Safari questions

[BubblyTrip]

I'll be at AK Wednesday. Last year we hit Safari at RD. We were on the first car. This year I'll be alone with DS (just turned 7) sans a stroller, so the RD walk will be a bit slower. I have a FP for Safari for 9:05. Of note, I have a FP for EE later in the morning. Don't anticipate riding twice. No Dinosaur this year.

Is FP at 9:05 a waste if we arrive pre RD, or does it afford us a slower walk? Should we still go directly there or come at the end of the window (and do what else first?). My concern is animal activity and a backed up FP wait line. I have no idea what the FP line looks like and I know it's not a typical ride wait necessarily because of the nature of the experience.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[snowybelle]

I do think a 9:05 FP might be a waste. The last two times Ive done AK RD, I've gone directly to EE, rode it twice, and then walked over to Safari and waiting no more than 10 minutes.

If it were me, I'd drop the FP+ altogether,... OR...

Keep your FP+. Hit Dinosaur first (if you plan to ride that), then EE, and the make your way over to Safari toward the end of your FP+ window. If you to do this plan, you may want to shift your Safari FP+ to 9:30ish just to be "safe"... but I think you will be fine.

Edited to add: I don't think, in terms of animal activity, it will make any difference whatsoever if you ride at 9am vs 10am.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've done FP+ later in the day for Safari and I've never waited more than 5 - 10 minutes. Even if the line looks long, it really isn't.

Unless you want to switch that FP+ out for something else, you might as well keep it. I typically get a FP+ for around 9:30 or 9:45 am or so because my son really loves looking at the animals on the way to the Safari and mommy likes to stop at Starbucks! We also hang out and listen to the drummers or poke in the shop in front of the safari if we are trying to kill time.

 

[loves to dive]

I usually get a Safari FP early but when I've been there for rope drop and just leisurely meandered over, I walked right on. While waiting for the second FP window to open up, I just grab some breakfast.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We ride the safari multiple times - we can get 3 rides (generally) on an EMH morning by around 9 am ! Are you sure you don't want to ride it more than once?

 

[msmama]

We were at AK on Tuesday. I thought we had a FP for 10 (turned out I was wrong about timing) but what we did first thing was the Pangini trail (the one with the gorillas). It was actually really nice because there were not many people there first thing in the morning. What about doing that first and then safari towards the end of your window?

I do think the safari FP line may be one of the longest (because of the nature of the line and the way it loads) but it's still not terrible. 10 minutes-ish maybe.

 

[SharonLowe]

I don't think it is a waste - I like MsMama's idea. We were there today and the rush to get to Safari was huge and it backed up pretty quickly and stayed busy throughout the day - the waits for it were longer than those for EE. You could also fit in A Bug's Life if you don't want to do the trail.

 

[BubblyTrip]

Maube this is a day to not actually be at a park pre RD (for the first time ever in recent memory). It's our middle day of 4.5 park days, and we definitely will RD the rest. I'm already considering a little pool time that late afternoon.

My other option could be to ditch the FPs all together, do EE at RD and then safari next, and hop somewhere after lunch for a few hours.

These are the lowest crowds we've dealt with, and I'm unsure of what to expect!

 

[ktlm]

If you keep the FP, you can walk at a leisurely pace and if the standby line is short, then go through the line and them use your FP+ to get in a 2nd ride. You can also get to the park a few minutes after rope drop instead of being in the rope drop crowd and not have to worry about the line building up since you have a FP+.