When do to the Safari?

[mshanson3121]

When we are in Disney (summer), the AK is open until 7:00. We are looking t a 5:15 ADR at Tusker House and were thinking of following it up with the safari ride (it closes at 6:45). Just wondering at that time of day how many animals will be out? Would it better to try and do the safari before supper, around 4:30?

 

[jsebsirois]

If I were to choose between 4:30 and the very last safari, I'd go with the second option.

With that being said, animals being animals, you never know how things will turn out...

 

[Robo]

4:30

 

[ktlm]

Safari is a 20 minute ride. It can be more if an animal decides to park itself in front of your vehicle for a while. If you are booking a FP+, you might want to do it a little before 4:30 to account for the line to get to the ride and the ride itself. I think you would be okay for a 5:15 Tusker House with a 4:30 FP+ as they are right next to each other, but you might want to try 4:00 or 4:15 to be safe. The FP+ line can be hit or miss on that one, we have had to wait 20 minutes in the FP+ line, and we have walked on. If you are not doing FP+ for it, realize that the standby line around that time will be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. I don't think it would be more than an hour that late in an AK day (although it is possible), and it does tend to get a little shorter later in the day, so my best guess would it would be somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes. So, I would not expect to walk up to the standby line at 4:30, get through that line, get through the 20 minute ride and be at Tusker House by 5:15. You definitely want to go earlier if you are going standby to be safe. You don't want to miss Safari at AK!

I would not plan on attempting to ride Safari after Tusker House (unless that is your 2nd ride on Safari for the day), as I think you would be cutting it too close to closing. We eat at TH every trip. They have now added characters at dinner, so I would expect it to be a more popular dinner destination now. Sometimes, there can be quite a wait for your table at TH There have been times when we have gone for breakfast or lunch that we have not been seated until 20 or 30 minutes after our ADR. You might be seated right on time, but in case you are not, you don't want to risk missing Safari, if you don't get out of TH in time. It is not unusual for a meal at TH to take an hour and a half by the time you get seated and have the character rotation get through. If the meal took you an hour and a half, then you would miss getting to the Safari line in time.

I wouldn't worry about which time the animals will be out. I've always heard Safari is best in the morning, but one time we went in the afternoon and it was one of the best times we have gone animal wise. They were all over the place and very active. You just never know what you will get with animals. I would ride it before you go to TH, and then if you get out of TH in time, you can always go over and ride it again.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

before TH. They start bringing the animals in earlier than you would think. We've ridden on the last / very late safari and a lot of animals had already gone in for the night. It takes them a couple of hours to call them all in etc so they start well before closing time

 

[disnut8]

When we are in Disney (summer), the AK is open until 7:00. We are looking t a 5:15 ADR at Tusker House and were thinking of following it up with the safari ride (it closes at 6:45). Just wondering at that time of day how many animals will be out? Would it better to try and do the safari before supper, around 4:30?

I would say to do the safari before your dinner plans. Personally, I don't like being in a restaurant and having it in the back of my mind that I "have to get to this attraction!". Much more relaxing meal.

As for the Safari and a "best time" - there is no "best time". There's very few things that will make an animal appear where and when any human wants them to and there are only a handful of those at Animal Kingdom (like Flights of Wonder) but I don't think there are any on the Safari ride. Just try being in one of those jeeps when an animal decides to lay down on the trail or walk too closely to the jeep. So, go on the Safari when you can.

 

[d-train]

I did the safari today during a rain storm, and it was the best out of every other time. It was late I the afternoon, so the rain cooled the animals off and they were more active. Also it was one of my fp+ picks today, walked right on! Awesome fp+ experiences this week, all walk ons so far!

And to put a cherry on top of today's safari, the sun also came out part way through, and we had a huge rainbow over the savana! That was great!