How would you plan Animal Kingdom?

[NicholeB630]

So for our next trip which is in Sept 2016 I think we will only do half a day at AK. I will end the day with Rain Forest Cafe ADR probably around 1/1:30. We've been to AK before when my kids were 2 and 5 and we spent the whole day but it was our last day at DW so there were some melt downs and we wasted a good amount of time deciding what to do and dealing with grumpy kids and well grumpy parents as well lol. Anyways kids will be 4 and 7 this time and here is a list of what we would def want to do. We would be there at RD. Which would you fast pass and what order would be best? Also were staying at AKL Savannah view room so not sure we really need to do the Safari?

Maybe Safari?
Expedition Everest
Dinosaur
Lion King show
Maybe Nemo show or Tough to be a bug
Possibly a few characters if timing is right ( not worried about Minnie and Mickey there though)

 

[subtchr]

I love AK, sorry your last experience wasn't so great!

I'd do
Safari at RD (even at RD you might want a FP) - Very different experience from having a savannah room at AKL
Festival of the Lion King (10:00 show should not need a FP)
Everest (FP) - Will the 4 year old be tall enough?
Dinosaur (FP) - Can be a bit scary
Finding Nemo - I'd pick this over Tough to Be a Bug any day of the week. MANY people don't like ITTBaB. Nemo is amazing. With the other attractions you have picked, you should be able to make the noon show.

Your kids would probably love the Boneyard, and I love the trails as well. I can definitely fill an entire day at AK!

Hope that helps a little!

 

[NicholeB630]

I love AK, sorry your last experience wasn't so great!

I'd do
Safari at RD (even at RD you might want a FP) - Very different experience from having a savannah room at AKL
Festival of the Lion King (10:00 show should not need a FP)
Everest (FP) - Will the 4 year old be tall enough?
Dinosaur (FP) - Can be a bit scary
Finding Nemo - I'd pick this over Tough to Be a Bug any day of the week. MANY people don't like ITTBaB. Nemo is amazing. With the other attractions you have picked, you should be able to make the noon show.

Your kids would probably love the Boneyard, and I love the trails as well. I can definitely fill an entire day at AK!

Hope that helps a little!

Thank you! We did do all those things last time. Well we didn't do Nemo or Lion king. My daughter loved EE, but my 4 year old prob wont be able to ride yet. That is 44" right? She didn't like Dinosaur but hoping we all can go next time and my kids will be ok trying it out again. Will be my sons first time. We did the Safari last time and I just don't know if its worth it as we didn't see that many animals out and they weren't very active. I know its just depending on time of day and really just luck as to what you see. Does FP lion king give you better seats?

 

[MataHari22]

I like riding the safari 2x. Once at rope drop, and once later with a FP+. It really just depends on what animals are out at the time. Actually, my best safari experience was one just before it was closing for the day. We saw a ton of animals, lions were roaring, cheetahs were active, giraffe was blocking the road, and our driving actually stopped a few times instead of just doing the slow roll. It was awesome. Last week, we had a couple of times where the animals were in the road and we got to see them close up.

I love Festival of the Lion King. My favorite WDW show. I used a FP+ for it this time, just because I don't ride Kali or EE, and used it there. I got there when my FP+ window opened and they let FP in first and I got a seat very close to the front. They do pick kids from the front rows to interact in the beginning of the show.

 

[Alesia]

Instead of making an ADR at RFC, join the Landry's Select Club. Being a member gets you priority seating without an ADR, so you can just show up whenever you're ready instead of trying to predict what time you'll be finished with the park.

 

[colagirl]

I love AK and the safari ride. We usually do it twice as well. My 6 year old loved Everest but was scared of Dinosaur (got in the line and was scared for some reason). We did fast passes for safari, Kali River Rapids (which my DS loved) and Everest. Our plan was to start the day with the character breakfast at Tusker House (early), then do safari without a fast pass, do it with the fast pass, then walk over to Asia. Is it an 8 hour day? No - but we don't do that in any of the parks. Had a great day and am excited to go back once the new land opens.

