How to tackle Animal Kingdom?

[kbean]

I'm going to AK for the first time sunday. And was wondering what's the best way to start out. I heard something about doing the safari in the morning when the animals are hungry. Any info will help.....thanks.

[disneydeb]

1. safari and don't forget to watch the gorillas as you walk at the end of safari.
2. EE & get EE fastpassses for later
3. Dinosaur
4. Nemo
5. Lion King
6. should be time to use those EE fastpasses
7. other things that interest you and your party in the park... Do not miss 1 - 5 :mickey:

I LOVE this park!

[pokci]

My perfect AK day:

Breakfast at Rain Forest Cafe
Get a map and times for shows
Kilimanjaro Safari (agree with first reply)

(Expedition Everest only if you can stomach it!)

Kali River Rapids if it's warm enough - you'll need the rest of the day to dry off!

The two walking trails to dry off
Nemo and Friends

(Dinosaur only if you can stomach it!)

If you don't have kids, skip the rest of the stuff near Dinosaur.
Flights of Wonder (bird show - very cool!)
Lion King
Tree of Life - Tough to be a Bug!

Then leisurely walk around and catch everything that most people miss - the wood carvings, the hidden animals around the tree of life, and so on. Check out each section and then get a Mickey Bar on the way out to dinner at Animal Kingdom Lodge - Boma for a Sebra Dome!:cloud9:

[WDWRox]

Be prepared to find that you can hit the best that AK ha to offer and be out of the park within the morning hours. Take in "It's Tough to Be a Bug" off the bat when you walk in. Then make your way around to Expedition Everest, then over to Dinosaur, and then walk around to Kilimanjaro Safaris. After you've finished those attractions......you've seen the best of the park. You can either retry them or move on to another park.

[stitchaholic]

i agree with disney deb,except i would reverse number 1 and 2,and i would add kilamajara falls into the afternoon when it is very hot and sunny,it will cool you off.
i do not agree with the last poster,we will take 2 days this time for AK,it got too hot for us last time and we had to leave,but there is alot to see in this parc if you take the time to explore all it has to offer and not just the big attractions.
we ate at rainforest at lunchtime in order to catch a break from the sun,the atmosphere is amazing in there but for 1 adult and 2 kids,no alcohol,it cost $70,so once was enough for us,we will be dining at flame tree or yak and yeti CS this time.
have fun!

[PlutoToo]

We like Flights of Wonder too. It's a don't miss for us.:thumbsup:

[jensantuit]

Although we have also heard that you should do the safari first thing in the morning, we never have and have always had a a great safari. Our times have varied from mid morning to early afternoon and we will continue to do the same. The one thing I would suggest, if you aren't going to do the safari first thing in the morning is to get fast passes early in the day if you can so you won't have along wait. Have a great time.

[BMan62]

Don't miss DeVine on the path between Africa and Asia. She is out periodically in the early afternoon.

[Zawadi]

AK is our favourite park and I think most things have been covered:


Kilimanjaro Safari - exit and walk along the Pangani Forest Exploration Trial.
Festival of the Lion King (show).
Finding Nemo (show).
Flights of Wonder.
Expedition Everest.
Primeval Whirl.
Kali River Rapids (you'll get wet, but you'll probably get soaked!)
Maharaja Jungle Trek.
Our lunch spot is the Yak & Yeti counter service. Their main dishes (Lemon Chicken :cloud9: ) come with rice (First time we didn't realise and ordered fries as well!)
Explore around the Tree of Life (probably not good for young children as they'll probably become bored).
Dinosaur (quite bumpy as the ride vehicles have active suspension to throw you around).
Try to find Ms. DeVine. (You'll see a crowd and her CM minders before you'll see Ms. DeVine)
Mickey's Jungle Jammin' Parade

Most of all enjoy it and look at the attention to the little details. For example it took nearly 2 years to acquire the artefacts that surround the line for Expedition Everest.

[kbean]

And this is why I love this site.....Great tips....thanks.

[Sylvia]

All suggestions, and in particular, Zawadi's recommendations, are right on target.

I have a few recommendations to add.

Arrive at AK before official opening.

If you have burger-lovers in your group, head over to Restaurantosaurus in Dinoland.

If the acobats and/or drummers are scheduled to perform in Harambe on the day you're there, take some time to enjoy their performances.

Stay until closing. AK after dark is an amazing place. Listen to the sounds and music. It's magical.

Have a great time.

