Animal Kingdom opinions

[nliedel]

We are finally doing the AK on our trip in September and I cannot wait! Although I will NOT ride Kali River Rapids on a bet. I don't like walking around soaking wet in heat for hours. Not fun for me. I am looking forward to the Festival of the Lion King and the Boneyard (well the kids are) as well as many nature oriented attractions that my animal minded family will appreciate.

 

[Stitchfans]

We wouldn't skip it. like others said though it isn't an all day park. you can split up the rest of the day and go back to MK or whatever.

 

[Principessa1284]

I work at the Safari at Animal Kingdom, and my advice is to get there around 8:30 (assuming a 9am opening). You get to see the Adventure Begins - it's a cute little show with Minnie, Goofy, & Mickey that start's off the day, and if you're lucky, you may get picked to recieve a personal Safari before anyone else even gets back there! If not, follow the crowd to Safari and there won't be much of a wait, then do the Pangani Exploration Trail (Gorillas, Hippos, Okapi, Mearcars, etc), and if it's a half day, skip the Wildlife Express train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, then head over to Camp Minnie Mickey for Festival of the Lion King (depending on showtimes), then It's Tough to be a Bug inside the Tree of Life (but be cautious with any little ones!), then head over to Dinoland, do Dinosaur! (again, cautious with the little ones because time travel can be dark and sometimes a little scary), and maybe the other carnival-ish rides there, then grab lunch at Flame Tree BBQ, then head to Everest, if it's running, then to Asia for the Manharajah Jungle Trek (Kimono Dragon, Bats, Tigers, Birds, etc), then to Kali River Rapids if it's a warm day, and back to the hotel to change.. then the World is your playground for the rest of the day

Or if doing a full day, throw in Pocohontus and her Forest Friends show, Rafiki's Planet Watch, and the Flights of Wonder show, as well as the Boneyard in Dinoland.

You gotta love the DAK

 

[Yensid FoNaf]

IMO...AK is worth the visit. It is definately the "weakest" of the Parks, but it is still worth your time. You'll see very quickly that it is not a zoo. As many have stated in earlier posts, don't miss the Festival of the Lion King. It's a great show (although I wouldn't put it in front of Fantasmic or Wishes) The Kilimanjaro Safari is a must-do and Tough to be a Bug and Dinosaur are great. With the addition of Expedition Everest, there is plenty of fun to be had at AK. I would plan on leaving AK after the parade and head to MK for the evening.

 

[jenniferma]

We really love AK too. I think it is a great park for kids-- our last trip we had DD1 and DD3-- we head for the safari first too-- then eat breakfast and Tusker House and we try to get to Camp Mickey and Minnie when it opens. Then we hit the Lion King show- which is amazing! and we love lunch at Flame Tree... there is a GREAT Pooh Character meet and greet going into Dinoland too--it has been pretty empty the times we have been there.

I really think AK is great for the little ones! I am not sure if I traveled without kids if we would have liked it as much though. I am sure it would have been fine, but I really would recommend it for toddlers/preschoolers.

have a great trip- jen

 

[dbm20th]

AK is probably the most unique Theme PArk in the world. If what you want is lots of rides or lots of princesses, this is not the place for you, but you'll love it anyway. It is incredibly themed and seems alive as walk around it. It has some serious highlights...

Expedition Everest
Disnosaur (lot's of fun)
Festival of the Lion King (The best show in WDW outside of Fantasmic)
Primeval Whirl (Cool little ride, and crazier then it looks)
Kali River Rapds

Also, Kilimanjaro Safari is, in my opinion, WDI's best achievement so far.

 

[nowellsl]

I would skip MGM before I'd skip Animal Kingdom!

 

[smileyk8]

I would skip MGM before I'd skip Animal Kingdom!

I definately agree. It's unlikely that you'd want to go back to MGM for a second day. Much more likely to spend another day in the MK. If you really wanted to do MGM then I would consider going to AK in the morning (happier animals!) and then MGM later on. There aren't really that many attractions at either.

Bit biased cos I love AK!

 

[Magalex]

My opinion of AK was that the weakest part or we could of missed was the Dino-Land area. I thought Disney could imagine something alot more creative than a carnival setting w/games. But I would love to go back to explore more of the other areas. Yes the shows are great

Magalex

 

[TikiGoddess]

We had heard mixed reviews of AK before we went in Oct. and so we went on the day we left for home. We were very happily surprised at how much we enjoyed AK. Our boys LOVED the boneyard and still refer to it as one of their favorites. DH says the AK is his fave right behind MK. I wouldn't go that far, but it is NOT to be missed. We will definitely be spending an entire day there this time. We liked it without seeing the parade and Lion King so I suspect we'll like it even more with them. Don't miss it if you can fit it in!

