AK Touring Plan

[POB14]

Trying to plan out our first couple of hours at AK next Friday. Here's our

Me: older and fatter than I was, can still walk far and fast when necessary
DW: basically the same, although can't go as far or as fast as me, but OK
MIL: 69, history of foot problems, thinks she still gets around great but doesn't
FIL: same age, Parkinson's, too proud for a WC or ECV, slow, must eat at regular hours because of meds
DD6 and DD4: boundless energy, won't admit when they're tired

The priorities are:
1) Ride the Safari, maximizing chances of seeing animals.
2) See Lion King show.
3) Visit Mickey and Minnie - especially Minnie; DD4 has five stuffed Minnies, one of which she diapers daily, and she often claims to be Minnie herself

So what I've got in mind are two possible plans:

PLAN A
We all go, as quickly as possible given limitations, to K.Safaris, ride; move to Camp Minnie-Mickey, arriving at or before 10, pay our respects to the Head Mice, and see the second show of Lion King, after which FIL will have to eat. See rest of park following.

PLAN B
I go to Safaris and get Fastpasses while family visits Oasis. We meet at Lion King line and see first show. We try to be one of the first out and visit the rodents afterwards. Off then to Africa to use our Fastpasses. Eat. Rest of park.

Votes? Comments? Other ideas?

 

[disneyholic family]

Trying to plan out our first couple of hours at AK next Friday. Here's our

Me: older and fatter than I was, can still walk far and fast when necessary
DW: basically the same, although can't go as far or as fast as me, but OK
MIL: 69, history of foot problems, thinks she still gets around great but doesn't
FIL: same age, Parkinson's, too proud for a WC or ECV, slow, must eat at regular hours because of meds
DD6 and DD4: boundless energy, won't admit when they're tired

The priorities are:
1) Ride the Safari, maximizing chances of seeing animals.
2) See Lion King show.
3) Visit Mickey and Minnie - especially Minnie; DD4 has five stuffed Minnies, one of which she diapers daily, and she often claims to be Minnie herself

So what I've got in mind are two possible plans:

PLAN A
We all go, as quickly as possible given limitations, to K.Safaris, ride; move to Camp Minnie-Mickey, arriving at or before 10, pay our respects to the Head Mice, and see the second show of Lion King, after which FIL will have to eat. See rest of park following.

PLAN B
I go to Safaris and get Fastpasses while family visits Oasis. We meet at Lion King line and see first show. We try to be one of the first out and visit the rodents afterwards. Off then to Africa to use our Fastpasses. Eat. Rest of park.

Votes? Comments? Other ideas?

are the head mice actually in camp minnie mickey?....since we don't do characters, i never pay attention....
anyway, i think you all should head for KS.......let's see....when does the park open? ....at 9AM.....so assuming a 9 AM opening....actually if the do the same opening as we saw there in september, they let you in about 10 minutes before the opening and let you walk to where you can see the tree of life....there's a rope there....
then a bus comes with characters on it.....goofy, pluto, and minnie......they're looking for mickey...who then appears in the distance by the tree....after this the rope is dropped and you're off (we always go to dinosaur, but about half the people turn the other way towards KS)..

so you should plan on being at the park before opening...and then after the rope drop you'll head for KS and get in line for it...the line shouldn't be long at this hour...you'll probably be done by about 10 am....when is the second show of the lion king?.....if it's about now, you should go to that...
after lion king (and seeing the rats if they're there to be seen) you can go to see the little pocohantos show....your kids will probably like that...
another nice show that both your kids and your inlaws will like is the flights of Wonder bird show....funny and interesting....it's in Asia i think..

my family adores the Tarzan Rocks show...it's loud, but the singing is really great....and the things that happen on stage are really fun to watch....

alternatively, your idea of running for FPs isn't bad either....but usually the FPs at KS are only about 30 minutes from the time you pick them up..
hmmm...let me explain....we usually go to dinosaur and tarzan rocks and kali river rapids before we get to africa....so it's usually about noon by the time we get over to africa....at this point we pick up FPs for KS....usually the come back time is only about 30 minutes later...
so we buy some food in africa (fresh fruit at the cart, frozen lemonades, ice cream, popcorn...there's also a restaurant here but we junk it at this point)>..
we sit and eat our snacks and just relax and when the 30 minutes are up we get on KS.....
so you can really get FPs for KS at any time...

 

[mom22boys]

I voted for plan A assuming that the animals would be more active. I hope your family has a magical trip!

 

[egoldber]

I would shoot for Plan A, but just note that Minnie & Mickey may or may not be available.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

i also voted for plan A. Even with a slower party if you are there at rope drop you shouldn't have too much of a wait by the time you get to KS, and I have always had better experience seeing more animals first thing in the morning.