Another "Will I have enough time" question

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

The more I look at AK, the less I see my DS really digging it aside from the safari. SO my question is if we have an 8:30 ADR at Tusker House and jump right on a safari after, will we have enough time to make a 10:30-11:30 FP at Epcot?

I'm figuring 45 minutes at Tusker, Standby on Safari ??? (Crowd predicted day of a 3, but I can't believe a 0 minute wait like TP says) + the actual safari, then getting to Epcot.

 

[PEC]

1030 probably not but 1130 is likely. Another words your FP should be safe at least on the back part of that hour window.

 

[tjevans]

(Only half tongue-in cheek)

As a rule of thumb, if you have to ask if you'll have enough time, you probably won't, especially if waiting for Disney busses. While busses are supposed to be on a regular schedule, I've waited over an hour for a bus to a park before.

 

[nkereina]

1030 probably not but 1130 is likely. Another words your FP should be safe at least on the back part of that hour window.

I'd agree with this. The safari ride itself can take 20+ minutes, and there can be unforeseen things that happen here. One time, there was an animal in the road so all vehicles had to stop moving until the animal cleared. We sat for a good 10 minutes. Last trip, we were stopped for at least 10-15 minutes (with no explanation) but I'd imagine it was a similar scenario. Also, the safari is at the back of the park so you'd have to walk all the way to the front.

Will you have a vehicle? The buses could be slow that time of morning as well, since most people are still arriving there rather than leaving/hopping to another park.

 

[Rosco1]

If your child has never been there, I would be cautious about "planning" on them not liking it. There may be something that sparks their interest.

My son LOVES Hollywood Studios--and I assumed he would hate it. Now it is go to park if he gets to choose.

 

[lam0037]

Also depends on how you tend to eat at character meals. If you like to take your time, you probably wouldn't be done until 9:30. And then it'll be after RD so you might have a 10-15 min wait or longer, plus the 20 min ride and walking to the front of the park and to the bus stop, so around 10:30. And then you have to wait on a bus and get to EPCOT and then into the park and to the ride. I would try to push it back to 11-12 if possible. If not, you do have a grace period after your FP time so you will just have to book it.

Also this only applies if you like a leisurely breakfast. If you don't care about seeing all the characters and just eat and leave you will have more time

 

[Malibustyle23]

I hate to be that person but I must ask are you even going to give your son the chance to like it before just skipping the whole park? There is alot of nice things to do at AK that I never understand how people can make this or any park for that matter a half day park needless a TS and ride park. I would give him a shot at the park first.

But back to your question. There are alot of variables to consider but I would never plan on it. Although I would rather lose the FP than a TS reservation so I may be willing to do it since no meal or credit card hold was at risk. Are you driving yourself or are you at the mercy of WDW transportation?

 

[ktlm]

If your ADR at Tusker is at 8:30, you may not be done until 10:00 a.m. It depends on whether you have a wait to be seated and where the characters are in their rotation when you are seated. They could be about to reach your table, or it could be quite a while before they all get to you. We have had it both ways. I think the quickest we have been out of Tusker house from our ADR time, is an hour, and often it is more like an hour and a half. It is not unusual to have to wait 10 to 20 minutes after your ADR time for a table at Tusker in the mornings. Sometimes you get lucky and are seated pretty quickly. So say you get out at 10:00, then you might have a 20 minute wait for Safari. Then Safari is a 20 minute ride. You are at 10:40 right there, which does not count walking back to the front of the park, waiting for the bus, the approximate 15 minute bus ride (around 6 or 7 miles), getting through bag check and the gates at EPCOT and walking to your FP+ ride. I think there is a good chance you would miss it. If you were out of Tusker by 9:30 and safari was still walk on or a 10 minute wait- you could be done and our your way out of the park around 10:00 and then you would have a better chance, but it would still be tight. I would push the FP+ back at least an hour. How old is your DS? My DD(8) has never been a big AK fan until last year when they added the Wilderness Explorer mission book- she had a lot of fun with that, and for the first time stayed well into the afternoon without complaint.

 

[Kimosabe]

I am by no means a cheerleader for DAK -- it can certainly use some more love (which it is getting) -- but if you've never been there, I would agree that you and/or your son would likely find more to do there than just the Safari and, at the very least, would not want to feel like you're on a tight schedule to get out by a certain time (at least not that quickly). Depending on his age, there is the Wilderness Explorers activity, the Lion King live show, "Tough to be a Bug" 3D show, various animal trails, and DinoLand, which I would argue tends to be boy-focused (not that girls don't enjoy it...I have two girls that do). Even if you don't want to utilize any FP's that morning at DAK, I'd push any for Epcot until at least after lunch, just in case you find yourself entertained at DAK for a bit longer than expected.

