Timing for Early Entry at AK

[DisRoss]

Can you all help advise on strategy for an early Animal Kingdom morning? The priority is getting on Kilimanjaro Safari as early as possible, and ideally half of our party riding Dinosaur And Expedition Everest during Early Entry. We’ll be staying at POR and using Disney buses, party of 5, one with an ECV. It‘ll be the Sunday AFTER Easter with an 8am regular park open and KS opening at 8:30.

Q1. What time do we need to be getting to the bus stop to still have a chance at 5 min waits for Dino and ExEv? I know to be at the bus stop 90 min before Early Entry if we were trying to get on to FOP. Could we realistically get to the bus stop at 6:45, arrive at the park at 7:15, scan in, head over to Dino and Asia and essentially walk onto the rides? Our ECV rider is likely not riding either of these.

Q2. Can we safely do Dino and ExEv early and get over to Safari before the standby queue starts building significantly with non-resort guests and other folks that already finished Pandora rides? I know we can buy G+ and try to snag a 8:30 return (and strongly considering that as we are planning to hop to MK after dinner), but it’s probably not necessary for our touring style and I don’t want to drop $125+ on G+ if we’re really just saving 15-30 min of waiting.

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[teach22180]

The issue with the safari is that the animals are unpredictable. I got into line at about 8:15 for a scheduled 830 opening after doing some other things not riding rides. It took almost an hour but that is because we came to a complete stop and there was an announcement that there were animals in the road. I did not enter the park by 730 so I can't tell you what I could have done before the safari.

 

[musicguy856]

Can you all help advise on strategy for an early Animal Kingdom morning? The priority is getting on Kilimanjaro Safari as early as possible, and ideally half of our party riding Dinosaur And Expedition Everest during Early Entry. We’ll be staying at POR and using Disney buses, party of 5, one with an ECV. It‘ll be the Sunday AFTER Easter with an 8am regular park open and KS opening at 8:30.

Q1. What time do we need to be getting to the bus stop to still have a chance at 5 min waits for Dino and ExEv? I know to be at the bus stop 90 min before Early Entry if we were trying to get on to FOP. Could we realistically get to the bus stop at 6:45, arrive at the park at 7:15, scan in, head over to Dino and Asia and essentially walk onto the rides? Our ECV rider is likely not riding either of these.

Q2. Can we safely do Dino and ExEv early and get over to Safari before the standby queue starts building significantly with non-resort guests and other folks that already finished Pandora rides? I know we can buy G+ and try to snag a 8:30 return (and strongly considering that as we are planning to hop to MK after dinner), but it’s probably not necessary for our touring style and I don’t want to drop $125+ on G+ if we’re really just saving 15-30 min of waiting.

Thoughts? Thanks!

During EE Dinosaur and Everest are likely walk-on so if you get there at 7:15 you should be fine. Almost the entire park heads to FOP in the mornings. If you’re there 10-15 minutes before KS opens the wait shouldn’t be too long.

 

[motherof5]

The issue with the safari is that the animals are unpredictable. I got into line at about 8:15 for a scheduled 830 opening after doing some other things not riding rides. It took almost an hour but that is because we came to a complete stop and there was an announcement that there were animals in the road. I did not enter the park by 730 so I can't tell you what I could have done before the safari.

This happened to us once on the ride, animals went in front of jeep and sitting there for almost 30 minutes before they got them to move so we could continue on our way. Don't rush the experience.

 

[DisRoss]

The issue with the safari is that the animals are unpredictable. I got into line at about 8:15 for a scheduled 830 opening after doing some other things not riding rides. It took almost an hour but that is because we came to a complete stop and there was an announcement that there were animals in the road. I did not enter the park by 730 so I can't tell you what I could have done before the safari.

Fair point. I suppose we’d have to deal with that whether we do standby or LL.

 

[coasternut22]

As stated previously, Dinosaur and EE will be walk-ons during early entry. If you are part of the early entry rope drop pack, you can easily do both before official park opening. If you are tapping in at 7:15, you’ll be fine. You are probably looking at a 30-45 minute wait for KS once you get there. If it were me, I’d just bite the bullet and wait. You already knocked out two big attractions by that point. You may get lucky and get a shorter wait, but this is what I would plan for.

 

[gharter]

Generally, Safari is not open for EE, but opens at normal time.
If you don't care about FoP, the park is yours. We have done EE, walked on dinosaur, then over to EE, rode three times, twice didn't even get off. Then walked over to Safari to get in line just as the park was officially opening.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

We'll be there that same Sunday and that's our plan - get on EE and Dinosaur before KS opens. I've been keeping an eye on wait times and it seems like EE and Dinosaur remain low a little while after park open still.