Animal kingdom Night Safaris

[Earningmywings]

Does anyone know if the night safari's are seansonal or permanent? We are going in February and thought the night safari would be a fun change. Also has anyone had a long wait (greater than 30min)? Should we look to fast pass, once we finish at the first park we go to? Thanks

 

[hiroMYhero]

Moved you to the main TPAS board.

The Kilimanjaro Safari runs until the park closes in the evening. It's very difficult to see any animals in the darkness so you may want to ride it as soon as you arrive in AK.

 

[ArielSRL]

Try to hit it a little before sunset. Once it gets dark, the animals are hard to see but they are very active at night, so it is worth it, in my opinion, if you can get there just a bit before sunset.

 

[Accident]

Huge fail, they should close the ride at dusk because after that its just a 30 minute truck ride in the dark.

 

[Marthasor]

Huge fail, they should close the ride at dusk because after that its just a 30 minute truck ride in the dark.

I couldn't agree more. The "sunset" looks so fake and you can't see any animals. The flood lights in the trees look ridiculous. I rode it the first weekend it opened and our safari driver kept apologizing the whole time because we couldn't see anything. I can't believe they are still operating it.

 

[cgattis]

I couldn't agree more. The "sunset" looks so fake and you can't see any animals. The flood lights in the trees look ridiculous. I rode it the first weekend it opened and our safari driver kept apologizing the whole time because we couldn't see anything. I can't believe they are still operating it.

I didn't think the sunset was so bad, but I agree you couldn't see squat and our driver wasn't apologizing! It was definitely (as the podcast crew says) the "Kilimanjaro 500--" she was just flying along, hardly slowing down. If my eyes had had 10 seconds to adjust at any point, maybe I could've seen something! Was super glad we decided to ride in daylight first. Also, the "get in line right at sunset" didn't work out too well. They totally IMO mismanaged the FP line (at least that night) and it was quite dark by the time we actually got moving.

I like the idea of this but the execution just isn't there yet.

 

[kaybird]

I guess I am the target audience, because we love a truck ride in the dark! Yes, it's great to see the animals earlier, but going through the dark in the "savannah" is just plain cool!

 

[Accident]

I guess I am the target audience, because we love a truck ride in the dark! Yes, it's great to see the animals earlier, but going through the dark in the "savannah" is just plain cool!

I guess if you go into the ride with this idea in mind, it would be great. Personally, I'm just sitting there thinking poor animals, lets turn around and let them have their evening, I can't see them anyway.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

Does anyone know if the night safari's are seansonal or permanent? We are going in February and thought the night safari would be a fun change. Also has anyone had a long wait (greater than 30min)? Should we look to fast pass, once we finish at the first park we go to? Thanks

When we were there in June & Sept you did need a FP but that may have changed. However, it's way better during the day you can't see much at night.

 

[kaybird]

I guess if you go into the ride with this idea in mind, it would be great. Personally, I'm just sitting there thinking poor animals, lets turn around and let them have their evening, I can't see them anyway.

Oh I get why there are people who won't like it, I just look at it as another unique experience. I would go through any of the rides without lights, or with lights! I doubt very much if the animals give us a second thought, day or night.

 

[Accident]

Oh I get why there are people who won't like it, I just look at it as another unique experience. I would go through any of the rides without lights, or with lights! I doubt very much if the animals give us a second thought, day or night.

Disney actually tracks this (and per destindation d presentation on this subject) might actually be the first people to ever do that. they talk about having to relocate animals for things as minor as some construction happening somewhere in the park.

I look at it this way. If you closed a road near my house and suddenly had traffic all night with loud announcements going past my house, I wouldn't like it. many of these animals are already hiding because it's night and that is their nature to survive the night in the wild. Other animals hunt at night so lets drive a truck of people past them.

I do like your view on it though, if that's what it was billed at and the animals weren't in the ride at the time (and this was normally how they are kept) I would probably love it.

 

[ssour]

We walked on just before park close in October and were the only ones in the loading area. We actually saw plenty of animals and one of the people in our group was super keen on seeing the hyenas which weren't out during our morning safari. She was stoked they were out on the night ride. The male lion also put a show on for us and jumped up onto the rock from his hiding place when we paused to try and find them. Obviously each experience would be different given the nature of animals but I'm glad I gave it a go.

 

[Parker Clan]

Does anyone know if the night safari's are seansonal or permanent? We are going in February and thought the night safari would be a fun change. Also has anyone had a long wait (greater than 30min)? Should we look to fast pass, once we finish at the first park we go to? Thanks

We waited for about 30 mins in August for the night time safari even with a fast pass....

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Oh I get why there are people who won't like it, I just look at it as another unique experience. I would go through any of the rides without lights, or with lights! I doubt very much if the animals give us a second thought, day or night.

You are like me on the Peoplemover. I love it both ways!! When the lights are off AND when Space Mountain is down and you can see the entire track lit up!

 

[DebbieB]

I did it in October. I wasn't expecting much from the reports but I really liked it! The hippos that are normally underwater were out walking around, the lions were walking around up on the rocks. Also enjoyed the tree of life show.

 

[Bunless]

The last time we did the nighttime safari, both lionesses were roaring... a lot.

 

[writerguyfl]

I look at it this way. If you closed a road near my house and suddenly had traffic all night with loud announcements going past my house, I wouldn't like it. many of these animals are already hiding because it's night and that is their nature to survive the night in the wild. Other animals hunt at night so lets drive a truck of people past them.

You can't apply your human emotions to animals. Certainly, Disney probably wouldn't exist without anthropomorphism. But, it only applies to people in fur suits, not real animals.