AK strategy with RD and no Genie +

[uandmfan]

Hi everyone

I'm getting into the details of our late January trip. We will be at the AK on January 26 and staying at AK Lodge.

We hope to RD Na'vi, then head to EE and then back to Safari when it opens at 8:00 am for around opening and then to Dinosaur to knock out all the things with big waits early on (we will buy ILL for FOP for later in the day).

This seems like we are literally running all over the park. Does this strategy make the most sense? We have all day there but don't love waiting in long lines. I guess we can run around in the morning and then just take our time looking at everything else for the rest of the day. Thoughts?

 

[pixiedust33]

I would personally put EE later in the day to avoid criss crossing that much. Would you be willing to do single rider there? I’ve had good luck with that line even when the regular line is long.

Also - is dinosaur really that in demand that you need to do that early too? It’s been a few years since I rode it because I’m not a fan, but I don’t remember standby being crazy.

 

[RanDIZ]

When I stay at AK, I always run and gun in the morning to hit all the rides when lines are shorter. Then take it ease the rest of the day. I’ll leave the park to go back and enjoy the resort then finish off with lower ride times in the evening. It’s always hit or miss with crowd levels but this approach seems to work best.

 

[uandmfan]

Thanks for the feedback! I think we will move Dinosaur to later in the day, whenever that is and focus on Na'vi, EE and Safari, as those are what the kids are really excited about. This has been very helpful

 

[pixiedust33]

Thanks for the feedback! I think we will move Dinosaur to later in the day, whenever that is and focus on Na'vi, EE and Safari, as those are what the kids are really excited about. This has been very helpful

I would also suggest just checking the app in the days before your trips to see what the lines are looking like that week. I just looked and, currently as I write this at 12:40pm (so peak park time) the line for Everest is only 35 minutes and Dino is 5. Navi is an hour (and definitely not worth an hour long wait, imho!) Now, that is a low crowd day, clearly, but if it’s looking similar in your time frame, I would probably suggest focusing on Pandora (Navi and just looking around for a bit) and then moving over to safari and taking your time in Africa before booking it over just to hit Everest.

 

[uandmfan]

Will do, thank you! We are supposed to be there on a low crowd day but who knows!

 

[g-dad66]

If you do Navi during early entry, then Safari when it opens at 8:00, the wait for Everest is not likely to be long if you go there after the Safari, which would obviously entail much less walking than doing Everest before the Safari.

Today, for example, thrill-data.com shows Everest's wait to be 10 minutes or less up until 10:00 when it went to 15 minutes.

 

[uandmfan]

If you do Navi during early entry, then Safari when it opens at 8:00, the wait for Everest is not likely to be long if you go there after the Safari, which would obviously entail much less walking than doing Everest before the Safari.

Today, for example, thrill-data.com shows Everest's wait to be 10 minutes or less up until 10:00 when it went to 15 minutes.

That's a good point. Maybe that would be the easiest thing to do. I'm worried about having to be there so early as it is, EE is at 730. And I don't want to have to start off with cranky kids. 10 minutes is barely a wait!