AK for the last 2 hours on arrival day?

[IBLarsen]

Our trip is March, arriving on Tues 3/10. I have a day during the week slated for AK, but my family is a bit blah on this park. I'm torn on canceling AK in favor of an extra day at MK (kids 9,11). We will arrive at POR about 3:30-4:00 at the very latest. Would this be a good time to sneak in a bit of AK, not getting to the park until close to 4:30-5:00 with a 7:00 closing? The only thing we really want to do is the Safari, Everest, and the Lion King show (which we may be too late for). Is two hours enough to feel like we can see AK a bit? The kids aren't into the Dinosaur area or ride. I don't care to do the lengthy trails. We have only been to AK once a few years ago, and the kids were fairly bored with this park, but I don't want to feel like we are missing out either..... so torn!

 

[Shaden]

AK can be particularly awesome near closing. Like 4:30+ it quite often clears out and you are able to ride and reride some of the bigger attractions. Last trip we rode EE 7 times in a row. It was pretty awesome.

It will be tougher to fit everything in, Safari does take up some time, but it would be a good use of the afternoon IMO

 

[IBLarsen]

Does anybody know when the latest FP+ is offered for the Safari? Also, If the park closes at 7, even without FP, what is the latest they take off?

 

[msupulski]

If those are really only the only three things that you want to do, you may be able to get them done in two hours, but you will be pushing it. The Festival of the Lion King is around 35 minutes long, plus you need time to find a seat.

Expedition Everest shouldn't take too long, as long as you get a FP+ for it. Kilimanjaro Safaris will take about 25 minutes for the ride itself, plus waiting in line (obviously much less if you have a FP+).

Looking at the showtimes, FotLK plays at 5:00 and 6:00 on 3/10/2015. I think if you attempt to do all three, your best bet would be to reserve a FP+ for Kilimanjaro Safaris from 4:00-5:00. You have a 15 minute window so as long as you are at the que by 5:15 you will be fine. Then, reserve a FP+ for FotLK for the 6:00 show (so from 5:00-6:00...or does it just give a showtime on FP+? It's been a while since my last vacation so I can't remember). Finally, reserve an EE FP+ for 6:00-7:00. Odds are FotLK will be done around 5:30 which gives you 30 minutes to go over to Everest, which should be plenty of time considering they are now much closer to each other than they were before.

It's going to be a tight schedule, but I think you could do it--you just won't have much wiggle room.

 

[Marthasor]

If those are really only the only three things that you want to do, you may be able to get them done in two hours, but you will be pushing it. The Festival of the Lion King is around 35 minutes long, plus you need time to find a seat.

Expedition Everest shouldn't take too long, as long as you get a FP+ for it. Kilimanjaro Safaris will take about 25 minutes for the ride itself, plus waiting in line (obviously much less if you have a FP+).

Looking at the showtimes, FotLK plays at 5:00 and 6:00 on 3/10/2015. I think if you attempt to do all three, your best bet would be to reserve a FP+ for Kilimanjaro Safaris from 4:00-5:00. You have a 15 minute window so as long as you are at the que by 5:15 you will be fine. Then, reserve a FP+ for FotLK for the 6:00 show (so from 5:00-6:00...or does it just give a showtime on FP+? It's been a while since my last vacation so I can't remember). Finally, reserve an EE FP+ for 6:00-7:00. Odds are FotLK will be done around 5:30 which gives you 30 minutes to go over to Everest, which should be plenty of time considering they are now much closer to each other than they were before.

It's going to be a tight schedule, but I think you could do it--you just won't have much wiggle room.

The FP+ for the 6 pm FOTLK will be a 5:30 - 5:50 pm window. I agree with this strategy. Get a Safari FP+ with a starting window of 4/4:15 pm, followed by FOTLK FP+ and then hightail it over to Everest. You may have to do this standby unless you can get a 6-7 pm FP+. As long as you are in line for Everest before 7 pm, they will let you ride.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

AK really clears out around 3-4 pm. In early June, we arrived one day about 4 pm and felt we had the park to ourselves.

The kids rode Everest 6x in under 45 minutes. Dinosaur was a walk on with ride vehicles being sent out half full. We were the only family on board for one trip.

The Safari closes at park closing time or dusk, whichever is earlier. It's probably earlier than 7 pm in March. You should check when you arrive. On our visit, we actually had to wait about 10 minutes for enough guests to arrive to fill the vehicle. I guess they don't like to send those out partially full.

Lion King is also a good bet for late in the afternoon. We hit the 3 pm show on June 1 (opening day) with very little waiting and great seats.

Do you have park hoppers? You'll still have several hours of prime time at MK available after AK closes.

 

[Leigha]

We went in late one night doing 4 parks in 1 day for my husband's birthday. At about 6 in the evening on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, we were on Everest getting our picture made every 7 minutes on average. We did this until we couldn't take it any more on an empty stomach! I'd advise the earliest FP you think you can do for the safari because although it may stay open until 5 (it closes before the rest of the park), the animals know when they're about to go in so they head for their exit and you can't see them. We watched FOTLK and sat near the exit and ran to the safari but it was a bit dissapointing! A short line to get in, but disappointing and not the real thing at all if it's your one and only shot!

