Advice on dueling Animal Kingdom touring plans

We last visited WDW four years ago and had great success using the touring plans, but with all of the park changes since then I thought I’d run these by the more experienced visitors. I’ve created two plans for Animal Kingdom (June 1, crowd level 7):

http://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=1177926
http://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=1297681

The main differences are that the first has us going to Expedition Everest immediately and twice in a row without using FP while the second uses FP for both EE rides. The first has more waiting-in-line time, but my concern with the second, which has all the shows stacked back-to-back in the afternoon, is that we’ll be arriving to shows just before they start, and as they begin on the hour, missing one would mean waiting an hour for the next to start. I’m also wondering if it’s reasonable to think that we’d be able to ride EE twice within half an hour without FP even if we go directly there at rope drop. I would love to hear anyone’s thoughts, thank you!

You’ll have to publish the plans publically for us to be able to read them…

Regarding your EE question, I’ve done it 3 or 4 times in a row at RD without FPs. I can’t see what your exact show times are, but if there’s less than 30 min between the end of one and the start of the next, I would be concerned. The sometimes narrow pathways in AK can get quite congested making the walk take longer than you expect. FotLK to Nemo (or vice versa) would be the worst for this because they are about as far apart as you can get in AK. If the FoW time is between the other two, it would be a little bit easier. I have only managed to do all three in one day once. FoW was around 10:00, FotLK was around 2:00 and Nemo was around 5:00

Thanks for responding! Both of my plans have notes at the top saying “This plan is published”, are they not showing up publicly? Let me know if there’s something else I need to do in order to make them viewable.

The plan with back to back shows has us arriving at Nemo at 12:46 (for 1 p.m. show), FotLK at 1:47 (for 2 p.m. show), and Flights of Wonder at 2:35 (2:45 show). Does that seem too close?

Thanks again!

You just posted the wrong link. The link you need to post is right below where it says your plan is published.

Actually just went to both plans and the 2nd one isn’t valid (unless you know some magic) because you can’t get multiple FP+ for the same attraction (at least not until you use the 1st 3).

BTW the correct links to your plans are:
http://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=1297681
http://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=1177926

Doh! Thank you so much, I don’t know how I managed to do that.

The plan that uses FPP for Everest looks good to me. There seems to be plenty of free time listed before Flights of Wonder, so that shouldn’t be a problem. For the afternoon, you have Nemo right after lunch, so you should have some control over when you get there (in case you need to cut lunch short, though you shouldn’t need to do that). After that, you ought to be able to get to the Lion King show well before it starts. If for some reason you don’t, then ride the Safari, walk the Pangani Trail and it won’t be long before the next Lion King show starts.

NOTE: For some reason, the Safari and Lion King steps show up out of order for me (I see the Safari first, even though the start time is listed as 2:33 and the Lion King is listed as 1:47). That doesn’t really matter, but it looked confusing.

I’d also get a FPP for the Safari. There’s no reason not to (unless you’re saving your FPP for another park that evening, in which case you wouldn’t be able to get the earlier one for Everest).

Thank you so much for your thoughts! I have one question: if we miss the Lion King show at 2 p.m. (the plan has us getting there 13 minutes before showtime, is this early enough to get in? I think last time we arrived 25 minutes before . . . ) and I have a FP for Safari at 2:30 (the original time we’d arrive assuming we make it to the 2 p.m. LK), that would give us only about 5-10 minutes to get from Safari to the next Lion King showing at 3 p.m., is that correct?

Thank you again!

I’m a bit confused… The times for things that you mention in your posts do not match the times on the actual TPs. Also, you show using only 1 FPP for EE, not 2. Of the two posted plans, I like No 1 better.

Based on the times that you specified in your post, they are going to be tight - possible, but very tight. Nemo runs about 40 min, and planning 5 to get out of the theater is almost optomistic (unless you sit right near an exit). That leaves you 15 min to completely cross the park (CL7) to the start of FotLK. You will run the risk of the show being full (although the theater DOES hold quite a few people. FotLK runs about 25 min, and taking into account leaving the theater, 30 min would be optomistic. That gives you 15 min to get to FoW before the start of the show. Again the chance of not being able to get in.

A question for you. Both of your TPs end at 2:30. The park is open until 7:00. Is there a specific reason for ending your touring that early? If you add an hour or two, you wouldn’t have to stress over close show times, and would also have time to do the two trails. Many people call AK a “half day park”; I stay a full day almost every time I go, and I have yet to do everything in the park in one day.

Also curious as to the composition of your party as that can impact how you tour; my approach to touring is much different if I’m solo or if I’m with DW…

Thank you again for your input, it’s much appreciated. I don’t think I have the end times set specifically for 2:30 p.m. (or if I do I don’t know how I did it : ), I’m wondering if it ends then because the plan has covered all of the attractions I requested?

Once my error of having two EE FPs was pointed out I had to undo one FP and the schedule was rearranged accordingly, so I think that might be why some of the times are different now.

I’ll be visiting with my husband and two kids, 13 and 10. The 13-year old can go all day but we’ve discovered that even at 10 my daughter needs a nap in the afternoon during this kind of busy vacation in order not to completely fall apart during dinner. We have dinner reservations at 6, so I’m guessing the latest we could stay in the park would be maybe 3-3:30 p.m.

[quote=“ohio_amy, post:8, topic:11541”]
(the plan has us getting there 13 minutes before showtime, is this early enough to get in?[/quote]
I’ve seen the Lion King show several times and only once have I arrived more than 5 minutes before the show. As long as you’re comfortable being in the giraffe section (hint: a giraffe makes a noise that sounds like a sheep), then I think you’re fine, especially with the current location of the Lion King theater near the Safari (meaning, you have a viable backup plan)

[quote=“ohio_amy, post:8, topic:11541”]
I have a FP for Safari at 2:30 (the original time we’d arrive assuming we make it to the 2 p.m. LK[/quote]
Can you change this to an earlier time? If you make this for around 2:00 PM, then you’d be covered to see the Safari before or after the show.