Which shows to choose for short day at AK with young kids?

[Robertfam08]

My vote is for FOLK if you can only do one. I think it's the perfect length and attention grabbing for little ones. Our first time we fast passed it and were chosen as we were walking in for the reserved front row seating. Our kids were asked to be in multiple parts of the show and the actors were interacting with us the entire time. (I think our girls' giraffe print dresses were the clincher - they looked like they were supposed to be part of the show! They swooped us from the normal fast pass section and put us with the giraffes instead.) As we were walking out Dh said, "I've never been so close to people dancing around me in spandex before!" Haha.

 

[2binak]

FOLK - without a doubt! My DD first saw it as an 8-month old and even at that young of an age, it held her attention. As a 1.5 yr old, she clapped and swayed to the music and as she got older, she would sing along to the songs. She's 8 now and still loves it. We saw Nemo once, when DD was 4 and it really didn't hold her attention, or mine actually.

 

[Crystal824]

Thank you! I think this will come close to "option A" of what we'll end up doing... If we can, we'd love to do Nemo as well. Will play the trails by ear... possibly as PP suggested, check one out right after the Safari, which we plan to do first.
If we do affection section/Rafiki ("option B"), we'd probably have no time for a trail or Nemo... that's the other possiblity.
We will skip the Boneyard. I'm hoping to do Kali with my 4 year old for sure!

I have a fast pass for Everest, but I considered riding that myself, LOL! (Have never been on it!) I'm amazed your 4 year old was tall enough and brave enough to ride it AND like it!!! Mine is very close to being tall enough. Probably not a lot of 4 or 5 year olds on it though?!? I had not even considered it, honestly!

I was actually surprised my daughter liked Everest. To be fair, she was almost 5 when she rode it the first time. She loves roller coasters but does tend to get scared on "scary" themed rides. She hates tower of terror and even haunted mansion and won't ride those after trying them once. If you ride it without the kids, you can always use single rider line. It is usually open and moves fast. We used to do this before DD was tall enough to ride. You wouldn't have to use a FP on that.

 

[mateojr]

There is lots of shows to see Animal Kingdom. Like the new Lion King show or the Bugs show ( I do not like that Bug show) or the Nemo show ( its way to long if you do not like waiting I would not suggest the nemo show) and thats it! Please like this if it was helpful I would really enjoy that bye!

 

[aspen10]

I vote for the Lion King, too. I think Flights of Wonder is interesting but will most likely be really hot.

 

[erinch]

We were just at AK and I was thinking about you. A 3 hour morning would be do-able in Harambe. Safari, FOTK, affection station (train) and the Gorilla Falls trail are all clustered together. Kali is a long hot hike to Asia, with Nemo and the Boneyard further yet. My 20 year old was drooping. If you are going to try anything but Harambe get a stroller unless the 4 year old is a hardy walker. My advice!

 

[SA mom]

I would choose Lion King over Nemo because there is more action and movement. Lion King includes lots of acrobatic elements. We also enjoyed Flights of Wonder at that age. Talked about the eagle forever.

 

[isabellea]

Lion King!!!!

My youngest talked about that show nonstop for days after we left WDW last summer (she had just turned 3yo during that trip) and my oldest was one of the lucky kid who got chosen to parade. This show is now a must for our family.

I would choose the Africa trail but both are fun. My youngest is a big fan of the petting zoo at Rafiki but my oldest refused to brush the goats. I would say this one depends on whether your kids will enjoy the petting zoo or not. Too bad you don't have more time at AK. It's our family second favourite park after MK. They would choose AK over EPCOT or DHS any time.

 

[tee11]

We were just at AK and I was thinking about you. A 3 hour morning would be do-able in Harambe. Safari, FOTK, affection station (train) and the Gorilla Falls trail are all clustered together. Kali is a long hot hike to Asia, with Nemo and the Boneyard further yet. My 20 year old was drooping. If you are going to try anything but Harambe get a stroller unless the 4 year old is a hardy walker. My advice!

Oh, thank you, that is so sweet that you were thinking of us!

Guys, you have convinced us - we will 100% see the Lion King!
. Combining all this with the Safari, train ride and Gorilla Falls, because they are close, is a great idea! I will plug it into our touring plan!
We will start the day with a pre-opening breakfast at Tusker House, and then we have about three and a half hours...four max. I hope it'll work!

I see that people are divided on Nemo - we may skip it, due to its length and lack of time...

I wish we "could see it all", but I know that's not a wise approach with young kids!

Regarding the weather - that's good to know, that people find AK is the hottest park - I wasn't aware - thought it was DHS!
Thanks to you all, we will prepare the best we can!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

With only half day, none. The kids will enjoy the rest of the park far more than the shows. Try the bone yard.