Is FP necessary for Kilimanjaro Safaris...

[kkayluvsdis]

or can we head straight there at Rope Drop? Just wondering if the wait will already be significant for this attraction....

Thanks so much !!

-Kelly

 

[dismom22]

I would go at rope drop. They say the animals are most active of a morning! Then you can save your FP for EE and Dinosaur. Or whatever else you want to do at AK.

 

[pixiemama91]

I agree with PP, if you go straight there you should have a minimal wait. When we were there this past May, we got AK at rope drop and right to the Safaris and pretty much walked on.

 

[3boysNagirl]

Rd

 

[magicbob]

If you hit the safari first thing at RD, then a FP is probably not necessary. But lines do get pretty long later in the day. It is sort of the "quintessential" attraction of Animal Kingdom.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Great. Thanks! We went last year first thing and you're right, the animals were very active! It was the best safari we'd had there.

 

[CarrotCakeCookie]

We're planning to head there at RD and then get a FP for later in the afternoon to ride again.

 

[alisatj]

We walked on at rope drop last month. But we saw almost no animals. The elephants and giraffes were no where to be seen. Don't remember any zebras either. We got a FP and went again around noon time and had a much better time - the animals were actually there .

I guess it was kind of a cooler morning - maybe in the high 60's.

 

[bnewman27]

We were there Friday at rd and walked on to the safari. It was a cold morning and we didn't expect to see as many animals as usual but it was actually our best one yet! On our walk to the safari, there were some cm's with ipads who recommended that we walk on to the safari and then come back to do our fp's. They were right. As soon as you get off the safari, there is a fp kiosk (kind of hidden in a little nook to the right of the safari entrance.) We stopped there and made our fp choices, 9:35 expedition everest, 10:35 dinosaur and 12:00 another safari.

 

[antmaril]

We were there last Thursday. We arrived at the Animal Kingdom around 11:00 a.m. and headed to the Kilimanjaro Safaris. We stood in line about 30 minutes, which was fine. It was cool and overcast that day, and we saw lots of animals.

 

[alicat8]

or can we head straight there at Rope Drop? Just wondering if the wait will already be significant for this attraction....

Thanks so much !!

-Kelly

We always do rope drop-it's the best time, and you won't wait long if you go straight there. You don't really even have to run

 

[MandiC]

We had an 8am reservation at Tusker House, got out of breakfast at 9am and went straight to the safari and pretty much got right on the ride no FP necessary. We used our FP for Kali River Rapids, Expedition Everest and Dinosaur

 

[xApril]

I'd say rope drop as well. We did a FP+ reservation for 11:40-12:40 on Friday and the standby line was 70 minutes. Later on, after the parade, it was 10 minutes.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I've only been to AK twice, but both were Summer trips and the most recent was on a weekend. And I've never needed to FP Safari. Last time, we did RD, then got right back on again. We then waited until post parade to ride a couple more times.

 

[poohfriend77]

We walked on at rope drop last month. But we saw almost no animals. The elephants and giraffes were no where to be seen. Don't remember any zebras either. We got a FP and went again around noon time and had a much better time - the animals were actually there .

I guess it was kind of a cooler morning - maybe in the high 60's.

We had a similar experience in January. We always do the Safari at RD, but since there was nothing else I wanted a FP+ for, (besides EE and Dinosaur) I booked one for an early afternoon safari.

It was COLD that morning, plus is was EMH, so it was still pretty early. The safari was a bit disappointing. We rode again in the afternoon with the FPs and had a GREAT safari! Probably our best one yet. We would not have waited in line to ride a second time, so I was thankful we had that "throwaway FP."

In the warmer months though, I definitely think you'd be better off planning to ride at RD.