Talk to me about Animal Kingdom trails

[nurseberta]

Maharajah Jungle Trek and Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail???

which one is longest? how long do they take to walk through?

do you usually do both? avoid altogether?

 

[Chupaca bruh]

I do not know how long they are. We usually do both as they are significantly different. How long it takes depends on how crowded the trail is and how many animals are in view. If it is low crowd and lots of animals we can spend 20 - 30 minutes on each trail. Once it gets crowded it is harder to get in a take a look at everything and it is less comfortable or if there aren't many animals in view we can do a trail in 10 minutes.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

We just got back from a last-minute trip to WDW where we only went to AK. We bought Genie+ because we had newbies with us and wanted them to experience short lines. After we rope dropped Everest and used up our first Genie+ LL for Navi, we couldn't book the Safari before 1pm. So we booked the Safari for 1, then walked the trails and took the train to Rafiki's while waiting for another booking time to open up at 11 so we could book Dinosaur. The gorillas were very cute and had babies, and we saw the tigers as well. Essentially, the time we would have spent in line, we passed walking the trails instead. They weren't terribly crowded at all, especially compared to the area around Discovery Island and Pandora. And they were in the shade, and had spots to sit and rest while watching the animals. And as a bonus, they're educational for the kiddos. I saw quite a few kids getting Wilderness Explorer books and stamps.

 

[Eeyore daily]

I love doing both of them because they have different animals.

 

[CarolynFH]

I agree with above - you can probably walk through in 15-20 minutes or less if you don’t stop to look at anything. But if the baby gorillas are out, or the tigers are playing, or the bats are moving around, or the hippo is in front of the viewing window, or the meerkats are out of their burrows, or you like to look at reptiles and/or insects and/or exotic birds or fish, well, they can take as much time as you have! We try to do both, but whether we do or not depends on how much time we have and how tired we are. I guess I’d allow 30 minutes but try to be flexible - I wouldn’t want to run through either one.

 

[Kestryl]

I love them both! I believe they are about the same length and in general you can spend as little or as much time as you like. We found the Gorilla Falls more crowded than the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

I personally prefer the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I just like the tigers, aviary, settings, and general peacefulness of the trail more, but your mileage may vary. If you have to pick one, decide what animals you would like to focus on.

By the way, there are also “trails” around Disovery Island!

 

[ars0525]

I do both & I tend to linger watching the animals or if the CMs are out giving talks about them. AK is a slow paced park for me especially if I can't park hop til 2pm & I am there early at opening.

 

[loves to dive]

Another one who does both and have spent as little as 20 min and as long as 45 doing them. Just depends on what animals are out and about, if there is a good CM standing by who can answer any questions, the weather, my mood. I love them. I also love the little side areas with animals in them all around the park and love walking around the trail around the Tree of Life.

 

[CynBeth]

We also do both. We like the animals on the Maharajah better so we spend more time there.

 

[nurseberta]

I do both & I tend to linger watching the animals or if the CMs are out giving talks about them. AK is a slow paced park for me especially if I can't park hop til 2pm & I am there early at opening.

do you think if we early open rope drop, skip everest (closed) we could still be leisurely have a quick service lunch and leave by 2?
we have G+ for length of stay on Jan crowds predict 3-5.

will hit all of pandora and $LL FOP
most of africa, skip asia (unless seasonable warm as don’t want to get wet on Kali) and skip dinoland except for Dinosaur

 

[igrsod]

We always do both trails and take as much time as possible. We sit and animal watch. It's so peaceful and lovely. Usually they aren't too busy as most people are in lines for rides.
The cast members are amazing and answer any questions you have. Lots to see, lots to learn.

 

[TikiRob]

I couldn't get my wife to walk these trails in the humid Florida temps, now it is her favorite part of AK no matter the weather!

She prefers Gorilla Falls for the animal viewing, but I really like the theming and architecture of the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

 

[gharter]

We always all of them and enjoy them a lot. we usually spend about 20-30 minutes per trail.
Last time, there was a newborn gorilla that was out with its mom, near the viewing window. And the Meerkats were very active so we spent alot more time on the trails.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

do you think if we early open rope drop, skip everest (closed) we could still be leisurely have a quick service lunch and leave by 2?
we have G+ for length of stay on Jan crowds predict 3-5.

will hit all of pandora and $LL FOP
most of africa, skip asia (unless seasonable warm as don’t want to get wet on Kali) and skip dinoland except for Dinosaur

Yes, if you rope drop Safari instead of Everest. Have your first Genie+ for Navi and then make your second for Dinosaur, which should still have time slots in the 11:30 range around 9am. What made our day long was only being able to book afternoon slots for Safari and FoP because of a technical glitch we had that morning.

 

[nurseberta]

Yes, if you rope drop Safari instead of Everest. Have your first Genie+ for Navi and then make your second for Dinosaur, which should still have time slots in the 11:30 range around 9am. What made our day long was only being able to book afternoon slots for Safari and FoP because of a technical glitch we had that morning.

interesting, I didn't think safari was that hard to get. Did you go at a high crowd level?

 

[rpfennig]

One of the nice things with Gorilla Falls is that the first bit of it covers some of the same animals as the Safari but from a different perspective (and I want to say, a little bit closer). It's kind of amusing to see them hiding off in the distance on the Safari and then hit the trail afterwards and... oh, there you are.

 

[cjlong88]

I would agree with previous posters. We love doing both. I prefer the animals in the Gorilla Falls trail, but the theming around the Maharajah Trek is super cool. Maharajah has always feels less crowded than Gorilla Falls to us, but that could just be timing/luck on our end.

 

[Lizgistix]

I've done them both for Wilderness Explorers and the Play Disney Parks app. They're both pretty neat, and I think like the person above me, Maharajah does seem less crowded. Probably because Gorilla Falls is very close to Kilimanjaro Safaris. The CMs enjoy talking about the animals in their section, as well. How long they take really depends on how crowded it is, and how much time you spend watching the animals and listening in on the CMs. There are some places I scoot through quickly, like the bug room.

 

[gharter]

Yes, if you rope drop Safari instead of Everest. Have your first Genie+ for Navi and then make your second for Dinosaur, which should still have time slots in the 11:30 range around 9am. What made our day long was only being able to book afternoon slots for Safari and FoP because of a technical glitch we had that morning.

If they are doing EE rope drop, that won't work. Safari is not listed as an EE attraction.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

If they are doing EE rope drop, that won't work. Safari is not listed as an EE attraction.

I didn't realize that. A lot of people who chose not to join the crowd for the FoP rope drop seemed to be headed in that direction instead of Asia, hence the 5 minute waits at Expedition Everest during EE. Maybe people opted to be at the front of the pack for Safari instead of riding Navi or EE, because the wait for Safari was immediately 45 minutes in the morning and stayed between 45 minutes and 70 minutes for most of the day. At different points, I saw the standby line stretch out past the white bathrooms in that area.