Best Animal Kingdom Guide - Best Tips, tricks, Must do's, Please Contribute!!!

[disneyfreek9]

ALWAYS ALWAYS GET A FASTPASS FOR EXPEDITION EVEREST!
also get a mango pie at yak & yeti...

 

[Monknmom]

Just posting so that I can come back and read this later!

 

[>Ash<]

right well... plan of action for Animal Kingdom at WDW,

well i always arrive at AK early even better if you get EMH, i head straight for the Killimunjaro Safari because first thing on a morning alot of animals are roaming more on a morning in my opinion.

last time we were their in 2010 the Lion was doing his morning roar. very good, an ostritch had wandered into the road at the time so the cars had to stop so we got a real good look at the lion, plus the leopard was up aswell.

after the safari we usually stop and have a quick snack, outside the safari in 2010 their was a fruit stall that sold crackers and cheese with strawberries. very refreshing.

from their we move onto camp mickey minnie and see some of the fab5 and then onto lion king if their is a showing at that time.

then usually by this time we head over to bugs life and watch flick and the gang, i found this ride okay but alot of parents usually say their children were frightened i would say be cautious if your children are afriad of bugs,


usually at this time its lunch, have ur ADR but we dont do ADR at animal kingdom i like to head over to the Yak & Yeti in Asia for some honey chicken and rice.

to walk of lunch head over to the lion trail on asia, the lions are beautiful and their is the bat house their too. the cast members are very knowledgeable about the animals and encourage children to ask questions.

depending on how tired you are head out again and into the gorilla trail however it seems to get very humid and i prefer to go to the nemo show and cool down during mid day heat.

after nemo dinosaur is just around the corner for a rough ride to the Jurassic period and visit some dinos; but watch out the meteor shower is closing in.

those are my fave things at animal kingdom, im not a coaster junkie so i dont do everest lol

 

[ilmomof2]

Anyone take a 6 yr old on EE? Also, the 8 yr old is sensitive. I was hoping to try out Big Thunder Mountain again, and maybe Space Mountain (or even Rock N Roller coaster at DHS) before attempting EE.

ps. they both did Dinosaur and were scared to death. Neither want to do it this year. And hubby doesn't ride coasters at all, so it's just mom and kids.

 

[Cdnmommy]

This is a fantastic thread! Thanks for all of the information. We were at WDW in 2008 for the first time and are going back this December. AK was probably my least favourite park our first time round (likely because I didn't have all of this cool information), I'm looking forward to reading through this and planning this trip better!!!

 

[seamama71]

Anyone take a 6 yr old on EE? Also, the 8 yr old is sensitive. I was hoping to try out Big Thunder Mountain again, and maybe Space Mountain (or even Rock N Roller coaster at DHS) before attempting EE.

ps. they both did Dinosaur and were scared to death. Neither want to do it this year. And hubby doesn't ride coasters at all, so it's just mom and kids.

We were there last Sept 2010 and my oldest was a couple months shy of 5 years old, and tall enough to ride all coasters except Rock'n'Roller.
I'd say that Big Thunder is a good test to see if your kids want to try others. My DS loved that, so he tried Space. Loved that, so he did EE. That was just on the edge of being too much for him. He wasn't upset after the ride, but he isn't sure, when we talk now, if he'll do it again next trip.
i wasn't able to go on it, but DH says that it's pretty scary - with dark parts and going backwards. He was surprised that DS handled it so well.

 

[brerdawg]

1) Race to the Kilo-Safari
2) Get fast pass to EE.
3) Ride EE standby
4) Watch Lion King Festiful.
5) Walk both the tiger and gorilla trails.
6) Watch Flights of Wonder.
7) Ride EE
8) Get Fast Pass for Dinosaur
9) Watch NEMO
10) Watch Bugs
11) Ride Dinosaur

Relax and take in rest of park

Go back and Fast Pass as you wish.

Eat at Tusker House: Great Buffet.

 

[catm]

While the safari ride may be open during evening extra magic hours some times during the year, the last ride always leaves the station 1/2 hour before sundown.