 

[ibela]

If you want to hop to Epcot, plan on it for later in the day. There are some great attractions. Even though he's probably too small for Dinosaur ride and EE (not sure about Kali Rapids) there are some trails he may enjoy. Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King are both amazing. And Tusker House is delicious with great character interaction so I wouldn't rush it either. If he's a fan of Jungle Book and Bambi, etc. I'm pretty sure this is the only park for those characters. There's also a great bird show that he may enjoy. I wouldn't plan on Epcot until at least 3pm.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

I hate to be that person but I must ask are you even going to give your son the chance to like it before just skipping the whole park? There is alot of nice things to do at AK that I never understand how people can make this or any park for that matter a half day park needless a TS and ride park. I would give him a shot at the park first.

Well he isn't tall enough for most of the rides there, so that's very limiting. And every time we go to the zoo her loves it for 20 minutes then gets bored. Despite my best efforts he has no interest in dinosaurs.

If your ADR at Tusker is at 8:30, you may not be done until 10:00 a.m. It depends on whether you have a wait to be seated and where the characters are in their rotation when you are seated. They could be about to reach your table, or it could be quite a while before they all get to you. We have had it both ways. I think the quickest we have been out of Tusker house from our ADR time, is an hour, and often it is more like an hour and a half. It is not unusual to have to wait 10 to 20 minutes after your ADR time for a table at Tusker in the mornings. Sometimes you get lucky and are seated pretty quickly. So say you get out at 10:00, then you might have a 20 minute wait for Safari. Then Safari is a 20 minute ride. You are at 10:40 right there, which does not count walking back to the front of the park, waiting for the bus, the approximate 15 minute bus ride (around 6 or 7 miles), getting through bag check and the gates at EPCOT and walking to your FP+ ride. I think there is a good chance you would miss it. If you were out of Tusker by 9:30 and safari was still walk on or a 10 minute wait- you could be done and our your way out of the park around 10:00 and then you would have a better chance, but it would still be tight. I would push the FP+ back at least an hour. How old is your DS? My DD(8) has never been a big AK fan until last year when they added the Wilderness Explorer mission book- she had a lot of fun with that, and for the first time stayed well into the afternoon without complaint.

Great tips. Had no idea Tusker could take that long, thanks for the heads up.

I am by no means a cheerleader for DAK -- it can certainly use some more love (which it is getting) -- but if you've never been there, I would agree that you and/or your son would likely find more to do there than just the Safari and, at the very least, would not want to feel like you're on a tight schedule to get out by a certain time (at least not that quickly). Depending on his age, there is the Wilderness Explorers activity, the Lion King live show, "Tough to be a Bug" 3D show, various animal trails, and DinoLand, which I would argue tends to be boy-focused (not that girls don't enjoy it...I have two girls that do). Even if you don't want to utilize any FP's that morning at DAK, I'd push any for Epcot until at least after lunch, just in case you find yourself entertained at DAK for a bit longer than expected.

He's not familiar with Lion King (Trying to shield him from the concept of parental murder till at least Kindergarten) he would freak out at the Bug show in a bad way, for some reason has developed a major fear of bugs this year. And I've done everything to get him to latch on to my love of Dinosaurs (Multiple trips to Museum of Natural History, Dorney Park's Living with the Dinosaurs etc) and I get nothing out of him. But good call, we'll push them back a bit.

 

[Kimosabe]

He's not familiar with Lion King (Trying to shield him from the concept of parental murder till at least Kindergarten) he would freak out at the Bug show in a bad way, for some reason has developed a major fear of bugs this year. And I've done everything to get him to latch on to my love of Dinosaurs (Multiple trips to Museum of Natural History, Dorney Park's Living with the Dinosaurs etc) and I get nothing out of him. But good call, we'll push them back a bit.

While my 9 and 12 year old daughters know lots of Lion King music, I realized they had never actually seen the full movie, so we got it recently and started watching it. My 12 year old forced herself to go to sleep early in the movie because she didn't want to watch the father die....so I can understand that!

