:30 Everest (FP)
3:00 Primeval Whirl/Boneyard
4:00 Nemo
4:45 Dinosaur/Boneyard

Bless anyone who would take the time and look at this!! I swore I would never post my touring plans to be critiqued, and at last I am. I'm in panic mode as I am almost to my FP selection day. Eeek!!

 

[Disneylover99]

I would get there at rope drop, go with plan 1 and ride Everest multiple times. If crowd levels are a 1 or 2, you may not even need the Everest fp in the first hour. Maybe you can switch it out for the Dinosaur fp later.

 

[ZoZo]

Also, if you want to ride EE multiple times, use the single rider line! I once rode theee times in a row, mid-day, with no wait at all! In fact, the only thing stopping me from riding more was the fact that I was getting a little dizzy!

 

[Jennytoon]

I think plan 1 may be very tight around lunchtime due to the fixed showtime for FoW, the short lunch window, and the Safari right after lunch. The safari is not a short ride (20 minutes minimum, not including the line), and even if you get on with no wait it is not uncommon to be slowed or even stopped for a bit waiting for animals to move out of the road. Not saying it won't work, but I always leave 40+ minutes for the safari when I plan "just in case". Also, Pangani Forest is literally right at the exit to the Safari, so you will be doing a bit of backtracking if you go to FoLK and come back to it. The order in Plan 2 before lunch is more natural.

However, in Plan 2, you don't say your exact dates but I think there is not usually a 1:45 FoW show.

Try this on for size:

9:15 Everest (FP, may get to ride more than once)
10:00 Maharajah Jungle Trek
10:45 Flights of Wonder
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Tree of Life / Bug
1:00 Nemo
1:45 Dinosaur / Boneyard / Primeval Whirl
3:30 Safari
4:15 Pangani
5:00 FoLK

Geographically what is before lunch is a pretty tight grouping, and putting ToL/Bug after lunch allows for some adjustment due to unforeseen circumstances and still make the 1PM Nemo. If you make your Safari FP for 3-4 PM or thereabouts, then you'll have an option to head over early if everything goes quickly in Dinoland (someone doesn't want to ride or just isn't that interested in the Boneyard) and maybe make the 4PM FoLK. It's true that it will be a long-ish walk back to Africa from Dinoland at the end of the day, but the rest of the day is quite efficient and once you get to Africa both the Safari and FoLK are seated attractions of 20 mins plus, good for tired people at the end of the day. If your Safari is efficient and you have time to kill between Pangani and FoLK, you can grab a snack at Tamu Tamu or a drink at the Dawa bar and sit in the area outside Tusker House; it's efficient walking to Harambe theater and it's a great place to people watch in Africa.

 

[Alesia]

I'm not crazy about either, but plan 1 is probably the best of the two.

I always do AK in 2 circles - riding major attractions on the first pass and doing shows, trails, and FP+ rides on the second.

We always start with 3 rides on expedition Everest. If you head there first, you can get in 3 rides in about 25 minutes. Then we move on to Dinosaur and continue around.

This is what I would do:
9:00 EE (x3)
9:30 Dinosaur
10:00 Primeval Whirl
10:30 it's tough to be a Bug
11:00 Tree of Life/Oasis Exhibits
11:30 lunch
12:15ish Festival of the Lion King (depending on showtimes) (FP+)
1:00 Safari (FP+)
2:00 Pangani Forest trail
2:45ish Flights of Wonder (depending on showtimes)
3:15 Maharajah Jungle Trek
4:00 Expedition Everest (FP+)
4:15ish Finding Nemo (depending on showtimes)
5:00 the Boneyard

 

[Stubbzilla]

We've always started with EE, but this year we're trying something different and starting with KS. The funny thing is that touringplans always had us starting with EE, but this year when it optimized our plan, it had us starting with KS. I thought, hmm...and I checked around and realized that easywdw recommends either, but prefer starting with KS. This year, because of both touringplans and easywdw, we're starting with KS and seeing how it goes. We're rope-dropping KS, I have never had to wait very long for it, even when the line appeared very long. Got the FP+ for Dinosaur later in the day, although I've never had much of a wait for that one, either, we always go during less crowded times and go on recommended days.

We've also had the experience of riding EE multiple times as a single rider mid-day with almost no wait.

 

[loves to dive]

I agree with others, get there early, hop on EE and either ride it again or move over to Safari and ride it. Either way, you can get EE and the Safari in both without FP early in the morning. Make your FPs for later in the day, get the trails done in the morning as well. You can FP EE and whatever else you want after lunch. It probably wouldn't be necessary to FP FOLK if you hit one of the morning shows for it. I've never used a FP at AK, I've never really thought any of the lines were too long to handle if you get there early enough (I don't do the kids section and rarely ride Dinasaur anymore). Single rider line for EE is your friend, it's been a walk on every time I've done it. I tend to take a little longer than most doing the trails, I like to take my time and really stop and look at all the details.

 

[robndani]

I think in general you have your day over scheduled. In regards to the safari - from entering FP line to exiting that area can easily take 35-40 minutes. I would hit EE at rope drop and make a 10:00 or so KS FP. I would only see 1-2 shows, not 3 (plus FOW). Lunch probably won't take only 30 minutes if you consider walking to a place, waiting in line (on a slow day it can take a while, even at the new Harambe Market), eating, getting to next place (don't forget about a bathroom stop and washing hands - lol). It's really spread out and if they are still doing construction (which I'm sure they will be) that delays things.

AK is a wonderful park, with so much to do and see. Plan for what's most important with your FP and then go with a loose plan. One time, there were baby gorillas and we just watched them for 1/2 hour. They were playing and so so cute! My kids didn't want to leave and that was fine!

Have a great time!!!!!

 

[hammie59]

I'd go with plan two. You don't need a FP+ for EE if you get there at opening and can probably ride a few times in a row. Going on the safari in the morning will give you a better chance to actually see some animals before they go hide in the shade. Squeeze EE in and move your safi back a little. OR go with plan one and scrap that EE FP+ and use it for Dinosaur.

 

[JaimeK]

Standby lines for Everest will be pretty short at the end of the day too.

 

[NYHeel]

I'm planning a similar day in AK except that I need to leave by about 3:30 maybe 3:40 at the latest. We can skip the 30 minutes for lunch and just factor in about 10 minutes as we just eat hot pretzels and snacks for lunch every day. But we'd also want to add in the Kali Rapids ride if possible.

If we have to we can skip the purely animal exhibits as we see those at the zoo enough.

It will be tough but I think doable.

Question for the OP, I see you're using a FP for the Lion King show. Is that necessary on a low crowd day?

 

[AngieInOH]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!!! So great to hear other"s ideas. Back to the drawing board!!

 

[AngieInOH]

If we have to we can skip the purely animal exhibits as we see those at the zoo enough.



Question for the OP, I see you're using a FP for the Lion King show. Is that necessary on a low crowd day?

My plan is to also skip the animal exhibits if necessary. We can get those back home.

My original thought was to get FP for Lion King in case the safari took awhile. I was thinking it would "hold" me a spot at the Lion King show. However, the more I look into the FP for the shows it seems like it holds your spot for awhile but if you don't get there say 15 minutes early the seats are open for everyone. Someone interject if I am wrong. So I may be rethinking the Lion King FP.