Help me pick: AK shows

[Wiloughby1]

We are big AK fans- Rope Drop to being ushered out. DH loves all of the walking trails, DS loves all of the animals. I love the break from the traditional. But...
Last year we did EVERYTHING (every ride and trail, everyone who was able) except the shows and Camp. DS was 22mos so we avoided things that were longer than 20 mins. We did ITTBAB. It took us the WHOLE day to see the whole park. When I went pre-kids in 2000, I saw FOW, but not FTLK or Nemo. Still took all day, even before EE.

So now I am doing our touring plan, and I need to know, what shows can we fit in reasonably this time, knowing we want to take time on all the trails and all the rides? We are open to splitting the group, if that helps. Here are the facts to consider...

Party of 6.
-Me (not preggo this time) i'll ride it all
-DH rides everything
-DS, age nearly 4, 39in (boo)- has seen Nemo and Lion King movies
-DD 18mos, fearless, has been through one 45 min movie theater showing of Sesame Street before, with decent success
-Both of my parents, relatively fit, mom won't ride thrill rides and dad will, but doesn't have to.

We have 8am Tusker House ADRs, so we'll be there before RD. Park hours are 9-6 on a TP 6.0 day.

I appreciate your help! I'm really stumped on this one. We have 1.5 open days on our 9 day plan, so I could add a 2nd day at AK, but I am figuring DS will request MK for the extra whole day (no hoppers) and the other .5 is our last day, forcing us to rush out of POFQ to get to RD, rather than take our time.

thank you thank you!

If you enjoy the challenge, I may make a similar request for DHS on a 1.2 day, with a 7pm closing time...though we don't "see it all" there, skipping Art of Animation, Narnia, Backlot, and anything else "museum" like.

 

[yulilin3]

Festival of the Lion King is our absolute favorite Disney show in all property...It's just incredible, I would pick FOTLK over Nemo any day

 

[Pembo]

Personally I like Nemo better but I've seen LK way too many times.

 

[imthatgirl]

I think Lion King is a must. honestly everytime I see it the singing brings tears to my eyes. Awesome show!! Especially if you haven't seen it.

 

[mrsmom]

Festival of the lion king is the best show!!

 

[Paradise18]

FOTLK is amazing. Enjoyed Nemo too though. Don't think you would be disappointed going to either - or both.

 

[RatherB@Disney]

Both FOLK and Nemo are good shows. Does your DS like one movie more than the other?

If not, going on "wow" factor, I would recommend FOLK because the show is very close to the whole audience and you feel immersed in the show. With Nemo, depending upon your seat, you may feel a little more removed from the show.

Good luck with your planning!

 

[Wiloughby1]

Wow! That's a pretty good showing for FOTLK! DS went through a big Nemo kick, but it somewhat over it. He walked away from Lion King to play trains...should I take that into consideration? He's not a big movie watcher, though...

Anyone think it's possible to do both? Would it be too much for my kids, between waiting for the show and sitting during it? Should we not even consider FoW?

Thanks again!

 

[GoofyGirl75]

Honestly, I would try to work it into my schedule to see both if you've never seen them. Our first two trips, we saw Nemo but not Lion King. When we caught it this last trip, it's now a MUST DO! Both are awesome!!!

 

[MHSweb79]

I love both shows. My DH and DD prefer Nemo over Lion King, though.

My advice would be to choose the show that best fits into your schedule. It can be tough to fit in both shows and still leave time to browse the trails, meet characters, etc. You really can't go wrong with either show.

One factor is the wait: At Lion King, you are kept outside waiting for most of the time before the show. Then you come in, sit and the show starts pretty quickly. For Nemo, you could be sitting in the theatre for quite a while before the show starts. You have to decide whether it's better for your son to wait outside, where it's hot but he can most likely blow off little steam (I saw some little kids amusing themselves with tiny sticks and pebbles) or if it's better to sit in the A/C to cool off for a while at Nemo.

 

[Havana]

FOTLK. It is awesome! I love the last scene, and cry almost every time I see it!

