Reservation at Animal Kingdom right after the park opens?

[MommytoaSweetie]

We have a 9:05am reservation at Donald's Safari breakfast on a day that AK opens at 9. The reservation says to be there 20 minutes beforehand, so 8:45. How do we do that? Is there a special place to go say we need to get to the restaurant earlier? (we've actually never had a reservation so early )

 

[KAA1972]

Yes, you will see a cast member with a clip board at the entrance turnstiles. He or she will have a list of reservations and will let you in early. Please keep in mind that it is a good idea to get to the kiosk 20 minutes prior to your reservation. Which means you will need to be at the gate 30-45 minutes prior to allow time to walk back to Donald's Safari Breakfast. This is my favorite character experience and I hope you have a great time!!!

 

[shawnh199]

There is a line to the right side of the entrance that you will "check-in" at.(they make sure you are on the ADR list) Once you are cleared to go in, walk to the back to Tusker House and check-in @ the podium. We had a 9:05am ADR as well, but got there pretty early (around 8:30am) checked in and were seated almost right away. You take a picture with Donald outside the building before you are seated! (FYI - if you are staying at a Disney resort, you can catch a character breakfast bus at the resort starting around 7am.)

Just a tip - the breakfast took about an hour (eatting and seeing each character). When you are done, the safari entrance is right outside Tusker House. We had about a 15-20 minute wait at that time (but we did go on an extra magic day which are typically more crowded and Disney in general was more crowded with the free dining promotion that had been offered) but it seemed to go by much quicker. You can either hit the safari after you eat, or at 9am when the park opens, send someone out to get a fast pass for everyone.

We really enjoyed this breakfast. Have a great time!

 

[MommytoaSweetie]

Awesome, thanks so much! Good idea about the Safari, too - I may send DH out for that FastPass as I missed it last time due to pregnancy. We are also going on an EMH day (evening hours, which I'm excited about because we've never done all that we've wanted at AK). Hopefully it won't be TOO crowded.