How to do AK right now?

[Jackie H.]

We have park hoppers for our upcoming trip in late March. But I cannot decide how to visit AK. It isn't that we do not like AK, we do actually. But so many things are closed now how long does it really take?

Is it doable to hop to AK at the 2pm hop time, then go to Epcot afterward? I just hate to waste a park reservation day on AK since I cannot go to another park until 2pm.

Or maybe we should go first thing then use the mid-day to go to Disney Springs before hopping to another park.

Please help and educate me! Thank you.

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

I personally love mornings at Animal Kingdom. On my last trip, I was at AK for opening (8 AM) - rode everything I wanted to ride - a couple of things twice (EE was a 5 minute wait!) (everything except Navi River and Dinosaur), did the Jungle Trek but not Gorilla Trail, had lunch at Nomad Lounge. Then I left around 1:15, drover over to HS, and by the time I parked and walked up to the turnstile it was 1:45 - I was able to tap in at 1:47. After doing all of Toy Story Land as well as Mickey & Minnie, I hopped over to Epcot around 5:30 for a quick bite to eat (I had another HS day the Next morning).

I did pop into AK one afternoon for a late lunch/early dinner at Yak & Yeti and the park was still pretty busy - but we didn't check ride times as all we planned to do was eat.

 

[disneygirlsng]

AK easily has more than enough for a full day. I couldn't imagine only spending just a few hours there. There is more than enough to do until 2 (or later), then hop to another park.

 

[Jackie H.]

Thank you! This is what I needed to know. I appreciate your help.

 

[Team Happy Haunts]

I LOVE Animal Kingdom!

 

[brockash]

We're planning on rope dropping, doing the few things we like and then going back to swim and hopping to another park late afternoon. Even precovid AK was never a full day park for us...now with the shows gone; we'll have no problem being in and out within a few hrs.

 

[conandrob240]

We're planning on rope dropping, doing the few things we like and then going back to swim and hopping to another park late afternoon. Even precovid AK was never a full day park for us...now with the shows gone; we'll have no problem being in and out within a few hrs.

Agree with this. It’s a 5-6 hour park in normal times likely less in Covid unless it’s hour waits for the 4-5 things we want to do

 

[disneygirlsng]

Agree with this. It’s a 5-6 hour park in normal times likely less in Covid unless it’s hour waits for the 4-5 things we want to do

Well sure, if there are only 4-5 things you want to do I guess it could take less time. But if you want to experience the full park and all that it has to offer, it is more than a full day park.

 

[bizeemom4]

If they had chairs on the trail, I could spend 4-5 hours just watching the gorillas. Everybody is different.

 

[disneygirlsng]

If they had chairs on the trail, I could spend 4-5 hours just watching the gorillas. Everybody is different.

I spend hours just watching the monkeys over by Kali. Spent a good hour one time watching a gorilla throw a huge temper tantrum because nobody wanted to play with him. You miss so much just going from ride to ride and getting out of the park in a few hours. That's not even getting into all the incredibly detailed theming throughout the park, truly a work of art.

 

[DisneyOma]

How long does it take to get through Pandora now? No FP, so everyone has to queue for FoP, right? Does that make it go faster or slower? Are they using every seat? I think that would be the most time-using attraction, and then do the rest of the park?

AK pre-pandemic was a full day for us, which we tended to split into two half days. I don't know how anyone gets done in one half day, without skipping a lot.

 

[lovethattink]

How long does it take to get through Pandora now? No FP, so everyone has to queue for FoP, right? Does that make it go faster or slower? Are they using every seat? I think that would be the most time-using attraction, and then do the rest of the park?

AK pre-pandemic was a full day for us, which we tended to split into two half days. I don't know how anyone gets done in one half day, without skipping a lot.

Hop over to the here now just back thread. There are some reports of filling in every seat on FoP and some where they skipped a seat between parties. The majority of people are using standby. FP lanes are used for Club 33, baby swap, DAS, and a couple other things. Except if you get caught in a cleaning cycle, the queues are in constant movement. You will definitely be walking much more as the queues cover much more space. We walked 5 miles in 3 hours between walking from our car since there’s no tram to walking on attractions and trails.

 

[SmallWorld71]

DD18 and I were at AK on Wednesday. We arrived at 7:30 via WDW bus from POP for an 8:00 opening. We walked with purpose, but not running, to Flight of Passage. Due to blisters and me being naturally slow, a fair number of people passed us. We got in the very long line that was going over the bridge, but they hadn't opened the actual queue yet. Once they did a few minutes later, we basically just walked through the queue, not really stopping until the loading area. We were off the ride shortly after actual park opening.
After Flight of Passage, we did the River Journey, Everest, Maharajah Jungle Trek, watched the monkeys, saw a few cavalcades on the water, and did the Safari. At this point it was about 11:45 and we were hungry so we headed back to Pandora where we did mobile ordering for Satuli Canteen. It was quite busy there so we had to wait a bit. We finished lunch around 12:30 or so and did some shopping in Pandora. Then we rode Flight of Passage again. The line appears ridiculously long, but this one moved fairly quickly. (Side note: We watched the line for Navi River Journey and that one moves at a painfully slow pace. After the first hour, it had the longest wait in the park all day.)
After our second ride on FoP, we did some shopping on Discovery Island then DD18 rode Everest again. By 2:45, we were ready to leave (neither of us care for Dinosaur or ITTBAB) but it was check out day and ME wasn't until 5:30. So, DD rode FoP for a 3rd time while I saw the Bird show which was cute. We then had an early dinner at Flame Tree knowing that we wouldn't be home until after midnight and left the park around 4:30 to head back for Magical Express.

In a nutshell: I think AK is a park where it's best to get there at opening. With less attractions, it got crowded as the day went on.
You can easily finish by 2 to park hop, but if you like to repeat rides you can easily stay longer.
They are using every ride vehicle on FoP. The line moves quickly due to no FP. We got caught in a cleaning cycle on one of the three rides and it was very fast.
The safari line also moved pretty quickly. The only line that moved very slowly was NRJ.

 

[Dug720]

I was there the 12-17 and Na'vi was the only ride that was regularly at (or within about 5 minutes of) the posted wait time. Everything else was a good deal less than what was posted (Everest held the record - posted time was 45 minutes, I was off the ride and walking to meet friends in 20.)

One thing that does eat time but is fun is the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. At this point it's the only way to possibly catch a glimpse of the way-too-stinkin-cute Ranger (baby rhino) as the train passes the rhino barns and yard. And you might get to see an animal surgery or treatment going on and/or Blanche the sheep performing behaviors such as pushing the "open door" button. The train out and back does give you some off-your-feet time as well.