Arrival time for Festival of the Lion King???

[ptrbryant]

We'll be in WDW Jan. 28 - Feb 4 (hooray!!!) and would really like to catch the Festival of the Lion King at AK this time. Given that we're going off-season, how early do you think we need to be there before the show starts (say, for the 1:00 show)?
Thanks!
Karla B.

 

[WDWfanatic288]

well we just came back at Christmas and lined up like 12:15 for the 1 oclock show...well they didn't let us in until 12:55!(b/c of the show before)

I say get there 20 minutes before but you might have to wait for the show before to finish

 

[peachgirl]

I don't see why you would need to be there much before the show starts. We went during our Christmas/NYE trip and the park was at near capacity. We walked in at the last second, minutes before the show started and got seats virtually on the floor. We found out on this trip that sometimes you can really luck out if you wait till the last minute to go in. They wait until the very end and then open up the handicap seating if they aren't filled, which they rarely are. Even if we hadn't gotten that seating, there really appear to be no bad seats in that theater. If I went back, I wouldn't line up in advance at all. Btw, it was one of our favorite shows, I'm sure you'll love it!

 

[SnackyStacky]

I went the week after Labor Day. Similar attendance to what you'll experience and walked in about a minute or two before show time, and got excellent seats.

Because the seating is in the round, there isn't a bad seat in the house. (Unless you're stuck behind someone who is taller than you)

 

[ptrbryant]

Great, thanks for the info! Just over 3 weeks 'til WDW!!!
Karla B.

 

[eeyore0062]

We try to line up at least a 1/2 hour prior to the show. That time shouldn't be too crowded, so you should be OK! I think we have shown up as late as 10 minutes prior and still gotten in, but it was close!

 

[CamColt]

We were able to just walk in as it was starting back in August, and there were plenty of seats.
Of course, this was after I was totally stressed because breakfast went a lot slower than we expected, therefore after pigging out we had to make a mad dash from Donalds to the Safari, and then to LK. We all had cramps by that point, but we made it.

 

[sunking]

if you are arriving at animal kingdom at opening, sometimes there are cast members handing out reserved seating tickets for the first show of the morning...that way you will not have to line up at all but just show up prior to the beginning of the show...we did this during one of our trips....
but if you are not going to be there for opening, you still shouldn't have to lineup too early as there is normally seating still available this time of year....
have a great time!!!!
sunking

 

[DemonLlama]

We were there Christmas week for the first time, so we lined up 45 minutes early. They had three roped off areas, and we were directed to the middle one, as were all the early comers. When that middle area began to build, they sent folks to the left and right sides. We assumed the middle would be the first to enter, but when they started letting people in, they started with the right side, so the folks wating the longest didn't gain anything. Then they opening both middle and left at the same time. Once we got inside and saw the arrangement we realized we'd wasted our time, since the seating is good all around, unless you want to be right on the front row, in which case, get there early and get on the right side of the roped areas. Once the bulk of folks had sat down, they made us all scoot in to the middle of the rows, so the latecomers that arrived right before the show actually got seats closer down and on the ends (where they could also get out quicker) than those of us who had waited for 45 minutes.