AK-emh? Or early Tusker b'fast?

[AshleeH]

We haven't taken advantage of many extra magic hours on past trips, but the last trip the morning ones were worth it. Animal Kingdom is a half-day park for us, so what would you recommend: EMH a.m. hours with a late breakfast before we leave the park? Or skipping the EMH days completely and scheduling Tusker as early as possible on a non-EMH day and touring after we eat?

 

[jezebel73]

I would take advantage of the EMH and eat as late as possible.

 

[Dasha Hermosilla]

I would take advantage of the EMH and eat as late as possible.

We did this on MLK day this year and it worked great!

 

[wendybeth75]

EMH is like double for your money. We got more done in 2 hours than we would have an entire day at AK and MK both.

 

[bumbershoot]

EMH and then the latest breakfast possible, if you actually want breakfast. We found breakfast to be uninspired and very typical (note: we are vegetarians, and apparently all the interesting things involve meat), and FAR prefer lunch.

I have still never done everything at AK, so it always boggles my mind to say it's a half day park. Are you really doing everything in half a day? How? Can I tour with you?

 

[perkinsrose]

We have wondered about this too. In the past, I have usually tried to take advantage of EMH AM. ( We are early risers and do not do PM EMH)

This year, we will do a Tusker House breakfast before rope drop (8:20ish) and hopefully be on Safari by 9ish opening.

Different approach-reverse philosophy on the crowds predictors, I guess. Sometimes I feel like the EMH AM parks are extra crowded and not worth it but I feel compelled to get go anyway?

We will hit a few EMHs on other days/other parks. Those days, we will hop by mid-day.


(We are semi-vegetarian and find breakfast easiest meal and we enjoy Tusker House!)

 

[Robo]

This year, we will do a Tusker House breakfast before rope drop (8:20ish) and hopefully be on Safari by 9ish opening.

This used to be a good plan, but don't count on it anymore.

DAK (and DHS, & Epcot, too) can open 15-30 minutes earlier than the posted time, leaving guests who paid for expensive character meals still in their restaurant seats as hordes of regular entrance guests go streaming into the attraction queues like BB's pouring into a bottle.

 

[perkinsrose]

We have wondered about this too. In the past, I have usually tried to take advantage of EMH AM. ( We are early risers and do not do PM EMH)

This year, we will do a Tusker House breakfast before rope drop (8:20ish) and hopefully be on Safari by 9ish opening.

Different approach-reverse philosophy on the crowds predictors, I guess. Sometimes I feel like the EMH AM parks are extra crowded and not worth it but I feel compelled to get go anyway?

We will hit a few EMHs on other days/other parks. Those days, we will hop by mid-day.


(We are semi-vegetarian and find breakfast easiest meal and we enjoy Tusker House!)

We had a 8:00 reservation. We didn't get called in right away at 8 on the dot, but were done by 8:45 anyway. (We skip the photo opp. before the meal) When we came out of Tusker House we were literally the only souls other than CMs "guarding" Safari. We looked for a sunny spot to stand to warm up in the chilly morning and take a few artsy photos around Africa.

A CM wandered over to talk to us and ended up asking if we were waiting for Safari and wanted to be the family of the day... It was fun. Got our own vehicle and private tour of sorts. With the timing, we would have been ahead of the crowds to the line but it was a very magical experience. So thankful.

We were able to make it to 9:50ish Everest FP+, Dinosaur, etc. too later.

The rest of the trip, all parks let us in right at 8:00 or 9:00 opening or 8:55 and then stopped you at a rope at another point untill official opening.

 

[bdtracey]

I've done both and we prefer to go for the EMH. The only real advantage to Tusker House for breakfast is being one of the first ppl on the Safari. If you did rope drop on an EMH morning you may lose 10 minutes if that compared to Tusker house. Plus, if you don't get a seating shortly after 8am you could end up rushing through your meal only to get bounced around on a two week safari

Personally, I'd much rather sit and enjoy my food rather than be glancing at my watch every two minutes to make sure we're still on schedule. I guess it depends on how commando you are with your touring. We used to go pretty hard but have since learned to slow it down, especially with the little ones in tow.

Just my $0.02

 

[puffkin]

We often do the AK EMH and then the latest breakfast possible at Tusker House. We get a ton done in the park in the morning and then treat the breakfast more like a brunch. In fact, they start switching out the breakfast items to the lunch menu during the later sittings so you can eat more "lunchy" items if breakfast isn't your thing. Bonus that breakfasts are cheaper than lunch and dinner character meals.