Kilimanjaro Safari at Night?

[DisneyMandC]

Going to AK on August 1 and there are a number of evening FPs available for Kilimanjaro Safaris. I was considering booking an 8:45 or 9:00 one and going to RoL at 10:30 (not super worried about getting the best viewing spot for it). Has anyone done it at night? Any better than during the day? We fly in to Disney that morning so our only other options will be in the heat of the day and I'm thinking the animals won't want to move around much then.

 

[Capang]

We did safari twice ta night, walked on both times no wait. I would definitely ride at night but I'm not sure I'd FP it. I would put that FP towards whatever else I needed and just walk on. We saw the lions super active on one of our night safaris. Lions and hippos were all very vocal, too.

 

[DisneyMandC]

We did safari twice ta night, walked on both times no wait. I would definitely ride at night but I'm not sure I'd FP it. I would put that FP towards whatever else I needed and just walk on. We saw the lions super active on one of our night safaris. Lions and hippos were all very vocal, too.

Interesting, were you there during a high crowd season? I'm not opposed to not doing a FP at all and just winging it, or using all three and booking that as a fourth. I've noticed that in general the wait times for it lately have appeared lower since Pandora opened.

 

[goofy4prez]

I have to agree with Capang; I would not use a FP for Kilimanjaro Safari. When we were there last June when they first started doing this, the lines were not long at all. Also, my experience was one of a disappointment when we did it in the evening. There was little animal activity and it was difficult to see a whole lot. I'd do it once, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to do again.

 

[Butterstick]

Yeah, I wouldn't go out of my way to do another nighttime safari.

 

[CAS239]

Safari at night time is terrible. You can't see much of anything

 

[DisneyMandC]

Thanks for the feedback, guys! Definitely going to reevaluate our plans for this.

 

[twoplustwins]

Sunset was much better than at night. Night was so dark that you couldn't see much of anything. Sunset was great! On this particular day, the animals were very active.

 

[ChristineOH]

If you can FP it around sunset, go ahead and do that. I think there usually a wait for it at sunset. After sunset, you probably won't need a FP, but you may not have anything better to use a FP on. We found that nothing at night needs a FP in AK except the Pandora rides. We walked on Dinosaur and PW. EE had a posted wait of 15, but we waited 8. Single rider was a walk on.

 

[DisneyMandC]

If you can FP it around sunset, go ahead and do that. I think there usually a wait for it at sunset. After sunset, you probably won't need a FP, but you may not have anything better to use a FP on. We found that nothing at night needs a FP in AK except the Pandora rides. We walked on Dinosaur and PW. EE had a posted wait of 15, but we waited 8. Single rider was a walk on.

Yeah, I know we definitely want to do EE at night and have no problem doing single rider. We ended up booking a FP for Rivers of Light since we haven't seen it yet. Probably not my first choice, but oh well. Maybe we can catch the safari around 8 or so and then head over there for our FP.

 

[tobikaye]

For seeing animals the night safari is not great, but the driver we had was brilliant and made it almost more fun than the many times I have done the day.

I would not do the night safari if it was the only time, but if you have done the safaris many times during the day, it can just be a fun thing to try.

 

[Parker Clan]

Last August we waited about a half hour even with a FP at night for the Safari.
We were fortunate enough to see a lot of animals though. They were all gathered in herds. Every time is different though obviously

 

[Delirium]

I would not avoid it simply because of the negative feedback on this board. Each experience will be different. Ours wasn't great, but we've had daytime ones that were not very good either. We'll definitely give it another shot. But, it doesn't sound as if a FP is required.

 

[ucfknight]

I agree with those saying to go before it gets dark. Right before the sun sets I've found the animals do tend to be more active than in the heat of the day and you can see them much better than after it gets completely dark.

 

[Capang]

Interesting, were you there during a high crowd season? I'm not opposed to not doing a FP at all and just winging it, or using all three and booking that as a fourth. I've noticed that in general the wait times for it lately have appeared lower since Pandora opened.

We were there mid June. Some animals were very active. A few were hard to see. I would still skip the FP.

 

[Ambehnke]

We rode at night and could barely see anything. They pointed out animals we just couldn't see them/catch them in time. Definitely prefer the morning. We will probably try again this trip... more toward sunset.

 

[imagineer52]

I agree with others, go when it is just getting dark. Like it's still light out, but by the time you get off, it's dark. I got some amazing pictures of the lions. I've never seen them so active. There was still enough light to take pictures of the animals, in general.

 

[MermaidMommy]

We did a nighttime safari a few weeks ago, and we waited 20 minutes with a FP. They were only running one side, so the wait was long, even though there weren't a ton of people in line.