 

[loves to dive]

Do you have PHs? If so, I'd not use any FP at AK, if you get there at RD you can pretty much get everything done without one and then hop over to another park and use your FPs for that day. If you don't have PHs, I'd use the FP for EE, Dinosaur and one of the shows. I love AK and it's a full day park for me since I do all the trails and really take my time and look at everything. You are not going to see the lions at the AKL and if you are there first thing it the morning they are often out on their rocks looking all kingly so the safari is a must.

 

[mshanson3121]

So for our next trip which is in Sept 2016 I think we will only do half a day at AK. I will end the day with Rain Forest Cafe ADR probably around 1/1:30. We've been to AK before when my kids were 2 and 5 and we spent the whole day but it was our last day at DW so there were some melt downs and we wasted a good amount of time deciding what to do and dealing with grumpy kids and well grumpy parents as well lol. Anyways kids will be 4 and 7 this time and here is a list of what we would def want to do. We would be there at RD. Which would you fast pass and what order would be best? Also were staying at AKL Savannah view room so not sure we really need to do the Safari?

Maybe Safari?
Expedition Everest
Dinosaur
Lion King show
Maybe Nemo show or Tough to be a bug
Possibly a few characters if timing is right ( not worried about Minnie and Mickey there though)

Since I'm assuming you're a family of 4, and your oldest really enjoys EE, I would FP+ EE, character M&G and a show. Since your youngest can't ride EE, your ODD will be able to get two rides on EE by swapping MBs.

So, I would ride Safari at RD, then Lion King show, then character M&G at the outpost, Tough to be a Bug, then do your back to back rides on EE, and then finish up with Dinosaur, if you think they can handle it (it's very scary). Meanwhile, while you two are on EE, your DH could take your youngest to play in the Boneyard.

 

[ktlm]

A couple of things to think about are that 1) in the last couple of years they have added the Wilderness Explorer books and tasks for the kids. My DD (now 9), never cared much for AK as a preschooler and was always begging to leave by noon. The first year they had the Wilderness explorer booklets, she happily spent most of the day there going from area to area earning badges. She loved that. I think there are around 30 badges (stickers) they can get by completing the tasks in the book as you tour the park and 2) the new Rivers of Light nighttime show will have started by then. If it is anything like World of Color on the West Coast, it will definitely be something to see.

Also, unlike when Mickey and Minnie were separate AK greets, now Mickey and Minnie meet together in a building there, and it is the only place at WDW you can get a photo with both together. It is a really cute picture too in their Safari gear. I'm guessing it will still be like that next year.

As far as the activities you are looking at, aside from the Nemo show which will depend on its schedule, I think you can easily do all of those by 1:00. We have done that before.

I think we 1) headed to Safari first thing, 2) then we would either head to the 1st Lion King show, then see some characters and visit the gorillas- or we would reverse that and go see the gorillas then some characters and then go to the 2nd Lion King show, 3) then use a FP for Expedition Everest. After that DH has done Dinosaur- DD hates it and I'm not a big fan. We have been done with all of that by noon before.

The only thing is that when we went in October, the characters were a lot more spread out than they used to be. There is not a clump of lines in the same place like it used to be with Camp Minnie/Mickey. We found it easier to hit them as we happened to be in their areas instead of making a specific character areas. Dug and Russell have a cute photo spot.

 

[minnie mum]

I would recommend that you do the Safari. KS is a bit like Forrest Gump's chocolates - you never know what you're going to get. No 2 rides are alike.

Your kids are a great age to get involved with the Wilderness Explorers. They see the exhibits on the trails in a whole new light. The Boneyard is perfect for their ages as well. Have you explored Rafikis Planet Watch yet?

I noticed that you didn't mention KRR. Given the heat of Sept, you might want to do it to cool off.

Someone mentioned ROL, which will take place in the evening. You might want to consider a meal at Tiffins, the new TS restaurant that will be opening. There are rumours that they may offer a dining package for ROL.

