Animal Kingdom at night... Yay or Nay?

[hardlabor]

THAT PICTURE MAKES ME SO EXCITED!
Anyone want to pipe in with best choice for counter service dinner?

 

[Ds4angels]

Just a heads up, the Mickey/Minnie meet and great closes at 4:30, so if that's important to you (only place to get a picture with both at same time I believe).
Yak and Yeti counter service has some different offerings and seems to get decent reviews

 

[epcotty]

Does anyone know what's most likely for closing times at ak in jan/feb? If it's back to 6pm or something we won't go. Worried that it might then, and forever be so as rivers of light is either essentially cancelled or is so postponed that it's not even worth talking about now. We might go to hs instead, trying to decide

 

[anniemae]

This is on our "to do" list for our next trip!

 

[anniemae]

THAT PICTURE MAKES ME SO EXCITED!
Anyone want to pipe in with best choice for counter service dinner?

Flame Tree. We love it.

 

[stinkpickle]

Flame Tree. We love it.

Ditto

 

[cgattis]

Not sure what time the new "food market" over near the train closes, but we thought the chicken tikka masala there was quite good.

 

[Lulu27]

We did AK at night this summer. It was beautiful! We did the safari & Everest, which were both awesome at night. I recommend it!

Ditto! We absolutely loved it! Low crowds and great atmosphere.

 

[bryanb]

Yes, in addition to all the reasons people have said, Animal Kingdom has some of the best food choices of all the theme parks. Flame Tree is delicious. There's an expansive seating area behind it that looks out over the water. Great during the day and at night.

And at the Harambe Market, you can enjoy Chef Mwanga's spice-rubbed karubi rib. It is fall-off-the-bone delicious. A respected chef told me that the cut of the meat and the sophistication of that dish is on the level of fine restaurant food.

Not sure what time the new "food market" over near the train closes, but we thought the chicken tikka masala there was quite good.

I'll have to try that next time! The hours are posted here:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/animal-kingdom/harambe-market/

 

[teetoppz28]

And at the Harambe Market, you can enjoy Chef Mwanga's spice-rubbed karubi rib. It is fall-off-the-bone delicious. A respected chef told me that the cut of the meat and the sophistication of that dish is on the level of fine restaurant food.

Those ribs are the best in-park food I have ever had at Disney! Now my mouth is watering thinking of them!

 

[christianweecare]

We were in AK in the evening for the first time ever earlier this month. It was so nice!

 

[BebopBaloo]

The Karubi ribs are really good. I haven't had bad counter service at any of the Animal Kingdom places.

 

[wrighteous]

Only reason I need to go to AK at night is Expedition Everest. Rode it at night for the first time in September...holy moly! I thought riding it in the day was amazing, but at night, wow!! You can't see much, so the twists and drops are such a surprise! We rode it 6 times the night we were there, front row being the best! Can't wait to do that again in May!

 

[Allie B]

We were in AK in the evening for the first time ever earlier this month. It was so nice!

I agree. Amazing, relaxing, and fun at night! Hope this continues!

 

[erinsmom]

We did AK at night this summer. It was beautiful! We did the safari & Everest, which were both awesome at night. I recommend it!

What time did you arrive? We'll be there in June and this sounds like something we want to try. What other things were you able to do? Any show or M&G?

 

[awilliams4]

My vote: yah

 

[Parker Clan]

What time did you arrive? We'll be there in June and this sounds like something we want to try. What other things were you able to do? Any show or M&G?

We arrived after dinner around 6ish. Honestly those were the only two things we wanted to do, it was just me and my husband. We waited about 20 mins for both rides and it was super hot so after those 2 rides we went back to the hotel. Sorry I wasn't more help!

 

[BigredNole]

I have not been to AK with the new nighttime activities. However, we were there one time when that had evening EMH or some other special thing where the front of the park was open and the Dinoland area. Since there was only a small part open, it was not crowded at all. It was a lot of fun. We met some unique characters that came out roaming to snap random pictures with (not an M&G). My daughter had the best time pin trading because there were no others really doing it. CMs would dig out different trading lanyards with better pins. We met and chatted with so many CMs just relaxing rather than going through the who hustle and bustle of it all.

I can't wait for the nighttime activities when we go back.

 

[Bunnylicious]

Absolutely you must try AK in the evening. DH and I spent a week at WDW end of October. We had been to MK on a party day so left around 5:30 and decided to head to AK to see the Tree of Life awakening. The park was open until 8:30 pm. We arrived around 6:15 pm. DH and I both love KS and had not done an evening safari. We made it onto the jeep around 7. Everest at night was next on my to do list so headed to Asia. DH is not a fan, so he obligingly watched my bag as I rode multiple times. Oh my goodness, I absolutely loved EE in the dark. It takes an awesome fun ride to the next level. We walked around the park, enjoying the ambiance and very light crowds. The projections and music for the Tree of Life were beautiful. So glad we made the effort to tour AK at night.

 

[momto2js]

So, we are going Mid march and sunset for the first week is at 6:30 and then 7:30 after the 12th. Right now the park closes at 7pm so I'm not sure we will have a night option. When do the crowds typically thin? My plan had been EMH then hop to EPCOT but I could be convinced to leave for lunch and come back if the crowds thin towards the end of the day. What are the changes they extend the hours as we get closer?