[chrisb26]

Some of my favorites are

Dinosaur
Nemo show
Expedition Everest
Safari's
Tough to Be A Bug
Lion King show

also make sure you see the parade

This Sunday the 4th is the last day to see

Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade!

[Zawadi]

And this is why I love this site.....Great tips....thanks.

After your visit to the Animal Kingdom please let us know what you thought of it.

Chrisb26 - Thanks for reminding me of "Its Tough To Be A Bug". There are just too many things that I like in AK - I can't remember them all :D I need to refresh my memory (but have to wait until Dec 2010 :()

[disneydeb]

I didn't include Kali River Rapids because we were ther in December and rode it We froze the rest of the day. If you do KRR in January make sure it is the last thing you do before going back to change clothes!:)

I totally forgot Flight of Wonder and It's Tough To Be a Bug, definetly do those!

Have a great time!

[cer]

I would not ride Kali River Rapids without a poncho. I buy the ones from Walmart or Academy for $1 each or less in the camping department and put them on before we get on the ride.

Believe the signs that say "You will get wet - you may get soaked." My husband was a little self conscious about putting it on, but thanked me later.

We usually will ride it two times. When we go, the crowds are low and there have been times that the CM just let us ride on a second time without getting out and going through the line again. When we are done riding, we always go back to the ride entrance and offer our ponchos to the next people who come up to ride. We have never had to throw one away yet....

[Zawadi]

If you do KRR in January make sure it is the last thing you do before going back to change clothes!:
:ditto: You'll want to return home with memories not pneumonia :)

We did KRR in Sept whilst staying at the AKL. We left the AKL basically wearing swimming gear, cover ups and aqua-shoes. Rode KRR at least 3 times and came off looking like "drowned rats" then it was back to the AKL to change.

[FromKnoxvilleto Disney]

1. safari
2. EE
3. Falls (if you want to get wet)
4. Nemo show
5. Lion King
6. Tough to Be a bug
7. My 9 year old likes Dino-whirl (puke)

Last year we went for morning EMH and did safari, EE (2), and Dino-puke before the park even opened. The difficult time we have is getting in shows around the time schedule. Lion King and Nemo are must dos so work around them the best you can.

[Giggy]

We've always headed for the safari early on as we've been told te animals are more active then, at the middle of the day when temperatures are rising some of the animals get a bit sleepy. At such a time an escape the the cool, indoor sanctuary of Its Tough to Be a Bug is very welcome.

River Rapids we tend to head for early and it gives us a chance to dry out, thoughadmittedly we've never gone in the winter. Plus I seem to be immune to most water rides, I go on and i barely get splashed. As opposed to my mum who goes on any water ride and will always get soaked. To the point it's a running joke that we all try to take the furthest away seat from her.

Though not everyone will agree I quite like visiting Rafiki's Planet watch. It gives a more informative edge to the visit and though as I saw on another thread some people don't like being educated when on vacation I've found it to be interesting. To get here you ride the Wildlife Express Train.

Last time we went was October/Novemeber 2004 while they were building Expedition Everest. Therefore I can't comment on the best time to tackle that. Though it definitely looks like one of the unmissable rides.

I can't remember for certain but i think we've found Animal Kingdom to take 2 days to see everything. One of which we start with a character breakfast at Donald's Restaurantosaurus. When I was 8 (in 1998) Mickey tried to throw me out of the fire exit, luckily Donald jumped in and saved the day, pushing Mickey out the fire exit. Though when they came back later they both seemed to have forgiven me.:mickey:

[Natazu]

It's very difficult to get all the shows, rides and attractions done at AK in one day without a plan. I've been once or twice and kind of have a pattern. For what it's worth, here it is:

Jym's Náhtâzú-in-a-Day-or-Bust Touring Plan:
1. Show up early, enter through the gate marked "Cast Members", it is open to non-CMs too
2. Pick up a times guide (important)
3. Go to KS, while in line, look at the times guide for a time to see FOTLK, Flights of Wonder, and Nemo. Allow time to get to Nemo 45 minutes early during peak season.
4. Get FPs for EE.
5. Head to Dinoland before it gets too hot. Everyone will still be queued for EE.
6. Ride Dinosaur (or Triceratops if you have wee ones)
7. Ride Primeval Whirl
8. Back to EE, use your FPs
9. Get FPs for Kali
10. Grab lunch at Flame Tree.
11. Hot AK afternoons are the perfect time to take a nice, relaxing train ride to Rafiki's Planet Watch. It's fun to explore... once.
12. Finish out show schedule
13. Use Kali FPs
14. Dry off on one of the exploration trails.
15. Look at the map and see if you missed anything.
16. Dinner at Yak and Yeti (table service)


Notes:
After FOTLK, you're not really in position to get to anywhere fast and that's all that's really over there since the Pocohontas and her Furry Beaver show or whatever it was called closed.

