Great day at AK today! (8/20)

[OurLaughingPlace]

We went to AK today (9:00am open). We left our room at Pop at 7:45am. Bus arrived at Pop around 8:05am - love the boards at the bus stop to tell you when bus is arriving! We were at AK by 8:25 and through bag check/ ticket area by 8:35am. Walked into Pandora (they were letting us right in even though park wasn't open yet) and walked on the left side right onto Na'vi River ride- very pretty ride. When we got off ride, it still wasn't even 9:00am yet. We toured the food court (just to use up a few minutes before our FP for FoP). We used our FP for FoP at 9:03am (it was for 9:05am but they let us in a couple of minutes early). We were finished our FoP ride by 9:35am - it was fabulous! Loved it (and I really don't know the movie very well but still enjoyed the ride). We were in line for Safari by 9:45am (Safari stand by posted wait was 15 minutes). So, by 10:00am we rode both Na'vi river and FoP and got on Safari (I'm guessing we were off Safari around 10:20am). I stopped timing things by then as I was pleased how our day started. We then had FP for Everest and Dinosaur. Saw FOTLK - the tumble monkeys didn't do their usual routine on the trampoline. They were in the show (only 3 of them) so I'm not sure if it's changed (still awesome; my favourite show at Disney) or if because there were only 3 that they couldn't do their usual routine (I think there are usually 4 tumble monkeys?) Obviously the FoP FP was a big part of our day going so smoothly. Hope this helps anyone trying to plan their AK day.

 

[kaybird]

Sounds like a great day! AK is my favorite, getting there early is the key to getting things done. Yes, if there is a tumble monkey out, it seriously impacts their act. Sometimes for a couple of days, sometimes just for one show. Did you eat at Satu'li? We got to the rides, but the food court was so crowded on opening day.

 

[AngiTN]

Sounds like a great day.
Unfortunately, there have been issues with a monkey for a few months. I believe I read somewhere that one of them was injured. I guess when he's usually scheduled to perform they have to cut them from a lot of shows. I do not know why there hasn't been a regular replacement for him, or maybe there has been but they still have a problem with 1 missing now and again. But whatever the cause, it does seem to come up more often than ever before that their routine was cut from the show. We've been lucky to catch them on all of our viewings

 

[mamamelody2]

Glad you had a great day! I am going to try for a 9 AM or so FOP FP too, so we can do what you guys did with regards to river journey and FOP.

That's disappointing about the tumble monkeys. That is certainly one of the best parts of the show!

 

[OB1]

Perfect AK day it sounds like. My favorite park, and it is just getting better. What a great place to just hang out and watch the animals. Always something interesting that is unexpected. I think a great strategy is to try to book AK in the middle of your stay and use it as a bit of a chill day. Of course, FOP is changing the chill part, but you certainly made it work.

 

[annemce118]

You really got a lot done this morning! Have a great time!

 

[Disneylover99]

Awesome! We're having a great night here now. We arrived at about 5:30pm and it's been steadily raining ever since. It's nice to be able to walk on many of the rides. I think tonight is the first night that Pandora is not open till midnight. I wonder if that helped to contribute to lower crowds.

 

[Micca]

Well done! Thanks for your report.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Sounds like a fantastic park day. Glad that you had a great day.

 

[Disfan1968]

I was there today as well. Low attendance and some manageable rain really made the often scorching hot Animal Kingdom a real pleasure today.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Sounds like a great day! AK is my favorite, getting there early is the key to getting things done. Yes, if there is a tumble monkey out, it seriously impacts their act. Sometimes for a couple of days, sometimes just for one show. Did you eat at Satu'li? We got to the rides, but the food court was so crowded on opening day.

Oldest DD had a blueberry cream cheese mousse- looked really neat, but she didn't really like it/ didn't finish it. Good to know that FOTLK was probably just changed due to a tumble monkey being absent - love their routine and missed it, but still a great show.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Awesome! We're having a great night here now. We arrived at about 5:30pm and it's been steadily raining ever since. It's nice to be able to walk on many of the rides. I think tonight is the first night that Pandora is not open till midnight. I wonder if that helped to contribute to lower crowds.

We actually chose AK as our park day today for that reason - we were hoping that with no EMH (no morning OR night time EMH) that maybe people would chose another park. I think it may have helped for sure! Glad to hear that you're having a good night there too!

 

[SBWB48]

We actually chose AK as our park day today for that reason - we were hoping that with no EMH (no morning OR night time EMH) that maybe people would chose another park. I think it may have helped for sure! Glad to hear that you're having a good night there too!

Likewise. At one point, when we saw that FOP was only a 90m wait, we knew the park was going to be extremely manageable. Saw many rides like KS, KRR, and EE all with 15-20m waits as well.