Donald's Safari Breakfast and Kilimanjaro Safari

[lovehoney]

If you have an 8 am ADR for a non EMH how do you work out your touring plan for the day. Does the breakfast take a whole hour. I would assume you go straight to KS after you eat. Do they let you into the park before 9? How does it work?

Can you get fast passes that early. What about expedition everest. Would you leave KS and go straight there?

 

[disneyobessed]

Yes they let you in early ! Its great. We have done this at the MK before for Crystal Palace.. breakfast at 8. Walking down Main Street without really anybody else around was awsome. THen when you are done they let you stay in the park at a roped off area before it opens so you have a much better head start ahead of everyone to the rides if you can finish before 9 which is very doable.

 

[atsolomon]

First, I have to say it's a fantastic breakfast with really good character interaction.

One thing you should be prepared for is the delay from when you check in at the podium to actually being seated. Looking at the time stamps on my photos, I was on the parking tram at 8:15, checked in at the podium by 8:30, bypassed our photo op w/Donald at 8:38, and were seated and eating by 8:49.

We had an absolutely outstanding server on our most recent visit, Neil, by the way.

In terms of a touring plan, after the meal ( we left at 9:30) the park had indeed already opened and people were streaming in. I ran to get fast passes to the Kilimanjaro Safari and met my family in Camp Minnie Mickey for the 10 AM Festival of The Lion King Show.

That plan worked extremely well for us that day.

Have a wonderful time.

--Adam

 

[tarheelmjfan]

With an 8:05 ADR we were out just in time for the park to open. While my DH & I paid, the kids went to EE. They picked up FPs for everyone, then rode once. By the time we paid, we didn't have to wait long for them to be back to KS. We all rode that together. Then we went to EE, which was a mistake. I got motion sickness riding on a full stomach. In the future, I would hold of on EE & use the FPs a little later.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

We had an 8:05 am ADR - we skipped the Donald photo op (the line was really long and would have taken forever). We had a fantastic breakfast, saw all the characters, and was outside, ready for the Safari a few minutes before it opened. We were waiting to be able to head to the safari when we heard a loud noise...turned around and saw the official rope drop crowd heading over the bridge. Fortunately the CM's let us go a minute or two before the masses made it over the bridge and we were on the first jeep of the day on the safari ..an amazing experience.

 

[lemondog]

We always do 8:05 ADR for Tusker House, and we are out the door and ready to go by about 8:55. There will be a rope held by 2 CMs and at 9:00 they will let you go....you are closest to Kilimanjaro Safaris so we usually go over there and get in line while DH runs to EE to get FPs then meets us back at the safaris. Works perfect every time with barely any wait in line.

 

[LoveKermit]

Agree with everyone else. We were done just before 9. The first masses were just passing by as we were leaving. DH ran to EE to get FPs. We just waited. It felt like tons of people went straight to KS. But since we were waiting, the crowd actually died down and we walked right on KS. It was probably about 9:20. There was another rush of people around 9:15/9:30--those who intend for RD, but don't quite make it. That group was smaller.

It was totally easy. We, unfortunately, do a lot of backtracking at AK. That's just how our touring plan works out. It's still just a half day park for us--especially with that early start.

Oh yeah....when you get there, you are pushed to one turnstile. There was a CM with a printout of ADRs. She checked us off before we went to the turnstile--so you can't "say" you have a reservation. Then, just as people said. We did not wait long at the podium and we were first/only in line for Donald so we did it, though we did not buy. It was one of our best family photos on our own camera. By the time we finished with pictures, the line was longer.

 

[shawnh199]

If you want to be sure to make "rope drop" and beat the masses to KS, make sure you take care of your check early on in your meal. Sometimes it can take quite a while to pay and get out the door since most people wait until they finish to pay.

We have never had a problem making it to the safari ride and being in the first few groups. The characters seem to come through pretty quickly when you have that 805am ADR. And, since it's a buffet, you can eat what and how much you want without waiting on your server to bring your food.

Have an awesome time.