Lastly, have a look at easywdw. com. Josh's cheat sheets for AK for a good touring guide and recommendations for FPs.

 

[tink9702]

I'd Rope Drop Safari, 10m Lion King Show, EE with a FP+/rider swap, Dinosaur with a FP+, Nemo Show with FP+. Mickey and Minnie together makes a great photo! I'd avoid the bug show, many young kids HATE it. Your 4 year old might not handle it well.

 

[RustManFan]

And here I thought it was called ANIMAL Kingdom! We spend most of our time walking around the Tree of Life and doing the trails so we can see the wildlife. We also visit Flights of Wonder each trip. Rides (other than the safari) and shows aren't so much what it is about for us.

 

[minnie mum]

I can't believe I forgot Flights of Wonder! We skipped over this for years but once we saw it, it went on our must do list.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We typically do safari at least 4 times a day, starting with rope drop LOL

 

[hooch11bear]

We love AK!! We typically spend the whole day there. We ride KS a few times, EE as many times as possible, Dinosaur, ITTBAB is a must. We usually stop and have lunch at Yak & Yeti. It's a nice way to cool off and take a rest. We absolutely love watching Flights of Wonder. That is a must for us too. When you try to plan around all of the shows and sit down for lunch, it takes up most of the day. Can't miss the animal trails either. We usually leave the evening open for a TS meal or catch Bob's show at Riverside. We also do this 2 days of our trip because it's one of our favorites!!!

 

[mshanson3121]

We love AK!! We typically spend the whole day there. !

We spent two days there, from 9-1ish both days and it still was not enough. That said we have kids who love animals and they spent quite a bit of time doing badges (I'd say it's about 10 minutes per badge in average) . When we go back we'll definitely be planning two days there.

 

[lustergirl]

I would start in Africa first thing doing the Safari. It seems like the animals are out and about more early in the morning. After that I would do FOTLK and make my way clockwise ending up in Asia.

 

[texasroni75]

My kids never cared for the "shows" at AK at that age, so we tend to skip them or split up when we have little ones in our group. They just won't sit still and/or be quiet for us to really enjoy them. Taking a mommy and me trip with my 4 year old (who is tall enough for all the 40" requirement rides) next week and my AK day itinerary looks like this:

Safari walk-on at rope drop (8 AM EMH)
Train to Rafikis Planet Watch
Adventurers Outpost w/FP+
Lunch
Dug & Russel M&G
Safari again w/FP+
Kali River Rapids w/FP+ (ITTBAB if it's too cold)
Dinoland for Triceratop Spin and Boneyard, maybe Dinosaur if he does well with other dark rides on our first few days at other parks

Possibly adding in another M&G or two using KTP character finder app if time throughout the day.

We have hoppers, so we plan to leave by 4 to head to another park for dinner.

 

[epcotty]

we often skip the actual animal attractions when we go there. We like to concentrate on the rides/shows

 

[NicholeB630]

Thanks everyone for the tips. This made it even harder haha. I think I like the plan of going straight to the Safari and not using FP for that then going to Lion King first show right after and making our way around the park. We did do ITTBAB last time. My son didn't keep glasses on but my daughter liked it. I think we'd do it again if we had time to. Id like to see Nemo but not sure I wanna spend 40 minutes doing that and I don't think I like how people are holding up puppet like things I watched videos. I will prob drag my kids on Dinosaur cause I'm mean and I want to ride it haha. DD will be 2 years older than the first time she rode it and DS will be his first time. I think he'd be ok .. I think. We saw so many characters last time so not sure which ones they would want to see again. Maybe I will look into doing Tusker house for breakfast and get a early start in the park with an ADR rather than Rain Forest then we don't have to be somewhere at a certain time later. I just need either my HS day or AK day to end early so we can have some extra time at Epcot. We are doing park hoppers for that reason. I want more than 1 day for epcot so was thinking one of those park days we could have time there.