Animal Kingdom at night, worth it?

[raraavis]

I personally want to see Animal Kingdom at night (mostly to see Pandora with everything lit up), but I am not convinced it's the best use of time for my trip. I am going with my husband and 5 year old next February, and we have 6 park hoppers. I have 2 AK days already (mornings) but no nights "scheduled" (obviously, things can change once I get our fast passes). I am focusing my nights on MK and DHS (mainly for the nighttime entertainment). We do have 1 Epcot night in there to catch Epcot Forever. I would really need to rearrange my plans to fit in Animal Kingdom in the afternoon/evening. What does everyone think? Should I make time for it? If yes, what are your reasons? Thanks!

 

[Skippyboo]

I would switch a DHS night to AK night . Pandora is best at night. The Tree of life lighting is cool too. Rivers of Light is okay. The safari at night isn’t that great. I would skip it.

 

[StarSpeckledSky]

AK is amazing at night - I have only seen Pandora at night and never in day, so I can’t compare anything but it is BEAUTIFUL. The Awakenings are amazing. Rivers of Light is (probably) my favorite nighttime spectacular at WDW (although I have not seen it with the IP inject and have heard that it isn’t as good as it was before).

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Personally I can take it or leave it. I’m not a fan of Rivers of Light, and am okay with missing the rest in favour of nighttime at any of the other 3 parks. I love nighttime in general at MK/Epcot and although I don’t feel that way about DHS I would choose Fantasmic over night at AK.

It was nice to do it once, we’ll probably do it once if we can on our 10+ day trips, but nighttime at AK often doesn’t fit well with our plans and I don’t go out of our way to make it work. It’s first on the chopping block for us lol.

 

[Delirium]

Animal Kingdom at night is an experience you don't want to miss.

 

[Klayfish]

Rivers of Light is a snoozefest, but the rest of AK is absolutely wonderful at night. Ride wait times (except FoP) drop to nothing, the street party vibe is super cool. We enjoy it quite a bit.

 

[MrsDuck]

AK at night is a necessity in my book! I can take or leave EPCOT...

 

[evlaina]

We make it a point to visit each park at least once at night. AK is actually my least favorite park but if you haven't seen it at night you need to, it's pretty cool. Like you, we have 2 mornings scheduled there but hopping there one night because my in-laws have never seen it.

 

[DisneyOma]

With 6 day parkhoppers, you can do 2 MK nights, 3 DHS or EPCOT nights (we choose EPCOT at night over DHS) and 1 AK night. Problem solved?

 

[bellebud]

Pandora at night looks like a fairy land. If your daughter is into that sort of thing, I think it's a must see. I'd drop DHS or Epcot at night for Pandora.

 

[tguz]

I would do AK at night. We make sure we do that once every trip. After seeing Pandora lit up at night we take the path counter clockwise thru the park for a nice stroll. Pandora to Africa to Asia to Dinoland to Discovery Island and then out of the park. Even with miles and miles on our feet that day, we love that walk.

 

[RaspberryMinkFoo]

Pandora is neat at night but I usually don't even go to Animal Kingdom...I never like paying to go to a huge zoo.

 

[tguz]

Pandora is neat at night but I usually don't even go to Animal Kingdom...I never like paying to go to a huge zoo.

I've never been to a "zoo" like the AK! I wish zoos WERE like that!!

 

[cjlong88]

Yes! I could ride Expedition Everest at night over and over again. I also like the projections on the Tree of Life. Pandora at night is really cool. Nothing like FoP being the last ride of your day.

 

[No.1000]

I like Pandora best during the day. For me, nothing beats looking up at those big floating islands. That said, I love the feel of AK at night. It has a laid back, street party vibe that is super refreshing and fun. I like ROL, Awakenings, riding Everest in the dark....

 

[e_yerger]

Another thing to take into account is that Animal Kingdom is always the hottest park. I don't know why, but it is. If you're sensitive to heat, you may find more enjoyment by visiting it at night.

 

[cakebaker]

AK at night is one of my favorite things. I think I'd pay for DAH if not a single ride was open and all I could do was stroll around in an empty park.

 

[Klayfish]

Pandora is neat at night but I usually don't even go to Animal Kingdom...I never like paying to go to a huge zoo.

Huh? AK has rather little in common with a zoo beyond the fact they both have animals in them.

 

[RaspberryMinkFoo]

Huh? AK has rather little in common with a zoo beyond the fact they both have animals in them.

Personally, I don’t like the rides there either. It’s just never been a priority to go there

 

[mi*vida*loca]

AK at night is what made me fall in love with AK and this was 10 years ago when they had PM EMH. Before Pandora, before ROL, before the tree show, before any night time activities. What made me fall in love was riding EE at night and it being cooler in AK. AK is HOT during the day so being at AK when the temps drop is the best. Before that AK was a 4 hour park at RD that we just "made it through" because we couldn't take the heat.

This past trip I scheduled two nights in AK but we only made it to one. My kids like AK but the heat deters them. I knew going in DD was going to "fight" me on going to AK too much because of the heat (she was only two the last time AK had late hours). The first planned night we were tired so we skipped it but I knew I had my back up night. We went and she loved it. She was pleasantly surprised and said she now really enjoys AK more than she thought she ever would. Pandora at night is gorgeous, riding EE at night was amazing again and the tree show was awesome. Just the vibe of AK at night is magical. Walking around a non crowded park in the dark with the lights. I just love it. We actually didn't want to leave. We stayed past park closing and just walked out very slowly. I can also go to AK at night and just walk around and relax without riding rides.