Few more questions for 2nd timer....

[Alice777]

1. Does Animal Kingdom only have night hours during summer? When we went in April, we didn't get to do night safari nor Jungle Book and I was hoping in November we get to see both but it looks like park is closing at 5 pm?

2. I read somewhere there's free Culinary Tour at Animal Kingdom Lodge at 4 pm. Is there still tour everyday at 4 pm? Is it worth doing the tour?

3. Is it better to do Rope Drop going by easy WDW crowd calendar (worked wonderfully in April) and do EMH since planning to go back to resort to rest anyway?

4. How busy does it get in 1st/2nd week of November?

5. My son has year pass (the one that you can get into WDW and DL) so he won't be needing tickets when we go in November. Since I don't have year pass and we decided not to get the dining plan but planning on staying at the Pop, what would be best way to make reservation? We did package deal with travel agent in April (which included CS plan, room, tickets, Disney band, etc) so it was easy.

a. What would be the best way to buy my tickets? Want to go to all 4 parks and maybe do extra day at the AK.
b. Do we get new Disney bands for free if we book with Pop or use the ones from April? If we use the ones from April, how do we get it connected to FP?
c. Will it be easier to have travel agent?

Thank you so much

 

[Dan Murphy]

I'm very confident that night hours will remain at Animal Kingdom.

We like to do park opening at the non emh parks, much less crowded.

Expected crowds for various weeks.

http://**************.net/2014/09/25/disney-world-crowds-in-2016/

Generally the best way is to book everything separately.

We buy tickets at Undercover Tourist.

You will get new bands and you can also use the old ones.

We do not use travel agent, preferring to remain in charge of all the things making up our trip.

 

[joanchris]

1. Does Animal Kingdom only have night hours during summer? When we went in April, we didn't get to do night safari nor Jungle Book and I was hoping in November we get to see both but it looks like park is closing at 5 pm?
Hours will likely change the closer you get to November. It still says Animal Kingdom will close at 5 for our September trip, and while no one knows if they'll continue night hours past those posted, it seems unlikely that they would spend all that money and make the changes for only summer hours. We will have to wait to see for sure.


3. Is it better to do Rope Drop going by easy WDW crowd calendar (worked wonderfully in April) and do EMH since planning to go back to resort to rest anyway?
I have always found the first few hours in the park to be the best time of day to get a lot done.


5. My son has year pass (the one that you can get into WDW and DL) so he won't be needing tickets when we go in November. Since I don't have year pass and we decided not to get the dining plan but planning on staying at the Pop, what would be best way to make reservation? We did package deal with travel agent in April (which included CS plan, room, tickets, Disney band, etc) so it was easy.
Booking the room only directly through Disney

a. What would be the best way to buy my tickets? Want to go to all 4 parks and maybe do extra day at the AK.
order tickets separately through someplace like Undercover tourist.
b. Do we get new Disney bands for free if we book with Pop or use the ones from April? If we use the ones from April, how do we get it connected to FP?When you order tickets through Undercover Tourist they will just give you codes you input into My Disney Experience and it will link your tickets to you current magic bands, then the bands sent to you from your reservation will already be linked. You can switch out magic bands (different colors for different outfits...I had 4 my last trip).

c. Will it be easier to have travel agent?
I like doing the planning personally.

Thank you so much

 

[Alice777]

Generally the best way is to book everything separately.
We buy tickets at Undercover Tourist.
You will get new bands and you can also use the old ones.

Hello again,

If I may ask, did you book your resort with Undercover Tourist too? It seem little cheaper than booking directly on Disney website.
And also, we get new bands eventhough we don't book rooms/tickets directly with Disney?
Thank you

 

[DisMommyTX]

For us, rooms are usually cheapest on Orbitz, tickets on Undercover Tourist, and link it all ourselves into My Disney Experience. However, it doesn't save that much (maybe 10%?) compared to booking both directly through the Disney website. Going through a travel agent who specializes in Disney should cost exactly the same as booking through Disney directly and would be easier if you are not comfortable doing it all yourself.