How long does it generally take to do AK?

[jetstrip19]

DH & I are going with no kids, and I made my ressies at Boma for 5;30, So I just wanted opinons on what time to arrive at AK because I heard it doesnt take that long to do the whole park.

 

[momsgoofy]

Nope, it doesn't take that long to do the whole park...or at least what we wanted to do this last trip. We tried Donald's for breakfast (which we won't do again), but were able to finish our meal and be there for the rope drop at 9am (park opening time). We rode primevil whirl twice, went to Bugs Life, waited 5 mins. to go inside, then straight to Kilamanjaro Safaris, walked straight through and got on, went to Festival of the Lion King, walked right in and were seated, then went straight to Tarzan Rocks and walked right in and sat. We had done all that we wanted this trip, grabbed some fries and drink then headed out of the park, stopping at 3 shops on the way...DH was loooking for the new shirt that has EE on it, but we could only find it in a sweatshirt. We did stop in between places to look in a shop, take a photo or hit the bathroom, but when we arrived at the bus stop it was almost 12:30pm...so 3 1/2 hours.

On a previous trip we did more and I know it didn't take all day either.

 

[Robo]

Just to make this clear, Boma is not AT the Animal Kingdom (DAK).
It is at the Animal Kingdom LODGE (AKL) Resort Hotel.

But if you just want to know how long it takes to SEE DAK before you leave there and go over to the AK Lodge...

If someone does not care for DAK, it can be "seen" in a few hours.

BUT...
We LOVE DAK!
We like to take a "full day" (which is not as "long" as a full day at MK or Epcot) to see as much as we can.

We arrive at Park opening and can do much of what we want by the end of the day. (We only attend in so-called "off-season" times at WDW.)

There is plenty to do.
So if the park is BUSY, you might have even have trouble "seeing it all" even in one day.

The DAK "Mickey's Jammin' Jungle" parade is very fun and it usually starts at 4pm.

You can view it near the bridge to the Oasis (and the park exit) and leave the park as soon as it has passed by. (It will take about 20-25 minutes for the parade to even REACH you at this area of the park, and it lasts about 15 minutes.)

Even with many guests leaving the park at that time, you should be able to take the bus (or drive your car) to AKL and get there by 5:15 or so to check in at Boma.

 

[jetstrip19]

is ak lodge close to ak? i thought it waqs close enough to make the ressie the same day we went to the park.

 

[skuttle]

Before we had DS, DH and I would take almost all day at AK. I love AK...my favorite park second only to MK. AK is the most beautiful park at WDW, IMO. There is so much detail in that park...it's amazing. We always enjoy taking AK slow and actually taking the time to enjoy our surroundings and the animals and not just running from ride to ride.

Yes, AK is close to AKL. We had dinner at Boma after our day at AK.

 

[Robo]

is ak lodge close to ak? i thought it waqs close enough to make the ressie the same day we went to the park.

Well, it is VERY close.
But you still need to LEAVE the park and take transportation to the Lodge to eat there.

The actual bus TRIP takes only about 5 minutes.
But you still need to be able to "catch" the bus as it arrives and departs during the day.

Your question is a bit odd since even if you made ressies at EPCOT (or at the Poly resort's Ohana, or etc.), you could still go to DAK (or any another park) and stay until it was time to depart for your restaurant's location.

 

[jtdl]

It has always taken us a full day to get through AK. We arrive at park opening and have always had to leave out one or two attractions that we wanted to see. And that's without watching the parade.

 

[shellybaxter]

Our family always plans two full days at AK. We love it. A previous poster listed their "must dos" but it would be totally incomplete for us. We also like to see the Bird of Wonder show (its awesome) and walk both of the animal trails. If its warm enough DH has to ride Kali River Rapids. We also have to have our faces painted (family tradition) and meet the characters in Camp Minnie Mickey, as well as Lilo and Stich. We try to see at least one drumming exibition in Hambre by the safari ride. These things plus the Safari, the FOLK, Bugs Life, Dinosaur, Primevil Whirl, and Tri tops spin make our must do list. We also like to just hang out and shop in the shops, eat at the counter service, and soak in the atmoshpere

 

[lovmy2girls]

We love the AK, so we see everything, from watching the Gorillas, to seeing the animals along the paths around the Tree of Life. We love the bird show, etc. We do everything. and it takes it all day. Going down in January just to preview EE. Can't wait ! I think AK is really underated, the detail everywhere is just amazing.IMHO. I love just walking around and looking at everything.

 

[jetstrip19]

Well, it is VERY close.
But you still need to LEAVE the park and take transportation to the Lodge to eat there.

The actual bus TRIP takes only about 5 minutes.
But you still need to be able to "catch" the bus as it arrives and departs during the day.

Your question is a bit odd since even if you made ressies at EPCOT (or at the Poly resort's Ohana, or etc.), you could still go to DAK (or any another park) and stay until it was time to depart for your restaurant's location.

I just thought it would be easier to eat at the park the same day I was there, plus it is the one night where i made the ADR early instead of 8pm. Generally I like to do the park, and come back to the resort and relax at the pool before we shower and go to dinner.

