How Long Should We Expect to Spend at Animal Kingdom?

[mmbrad02]

DH and I are planning a trip to Disney July 16-20. We've allowed ourselves one day at each park, and we also have the fifth day ticket... we got it because it's so cheap, but if we drive, we will probably not end up using it. If we fly, we will spend as much time on the fifth day as possible, somewhere. Anyways, on the day we have alloted for Animal Kingdom, I was thinking we would arrive as soon as the park opens, but I was planning to leave by 2 or 3 pm, go back to our resort to rest, and then go to Downtown Disney that evening. Is this a realistic expectation? It looks like the day I've chose to do this, AK has extended evening hours, so I suppose we could go back that night, or if we get to stay on the fifth day, we could go back then. I haven't been to Disney since 1991 (and I was only 10!) so I don't really know much about AK, other than what I've read here. I want to allow myself enough time to enjoy the park, and I normally would just do a "wait and see" plan, but I have the dinner plan and I was thinking about making reservations at Downtown Disney for that evening.

 

[bicker]

It all depends on you. For us, it even depends on who we're with. When we're alone, we're likely to spend the major of two days at AK. With the children, we spent about a half day. With adult guests, next year, we'll likely spend six to seven hours.

We feel that AK is the most special Disney theme park. I just posted a whole mess of photos from our past trips there. Here's a link to the whole gallery: http://www.wdwinfo.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=732

Here are some highlights:
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[hulagirl87]

the last time we were at Disney World, Animal Kingdom was the park that we spent the least amount of time at. Every other park we were at 2 days. Animal Kingdom was one day and it was not even a full day at that. We did the safari first thing in the morning (and saw a ton of animals!!!). We saw It's Tough to be a Bug, Festival of the Lion King, Tarzan Rocks (now closed ), had lunch at Flame Tree Barbeque (yum!! ) Went on Primeviel Whirl and Dinosaur , and walked through some of the trails and saw the gorillas and bats and such. We didn't feel as if we missed out on anything but felt like we were done for the day. We left the park around 3:00. I know now that Expedition Everest is open, so I would definitely include that in my next trip! It's a great park, I just don't feel it's a whole day full of stuff to do.

 

[sleepyone]

We usually do AK on our last day and only spend 1/2 of the day there. This time; however, we are devoting an entire day to it. My whole family likes this park. It's so relaxing and there many animals to see.

We, of course, love the rides but, we love the shows too. My favorite is Flights of Wonder, dh liked FOTLK, the girls liked Pocahontas.

If you haven't been in a while/before, then I'd devote a day to it. If you see all the attractions that you're interested in, you could always hop to another park or enjoy your resort.

 

[bellelinus]

Given your limited number of days at WDW, I think you could do much of what you'd like at AK by mid afternoon, if you get there immediately upon park opening (and hurry to EE!). Then you could either go on or get a Fastpass for the safari, do Dinosaur, Tough to be a bug, and see Festival of the Lion King. At that point it's probably only noon, and you could still walk down the Jungle trek in Asia and the Pangani trek in Africa before leaving. It won't be a relaxing day, and you won't see everything, but I think it's do-able.

 

[popy]

If you have been and seen and done everything at AK
before then you can do the park by 1 or 2pm.
But, If this is your first time you better plan on making a
day of it, or you are going to hurry though this beautiful park.
Besure to do the SHOWS and the parade, you will be glad you
did. Take your time in this park you just might see something
that will last you a life time.

 

[snowbirdguy]

Was there last year and said well this should be easy to do this park in 1/2 a day, Well ended up staying there longer than we did at any other park. We got there just after it opened. There is alot to see. And this time when we go, a must see is going to be the Festival of the Lion King. This was a really great show. Was worth the wait in line. 1 thing I think we are going to try and do is the safari in the morning and then again in the after noon, see if there are any different animals out for a stroll. Good luck and enjoy the park, it is just a great place.

 

[liamandcaili]

I think it really depends on your interests. AK could definitely be a park to relax and walk around and enjoy the sights. I haven't been able to do this the past two trips because I have been with my children, and while they like seeing the animals, they also enjoy moving along at a fairly rapid pace. Our last trip, we arrived at opening and walked the two trails, rode safari, saw the Lion King show and spent some time in Dinoland USA and we were done by 2:00. We even could have done it in less time if we didn't take two breaks to eat.

However, we didn't do Expedition Everest (not open and certainly not an option for my children) or the Kali River Rapids (too cold...if you do this, be prepared to get soaked.) We also didn't do Tough to be a Bug (kids are terrified of spiders and bees) or the rides in Dinoland. If you want to build in all the rides, you will probably need to plan on spending the day, but you should spend the evening someplace else.

 

[ugadog99]

We enjoy AK so much that we could spend all day on 2 or 3 days. Really, it is a wonderful park for exploring slowly. If you enjoy animals and soaking in all the hidden treasures, AK can definitely be a full day or 2 half days.

