AK plan

[chelseabun76]

If we are doing the Safari first thing, and then want to do the train to the whole affection section, habitat stuff, etc., how long do you think ALL of that would take?

Safari
African Station/Rafiki's Planet Watch Station
Habitat Habit!
Affection Section

Would we be best to catch the 11am Lion King show?

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

If we are doing the Safari first thing, and then want to do the train to the whole affection section, habitat stuff, etc., how long do you think ALL of that would take?

Safari
African Station/Rafiki's Planet Watch Station
Habitat Habit!
Affection Section

Would we be best to catch the 11am Lion King show?

what time will you be entering the park?

Are you aware that Rafiki's usually opens at 10 am (as I recall)? So if you are there at RD and walk quickly you'll probably have time to kill before you can go out there.
Trains come about every 7 minutes.

I think Rafiki's is something that you can take your time in or you can do more quickly depending on how much you want to really look/ see. Sometimes they have a CM out with an animal talking about it - that can take some time too.

It is a bit of a walk from the train station to Rafiki's with things to see along the way - again you can walk quickly or stop and look at the stations / animals along the way - sort of depends on how old your kids are and how much they want to see.

Have you thought about maybe doing the Safari and then the 10 am FOTLK show and then going out to Rafiki's so you're not pressed for time?

 

[nighttowll]

This depends on when the park opens and how early you plan on getting there. Does the park open at 7, 8 or 9? Will you be there 45 minutes to an hour early and therefore be at the front of the rope drop crowd? Are you going during peak season?

Here are my time estimates:

Walk to the Safari - 10 mins

Wait to ride - 10 mins or less
If you are at the front of the rope drop group, you will most likely be able to walk-on or have a very low 10-15 min wait. If you are a little later getting there, or are there during peak season it might be a bit longer.

Ride the Safari ride - 20 minutes

Walk to train - 5 min
Wait for train - 10 min
Ride the train - 7min
Walk to exhibits from train - 10 min
Experience 3 attractions there - 30 min
Walk back to train - 10 min
Wait for train - 10 min
Ride train back. 7 min
Walk to next attraction. 5

This adds up to close to 2.5 hours, so if the park opened at 9, you definately couldn't make it.

This is also being very conservative with the time hoping that you don't run into any issues or long waits. It also only gives you 10 minutes per attraction once you take the train over. I know there are some people who really like to take their time, especially if there is a surgery or procedure planned or if they have young children who enjoy the petting zoo and don't want to leave. It also doesn't leave you any time for bathroom breaks, snack breaks, or anything else you may get distracted by.

Two more things to think about is that the train doesn't start running until 30 mins after the official park opening. So, even if AK offers early entry at 8, you still can't board the train until 9:30.

The second is that you will need to get seats for the Lion King early or risk the theater filling to capacity, so you will need to factor in arriving early. Don't plan on just showing up 5 minutes before the show starts unless you have a FP+.

 

[chelseabun76]

We are there for an 8am TH adr and park opens at 9. Dd is iffy on it, we discussed tonight, but still wanted to see my options.

 

[nighttowll]

If the park opens at 9, I don't think it is realistic that you would make it to a 11:00 showing. Is there a reason you couldn't see a later show?

The great thing about the Lion King show is that it usually plays every hour, so it wouldn't be too hard to push it back a little. If you end up with a little extra time doing this, then you could always eat lunch or a snack, check out the animal trails, or try a few of the Wildernes Explorer's Badges if none of the other attractions appeal to you.