 

[Stacerita]

The first time we ever went to AK it took us less than a day to "see" it all. But that was before I knew what "all" was. This last time, we went to AK on two seprate days and still didn't get to do everything. It is possible to get there at opening and have the park done by parade time. But not everything will have been done. Figure out what you want to do and see and then plan accordingly.

 

[eblack0409]

DH and did AK in 1/2 day...we got there about 8 am and had it finished by noon....we ate at Tusker House and headed to another park. We only did AK one day...but with Expedition Everest opening in the Spring, the lines will make it harder to do AK in only 4 hours....when we go in May, Expedition Everest will be open, so AK may turn out to be an all day park....or one we come back to. We like to split our days doing 2 parks per day...so we may come back to AK for Expedition Everest.

 

[DCDisney]

With no kids I don't think it would take that long assuming you are planning to skip some of the time consuming kid oriented stuff like Rafiki. We stayed from opening until 30 minutes before closing and didn't see any of Asia. We did see Tarzan and Lion King shows but not Pochahontas. This was in January so most rides had no wait. I'd guess probably half a day would be enough BUT we found that we liked the seemingly slower pace at AK. It was very much needed semi down time for us where we could just walk around and not be on a ride or waiting for something all day. If you just want to hit the high points geared to adults you can certainly do that in half a day but we really found that a whole day was much better for us.

Yvonne

 

[kathylovesdisneyworl]

DH & I are going with no kids, and I made my ressies at Boma for 5;30, So I just wanted opinons on what time to arrive at AK because I heard it doesnt take that long to do the whole park.

How long it takes to do the AK is really up to what parts of the park you plan to do. If you are only planning on seeing the main attractions you will not have any trouble doing the park in 4 or 5 hours. And I think if you leave 1/2hour to get to the AKL you should be fine. But if you plan on taking in the entire park then you will probably be there for most of the day. We spend more time just wandering around this park then any of the others. If you have a little spare time, check out the AKL either before or after dinner. It is a fabulous resort to explore.

 

[Robo]

I just thought it would be easier to eat at the park the same day I was there, plus it is the one night where i made the ADR early instead of 8pm. Generally I like to do the park, and come back to the resort and relax at the pool before we shower and go to dinner.

Well, that would have been a pretty good plan... IF the BOMA restaurant was at DAK.

And now that you know BOMA is not at DAK at all, you can see why it may not be the best plan to allow maximum flexibility and "attraction time" at the DAK park.

No matter, if you can't MOVE the RESSIE and still need to see more DAK... you can come back to WDW AGAIN.

(That's what we do... year-after-year!)

 

[jetstrip19]

Well, that would have been a pretty good plan... IF the BOMA restaurant was at DAK.

And now that you know BOMA is not at DAK at all, you can see why it may not be the best plan to allow maximum flexibility and "attraction time" at the DAK park.

No matter, if you can't MOVE the RESSIE and still need to see more DAK... you can come back to WDW AGAIN.

(That's what we do... year-after-year!)

Well I checked on the WDW website and it said DAK closes at 5, so I made my ressie at Boma for 5:30, figuring travel time and crowd cinsideration, I would like to say we will be back soon, but I can say it prob wont be for awhile, .

 

[Dale-n-Chip]

Some of what you'll want to do and spend time on in AK is dependent on how much you like zoo stuff. We totally underestimated AK on our last trip. We thought, "Hey, we have a world-class zoo here in Ft. Worth. Let's give AK half a day." Boy, were we WRONG!

Think of the best zoo you have ever been to, then cross it with the Magic Kingdom and multiply it by a factor of a zillion! The theming is just amazing--way beyond anything we could have anticipated. The Maharaja Jungle Trek is stunning (10 months later, I'm still talking about THAT one!). Whatever you do, don't miss that one!

If we were going kid-free for one day. . . I'd personally do Africa, Asia and FOTLK, E:E, and leave Dinoland and Camp Minnie-Mickey on the "if we have time" list. Then again, we skipped Dinoland before, knowing we'd never be able to drag DS4 out. But that's just me.

I'm sure touring with two adults will be much more, um, efficient than with kids. At least it would be in our world!

Happy planning!

 

[Minerva]

You'll get all kinds of answers about how long it takes to do AK. Some people will say it only takes a half day or a couple of hours but IMO they aren't really seeing the park. We arrived at opening and stayed until 3 and wished we had more time there. Or next trip we'll arrive at opening and make an ADR at Boma for 7, planning to leave the park around 6 and will probably schedule another half day there. To answer your question, if I were you I'd plan to get there for the opening of the park.

 

[Disney Doll]

We are 2 adults no kids and we see it all in a day starting at about 11AM and ending at about 3-4PM.

We don''t do every single thing every single time though. Alaways do Kiliminjaro, always do the Lion King show, always do Bug's Life, always do the Triceratops Spin, always do the walk through gorilla thing, usually do the walk through tiger thing in Asia, sometimes do the Kali River Rapids (depending on time of year and temperature), liek to go in and out of the shops. Some times we do the bird and the small animal shows, sometimes not.