Animal Kingdom - Fast pass and timing help

[saraheli]

We'll be in Disney at the end of July so my fast pass window will be opening up soon. I am so confused about how to plan out my day at Animal Kingdom now that it has these new evening experiences. We have never been to AK before. How would you map out your day? Should I get a late start and book some of our fast passes for late afternoon or after dark ? We will be eating dinner in the park. Have reservations for Yak and Yeti but am hoping to get Tiffins once they accept ADRs. Does it make sense to get there for park opening if we are going to be there so late? We are staying at AKL so I could go back to hotel in the middle of the day if you think I should. Just tell me what to do (traveling with a 6 and 9 yo)!

 

[kevgraub]

My preference would be to be at the park at opening and hit most of the rides/shows in the morning without using fastpass. Then head back to the resort to relax some in the afternoon, and go back late afternoon/early evening to experience the after dark experiences with your fastpasses and dinner.

 

[AnnieLytical]

I agree with above.

 

[jvattes]

We'll be in Disney at the end of July so my fast pass window will be opening up soon. I am so confused about how to plan out my day at Animal Kingdom now that it has these new evening experiences. We have never been to AK before. How would you map out your day? Should I get a late start and book some of our fast passes for late afternoon or after dark ? We will be eating dinner in the park. Have reservations for Yak and Yeti but am hoping to get Tiffins once they accept ADRs. Does it make sense to get there for park opening if we are going to be there so late? We are staying at AKL so I could go back to hotel in the middle of the day if you think I should. Just tell me what to do (traveling with a 6 and 9 yo)!

You have asked the million dollar questions.

I wish I had answers. Good luck!

 

[ArielSRL]

I agree with the PPs. AK gets HOT! So a midday break makes sense there, even if you don't do it any other day.

 

[JimmyV]

I am not usually one who advises mid-day breaks back at the resort unless you have members of your party who need to rest. But since you are staying at AKL, this is a no brainer. Go early without FPs, and then return later with FPs and stay until after the evening events.

 

[saraheli]

Thank you everyone. I like the idea of a midday break. So what should I be saving my late day fast passes for?

 

[twoolle]

Thank you everyone. I like the idea of a midday break. So what should I be saving my late day fast passes for?

Maybe ROL if available? Kali would be neat at night but maybe better during the day since u can change clothes. Not sure about safari, hard to see the animals. Maybe FP for lion king?

We plan to do one evening at Ak so I am curious what others say.

 

[kevgraub]

Thank you everyone. I like the idea of a midday break. So what should I be saving my late day fast passes for?

No one really knows for sure how AK after dark will shake out, but I would assume that the main FP attractions (Everest, Kali, safari, Dinosaur) would be the same. The only real obvious choice for me would be Rivers of Light, if it happens to be up and running when you go, or possibly the Jungle Book show if you want to see it. With those shows being new, I think having a FP would be very helpful.

 

[maryj11]

For night we have the Safari, Everest, and Dinosaur. I'm not sure how your children are with thrill rides but Everest is a little intense for the younger ones. Dinosaur can be frightening at times. The 4 most popular rides that run out of FP are the Safari, Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids and Dinosaur. If your kids are brave I would pick 3 from them.
We put our least favorite ride around 9:00 to switch to the Jungle Book show if it has FP. A lot of people seem to think it will start at that time.

 

[ArielSRL]

Thank you everyone. I like the idea of a midday break. So what should I be saving my late day fast passes for?

For our June trip, we have a 7:25-8:25 FP for the Safari; hoping for a Jungle Book FP, and a 9:30 EE (heard its great in the dark).

 

[maryj11]

For our June trip, we have a evening (not after dark) FP for the Safari, hoping for a Jungle Book FP, and a 9:30 EE (heard its great in the dark).

We have been debating on if I should change our FP's for the safari. We have it at dark right now but is that worth it if you cant see anything?
I think we are going to try to get a dining package for the Jungle Book.

 

[ArielSRL]

We have been debating on if I should change our FP's for the safari. We have it at dark right now but is that worth it if you cant see anything?

I was planning on flip flopping EE and Safari until I read the reviews where you can't see the animals, so that's why I ultimately decided on what I did.

 

[maryj11]

I was planning on flip flopping EE and Safari until I read the reviews where you can't see the animals, so that's why I ultimately decided on what I did.

We really like the safari and would like to try it at night , but we want to be able to see the animals.
I thought maybe we could ride it twice once during the day and once at night .
I doubt we will be able to that because we are not arriving until after 2:00 and the wait will be to long.[/QUOTE]

 

[danald2]

We have been debating on if I should change our FP's for the safari. We have it at dark right now but is that worth it if you cant see anything?
I think we are going to try to get a dining package for the Jungle Book.

You could ride it twice! That's what I'm planning to do when we visit in July. We plan to arrive at Rope Drop and ride daytime Safari in the first 30 minutes, then ride the evening Safari using FP..

 

[danald2]

You could ride it twice! That's what I'm planning to do when we visit in July. We plan to arrive at Rope Drop and ride daytime Safari in the first 30 minutes, then ride the evening Safari using FP..

Sorry - just saw that you're not arriving until 2 p.m.

 

[ArielSRL]

We really like the safari and would like to try it at night , but we want to be able to see the animals.
I thought maybe we could ride it twice once during the day and once at night .
I doubt we will be able to that because we are not arriving until after 2:00 and the wait will be to long.

[/QUOTE]
Fortunately we are doing a full day (with midday break) so we do plan to ride it once at RD and then evening.

 

[Mommy to Two Princes]

We have been debating on if I should change our FP's for the safari. We have it at dark right now but is that worth it if you cant see anything?
I think we are going to try to get a dining package for the Jungle Book.

Where are you finding a dining package for the Jungle Book? That would be AWESOME!

 

[ArielSRL]

Where are you finding a dining package for the Jungle Book? That would be AWESOME!

It was on the Hub (cast member website). Not released yet.

 

[EHakkinen]

You could ride it twice! That's what I'm planning to do when we visit in July. We plan to arrive at Rope Drop and ride daytime Safari in the first 30 minutes, then ride the evening Safari using FP..

I'm hoping the standby line during the day might be a bit shorter, with people opting to try the new nighttime one, because I was afraid of that too... Don't want to switch my fastpasses to daytime though because I would like to check it out. AK has so many FP options I want now! EE, Kali, KS and now Jungle Book!!!