Which is better?

[luvdisney999]

Had a plan for AK, but now considering re-vising it. I know, I'm an obsessed over-planner, but I can't help it! Anyone else have a good AK plan?

Which do you think is better?

Option A:
1. Head straight to Safaris at park opening. Ride that and walk through the Pangani trail.
2. Get FP for Dino.
3. Head to Festival of the Lion King for 10:30ish show.
4. Return to Dino and leave park.

Option B:
1. Get FP for Safari.
2. Get in line for 9:40 Festival of the Lion King show.
3. Get FP for Dino.
4. Return to Safari with FP. Tour trail afterwards.
5. Head to Dino with FP and leave park.

Option C:
Any other ideas? We want to do the following:
- Safari
- Pangani Trail
- Festival of the Lion King
- Dino

We only want to spend 2-3 hours here. We have been to Animal Kingdom before, and these are our favorites that we want to do. We will be park hopping elsewhere and want to finish AK as quickly as possible.

FP's are usually great and would like to use them as much as possible (have young guy in group that will run all over park to get FP's if need be!) Does FP work well for the Safari ride? If we view that at 10:30, instead of 9:30 will there be less animals out or will that hour not really matter? I heard the later in the day it gets, the less animals are out. Anyone else experience this?

Can anyone help me?

 

[Aidensmom]

When we went to AK last, we headed to Lion King first thing and were able to walk right in minutes before the show started, thanks to some advice from a CM who told us the rest of the day would probably be a wait and may not get in the show we want. We did Safari in mid-afternoon, and had absolutely no problem seeing the animals - I think Disney must have some hidden air conditioning throughout the safari. (We live in FL, with AP's to Busch Gardens, and I can tell you that there and the zoo in Tampa, if you are not there in morning, you are hard pressed to see animals doing anything but sleeping, but Disney does not seem to have the same problem.) If you want to see the characters at camp Minnie-Mickey, do it during the first Lion King show - NO ONE there. (DS3 was scared of the show, so he and I left while the rest of our party watched it, and just hopped from character to character.)

 

[Lizzybee]

When we went to AK for early EMH everyone was almost sprinting back to the Safari, so I think Safari first was high on everyone's list of first thing to do. We had to FP Safari at 7:30am, got FP for 9:15-10:15. Our AK trip was just kind of a mess this past time (we got SOAKED to the bone at 1:30pm) so I can't really say other than Safari seemed to be where everyone was going first thing.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Are you going on an EMH morning? I've found them to be much more crowded at 8AM then 9AM.

If you are in the front of the line and are one of the first people to ride Safari then you will be off in time to walk on the 9:40 FLK. That is what we did but I imagine if you were at the back of the line with everyone heading toward Safari you wouldn't make it.

Also, it depends on the total crowd level. It wasn't crowded last week and we walked in the back of FLK and had great seats. (They load section by section so being early doesn't guarantee seats down front).

Dino was a walk on when we were there so can't help you there.

 

[luvdisney999]

Nope, not an EMH morning.

According to touringplans, AK is the best park to visit on the day we are going. It is a 7 on their scale and a Friday.

I thought I read somewhere that the safari ride is 30 minutes long. Would we have enough time to do that before FLK?

Or could we walk straight to Dino and perhaps walk right onto it?

Finally, if two of us go stand in line for FLK, can the other go for FP awhile? What if they have to go in - could the other person catch up? Can you save seats in shows?

Thanks for the help so far - keep your suggestions coming!!