Sell me on the Sunrise Safari

[irish dancer]

We have AKV Concierge booked for 10/5-11/2008 and I need help convincing DH on the Sunrise Safari. I've read lots of posts singing its praises but nothing concrete just a lot of "not to be missed", "wonderful", etc. We are NOT morning people so that 6:30am meet time is a tough sell but not impossible. With a price tag of $220 for the 5 of us (me, dh, dd11, ds8, dd7) DH thinks it is a lot of money for a 45min tour.

Would we be done with the breakfast in time for park opening?

 

[Kimberle]

We have AKV Concierge booked for 10/5-11/2008 and I need help convincing DH on the Sunrise Safari. I've read lots of posts singing its praises but nothing concrete just a lot of "not to be missed", "wonderful", etc. We are NOT morning people so that 6:30am meet time is a tough sell but not impossible. With a price tag of $220 for the 5 of us (me, dh, dd11, ds8, dd7) DH thinks it is a lot of money for a 45min tour.

Would we be done with the breakfast in time for park opening?

Well, what exactly do you want to know? I never "sell" anybody on anything. Each person's vacation is personal and should be arranged to suit their own tastes.

You check in anywhere from 6:30 - 7:30. Bus leaves at 7:30 sharp. The conceirge will scan your park tickets, so you don't need to go through a turnstile. 7:30, the bus(s) take the guests to AK. You do not go in the front door, you go through the back enterance where the CM's enter. You see the behind the sceens action of the CM's getting the park ready for the day. No pictures at this point.

You go to the safari ride and board the cars. You have your own personal guide, a park ranger (or whatever they are called), not the cheesey ride driver. You do have a driver who just drives. The ranger answers your questions. S/he talks alot about each animal and how they exsist in the park. As you move about the ride, when a good photo opportunity presents itself, the car will stop and allow you to take pictures. This takes approximately an hour (the normal ride is about 20 minutes).

We were just finishing the ride when the "horns" were sounding and the park was opening. We strolled over to b/fast. B/fast is a wonderful buffet with everything imaginable. It is so much better than any buffet I've had at WDW. The Chef comes out and tells you about the various dishes and answers questions. He also asked if anyone had any allergy and needed any special dish(es) prepared.

The rangers were with us for b/fast. It was wonderful talking with them about the animals, AK, and the Savannah's at AKL.

About 10am, we left. We were all given fast passes to do the ride the "regular" way.

Personally, the difference between the 2 ride experiences is like comparing "steerage" with "first class".

 

[irish dancer]

Thanks Kimberle - that's more detail than I've found other places.

What happens between 6:30a-7:30a? Is there any benefit to being there right at 6:30a?

How many people are on the Safari if it is full?

 

[Kimberle]

Thanks Kimberle - that's more detail than I've found other places.

What happens between 6:30a-7:30a? Is there any benefit to being there right at 6:30a?

How many people are on the Safari if it is full?

You're welcome. Between 6:30 - 7:30 is when you check in, have a coffee, or maybe a light b/fast as they are starting to put the food out at this time. If I should do this again, I would leave my room at 7:00 as it would be plenty of time.

 

[2pirates&2tinks]

For us the buses pulled out around 7:30. We have 4 kids under 10 so we did not get down to the lobby till around 7:15. We grabbed some juice and dry ceral and were all set to board. Our entire family loved this experience and felt it was well worth the money spent. The kids LOVED it. We had many, many, many highlights of our last trip and this was one of them. Everyone says they want to do it again on our next trip.

 

[happymommy]

We considered this once, but the idea of having to be up that early on vacation sealed the deal - rather sleep in!

 

[Linus Van Pelt]

You're welcome. Between 6:30 - 7:30 is when you check in, have a coffee, or maybe a light b/fast as they are starting to put the food out at this time. If I should do this again, I would leave my room at 7:00 as it would be plenty of time.

Lots of great info, so thanks, Kimberle!

Now, is the seating at the breakfast communal, a la Biergarten, or, as a party of two, do you have the option of being seated at a private table. Everything else sounds absolutely top notch, but, unfortunately, for both SO and me, sitting at one big table would be a deal breaker.