Animal Kingdom - Favorites, things to skip

for our next trip, looking to do only a half-day there…what is everyone “must do” list for AK? What are things that you recommend to skip?

ETA: Our kids will be 8 and 4 when we go…and our four year old will do just about anything provided she’s tall enough. And i hear that Dinosaur is scary for kids???

That’s highly dependent on preferences, but I skip almost all of Dinoland (meh) and Kali River Rapids (I hate walking around wet and I don’t want to bring extra shoes/gear).

Must do - EE as many times as possible and FotLK. I like Nemo and Dinosaur but they’re not my first choices.

Skippable - Flights of Wonder, Triceratops Spin, Tough to be a Bug. I can take or leave Primeval Whirl, Kali Rapids, and even the safari.

I haven’t been since Pandora opened, but I’m going to say FoP is a must do, and NRJ is skippable.

Expedition Everest, Festival of Lion King, Flight of Passage, and Kilimanjaro Safari… all are a MUST DO. Everything else is as time allows.

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In this order must dos IMO

FOP
Kili safari
Everest
See the big tree and get a photo! (just forgot it’s name)

I think the safari is brilliant

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If you’re just doing a half day you’ll miss a lot. But if that’s all you’ve got you should do:

FOP
Safari
FOTLK
EE
Added: explore the Tree of Life

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We have identical lists almost. And I just responded before reading!

I think the must-do list depends on the ages of your party. For DH and me it would be FoP, Everest (ok, maybe not for DH quite so much) and Safari. DD3.5 also loves Safari as well as Adventurer’s Outpost and the Boneyard play area. :slight_smile:

No one has mentioned food. I’ll say that for me Tiffins is on my list of must do’s. But with only a half day you may not likely have time for a sit down meal. Flame Tree BBQ would be 2nd tied with Harambe Market for QS meals. Have fun!!

With the addition of FOP & Navi, I’d say it’s become a full day park now. Also open in evening, which is new.

Just about everything there is worth doing IMO. The only thing we’d skip:

We only do 1 show: so either LionKing or Nemo
Rafiki, not big fans
Dinosaur not for kiddos, under, say 10, maybe
Tough to be a Bug, not fans

We take midday break all days, even @AK. AK is a stop & smell the roses kind of a park, the trails & bird show & music events around are well worth it. Our littles (6 & 4) actually enjoyed hanging out with the ducks & other water birds behind Flame Tree, go figure.

It’s a beautiful & fun park, worth it to spend a full day for us.

&Re Dinosaur: My very brave, no roller coaster too scary, Dgs 5yr old was tall enough & loved dinosaurs. He was terrified. Giant dinosaurs jump out at you from the dark with big teeth & roaring noises. I’ve heard of kiddos even 9 or so leaving that ride in tears. So we’ve skipped for the kiddos since then, tho we adults take turns riding while 1 adult goes with the kiddos on those kiddy rides in Dinosaur park.

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It’s just so hard to tell with Dinosaur. When we went with my DS7 and my nieces who were 7 and 4, only my 7yo niece was frightened. The 4yo was ok, and DS7 loved it. This summer my 8yo nephew rode and he was terrified.

Have to agree that tiffins is a must do if you have time and budget for it

It’s really fine dining with great service

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I just rode Dinosaur for the first time, without kids, It is scary! I still wouldn’t take my daughter on it, and she’s 11 (but very opposed to scary rides). Be aware that it’s not fast, but its jerky. If you have back or neck issues, I would not ride.
We also went to It’s Tough To Be a Bug for the first time. I did not like it at all! The seats are rigged to poke you in the back, to simulate being stung by a bug. They also have some mechanism to make it feel like bugs are crawling on your seat. I can’t imagine who likes this experience, even children.

If you’ve never been to AK, Festival of the Lion King is a must-do. I also like Finding Nemo, if you think your kids will tolerate two shows. I LOVE Flights of Wonder, another show.

Ride: Expedition Everest is terrific, but your four-year-old might find it scary (or might be too short). The Safari is a crowd-pleaser. Do not miss it.

I agree about Tough to be a Bug, I absolutely hate it.

We must be the people they made the experience for, as my whole family loves it! The kids especially!

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Same. So not a fan.

Wasn’t Dinosaur a different ride when it was orinally built? Countdown to Extinction? If so, is it the same ride because I lost my marbles on it ha!

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I love EE, FoP, Safari, Dinosaur, FoLK, Primevil Whirl (am I the only one?) , and all the trails. I find magic in the entertainment and honestly some of the performers make me cry.

I do not know if I will ever do Kali again. I have done it twice- I hate that queue.

I despise PW. And now I’m worried about @Wahoohokie because she likes Bug.

I am with you on PW…that ride is no fun for me!

Same ride.