It's 4:30 and we're only 3/4 the way through AK!

[Hisgirl]

We've always seen AK as a half day park or maybe a little longer. When I made our plans, fast passes, dinner ressie, I was thinking we'd be done by 2 at the latest as long as we were there at rope drop.

Man, oh man, was I wrong!

Two things really affected our timing. Having three young boys along who were doing the 'earn the badge' thing really took extra time. I was not aware of how this would play a role in our whole day. There are ranger folks wearing scout looking uniforms scattered throughout the treks and the kids have a booklet they are learning and earning badges with.

Which is great...it's a nice, fun touch

As we proceeded through the different lands, they would stop and talk to the ranger, fill in questions with a pencils and move on. But it took time....lots of time....that I had not calculated into our day.

See, that's the thing. Now that we have fast pass reservations...the whole day is calculated....meticulously laid out and things like stopping and chatting with the ranger about tigers for twenty minutes, while normally not an issue....was causing me to get antsy and want everyone to mooooove along, cause good grief everybody...WE'VE GOT FASTPASSES.

Luckily, I was able to access MDE and change the fast pass times....again, and again. We finally dragged everyone out at 4:30, with 85% of Dinoland still un-explored. BUT...if we missed dinner, there was that pesky per person fine, to the tune of $80 for us. So off we went, wishing we had more time.

The point of this thread is to alert folks who have young kids who will be doing this discovery activity, to add a good bit of time in the trek areas and trails areas.

(and...I have a new affection for AK. )

 

[dsneygirl]

My 7 year old took 2 full days to earn every badge. We only did Safari, EE, ITTBAB and Lion King in those 2 days.

It was worth it. He had such a great adventure and we met some awesome CMs.

 

[Josh'sDad1974]

We had to spend our last day @ magic kingdom doing the sorcerers challenge only. The day before was spent @ Epcot doing agent p. that was what my son wanted to do so we cancelled fast passes & such so he could do what he wanted.

 

[Disney Dad 88]

My girls have only half their books filled up...you are truly brave for trying this in one day. It was such a nice day today, it's so much easier to spend some time in AK when it's not 90+. Glad you had fun.

 

[chicagoshannon]

We only did a few of the badges. We saved the books and will try to get the rest when we go in May.

 

[grwrn]

I am glad you explained this as I will calculate this in our day there. My DD11 loves to collect/earn the badges at National Parks so I am sure she will want to at AK.

 

[redrosesix]

Kudos to you for getting it all done in one day -- it means you went everywhere in that park. AK is my favourite park so we always had the opportunity to spread it out over 2 days. But it's like a lot of things, as PPs mentioned -- you just have to wait and wait and wait because that's what they want to do. Much like the Boneyard and ITTBAB playground.

 

[tarak]

We only got about half the badges our last trip. My son wants to keep his book and go back to get the rest. It's one of our favorite activities there. We met an amazing CM in 2013 whom my middle daughter just loved. After everything we saw and did, she said her favorite part of the trip was meeting Kelah (sounded like Kayla, but spelled differently). I sent an email to Disney telling them what an impact she made on our daughter and I received a response that they were so happy to hear about it and they'd make sure she got the message. Fast forward to this January and I was chatting with the CMs outside It's Tough to Be a Bug and mention Kelah. One of the CMs (a supervisor), said "that was you! Your email made me cry." In a good way, of course. Kelah had finished her college program and was back home, but they'd gotten her the message. And all the CMs who'd read it were really touched.

Sorry for hijacking your thread. But the explorer activities have a special place for me and my kids. I feel like the CM interaction is just really fantastic.

 

[Hisgirl]

I agree this was a great activity. I just had no idea...at all. And I could definitely see where you could spend all day doing just this.

But...we had eight people together and only 3 were little boys, so we had to consider everyone's desire to have fun. Again, I just had no idea and most likely would have NOT made a dinner reservation and just grabbed something at the park so they could have enjoyed the boneyard and other fun things at dinoland.

Again....head's up to those planning your day.

 

[Momtomouselover]

We spent the greater part of an AK day doing this activity! We did have a couple rides mixed in and animals but it was my sons goal to get every badge. We eventually did and by the end I felt like we had walked every nook and crannie of the park.

 

[carrie1626]

We've always seen AK as a half day park or maybe a little longer. When I made our plans, fast passes, dinner ressie, I was thinking we'd be done by 2 at the latest as long as we were there at rope drop.

Man, oh man, was I wrong!

Two things really affected our timing. Having three young boys along who were doing the 'earn the badge' thing really took extra time. I was not aware of how this would play a role in our whole day. There are ranger folks wearing scout looking uniforms scattered throughout the treks and the kids have a booklet they are learning and earning badges with.

Which is great...it's a nice, fun touch

As we proceeded through the different lands, they would stop and talk to the ranger, fill in questions with a pencils and move on. But it took time....lots of time....that I had not calculated into our day.

See, that's the thing. Now that we have fast pass reservations...the whole day is calculated....meticulously laid out and things like stopping and chatting with the ranger about tigers for twenty minutes, while normally not an issue....was causing me to get antsy and want everyone to mooooove along, cause good grief everybody...WE'VE GOT FASTPASSES.

Luckily, I was able to access MDE and change the fast pass times....again, and again. We finally dragged everyone out at 4:30, with 85% of Dinoland still un-explored. BUT...if we missed dinner, there was that pesky per person fine, to the tune of $80 for us. So off we went, wishing we had more time.

The point of this thread is to alert folks who have young kids who will be doing this discovery activity, to add a good bit of time in the trek areas and trails areas.

(and...I have a new affection for AK. )

AWESOME, that is a major perk if you ask me.

Yep, sometimes you have to move it along to get someplace.

 

[Hisgirl]

And I will say....this time, I was indeed able to get into MDE easily and change the fast passes, putting them off to an hour or two later, multiple times on several days this week.

That indeed, has been very helpful.

The lines at the FP+ kiosks in the parks have been long. I wish everyone could just do this. I didn't realize it was limited.

 

[disneybliss2]

We'll have to look into the earn the badge activities. My girls would love it, so thanks for the heads up on the time it takes. AK is my oldest daughter's favorite park and she loves interacting with the CMs there, so I know she'd really enjoy this as well. Glad your family had a good experience and the FP+ worked to allow you to be flexible.