 

[JRawkSteady]

It's unlikely that you'd want to go back to MGM for a second day. Much more likely to spend another day in the MK. There aren't really that many attractions at either.

Actually, the shows alone in MGM can take up your whole day. I believe MGM is a full day park - with a possible return for a couple of things. One Man's Dream is a great little attraction and can take a while if you stop to look at everything there. The new Animation tour is shortened, however, there is a "drawing class" at the end, that most people don't even know about because they're not paying attention.

Don't get me wrong, I think you can spend the whole day at AK and possibly then some as well, but there's definitely more attractions at Disney-MGM Studios. You can count 'em yourself

 

[hezreck]

I'm from Ohio too, and trust me there are no "zoos" around Ohio that are anything like AK! We went to AK at noon thinking we would spend half a day there and be done with it. Well, we ended up going back the next day and staying well past noon. And to tell you the truth we didn't even go to see animals. The only animals we saw were the ones on the Safari. The rest of the time we were so busy seeing shows, playing in the Boneyard and taking in the scenery that we didn't have time to look at the animals. How sad is that! Our next trip we are really going to try to check out the animals

 

[johnvree]

I know I am in the minority but I usually plan on two days at AK. They are not full days, but combined they equate to much more than 1 day. The first time we went to AK, we hit the big attractions by 1:00 and left. You can easily do that, but you are missing some of the best parts of the park.

I would not describe myself as a huge nature enthusiast, but I do enjoy taking my time at AK. You can easily spend an hour looking at the Tree of Life and the surrounding areas. Plus, there are animal enclosres sprinkled here and there that are often missed or under appreciated. It is also cool to see and talk with the people who work there. It's a lot like the World Showcase in that many of the people who work at AK are indiginous to the area represented in the theme (Africa and Asia).

But if you are not into that stuff, there are still some killer attractions that are worth the price of admission. Here are my ratings on a 1 to 10 scale (10 being Splash Mountain/TOT/Soarin).

Kilimanjaro Safari: 9
Kali River Rapids: 8
It's Tough to Be A Bug: 9
Dinosaur: 9
Festival of the Lion King: 10
Expedition Everest: 10

Plus, there are about 8 other minor attractions and the parade is as good as any on property.

 

[MJMcBride]

I like 2 days in DAK. And, yes, I'm a nature buff.

 

[helenm29]

No, REALLY! it's nothing like a zoo! it's a wonderful place to go and see all kinds of wildlife of two AND four footed varieties! it's not just animals, it's FUN! there are lots of rides for people of all ages but my favorite is a WET ride called Khali River Rapids and you DO GET WET! there are wonderful parades and the Lion King show is out of this world! we always make sure to spend at least a day or two at the AK. Don't give it a miss if you can help it, you need to experience this one!

 

[Disney Girlie-Wirlie]

If you get park hoppers, you can do AK and then go to another park!

Also, you'll be missing this if you don't go:

WOAH!! THAT PICTURE IS AWESOME! I CAN'T WAIT TO RIDE IT ONE OF THESE DAYS!... YOU SHOULD POST THAT ON THE DISNEY PICTURE OF THE DAY THREAD!

 

[Sylvester McBean]

as far as detail and theming, it's WDW's best park. EE is a nice addition, blending a thrill ride with the on and off-again notion of adding the "beastly kingdom"

 

[daisax]

I'd go planning on spending 4-6 hrs and if you stay longer or duck out quicker, that's fine. I agree that you can skip the carnival area (except for the Dinosaur ride! and maybe Exp Everest, if you're into coasters). I've skipped the walkways with animals when it was just too stinkin' hot to stay upright much longer.

But at minimum do the Safari and It's Tough to Be a Bug and Flights of Wonder and the Festival of the Lion King, and absorb the different feel of the place.

 

[dbm20th]

And, yes, I'm a nature buff.

What does that mean? You're not helping the Natazoo theme here!

 

[PKS44]

I have been 3 times and found it disappointing -definitely not a full day park for our family....if you like a park to be more like a zoo--then you may enjoy it...look at stuff rather than be doing stuff--if you are looking for thrills
Kali is too short- the 3D movie is fun but so redundant to the other 3 D movies on property- Dinosaur is too dark, Primievel Whirl is too jerky, and the Safari narration is too hard to understand and frankly they zip thru the sites too quickly without regard for what might be fun to slow down and look at...

FOTLK is a good show.
Tusker House is excellent grub.

Go and see for yourself...obviously different parks for different folks...