AK Plan - What do you think?

[LBKMAMA]

We are doing non-hopping tickets this year and my boys really want to do AK.
It's my least favorite, but as my DH points out we ususally spend 4 hrs. there and high tail it out...so this is what I've come up with after looking at the map and reading other posts. What do you think. This is for Sun. Oct. 1st we will be there for 9 am opening.

Myself and 2 DS's will head to Expedition Everest (ride 2x if I can take it)
DH & DD will head safari for FP
Meet at Kali Rapids and ride
Get a FP before leaving that area to ride Kali later
Ride Safari (FP)
Back to Kali Area to ride again, Jungle Trek?, Flights of Wonder Show, Rafiki Train ride
Head over to Tree of Life - see characters
Head to Camp Minnie for Lion King Show and Pochantas and meet characters.

Need to figure out where to eat lunch? What's the place that everyone talks about with feeding ducks? I don't want to eat there!

Is this plan doable? Will it take the whole day or will we have pool time?

Thanks!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I think the restaurant you are thinking of is Flame Tree Barbecue. It gets lots of good reviews.

 

[MisunderstoodLilo]

The train to Rafiki's Planet Watch is actually near the Safari and Jungle Trek.

Make sure you get a Times Guide to find out what time FOTLK and Pochahontas are showing. You'd want to make sure you see those.

I love to eat at Tusker House. VERY good food!

The park closes around 5 or 6, so I say you have plenty of pool time after the park! Have fun!

 

[°O°Joe]

Park closes at 5:00pm on that day. Touringplans.com has the crowd level as a 5 out of 10 that day, which isn't too bad... If you do everything on that list I would say it will take (with lunch) until 4 or 5. You could always finish your day off with the Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade...

We were there with similar crowd levels in May and we were getting in a little over an attraction / hour. But we have to do baby swap, which takes a little longer.

 

[100%Libra]

I used to think AK was only a half day park. I was wrong. My last trip was with a friend who had never been to AK. She had me strolling around the Jungle Trek and seeing things I hadn't taken the time to see befoe. She dragged me to the Flights of Wonder show and I enjoyed that. Searching for Devine and finding her is neat. I found her to be intriguing. I agree with MisunderstoodLilo that Rafiki's Planet watch is good. I agree that both Tusker House and Flame Tree BBQ are good stops to eat at. Flame Tree has seating on the water with colorful and amusing decorative areas.
Take your time going thru AK and enjoy.

 

[°O°Joe]

I used to think AK was only a half day park. I was wrong. My last trip was with a friend who had never been to AK. She had me strolling around the Jungle Trek and seeing things I hadn't taken the time to see befoe. She dragged me to the Flights of Wonder show and I enjoyed that. Searching for Devine and finding her is neat. I found her to be intriguing. I agree with MisunderstoodLilo that Rafiki's Planet watch is good. I agree that both Tusker House and Flame Tree BBQ are good stops to eat at. Flame Tree has seating on the water with colorful and amusing decorative areas.
Take your time going thru AK and enjoy.

I have to ask... was the weather nice when you were there?

The only complaint I have with Animal Kingdom is when it's 90° in the rest of WDW, Animal Kingdom is 95° with 90% humidity. Or least it seems like it.

We made it a half day park simply for the fact that it was extra HOT and it happened to be pretty crowded. We just got tired of fighting the heat and crowds.

You're right though, the park is just gorgeous. I've only been to one park that even comes close and that's the San Diego Zoo. I just wish they would have incorporated more misting fans or more air-conditioned buildings.

 

[100%Libra]

I have to admit Joe, I've only been to AK in December and January, though we were wearing shorts and t-shirts. But you are right, on the real hot days you may not want to spend the afternoon there. I guess I will experience the hot days in Aug.

 

[Nasus]

We were there last Tues (May 30). It was hot, but it does have a lot of shady areas which really helped. The park is huge so I would plan to do things without a lot of backtracking. Everest was down the first two hours we were there so I got fast passes for later.
Have fun,
Susan

 

[°O°Joe]

I have to admit Joe, I've only been to AK in December and January, though we were wearing shorts and t-shirts. But you are right, on the real hot days you may not want to spend the afternoon there. I guess I will experience the hot days in Aug.

Good luck - drink lots of water. That's the one tip that I can offer (even though it's an obvious one) - we had 95° days everyday in early May - and it seemed like there was never enough water to drink. I will say though - they (security) are pretty good about letting you bring water in...

Have fun in August!

 

[MJMcBride]

I think Expedition Everest has increased the time you need at this park by a fairly significant amount. It adds a E ticket ride, you may want to ride more than once, and it must add visitors to the park.

Flame Tree is the best.

 

[MelanieC]

I've never understood how someone could only spend 1/2 day here. I LOVE this park (I love them all actually). We spend about 2 to 2 1/2 days here when we go. I love the Theming and the animals. We usually ride all the rides duplicate times on the days we go and fill the shows, paths and other things in between. I agree that Devine is really cool to see. She is worth seeking out. I'm so excited to ride EE this year! I can't wait till they get a restaurant over in that section. It just adds more fun to this park.

I do agree this park is hotter than the others. We try to space out rides that are indoors like Rafiki's, eating lunch at Pizzafari or some place else that has airconditioning, legend of the lion king, Tough to be a bug, Dinasaur and the gift shops, so that we get out of the heat several times during the day. There are also some rides or shows that are at least shielded from the heat and get you out of the direct heat.

My family room and Kitchen are decorated around a picture that I bought at Downtown Disney of AK's Tree of life. I even bought some animal heads I purchased in the Africa sections lining the bulkhead of my kitchen. It really looks cool. I love going to this park to shop just to find ideas or things for these two rooms.

 

[Karnak]

I, too, would recommend making a touring plan that avoids backtracking. To do that, I would get a list of show times in advance of making my plan, so I could fit them in smoothly. And give yourself plenty of time between attractions. (If you find yourself ahead of schedule you can always do something twice; but if you are running late it is very difficult to make up time without skipping something.) If you want to eat indoors in air conditioning, I would recommend Piaaafari because there is plenty of indoor tables in several dining rooms, with not a duck in sight.

Enjoy.