AK & Wild Africa Trek Strategies

[thewelts]

We are planning to spend the morning of Tuesday, 12/15 in AK. EMHs are 8 AM to 9 AM. We hope to arrive in the park between 8-9 (coming from VGF via bus).

We are a family of 3 (son, age 11). We are planning to park hop this day, so we already booked our FP tickets for Hollywood Studios in the evening.

Our priorities for AK are to ride Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari and Kali River Rapids. It seems that it would be better to book the Wild Africa Trek first (8 AM to 11 AM) and then ride, but I fear the lines will be too long at that time. We have a lunch commitment so we need to leave the park by Noon.
It would be nice if the tour came with a few FP+ tickets.

Honestly, riding those rides at 8 AM in the morning does not sound like fun and the thought of it makes me a bit nauseous. (Like everyone else) I prefer to ride Kali River Rapids once it is warmer and before we leave the park as we will be soaked.

Is the Wild Africa tour worth the extra trouble and expense? Should we just plan to ride Kilimanjaro Safari instead?

Thanks for your advice and suggestions. AK was our favorite park when we visited in 2013. We are excited to revisit and we hope to make the most of our short time there.

 

[4fordisneyworld]

We just got back from doing the Wild Africa Trek on October 14th and I highly recommend this tour!!! We did this for my daughter's thirteen birthday surprise and it was completely worth it for us . I can say, I cannot imagine ever riding KS will ever be the same. We could see their jeeps coming through across the way and all the while we were having close up views up of incredible animals, while they were still moving and and just hoping to grab a quick snap shot. They took some incredible pictures of us and they food was great. If you have any questions feel to ask!

 

[Tia1977]

We did the Africa Trek when we went this past June. My favorite "splurge" of the trip. We made sure to do the Kilimanjaro ride on our 1st AK day, as not to be disappointed in riding after the Trek. It really is the difference between watching a trailer vs the movie. Guides were knowledgeable and very funny; interactions were great. The hippos and bridges (esp over the crocs) were even more fun than it looks like online. I agree on incredible pics and food. The guides who take the pics ensure that they snap several of each family together; most of them candid (I love candid family pics!). Those pics are now some of my favorite in our Disney scrapbook. They let us truly take our time viewing each animal, and we were as close as you could get while still being in a vehicle. For me, I was on my head to see the baby rino (he was hiding during the regular ride we took when the truck zoomed by). The guides allowed us to spend extra time viewing the rinos simply from hearing me gush about the baby. They were great with my DD (13) as well, and answered her (many) questions without ever showing impatience. They actually did the opposite by chatting her up. Made her feel special. Even my (normally grumpy-lol) DH really liked the Trek. I think one of the guides could tell he's normally quiet, and constantly kept interacting with him. Towards the end, he was laughing, chatting, and asking questions. I highly think it's worth the money and the time.

 

[kwdw]

I loved Wild Africa Trek - but if you do the trek - really - make it the MAIN reason you are in the park that day since you are leaving at noon anyway. It's an experience. There's really no point in doing the Safari ride close after it - you'll just have seen everything on the ride up close and leisurely. You could possible hit the single rider line of EE after the trek and then leave the park for your lunch commitment.

I think the trek is worth the price - if you are enjoying it as a special event. Sounds like you have a full day planned without it - so the question is - is the expense worth it to YOU?

 

[401Disney]

I did the WAK in May on my honeymoon and it was so much fun! My wife and I booked the earliest tour we could and after I don't think we rode any other rides we just saw FoW show and then left because we had dinner booked at a different park. If you have to leave the park to get to a reservation then I don't see you being able to squeeze in both EE and KRR. Going on KS is irrelevant since you go thru the ride on WAK tour anyway. I'd say pick whichever one you have the higher urge to go on at the time because both could have anywhere from a 15-60 minute wait by the time you leave the tour.

 

[Hopefully]

We've done the Wild Africa Trek and loved it. It was worth it to us. But I don't think there is any way you can do that and everything else you want and still leave at noon. You need to make a choice. Either you stay longer and do everything, or you leave at noon. If you leave at noon it is either the Wild Africa Trek, OR the other rides you want.
Good Luck

 

[Kimosabe]

We did the Trek in June and absolutely loved it. We even did it in early afternoon and still saw all the animals we normally see in an early morning Safari ride. The Trek truck can stop and go and pull off to the side as it pleases, so it's not the usual safari ride where you basically have to keep driving.

As for the FastPasses, here's a potential approach if the times are still available, which I guess depends on whether you are within your 30/60 day reservation period already: (1) you won't really need a KS FP, as you'll already be doing a much better safari on the Trek, so you've got that covered (normally wouldn't tell you to sacrifice a KS FP, but time is an issue here); and (2) if your Trek is from 8:00 to 11:00, make either EE or KRR FP around a 10:30-11:30-ish timeframe and the other from 11:30-12:30-ish. You can hit one as soon as you get off the Trek and then be ready to do the other one right at 11:30, after which you can head out for your lunch appointment. The Trek isn't going to show up automatically in your MDE account, so it won't block you from making a FP that might overlap with the end of the tour.

As a word of "warning," the meal served during the Trek is closer to the end of the tour than to the beginning. It was really good, so you might want to give that some thought in conjunction with your lunch time. It's not a huge meal, but neither do you want to not be able to enjoy it to the fullest, knowing a full lunch is just around the proverbial corner.

As for the cost of the Trek, it was a hefty chunk for four people, but you do get all the photos as part of that price. We had two guides, and one would talk while the other had the camera...photos were taken for a full three hours, so if you're a picture person, then that's definitely a built-in value. They snap candid photos of the animals and the of the group, but they also focus on getting posed shots of your family/friends a few times, too. You also get a stainless steel water bottle...not a ton of value there but the kids loved them, and we use them pretty regularly at home. Not sure we'll be doing it again anytime soon, but we felt like it was "worth it" at least that one time.

 

[greentea]

Is the Wild Africa tour worth the extra trouble and expense? Should we just plan to ride Kilimanjaro Safari instead?

Thanks for your advice and suggestions. AK was our favorite park when we visited in 2013. We are excited to revisit and we hope to make the most of our short time there.

I also love Animal Kingdom, and while I haven't done the Wild Africa Trek yet, we have it booked next week and are excited about it. It's definitely something we want to do, but if I were only going to be in Animal Kingdom for a total of 3-4 hours, I don't think I would spend 3 hours on the trek. I would end up disappointed to miss the shows and stressed about trying to squeeze in a ride or two.

If it's your favorite park and you're excited to go back, it seems like a 3-hour tour plus running to the other side of the park hoping to have time for one ride might not be the best way to spend your time. Will you have time to return to AK on another day during this trip, or is this it? If this is it, I think I would skip the trek unless it's something you're all really looking forward to.

Is there any way you could have a later lunch? That would give you time to book the earliest tour time and still see some of the park.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I really don't think there is any way you will fit all of that in between 8 am and noon. If you do WAK from 8 am - 11 am, that gives you one hour to do the rest. My suggestion, is, if you want to keep the trek at 8 am is to do that and then head over to EE with fingers crossed that you can get that done in your last hour. You won't need KS after the WAK and it may be too cold to do Kali anyway. The other idea would be to move the WAK to 8:45 am and attempt to do EE at 8 am rope drop. Or move your lunch a little later and do the 9:30 WAK, giving yourself 1 1/2 hours in the morning to do some rides.

 

[kittyab]

We did the trek at 11:45. We did some attractions in the morning and some after. I found the meal on the trek quite filling so there was no need for lunch.