 

[lpizzuro123]

We really enjoy AK. I guess you can take as little or as much time there as you like. I LOVE just standing and looking at the tree, trying to spot all the carved animals. Just when you think you've seen them all, you will spot another one. Also, there are timed shows, so you need to check that out either before or when you enter the park. I am sure you will want to ride EE and who knows how long the line for that will be.

We also LOVE the afternoon parade at AK - Mickey's Jamin' Jungle Parade. I believe this is usually at 3:30 or 4:00 and I guess it's about 20 minutes. It is really high energy, we love the music and watching all the characters. I would not leave until after the parade. I think alot of people probably leave after the parade, so the park might actually empty out a bit then and maybe the lines for some rides will be shorter.

Make sure you don't miss the Lion King show.

Linda

 

[mmbrad02]

Hmmm.... I guess I need to rethink my plans for the day. While Dh and I like animals, I can't say that we are a HUGE fan.. but I think we'll enjoy the park. We go to the Cincy zoo every year with my sister, her husband, and two boys, so we get to see those animals (though I know that is nothing compared to AK). Maybe we could just plan for that to be our LONG day (no nap or rest at the resort in the afternoon), and just go to Downtown Disney from AK. We are trying to keep this trip on a budget, and intend to use the Planet Hollywood credit, even though I know it's just a burger and fries. I'm not sure what time Planet Hollywood takes dinner reservations up to, but we'll just plan for a late dinner so we can enjoy AK.

 

[teacher31]

Hmmm.... I guess I need to rethink my plans for the day. While Dh and I like animals, I can't say that we are a HUGE fan.. but I think we'll enjoy the park. We go to the Cincy zoo every year with my sister, her husband, and two boys, so we get to see those animals (though I know that is nothing compared to AK). Maybe we could just plan for that to be our LONG day (no nap or rest at the resort in the afternoon), and just go to Downtown Disney from AK. We are trying to keep this trip on a budget, and intend to use the Planet Hollywood credit, even though I know it's just a burger and fries. I'm not sure what time Planet Hollywood takes dinner reservations up to, but we'll just plan for a late dinner so we can enjoy AK.

You can't compare this to a zoo because it's Naht-ah-zoo! Every time we go we keep spending more and more time in this park. IT is beautiful, relaxing, and it seems like there are beautiful surprises around every corner. We used to go first thing, but we've had more animal luck later in the day. If there are extra hours, try having dinner at Tusker House. It's a CS and just great. Enjoy your time!

 

[Honeybehr1]

I love AK. I rank it right behind MK. It is a full day + park for us. We only went for one day and left for 6 pm res at Chef Mickey but we missed only a couple of things that we wanted to see.

My 2yr old is still talking about the Lion King show - says its his favorite thing.

 

[DonnaL]

I agree with above poster that it does depend who you are with as to how much time you spend at AK. Some people like to take time and really enjoy the surroundings in a leisurely manner. I personally like to do this and DH doesn't so we usually compromise. AK is a really unique park and there are a lot of little hidden areas worth exploring.

 

[Sleepy]

I am definitely an animal person, so I could spend hours just watching the gorillas. What we did not expect was our son finding the Dino Dig area(or whatever it is called) and wanting to spend all day there. Maybe he thought he could uncover the entire thing? It was good downtime for all of us. Anyway, we did have a great time at AK.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

If we want to see everything in AK, we have to spend more than a day there. Normally when we go, we pick an area or two and spend most of the day there and watch everything and talk to the CM's. We don't spend as much time that way but we get htere enough that we are able to see everything that we want.

 

[kmkja1]

Our family went for the first this last July. Before going we heard alot about AK being a 1/2 day park. We went in the morning, then around 2 we went ahead and left. I know now that we did not give it a fair shake. There were more things to do there if we had just taken the time. Go there with an open mind and leave when you have had enough. On our next trip we plan on giving itmore of a chance.

 

[muttngeff]

Even with 3 kids and 2 slow moving grandparents in tow, we've never stayed at this park after 2/3 pm, and that included my son who also wanted to excavate all of Dinoland and managed to get Quite lost in there for a couple of hours with his sisters We have seen everything except the parade, and EE (which we hope to correct in March); this is generally our last park before returning home, or we hop to another that's open later in the evening.

 

[Goofy Rulz]

We'll be doing AK for the first time as well during our June WDW trip. I am planning a full day there. You need to consider the summer crowds during your July trip. The lines at Everest and Safari will be long. Be sure to obtain fastpasses for both. Plus you'll want to hit Kali River Rapids in that heat. Get FP for that as well. All "must sees". Instead of putting a "time limit" on your day and saying you'll stay till 2pm, take your time to see all that there is, and then head over to Planet Hollywood afterwards, be it 6:00 or 8:00. They are open till midnight or 1am so you shouldn't have any problems getting ADR (which you should make now; even if you are going later it may get crowded w/the Pleasure Island crowd). The one thing you don't want to happen is to get home and have someone ask you "did you see...." and you have to say no because you didn't because you left the park.

 

[DrTomorrow]

As 2 adults we always do what we want to by 1-2 PM. Granted, we've seen the shows and parades....

For those who think of AK as 'relaxing', be prepared: Expedition Everest is going to change that forever.