AK - time needed for trails and treks

[Pookie9922]

How much time should I estimate needing at the various trails and treks? Touring plan automatically puts in 20 minutes. Is that enough time to get around them? They're lower on our priority for the day (near two good zoos) but if we have time I'd like to see some if we can.

The ones I had on my plan are...
Gorilla Falls Trail
Maharajah Trek
Discovery Island Trail

 

[Robo]

Rough, give or take 15 min.:

Gorilla Falls Trail- 1 Hr.
Maharajah Trek- 1 Hr.
Discovery Island Trail- 15 Min.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Maharajah and Gorilla Falls are both about 1/2 mile long trails. So a slow, leisurely walk through would probably take 15-20 minutes by itself. But I easily spend at least 15 minutes alone just watching the tigers and gorillas. I would probably say allow at least 45 for these two, if not an hour if you can. You may spend less time than that though if you just walk through, but I'd rather not feel rushed through them.

Discovery Island is much shorter and can likely be done in 15-20 minutes. The Tree of Life carvings can be a lot of fun to look at here!

 

[GPC0321]

But I easily spend at least 15 minutes alone just watching the tigers and gorillas.

This. I think it all depends on how fascinated you are by animals. I could happily spend the day in AK without ever riding anything, but I'm an animal freak.

 

[jerseygal]

Maharajah and Gorilla Falls are both about 1/2 mile long trails. So a slow, leisurely walk through would probably take 15-20 minutes by itself. But I easily spend at least 15 minutes alone just watching the tigers and gorillas. I would probably say allow at least 45 for these two, if not an hour if you can. You may spend less time than that though if you just walk through, but I'd rather not feel rushed through them.

Discovery Island is much shorter and can likely be done in 15-20 minutes. The Tree of Life carvings can be a lot of fun to look at here!

Thanks for the info; can't wait!

 

[gharter]

We like to take our time enjoy the scenery and watch the animals. We tend to spend a lot of time watching the gorillas and tigers.


Gorilla Falls Trail- 30-45 minutes
Maharajah Trek- 30-45 minutes. 30 minutes if the tigers aren't out.
Discovery Island Trail- 15 Min. Depends how much time you spend looking at the tree up close.

 

[unrequited23]

How much time should I estimate needing at the various trails and treks? Touring plan automatically puts in 20 minutes. Is that enough time to get around them? They're lower on our priority for the day (near two good zoos) but if we have time I'd like to see some if we can.

The ones I had on my plan are...
Gorilla Falls Trail
Maharajah Trek
Discovery Island Trail

Thank you for asking this question...after reading the replies I realized I had seriously underestimated the time we would want to spend on the trails.

 

[stsomewhere]

We could sit for hours on the Trail that has the birds building nests.

 

[Pookie9922]

Thank you for asking this question...after reading the replies I realized I had seriously underestimated the time we would want to spend on the trails.

Me too! I just took TP's default word for it that 20 minutes would be fine. My trouble now is I have the Gorilla Trail right before the Lion King at 12. My plan estimates us getting to the FotLK at 11:40, so that does give me some wiggle room. And I'm hoping to get to the park early and have all our morning stuff move up a bit. We are going on a Crowd Level 2 day, so that might help move through things a bit quicker.

How do FPs for shows work? Do they allow us to show up right before the show starts and still have good seats? Or do we have to be there a certain amount of time ahead? I could move my FP from EE to Lion King.

 

[twoolle]

Me too! I just took TP's default word for it that 20 minutes would be fine. My trouble now is I have the Gorilla Trail right before the Lion King at 12. My plan estimates us getting to the FotLK at 11:40, so that does give me some wiggle room. And I'm hoping to get to the park early and have all our morning stuff move up a bit. We are going on a Crowd Level 2 day, so that might help move through things a bit quicker.

How do FPs for shows work? Do they allow us to show up right before the show starts and still have good seats? Or do we have to be there a certain amount of time ahead? I could move my FP from EE to Lion King.

FP for shows actually have a window and usually it closes 15 minutes before the show starts. If you arrive after that then the FP line will be closed and you will have to enter through standby. So you do need to be there during your window!

