Animal Kingdom?

[katt789]

I absolutely LOVE AK, it's one of my favourite parks, I definitely recommend checking it out, at least for a half day!

-Rope drop & straight to safari, then over to EE for a ride or two, hop over to dinosaur, ride it, maybe check out a character, definitely watch Festival of the Lion King & if you'd like check out Nemo, then a half day of park fun is done!

 

[NashBridges]

Good call on deciding to go, it's our teens favorite park. Get your FP for everts, safari and Kali river rapids.

Go see lion king, memo, the tree of life. For your first time there, you can easily fill in a day. You won't be sorry.




QUOTE=Wishing4magic;51647467]Tx so much for your replies. We have park hoppers so I'm thinking I will plan a half day there. If my family enjoys it then we can just stay longer. I'm sure the teens in our group will love the thrill rides. I think DD4, DN6 and I would enjoy the shows. So while at AK what do you usually get a FP for?[/QUOTE]

 

[NashBridges]

I love this whole post, it's perfect and it describes how we feel about AK as well. Also, if you're having table service supper, try. Yak and Yeti, if you are just have a quick lunch, I recommend the ribs at Flame Tree BBQ. The quality and price can't be beat.

46 days til we are back in WDW, our AK day is day 2 and this post makes me wanna bump it up to day 1 lol



QUOTE=DVCcurious;51648208]My favorite park is Animal Kingdom. On our typical 5 full day trips (Sun-Sat with M-F full days) we go to AK twice for full days.

We have an annual pass to our local zoo and go every weekend.

So the question is, if we go to the zoo every weekend, why would we go look at animals at Animal Kingdom when we could be using those two days to go to MK, HS, or EP?

Maybe we just love animals (and I do....if it gets cold enough).

But the real reason is because Animal Kingdom is amazing.

Let me describe it this way: MK, HS, EP are just concrete sidewalks with concrete buildings. It's like being in the city. Stop and think about it, the surroundings of those three parks are sterile and boring.

Animal Kingdom is like being in the jungle. You are immersed in a very different world than the other three parks. It's difficult to understand if you haven't been there, but Animal Kingdom "feels" different while you're walking from attraction to attraction.

That's why I love it so much.

There's a reason why Joe Rhode blew through the budget with only 60% of the park completed. It's because the attention to detail and the immersion is amazing. He massively overspent on the little details in Africa (especially) and Asia and that's what makes Animal Kingdom so special.

Whenever people complain there's "nothing to do at AK" I just think they're missing the point. The point of AK is to be immersed in an amazing jungle-animal world. And you are immersed from the second you enter the turnstile. I think of AK as one huge gigantic immersive "attraction" all by itself.

Compare that with MK, EP, or HS where you aren't immersed in jack squat unless you're actually on an attraction.


And seeing animals on Kilimanjaro Safaris is nothing like seeing animals at the zoo. Again, if you haven't done it I can't explain it to you, you just have to experience it for yourself.

I recommend you go to Animal Kingdom and spend some of your time consciously just looking around you at the amazing little details that make it so special.

Option 1: Your family could go to AK and immediately go to the Safari at 9, then run over to Everest for your 10 FP, then run back to Kali for your 11 FP, then eat at Pizzafari and tell yourself that there's nothing left to do. That's what a lot of people do. But if you do that you will be disappointed with the park, guaranteed.

Option 2: Instead you should go, walk the Oasis, then walk through Africa and look at the detailed architecture, then go to the Safari, then walk the trails and see the Tigers, then walk by the Tree of Life and look at the carvings, then do Kali and Everest, while again looking closely at the attention to detail.

If you do the second option you will enjoy your time at AK. I'm not saying you'll love it, but you will walk away with an appreciation of why AK is unique amongst the four theme parks.[/QUOTE]

 

[Sandy Fisher]

At the risk of offending someone or having someone call me on a technicality, I'm going to say it: ITSNOTAZOO.
Over my lifetime we've been to many zoos and yes, they've improved so much in recent years, both in the housing and care of the animals. Animal Kingdom is so much more than that.
We love the safari. I love the walking trails. I'm more into some of the birds and smaller animals than DH is, but we've never gone to AK and not enjoyed it. We do a half day because due to health issues we can't do Expedition Everest and haven't done the wet stuff since we were much younger!
That said, it's educational, it's a view of the wildlife that you WON'T see anywhere else. Sometime when you have extra time to browse on the internet, look up the details about the feeding and training programs used at AK. I'd love to do some of the behind the scenes things some day.

 

[TooExcitedCantSleep]

Yes!!!! AK is worth a visit just to find out if you really like it. AK is themed to the max and you don't have to bother with all of the animal trails to enjoy the park-------just do the rides, shows and at least try the safari once!!