 

[Virtucomp]

Wow, must you choose between Nemo and Lion King?

We saw Nemo the first time it was there and really enjoyed it.
On our last trip we did Lion King instead. Very impressive show with interaction from the audience.

If you had to choose then your kids would probably take Lion King since they get the audience more involved.

 

[JessicaFaye508]

I personally like Festival of the Lion King better... but that's probably because I've seen Nemo way too many times and I know every word to the soundtrack.

Nemo is more like a musical, broadway production with a story line.

And Lion King jumps from song to song with different acrobatic acts and singing and dancing. It definitely is a Festival.

I would say to try to squeeze in both, but if that's impossible to Lion King.

And as far as Flight of Wonder... it's a good show, but it honestly doesn't compare to these two. I would save that one for when you have spare time. But it's definitely not the best choice when you have these other two.

 

[T1gger]

We only managed to see FOTLK but I can tell you it was just amazing. Really amazing! I have seen a lot of top theatre shows in Londons West End (UK Broadway equivalent) and did not expect a show in a theme park to be anything near that standard - but it was.
We were all blown away and I can say if Nemo was of the same quality you wont be disappointed with either.

FOTLK has stilt walkers, acrobatics, fire, huge animatronics - and there is something going on everywhere you look and like a PP said you feel like you are right in the middle of the action

 

[growinupdisney]

Have thought about Ridemax? I have used them the past 3 years and love it. I have been going to WDW almost every year for 30+ and # years ago decide to get Ridemax because I was going during the week after Easter and had not been used to going at crowd level 10's.

I was a little skeptic at first but I used while there at we did everything on the list. There is a place to add nthe shows all the rides you want to do( you even put what pace you go at) it will tell you if you can fit everythinh in you want to do. It does take some playing with to get things you want to do to make it work...this being sometimes it puts in a long break you don't really need.

So for ex. I put arriving at 9:05am and leaving at 12pm with all the popular rides (fp) then put in 12:00pm to close and add the other things left and usually works quite well. You can also just put in 9am-close and see what it gives you it maybe fine. It will also allow you to put in lunch time and wher you are eating.

the last 3 years we did every attraction and all the shows except FOW. In one day. There were 6 of us. DH, ME,dd15,ds13,dd3, and DG

 

[Wiloughby1]

Sounds like we should try for both if we can. How early do we need to arrive? We're not seat-stressors, as long as we can sit together. Ever wait the whole time and end up having to wait for a 2nd show? That's the only thing I wouldn't be able to handle.

 

[growinupdisney]

FOTL I usually get there about 20 min. before( we usually have a icecream while waiting.) Nemo about the same.


have gotten there about 5-10 min before show started but just depends on the time of the year!


Everyone in the family loves FOTLK but just me and dd3 like Nemo. The rest of the family naps.

 

[earthfaries]

I recommend FOTLK. Nemo was terrible, I thought. My kids didn't like it either, so I definitely would not recommend Nemo.

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[ktlm]

Don't miss FOTLK! A little tip, I would the Camp Minnie Mickey characters at a time when the FOTLK show is actually going on, not as you leave the show. The show exits filter right into the characters and that when the show exists is usually when the lines get the longest. Just so you will know FOTLK is about 20 minutes, but Nemo is about 40 minutes. I don't know when you are going, but we take trips at slower times, and we have walked into FOTLK 5 minutes before they close the doors (actually less on our last trip as we thought we were going to miss the start so we were heading for the Camp instead, but a CM was rounding up people saying they still had time to get in to FOTLK before the door closed) and not had any trouble finding seats. Can't tell you much about NEMO. We showed DD a clip of it on youtube, and she said it was "just people with sticks" not "real" characters and she didn't want to see it.

 

[X_Mickeys_Pal_X]

the mioan argument is always whats betters better nemo or festival of the lion king...
For me the winner has to be the lion king. It keeps you interessted all the way through and keeps everyone entertained.

nemos never done it for me...i just dont get the idea of people holding the characters while you can obviously see them behind...

But of course its up to you and what your family likes