We showed up at the AK parking lot around 7:15 for an 8am opening. Once we got through security, they were already letting people in. The holding point for Pandora was closer to Pandora than it was in December, and we only had to stop for a few minutes before being allowed in. My 7 year old was freaking out every time anyone passed us, even though I kept reassuring him they were all going to FOP, not Navi, which is where we were headed. Our 4 year old does not fast walk, so FOP rope drop was not for us.
We walked on Navi and headed for Kilimanjaro. We were stopped at the entrance to Africa for another rope drop. At 8am, we got released and waited for two vehicles to board before my family was allowed to board (I sat this one out due to pregnancy).
We had a 9:10 Tusker House reservation, but were signed in and seated as soon as my party was off the safari. Normally, I would not schedule breakfast at this time, but since not eating a hearty breakfast with lots of protein seems to make my nausea worse, and the quick service at the resort doesn't open until 7, I went ahead and tried this. It was a good breakfast, and we took our time, with our first FP being Dinosaur 9:50-10:50. We finished eating around 10 and did the Gorilla Falls trail, where the kids were able to collect the last of their Wilderness Explorers badges.
On to Dinosaur, around 10:40, which I, again, did not ride (pattern of the day). Immediately after Dinosaur, my husband and our 7 year old had FP for Primeval Whirl. The posted wait was 25 minutes, but the line looked shorter. My 7 year old, who hates all roller coasters but 7dmt, loved it and wanted to go again. Posted wait of 15 then, actually more like 10. Me and the 4 year old hit Triceratops Spin.
Next up was a FP for Expedition Everest, on my band and 4 year old's band. Being pregnant and unable to ride, my husband used my FP. My 4 year old was pretty much 44" with shoes. His successes were on his morning attempts (EE and Space Mountain), while his afternoon attempts (Space Mountain again, Mission Space Orange, FOP) resulted in rejection. He LOVED EE! The posted wait here was 15 minutes.
We skipped Kali due to wind chill, and headed to Pandora for our FOP FP. I was worried about this. I made the FP before I knew I was expecting, and was unable to switch mine to Navi, and our 4 year old was 50-50 for 44" height checks. Sure enough, he didn't make the cut. He was really upset about it, as big brother loves the ride and had hyped it up. Amazingly, the posted wait here was a mere 90 minutes, the lowest I've seen so far.
I wanted to cheer him up, so I went to Navi to see if they would accept our FOP FP. The cast member was nice and said we could go through if we scanned to show her our FOP passes. I scanned, then tried to get my son to scan, but realized Daddy had his band! She let us through anyway, and we again explained our situation to cast member number 2, who let us through and was very friendly and talkative about shrinking heights during the day. The posted wait was actually higher than FOP, at 95 minutes.
The kids ate a late lunch at the quick service nearby, and we left afterwards (around 2:30).
In conclusion, I wish I knew which days would be like this at Animal Kingdom, as we could have easily gotten by without FP for anything besides FOP, even with the 8:45-10:45 touring time taken up by breakfast and Gorilla Falls.
We walked on Navi and headed for Kilimanjaro. We were stopped at the entrance to Africa for another rope drop. At 8am, we got released and waited for two vehicles to board before my family was allowed to board (I sat this one out due to pregnancy).
We had a 9:10 Tusker House reservation, but were signed in and seated as soon as my party was off the safari. Normally, I would not schedule breakfast at this time, but since not eating a hearty breakfast with lots of protein seems to make my nausea worse, and the quick service at the resort doesn't open until 7, I went ahead and tried this. It was a good breakfast, and we took our time, with our first FP being Dinosaur 9:50-10:50. We finished eating around 10 and did the Gorilla Falls trail, where the kids were able to collect the last of their Wilderness Explorers badges.
On to Dinosaur, around 10:40, which I, again, did not ride (pattern of the day). Immediately after Dinosaur, my husband and our 7 year old had FP for Primeval Whirl. The posted wait was 25 minutes, but the line looked shorter. My 7 year old, who hates all roller coasters but 7dmt, loved it and wanted to go again. Posted wait of 15 then, actually more like 10. Me and the 4 year old hit Triceratops Spin.
Next up was a FP for Expedition Everest, on my band and 4 year old's band. Being pregnant and unable to ride, my husband used my FP. My 4 year old was pretty much 44" with shoes. His successes were on his morning attempts (EE and Space Mountain), while his afternoon attempts (Space Mountain again, Mission Space Orange, FOP) resulted in rejection. He LOVED EE! The posted wait here was 15 minutes.
We skipped Kali due to wind chill, and headed to Pandora for our FOP FP. I was worried about this. I made the FP before I knew I was expecting, and was unable to switch mine to Navi, and our 4 year old was 50-50 for 44" height checks. Sure enough, he didn't make the cut. He was really upset about it, as big brother loves the ride and had hyped it up. Amazingly, the posted wait here was a mere 90 minutes, the lowest I've seen so far.
I wanted to cheer him up, so I went to Navi to see if they would accept our FOP FP. The cast member was nice and said we could go through if we scanned to show her our FOP passes. I scanned, then tried to get my son to scan, but realized Daddy had his band! She let us through anyway, and we again explained our situation to cast member number 2, who let us through and was very friendly and talkative about shrinking heights during the day. The posted wait was actually higher than FOP, at 95 minutes.
The kids ate a late lunch at the quick service nearby, and we left afterwards (around 2:30).
In conclusion, I wish I knew which days would be like this at Animal Kingdom, as we could have easily gotten by without FP for anything besides FOP, even with the 8:45-10:45 touring time taken up by breakfast and Gorilla Falls.
