Best strategy for AK rope drop not riding FOP?

[maryj11]

Would it be better to head to the safari or dinosaur?

 

[GBRforWDW]

Would it be better to head to the safari or dinosaur?

I’ve heard the animals on the safari are most active in the morning. If that matters to you, hit up Safari first and make your way around. Otherwise, there’s more rides closer to Dinosaur, so if you’re just wanting to ride as much as possible early on, I’d hit up dinosaurs first

 

[maryj11]

I’ve heard the animals on the safari are most active in the morning. If that matters to you, hit up Safari first and make your way around. Otherwise, there’s more rides closer to Dinosaur, so if you’re just wanting to ride as much as possible early on, I’d hit up dinosaurs first

I forgot to add it will be 2 adults and Dinosaur is probably the only ride we will ride in that area. What we would like to do is the safari, Everest, the animal trails and Dinosaur. Maybe the lion king show. Navi River if waits go down after rope drop. We don’t want to head straight to Pandora at rope drop though

 

[GBRforWDW]

I’d say you can’t go wrong either way, but I’d probably go Safari first.

I’m assuming you’re going after the reopening of Lion King? I was sad not to be able to see that show on our January trip. I had FPs last year for it that were lost due to covid.

we rope dropped Navi and had a 10 minute wait. I think it was 30-40 minutes rest of the day, but still, lots of people head that way so I can understand wanting to avoid it.

 

[maryj11]

I’d say you can’t go wrong either way, but I’d probably go Safari first.

I’m assuming you’re going after the reopening of Lion King? I was sad not to be able to see that show on our January trip. I had FPs last year for it that were lost due to covid.

we rope dropped Navi and had a 10 minute wait. I think it was 30-40 minutes rest of the day, but still, lots of people head that way so I can understand wanting to avoid it.

Maybe we should go to navi first then the safari

 

[HiStitch626]

The safari in the morning is really super. And the nice thing about heading there first as often you can get off and ride it again immediately with no wait so you get two chances to see the animals in the early morning. The animal trails don’t usually open right when the park does.

 

[maryj11]

The safari in the morning is really super. And the nice thing about heading there first as often you can get off and ride it again immediately with no wait so you get two chances to see the animals in the early morning. The animal trails don’t usually open right when the park does.

Oh I never thought of the animal trails not opening at rope drop.

 

[Heather07438]

Maybe we should go to navi first then the safari

That sounds good. Navi is a quick ride. I’d say if you’re toward the front of rope drop do Navi first. You’ll be going to ride #2 much sooner from Navi vs Safari (much longer ride experience).

 

[HiStitch626]

The trails do tend to open at the official park opening time, but since AK has been opening earlier than that, the trails may not be open when you first arrive. In December, when we arrived to the Safari the Gorilla Falls Trail was not open. It was open after we got off of our first safari ride. We have done this several times over the years and one of the nice things about walking that trail early in the morning is that you are likely to see the keepers out observing the animals. We got to talk to several of the gorilla keepers that day. The gorillas are invited to come in at night but are not required to do so and on that day none of the bachelor group had come in. So the keepers were all out in the morning just to check on them. They were also doing an activity with one of the older males who is suffering from arthritis. They tossed his favorite fruit on to different levels of their enclosure to watch him climb up and down and see how he was doing. It was very interesting to watch.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Maybe we should go to navi first then the safari

I wasn't sure if the crowd was why you didn't want to go there first so figured I'd at least mention. Hopefully when you arrive, the line for Navi I'd still in the actual queue portion. If it starts flowing out of there, you know it'll be more than 10-15 minutes and might be worth it for you to not wait. Depending on how you feel that day.

Nice thing about AK with few rides and smaller crowds, you can basically ride any and all rides you want and you'll have a great day.

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

I'll be honest, I don't love Navi River, so I always go straight to the safari. I've done it at rope drop in October, Jan, and March and was on the 1st Safari each time. It's great because the animals are all active, they were usually feeding the painted dogs, and even the lions were awake.

I usually do: Safari - Everest - Coffee or snack while I wait for Jungle Trek to Open - Dinosaur - It's Tough to be a Bug - and then Nomad Lounge Then, after lunch, do the Gorilla trails, maybe play some games in Dinoland, and then hop to another park.

The Gorilla Trail wasn't opening until later (but the last time part of it was done for a repair) and The Jungle Trek doesn't open til 9 AM if the park opens at 8 AM.

 

[DisneyGrammyT]

I would head to Safari for sure. We have at the best safaris in the morning. The animals are active and out and about usually.

 

[schucrew]

Keep in mind, if you get to Animal Kingdom before official opening time, you may find that the only land open is Pandora. We were there on March 17, when the park opened at 8:00am. We got there about 7:15 and rushed to the Safari, which we were told wasn‘t opening until 8:30 that day. So we went over to Everest and there were no cast members anywhere to be found. It wasn’t open either. We got to Dinosaur about 7:45 and were told it would open at 8:00 so we hopped in that line.
YMMV, but it appeared to us that the only rides open before official time are the two rides in Pandora, which we weren’t interested in.

 

[gharter]

How fast does the line build at Safari at RD? I was thinking of doing Everest first, a couple of times (in the past we've been able to ride at RD with minimal to no line), then head over to Safari.

 

[wiggy500]

Right before Covid I got there an hour early, rope dropped Navi while the masses went to Flight of Passage, then also rope dropped Everest as Pandora was open before everything else. It worked great.

 

[Akck]

How fast does the line build at Safari at RD? I was thinking of doing Everest first, a couple of times (in the past we've been able to ride at RD with minimal to no line), then head over to Safari.

Since it doesn’t necessarily open at RD, the line can be long waiting for it to start up. Once it opens, you’re almost always moving, so it feels like a walk-on. We did FOP first and then got in the Safari line, which opened maybe 15 minutes before. I remember pausing a couple of times for a minute or two and a bit at the loading area.