How much time in each area at Animal Kingdom?

[Karenc3135]

How much time do you think we will spend at each section of Animal Kingdom (Africa, Asia, Dinoland, Discovery Island and the Oasis)? And is Rafiki's Planet Watch worth visiting? I am a family of 4 with an 8 and 5 year old. I am trying to schedule fast passes for Kali River Rapids, Kilmanjaro Safaris and DINOSAUR. Also will and 8 and 5 year old like DINOSAUR?

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

Also will and 8 and 5 year old like DINOSAUR?

eeek.... maybe... probably not...

It is dark and VERY scary! The premise is that the dinos are chasing you... and, well.... they find you

Its completely going to be different for everyone, but I (as a full grown adult) was terrified of this ride and will not ride it again...

I would not advise to take a 5 or 8 yr old... BUT if they like thrills or can understand that its not real... maybe. Only you can know how they will handle it.

I suspect my 7yr old will want to ride it, she doesnt care about scary (at age four she rode Tower of Terror five times in a ROW)... but her mom will sit this one out. LOL. She will ride with my marine boyfriend, I think he makes her feel more safe!

The best advice I can give is to make sure an adult rides Dinosaur before taking the kids on it. Its the only way to know for sure what to expect and the gauge if its too much for the kids.

 

[wahassle]

My kids are the same age and we are going in October...we were originally going to pass on Rafiki, but after reading about the whole Wilderness Explorers program which sounds really cool, we will be doing it as it sounds like there are several WE stations at Rafiki. But my kids are really into animals so if yours aren't, it might not be worth the time investment.

We are skipping Dinosaur - that was scary for me on a visit without kids as an adult!

Also, I highly recommend Flights of Wonder.

 

[cleophus12]

I think I've seen more young kids get off of dinosaur crying than any other ride at wdw. It's jerky, dark, and pretty scary. Depends on how brave your kids are feeling. If they are apprehensive at all I'd say probably not.

 

[ChgoMusicGirl]

How much time do you think we will spend at each section of Animal Kingdom (Africa, Asia, Dinoland, Discovery Island and the Oasis)? And is Rafiki's Planet Watch worth visiting? I am a family of 4 with an 8 and 5 year old. I am trying to schedule fast passes for Kali River Rapids, Kilmanjaro Safaris and DINOSAUR. Also will and 8 and 5 year old like DINOSAUR?

We can easily spend a whole day exploring AK! We liked taking the wildlife express train and exploring Rafiki's Planet Watch. It was a nice break and very relaxing. The indoor area was nice and cool, and very interesting, but the petting zoo was super hot, even though my DS thought it fun, I was roasting! Lol

We also like the trails and taking our time really taking in all of the scenery, the theming is so amazing in both Africa and Asia. Dinoland has a lot of kid appeal with the carnival feel and the boneyard. We were saved by the rain and didn't spend nearly as much time there as I'm sure my son would've liked!

We also love tusker house for breakfast/lunch. Yummy food and great character interaction.

My 5 y/o went on dinosaur and loved it. I had shown him what it would be like on a video before we got there and gave him the choice as to whether or not he wanted to ride.

I'm sure you could condense your visit to a half day, as a lot of people do, especially if you don't take the wildlife express and don't do the trails. It really just depends on what your family likes! We love going to our local zoos and enjoy spending the whole day there, so it's the same with AK.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

I think I've seen more young kids get off of dinosaur crying than any other ride at wdw. It's jerky, dark, and pretty scary. Depends on how brave your kids are feeling. If they are apprehensive at all I'd say probably not.

On;y because ExtraTERRORestrial is gone

However you are right, I've ridden DINOSAUR 3x and love it, but all 3x I have had kids in hysterics near me with their faces buried in an adult's chest.

 

[nkereina]

How much time do you think we will spend at each section of Animal Kingdom (Africa, Asia, Dinoland, Discovery Island and the Oasis)? And is Rafiki's Planet Watch worth visiting? I am a family of 4 with an 8 and 5 year old. I am trying to schedule fast passes for Kali River Rapids, Kilmanjaro Safaris and DINOSAUR. Also will and 8 and 5 year old like DINOSAUR?

We're two adults so our experience is different, but we find Africa and Asia to take up the most time. With kids, you'll spend some time in Dinoland as well. If you're crunched for time, Rafiki's Planet Watch is the one to skip IMHO. It consists of some characters, a petting zoo (think of your local fair, but on a smaller scale) and a building that houses some reptiles and information which kids may not be into. They do the animal procedures/surgeries here as well but it's hard to catch one.

As two adults, we usually finish AK by 2pm if we get there at rope drop.

 

[jennynwdw]

My kiddos (4, 5 and 7) have been on Dinosaur and don't want to go back. It is terrifying in some parts. It's dark and the dinos are huge. It is a very fun ride for me though. I'd recommend rider swap for this one.
Rafikis planet watch is nothing more than a petting zoo and a few insects. Your kids may love it since they get to touch a goat but I wouldn't waste my time with it. They have a few characters there for the kids to meet. Chip and dale and Rafiki were there last Friday. But overall it is a huge time filler/waste of time. A local zoo offers more. If you do go, you should plan an hour or more for it.

 

[Kimosabe]

I would say that Rafiki's Planet Watch is a good use of time, particularly if you are otherwise planning to spend a full day at DAK. My nine-year old's dream job is to be a vet there, so we'll be heading back there in hopes of catching a procedure of some sort. Beyond that, it's basically a petting zoo, but we've also seen some pretty unique characters back there that we don't typically see anywhere else -- Pocahontas, Jiminy Cricket, Rafiki and others.

On the flip side, if you've got expectations that this will be a half-day for you, then you would not miss a whole lot.

We're planning to ride Dinosaur for the first time this summer. I've tried to get my nine and 12-year olds to watch a YouTube video of it. At the moment, they are OK with it and plan to ride, but a buddy of mine rode it with his two little girls and said they became permanently attached to his kidneys during the ride! I guess it's all a matter of knowing what you're getting in that ride before you get on it!

My kids have always loved the safari, EE (at least in the last couple of years when they started riding it, so your eight-year old might enjoy it), as well as the Lion King and Finding Nemo shows. They are not big fans of the Bug's Life show under the Tree of Life, but I may force them to watch the movie again, so maybe they'll change their minds. Interestingly, they also think that Kali River Rapids stinks -- way overhyped and way too short of a ride. They don't even want to waste a FP on it. Either way, this time, they are most excited about trying out the new Wilderness Explorers activity. I'm guessing that one will take us all over the park, looking for stuff, so we're going ahead and planning a full day at DAK and will just take it easy.