 

[Pookie9922]

FP for shows actually have a window and usually it closes 15 minutes before the show starts. If you arrive after that then the FP line will be closed and you will have to enter through standby. So you do need to be there during your window!

What does the FP get you then?

 

[twoolle]

What does the FP get you then?

Guaranteed seating in a certain area if you arrive during your window. If you don't have a FP then you have to arrive even earlier to stand in line and sometimes the line gets cut off and not everyone makes it in. I learned this the hard way a few times...I used to think the FP guaranteed me a spot, but after arriving after my window cut off a couple times I figured it out. I was hoping I could arrive like 5 minutes before the show and still get in with my FP...but it just doesn't work that way unfortunately.

 

[Pookie9922]

Guaranteed seating in a certain area if you arrive during your window. If you don't have a FP then you have to arrive even earlier to stand in line and sometimes the line gets cut off and not everyone makes it in. I learned this the hard way a few times...I used to think the FP guaranteed me a spot, but after arriving after my window cut off a couple times I figured it out. I was hoping I could arrive like 5 minutes before the show and still get in with my FP...but it just doesn't work that way unfortunately.

On a crowd level 2 day, do I need to worry about it filling up if we get there right before it starts?

 

[Robo]

Guaranteed seating in a certain area if you arrive during your window. If you don't have a FP then you have to arrive even earlier to stand in line and sometimes the line gets cut off and not everyone makes it in. I learned this the hard way a few times...I used to think the FP guaranteed me a spot, but after arriving after my window cut off a couple times I figured it out. I was hoping I could arrive like 5 minutes before the show and still get in with my FP...but it just doesn't work that way unfortunately.

I'd like to re-examine a few of your points, here.

Lion King FP guests will not necessarily be seated in a "certain area."
(FP guests will be allowed in before the standby crowd is let in.
So, yes, they MUST arrive earlier than standby guests to get in via the FP line.)

Under "normal" conditions, standby guests will not all need to arrive before the FP guests are admitted.
(Again, under "normal" conditions) standby guests very likely can arrive as late as 15 min.,give or take, before show time and still find seats.

 

[Robo]

On a crowd level 2 day, do I need to worry about it filling up if we get there right before it starts?

I'd want to arrive at least 15 min. before start-time.

(And, EARLIER will always give you more options.)

 

[Jasperann]

If you are doing ANY of the wilderness explore stuff it takes way longer than 20 mins. I know the one trail had like 3 or 4 stops for it and there is learning involved and chatting with the CM's. I think we could spend a full day just doing Wilderness Explore stuff and not get them all done... We keep bringing the books back because they are still not finished. I do have to say that we do love animals and learning about them, so we may spend more time than normal. We do have a few great Zoo's near by and we still really enjoy Animal Kingdom's trails. I love the bird area and can spend a while in there just finding all the birds. And the tigers (last time we went they had cubs) we spent a long time watching them play. The Gorilla area had a baby recently too.

If you love animals or learning you will spend at least an hour on the two main ones (each). The Discovery Island one does not take as long, but we did go during a feeding time for those big, big birds and watching them get them to go to a certain area for the food and all the information that we learned that day was great. I can't remember if they had posted times for that kind of stuff or not. I feel like we just 'happened' on it. But it was really neat and I had to pull my then 9 year old son away. He was fascinated. I know we spent way more than thirty minutes just watching that...

AK is really one of my families favorite parks because it is so laid back. It isn't rush, rush, rush like MK.

 

[twoolle]

I'd like to re-examine a few of your points, here.

Lion King FP guests will not necessarily be seated in a "certain area."
(FP guests will be allowed in before the standby crowd is let in.
So, yes, they MUST arrive earlier than standby guests to get in via the FP line.)

Under "normal" conditions, standby guests will not all need to arrive before the FP guests are admitted.
(Again, under "normal" conditions) standby guests very likely can arrive as late as 15 min.,give or take, before show time and still find seats.

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[dwheaton]

I'd block at least 45 minutes for the Gorilla Falls and Maharajah Trek. You can spend longer there given the scope and all the details, but 45 minutes to an hour is probably a good bet. There are some nice touches on the Discovery trail, but that's more in the 15-20 minute range for me.

 

[Babs1975]

I factor in 30 minutes per trail. Sometimes it's a little less. Sometimes a little more.