 

[RedSnapple]

I've seen some PP's mention this and I just wanted to reiterate that the best plan for AK is no plan at all. We've been going to Disney for years and would occasionally skip AK until EE was built. A few years ago we did the lunch with an imagineer at MGM and we ate with one of the imagineers that helped to build AK. He told us that they DESIGNED the park for you to wander around and just discover things as you go. Obviously this works better when the park is less crowded, but we tried just going with the flow and riding things as we happened upon them and absolutely LOVED the park.

So basically my biggest tip I tell people for AK is that if the crowd isn't bad, don't come to the park with a plan, just wander around and discover. I even tell people not to make reservations at AK if you're not that concerned about food. Y&Y is incredible and so are some of the other TS restaurants, but AK has incredible CS restaurants too, so we just eat at whatever CS restaurant we walk by and we happen to be hungry.

 

[serene56]

I thought going to the Conservation station was lame and was going to be such a waste of time.

I am so happy that I did not listen to the inner planner in me and just took the train and let be.

It was the most magical. not very many people there- (i'd like to think a lot of people think its a waste.

There was Pocohantas coloring pictures with the kids.
Jiminy Cricket taking photos. The petting area outside was very quiet and my grand daughter was able to play to her hearts content without being pulled to let someone else have a chance.

 

[Tomwdw14]

Look for the hidden paths around AK. There are a few hidden around the park apparently (only ever found 1)

 

[berrytwee]

bump!

 

[BBG-BLT]

Hang out and dance with the Whistle blowing guys. And look for DeVine - things we love to do.

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

our animal kingdom schedule is:

go straight to everest
df gets fp to safari while i get a table at yak n yeti
ride safari
go thru the trek and watch the little gorilla, lilly, for a while--she's hilarious!

we go fairly often so we don't hit everything everytime.

 

[loislane]

I didn't scroll through the whole threat, so sorry if I'm repeating info, but I just wanted to add that we met Pooh, Tigger, and Eyeore and had photo ops down a little path on the left after exiting Dinoland. If you go under the dino and over the bridge, it's right to your left.

 

[brerdawg]

I thought going to the Conservation station was lame and was going to be such a waste of time.

I am so happy that I did not listen to the inner planner in me and just took the train and let be.

It was the most magical. not very many people there- (i'd like to think a lot of people think its a waste.

There was Pocohantas coloring pictures with the kids.
Jiminy Cricket taking photos. The petting area outside was very quiet and my grand daughter was able to play to her hearts content without being pulled to let someone else have a chance.

Thanks for the review. I did not mention the Rafiki train trip in my earlier post but since have made it a priority to check it out when we return to the World.

 

[brerdawg]

1) Race to the Kilo-Safari
2) Get fast pass to EE.
3) Ride EE standby
4) Watch Lion King Festiful.
5) Walk both the tiger and gorilla trails.
6) Watch Flights of Wonder.
7) Ride EE
8) Get Fast Pass for Dinosaur
9) Watch NEMO
10) Watch Bugs
11) Ride Dinosaur

Relax and take in rest of park

Go back and Fast Pass as you wish.

Eat at Tusker House: Great Buffet.

Place Rafiki Train trip to the Conservation Station somewhere between 3 and 8.

 

[nichellecr]

I haven't seen this tip yet, did this yesterday. I arrived for EMH, grabbed a Safari FP first thing, and explored the Pangani trail until my FP window. I didn't see another guest on the trail.

It was serene and wonderful. Many of the animals, especially the gorillas, had just been fed and were very active. I got fantastic photos. And not one time did I have to shoulder past anyone or get my foot run over with a stroller.

Oh, and I still saw and rode everything I wanted, many times, so it didn't take away from the rest of my touring.

 

[MatzoRella]

Does anyone know what became of the OP? I hope he made it back from Iraq. Hasn't posted since updating this thread in 2009. This is one of the most useful threads I've ever seen.

 

[averill94]

Just wanted to comment on EE and 6 year olds....mine loved it! Still does.

I however went on once and that was enough!