I can also sympathize with the bug thing. We took them to the Bug's Life show two or three years ago, and they are still perfectly happy to skip that one at DAK when we are planning a full day there later in the summer. The "bad guys" (the grasshoppers) are pretty scary for little kids in that one!

 

[ariane37]

I don't feel you have to have seen Lion King to watch FOTLK. It's such an amazing show! Even if your DS doesn't love it, you may

AK isn't my favorite park but it IS DS8's favorite. I just think it's a shame to go there JUST for TH (which we love) and the safari (which we also love). Again not my favorite, but it's definitely a beautiful park. Even getting as close as possible to the Tree of Life and showing your son the different animal carvings I think would be nice for a little while. There are some characters that are only in AK - a pp mentioned Jungle Book and I *think* Pocahontas is still there. Flights of Wonder is a great, entertaining, often overlooked bird show.

So, even w/o the rides there are things to try. Haven't done the Wilderness Explorer's as my DS's are no longer interested in that type of thing, but yours might be! I'd give it a chance and make your EPCOT FP's for later in the afternoon unless you're planning that to be your only EPCOT time and have a lot you want to do there.

 

[Alesia]

He's not familiar with Lion King (Trying to shield him from the concept of parental murder till at least Kindergarten)

You don't need to have seen the Lion King to enjoy Festival of the Lion King. It's probably the best show in all of WDW - seriously, don't miss it.

 

[KimBean]

Festival of Lion King is a great fun show and won't matter if he hasn't seen movie. It doesn't talk about the dad dying part.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Honestly, I'm having problems with you making an 8:30 ADR at TH then making Epcot by 11:30, the close of your Fasspass range. Even without the safari.

Here's what I'm looking at. I'm assuming bus transportation. But I don't think car would be any quicker.

8:15: Arrive at TH.
9:00: Finally seated at your table. When we ate last year at TH, we didn't get seated until about 15 minutes after our ADR time. And this was after getting there 15 minutes early.
10:15: Leave TH. The character rotation is about an hour. And for the money you're spending on the meal, you don't want to rush through it. I'd go back for seconds. And maybe thirds. And that Jamba Juice. You won't get that back home.
10:30: Exit AK
10:50: Get on bus for Epcot
11:05: Arrive at Epcot
11:15: Get through bag check and finally enter park.
11:29: With any luck, you'll finally reach your ride.


No way would I attempt it.

Besides, your child may like AK. My 5-year old DGD liked AK a lot more than Epcot. Epcot became a half day park and AK a full 2-day park.

 

[mom2rtk]

You don't need to have seen the Lion King to enjoy Festival of the Lion King. It's probably the best show in all of WDW - seriously, don't miss it.

I dare anyone not to like that show.

 

[dsneprincess]

Depending on your son's age, the thing both my boys like the very best about AK is Dinosaur Dig Yard to unearth the fossil. It is not a huge attraction, but they have both spent a lot of time there. Even the 14yo still jumps in & digs with his little brother which is very rare that he willingly does anything! Rofl

We have never gone to Lion King show or seen movie, but the Nemo show was way too long and slow for us. We didn't make it all the way through the creepy animatronic bugs and don't like to get soaked on Kali. We hit safari, the forest at the exit, Rafiki's Planet watch, DH walks with boys to Digyard, I hit single rider at Everest, older DS might want a spin on Primevial Whirl and we are done at AK. Usually done by noon at the latest.

 

[HM]

You don't mention your child's age.
But on our first trip with our kids, AK was their very favorite park. Surprised us a bit.
You never know until you try whether you'll like something or not. I'd give the park more time and choose to do Epcot much later in the day.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Depending on your son's age, the thing both my boys like the very best about AK is Dinosaur Dig Yard to unearth the fossil. It is not a huge attraction, but they have both spent a lot of time there. Even the 14yo still jumps in & digs with his little brother which is very rare that he willingly does anything! Rofl

We have never gone to Lion King show or seen movie, but the Nemo show was way too long and slow for us. We didn't make it all the way through the creepy animatronic bugs and don't like to get soaked on Kali. We hit safari, the forest at the exit, Rafiki's Planet watch, DH walks with boys to Digyard, I hit single rider at Everest, older DS might want a spin on Primevial Whirl and we are done at AK. Usually done by noon at the latest.

I like it (Especially the single ride on EE while the spouse is with the kiddos ) My little guy is 3, so I'm not sure if he'll get the concept of the dig, but he does love his tiny sandbox, lol.