 

[IBLarsen]

AK really clears out around 3-4 pm. In early June, we arrived one day about 4 pm and felt we had the park to ourselves.

The kids rode Everest 6x in under 45 minutes. Dinosaur was a walk on with ride vehicles being sent out half full. We were the only family on board for one trip.

The Safari closes at park closing time or dusk, whichever is earlier. It's probably earlier than 7 pm in March. You should check when you arrive. On our visit, we actually had to wait about 10 minutes for enough guests to arrive to fill the vehicle. I guess they don't like to send those out partially full.

Lion King is also a good bet for late in the afternoon. We hit the 3 pm show on June 1 (opening day) with very little waiting and great seats.

Do you have park hoppers? You'll still have several hours of prime time at MK available after AK closes.

Thanks so much for the info! We do not have park hoppers. I was considering MK for this evening, but as I really would like to get to the hotel early and in bed (will have been up early for flights with kids). Will make rope drop the next morning at MK. Since AK closes early, I thought it may be a good time to hit that since we can't stay late even if we wanted.

 

[IBLarsen]

If those are really only the only three things that you want to do, you may be able to get them done in two hours, but you will be pushing it. The Festival of the Lion King is around 35 minutes long, plus you need time to find a seat.

Expedition Everest shouldn't take too long, as long as you get a FP+ for it. Kilimanjaro Safaris will take about 25 minutes for the ride itself, plus waiting in line (obviously much less if you have a FP+).

Looking at the showtimes, FotLK plays at 5:00 and 6:00 on 3/10/2015. I think if you attempt to do all three, your best bet would be to reserve a FP+ for Kilimanjaro Safaris from 4:00-5:00. You have a 15 minute window so as long as you are at the que by 5:15 you will be fine. Then, reserve a FP+ for FotLK for the 6:00 show (so from 5:00-6:00...or does it just give a showtime on FP+? It's been a while since my last vacation so I can't remember). Finally, reserve an EE FP+ for 6:00-7:00. Odds are FotLK will be done around 5:30 which gives you 30 minutes to go over to Everest, which should be plenty of time considering they are now much closer to each other than they were before.

It's going to be a tight schedule, but I think you could do it--you just won't have much wiggle room.

Thank you for the suggested FP times! This helps immensely to wrap my brain around how to make it work FP+ opens in a couple days for me, happy to have a game plan!

 

[ghtx]

If those are really only the only three things that you want to do, you may be able to get them done in two hours, but you will be pushing it. The Festival of the Lion King is around 35 minutes long, plus you need time to find a seat.

Expedition Everest shouldn't take too long, as long as you get a FP+ for it. Kilimanjaro Safaris will take about 25 minutes for the ride itself, plus waiting in line (obviously much less if you have a FP+).

Looking at the showtimes, FotLK plays at 5:00 and 6:00 on 3/10/2015. I think if you attempt to do all three, your best bet would be to reserve a FP+ for Kilimanjaro Safaris from 4:00-5:00. You have a 15 minute window so as long as you are at the que by 5:15 you will be fine. Then, reserve a FP+ for FotLK for the 6:00 show (so from 5:00-6:00...or does it just give a showtime on FP+? It's been a while since my last vacation so I can't remember). Finally, reserve an EE FP+ for 6:00-7:00. Odds are FotLK will be done around 5:30 which gives you 30 minutes to go over to Everest, which should be plenty of time considering they are now much closer to each other than they were before.

It's going to be a tight schedule, but I think you could do it--you just won't have much wiggle room.

This sounds like a great plan. You will of course be missing A LOT at AK, but this will allow you to hit the highlights. You can also spend some time at the end wandering around and taking in the ambiance and the animal trails.

 

[Candleshoe]

Thank you for the suggested FP times! This helps immensely to wrap my brain around how to make it work FP+ opens in a couple days for me, happy to have a game plan!

You could also splurge on a Taxi there so you get there ASAP to maximize your time there. You can grab a bus back to the resort as you won't be as rushed.

 

[msupulski]

This sounds like a great plan. You will of course be missing A LOT at AK, but this will allow you to hit the highlights. You can also spend some time at the end wandering around and taking in the ambiance and the animal trails.

That's definitely true. You can probably squeeze in a ride after Everest if you'd like. Either ride it again or maybe Kali River Rapids if you would like to ride that (last trip, we rode that about three times right before we left, just so we wouldn't have to walk around the park all wet, and we just kept getting right back on). Or pick a trail and wander for a little bit!

 

[IBLarsen]

You could also splurge on a Taxi there so you get there ASAP to maximize your time there. You can grab a bus back to the resort as you won't be as rushed.

I wouldn't have thought of that! May be a great idea.