Duck into It's Tough to Be a Bug anytime you pass it and have 30 minutes. It doesn't get very busy and the show is pretty fun.

The Conservation Station often schedules medical procedures on animals for early morning. If that interests you, check with Guest Services, or a CM with a current telecast.

[EditReject]

Whatever you do, do not rush through this park as some seem to think it is only a half day park with only a handful of worthwhile things to see. The park has incredible atmosphere and there are so many details throughout the park that if you rush through, you will miss it all. Other than the show times, I do not follow the park map. I like to wander and use the signs to point me to the different areas. Next to the Magic Kingdom, it is my favorite park.

[DANAM]

I don't think enough people mentioned the Lion King show. That is our favorite, we never miss it. If you have young kids try to sit at the bottom on one of the sides. Our daughter was picked to walk around with the preformers at the end of the show. Also another suggestion, do Kali River Rapids last right before you leave the park. We have done this every time and that way you can go staight home and change out of your soaked clothes. Even with a poncho we where still soaked.

[Soul_Power]

Wow! I've been to AK before but reading this made me realize how much I did not do there.. Thanks for the great tips!

[MinnieMommie]

AK is best tackled with a plan. It is not an easy park to navigate but I appreciate all it has to offer and visit with a strategy for the day. This is what we often do based on our preferences and energy level:

Walk through Oasis before the park opens so that we are able to enter the park the second they open the rope. (If you can get in for early extra magic hours even better.) DH and I head through Dinoland in order to reach our first destination which is EE. We usually go on EE 2 times first thing in the morning and then get a fast pass for EE before heading over to K Safaris. At that point we usually have around a 20 min wait for KS but it is well worth it. This process could easily be reversed with starting at KS and traversing the park to go on EE.

After EE we head straight to DinoLand and go on Dinosaur and then Primeval Whirl a few times. You will need to know the times of attractions such as Flights of Wonder (where we love to relax each visit to AK), Nemo, Lion King and Tough To Be A Bug. We don't see each of these attractions on each trip but they are all great! The Tree of Life is a wonder in itself and is something not to be missed. You will be able to get a good look if you plan on seeing Tough To Be A Bug.

Food might be good around this time. It's pretty easy from to go to Nemo on the itinerary we follow and based on the show schedule and how fast we are able to navigate through the morning we will either eat before or after Nemo at this point.

I really like to "trek" through the Maharajah Jungle Trek and do so often around the time I use the EE fast pass. Remember to know what attractions have a FP option and when you can get a second FP.

After using the FP for EE and making the "trek" I might do another "show". So if I did Nemo earlier I will be likely to select Flights of Wonder at this point (I never do more than 2 in one day). The last thing I do is Kali. This is especially true if the weather is anything but very hot and sunny. I go on Kali a few times, get soaking wet and then head out of the park.

I will be at AK in a few weeks and actually think I just mapped out my approach for the visit. Please let us know how you enjoy your visit to AK and any strategies you think will be helpful in navigating that park. :mickey:

[thrillme]

I'm trying to remember exactly how we did it. But it was PERFECT. I think we got FP for EE then did the jungle trek, got FP for Safari then went and checked in for our ADR's at Donald's Safari Breakfast...they were running a little late and we were a little early for our 10:30 ADR. Snuck off got fast passes for Kali got back just in time to be let in. (We got all our FP's with early expiring times so we were able to get the next one almost right away). We ALMOST rode Safari before breakfast but something slowed up the line. I think a tour of some sort went through.

Did the breakfast thing then did the Safari, Kali, EE, (got another FP for EE) Dinosaur, Dinosaur, Dinosaur, EE, Bird Show, Bugs Life...

We forgot about the Lion King but oh well. It was our best park even if it closed too early...we went back to hotel and swam.

[Granny Jill A]

We have always ridden the Safari first thing in the morning, but this past December we didn't get on until about 2:30 p.m.

What a difference it made. All the animals were in plain sight, taking naps. One ostrich was sitting right next to the road, looking at the trucks as they drove by.

We saw more animals that trip than any other time at AK.