AK Wilderness Explorers Made Our Day!

[MariaJ]

We were in AK on 3/22.
Just wanted to put a plug in for the Wilderness Explorers activity. It's free and my DD 12 LOVED IT. We did do RD for KS, but had a casual non touring plan day ahead--11:55 ADR for Tusker, planned to do EE after parade, planned to skip Dino and Nemo.
While DD was getting a henna tatoo, DS 17 read about the Explorers Club. We found a place to get a book (there are many) and off we went. DD instantly decided she was going to get ALL THIRTY-ONE badges!
No. Really.
So off we went. She made a plan, and basically we saw AK like we've never seen it before! Still did all the rides we wanted, had a nice lunch, but also saw some corners of the park that we've skipped before. Her energy about the activity really kept us going!
She was proud of earning the large Senior Wilderness Badge at the end!
Here is her pix, see the CM doing an Awesome photo bomb!!

 

[summerw]

My son loves the ones here at dca. They did an elf overlay for Xmas and one activity was going down the slide holding a present say "ho ho ho." we did it a lot. Glad you had fun. Sometimes quiter attractions make for the nicest days.

 

[seus-mouse]

That's awesome!
My DD and my nephews are really looking forward to doing it.
Thanks for sharing.


Holly

Edited to ask: We are hopping and plan on three AK rope drops, do you think that is enough half day visits to find all the badges? Thanks

 

[peanutmomma]

Good to hear you guys had fun with the program. We are planning on doing this on our AK days next month.

 

[coolbrook]

Thanks for posting about an older kids enjoying this. My DD10, almost 11 is starting to feel too old for some things like games at the resort pool and I am hoping she will enjoy the wilderness explorer activities. We are also planning to try an Agent P adventure in Epcot for the first time too. Have any of you done this with at 10-12 year old girl? What did they think?

 

[MariaJ]

After AK we went to EP the next day, so DD was really looking forward to Agent P.

She gave it back after one country. I'm sure it works for some, but for her it was too focused on looking at the phone and watching the videos and not enough on looking up and seeing the countries.

I wish they had something more similar to the Explorers Club for the WS.

Just our experience!

 

[MariaJ]

@seus-mouse-I think 3 half days would be perfect! 6 of the badges are out at the Conservation station, so you could do those one day, then divide the park for the other two days. Fun!

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

Thank you for sharing about your experience! My kids are very much looking forward to doing this during our june trip. I am glad to hear it was a hit!

 

[ucfknight]

My 7 and 5 year old girls are obsessed with Wilderness Explorers. They do nothing at Animal Kingdom but look at the map in their books to find where the next station is.

 

[seus-mouse]

@seus-mouse-I think 3 half days would be perfect! 6 of the badges are out at the Conservation station, so you could do those one day, then divide the park for the other two days. Fun!

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.
We always enjoy Conservation Station, the train ride there and hanging with the animals.


Holly

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I absolutely LOVE that picture and how focused your awesome DD was on collecting all the badges!! How neat is that??? LOVE reading these types of experiences and such a great tip for when we visit!

Thank you!!

P.S. The photo bomb is hilarious! I don't normally give them a thumbs up but I think your DD will look back on this pic one day, when showing friends or her own kids down the road, and laugh and laugh!

 

[puffkin]

I completely forgot about this! This will be right up DS8 alley. He isn't that into the Agent P missions anymore (the videos take WAY too long) but he did really enjoy the pirate thing in Adventureland last trip and we sent my mom, husband and toddler back to the room for a nap while we stayed to finish all of it. We have two mornings planned at AK, but I will have to make sure to leave some wiggle room the second day to stay and finish collecting badges if need be!

 

[jvattes]

Nice! We are planning to do this with our kids. I have been wondering, though, what the badges are and whether earning them is easily worked into the day/touring plan. Are you able to share more information about the badges?

 

[dsneygirl]

Nice! We are planning to do this with our kids. I have been wondering, though, what the badges are and whether earning them is easily worked into the day/touring plan. Are you able to share more information about the badges?

They are stickers that go into a book. They are all over the park in every area so you could hit whichever one you pass, no need to go in any order.

My DS (7) loved this as well. He also had to have all 31 but it took us 2 days. It really forces you to slow down and see some of the amazing details of the park. We also met some fantastic CMs along the way.

 

[MariaJ]

I think the photo bomb was one of her favorite things!

@jvattes--as said before, the activities are spread all around the park, and easily worked into any plan. They each take anywhere from 1 to at most 5 minutes to complete, so if you have a ADR or FP you can easily decide to walk by one and come back or do the activity. Some stations are stand alone, some are right on the pathway. All are marked in a map in the book so you can see where they are on your touring plan.
Look for the CM with the teal or orange messenger bag (see photo) and/or sign posts. If we couldn't find one, we just asked the nearest CM.
Enjoy!

 

[Dr Gevil]

Where at AK is the Wilderness Explorers Sign Up Hut located exactly?

TIA

 

[jen2207]

Where at AK is the Wilderness Explorers Sign Up Hut located exactly?

TIA

On the bridge just before the Tree of Life

 

[Dr Gevil]

Thanks Jen!

 

[Mom2Stitch]

It has been so long since we traveled with a younger child that some of these type things are kind of lost on us. I'll have my dgs who will be 7 in May on this trip and I'm hoping he will take an interest in this. Thank you for posting, and I love the pic!!

 

[MariaJ]

He is the perfect age for it! Remember, you don't HAVE to finish all the badges. It's a really fun way for a younger child to see the park, sometimes I think most of what the younger kids see is a lot of knees as they walk from one ride to the next!!