Help us decide on AK morning EMH or wait until evening to go?

[maryj11]

We make FP's at the end of this month and I'm trying decide on them and dining for our AK day.
We only want to do a half a day there. We will be there at the end of July
The day we are going they have morning EMH 8:00-9:00 and the park closes at 9:00.
If we go to EMH we want to leave the park around 1:00. If we go in the evening we are hoping they extend the hours.
Surely they will extend the hours because 9:00 is just to early for summer?
That is my problem, I'm not sure they will extend hours.
If they do we would rather go in the evening because we enjoyed it last year with Pandora all lite up, the tree and just the night time atmosphere.
So what should I do make our FP's and dining for morning or evening?

 

[sharonabe]

My decision would be based on the days around this one. Is the day/night before a late one? Then I wouldn't do morning. Is my next day an EMH rope drop must do, then I wouldn't do evening.

 

[maryj11]

My decision would be based on the days around this one. Is the day/night before a late one? Then I wouldn't do morning. Is my next day an EMH rope drop must do, then I wouldn't do evening.

Night before is Epcot so not to late and no rope drop the next day.

 

[sharonabe]

Night before is Epcot so not to late and no rope drop the next day.

Well that's not much help.

Since July afternoons can be unpredictable with thunder showers, I think I'd lean toward morning.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would base a lot of my decision around what time you can get FP for FoP if that's something you want to do. When we were there in January I went on at the 180 day mark and AK was one of the last days of our trip. Even though it was the first FPs we booked of our 10 days, I couldn't get anything on my AK day earlier than 2:05pm.

If that ends up being the case for you, your decision might be made for you.

 

[maryj11]

I would base a lot of my decision around what time you can get FP for FoP if that's something you want to do. When we were there in January I went on at the 180 day mark and AK was one of the last days of our trip. Even though it was the first FPs we booked of our 10 days, I couldn't get anything on my AK day earlier than 2:05pm.

If that ends up being the case for you, your decision might be made for you.

Very true!

 

[walker0829]

I didn't understand the hype around the evening at AK personally. The tree awakening was neat and Pandora land was lit up nicely but nothing else really stood out as being special at night.

 

[Tinkerboy00]

I think it depends on what you want to do and see and when you can get fast passes. But we prefer to Animal Kingdom as early in the day as possible because the animals are usually more active in the earlier part of the day.

 

[disneynanacat]

I would base a lot of my decision around what time you can get FP for FoP if that's something you want to do. When we were there in January I went on at the 180 day mark and AK was one of the last days of our trip. Even though it was the first FPs we booked of our 10 days, I couldn't get anything on my AK day earlier than 2:05pm.

If that ends up being the case for you, your decision might be made for you.

Yup. This ^

 

[maryj11]

So does anyone think they will extend the hours to be open later? I wish they would get the hours straight before 180 days. I hate trying to guess.

 

[SaintsManiac]

As @scrappinginontario said, I plan my AK times according to FP availability for FoP.

 

[maryj11]

As @scrappinginontario said, I plan my AK times according to FP availability for FoP.

Yes there might be a problem with us getting a FP. We were planning on going our 2nd day of our trip.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I didn't understand the hype around the evening at AK personally. The tree awakening was neat and Pandora land was lit up nicely but nothing else really stood out as being special at night.

The lines are shorter in the evening. That’s the hype.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I find AK to be so much hotter than the other parks so evenings their are a god send. I wasn’t really an AK fan until i did PM EMH there Years ago. And riding EE in the dark is just amazing.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I find AK to be so much hotter than the other parks so evenings their are a god send. I wasn’t really an AK fan until i did PM EMH there Years ago. And riding EE in the dark is just amazing.

Funny, I had my “ah ha” moment with AK a couple of years ago when went at night for the first time (ironically, we went for that Jungle Book show before RoL). Before that I had always struggled with AK.... it was always hot like you say, I felt like I could never navigate the park well, etc. That one random nighttime trip changed everything - it was like it all clicked - and now I’d rather go evening/night almost by default.

Sorry, random memory.

 

[maryj11]

Funny, I had my “ah ha” moment with AK a couple of years ago when went at night for the first time (ironically, we went for that Jungle Book show before RoL). Before that I had always struggled with AK.... it was always hot like you say, I felt like I could never navigate the park well, etc. That one random nighttime trip changed everything - it was like it all clicked - and now I’d rather go evening/night almost by default.

Sorry, random memory.

Yes we did enjoy the night there. I agree about it feeling so hot there!