Hi all! We are planning on visiting AK with two toddlers on Fri, Mar 1. The crowd predictions have swung wildly from 4-5 from my initial planning for that day now up to a 10, and I’m wondering if the max prediction level means we should head elsewhere.
I have FP for Navi River and Kilimanjaro Safaris in the late afternoon, and was otherwise planning to let the walking paths and kid areas entertain us. With a crowd level at a 10, is that a bad plan? I’m picturing wall-to-wall people and not being able to enjoy the trails or activities like the Boneyard due to too many people. In your experience, would it be a better bet to head to another park where the crowd level prediction is lower and we can do more activities that use FP?
AK is just always busy now… But the CLs are based on wait times, not congestion. @fred has said previously that these aren’t Christmas-level 10s (and in fact maybe Christmas should be an 11).
In my experience, the walking paths, etc, have been fine even on days with high crowd levels. If you can switch easily and make it work with your plans/FPs/etc there’s no harm and it might be a little more pleasant (although it’s just a prediction - not set in stone) but I think you’ll be fine either way.
Also, be on the lookout for the Feb crowd calendar update. That may change things again.
I think AK handles high crowds very poorly, the walkways are small and get congested easily, there are less restaurants than other parks… so it feels a lot more crowded than Epcot for example.
But let’s be honest, most people will head to Pandora and EE… you already have FP for the top attractions! You shouldn’t be worried! Stick to your plans and your TP. They will not steer you wrong!
I agree with this. Our CL 10 day did feel very full of people, but not until around 11. And since your FP are in the afternoon, you’ll have the first 2 hours to enjoy a less crowded park. I would start with the Dinoland rides at rope drop and hit the Boneyard from 10-11. Then you can mobile order lunch (I think 4 or 5 restaurants in AK do MO). The animal trails and the dino trail with characters shouldn’t be too bad.
I loved all three of the shows in AK too. The Lion King show is loud, so might scare young kids, the other two would be great in my opinion. Nemo is a bit long, but the puppet fish are so cool. It’s also a good wait to get out of the heat if that’s a factor.
If you are ok with the wait times, I think its manageable. We were in AK on dec 28th CL10 and apart from the ridicilous wait times, it wasn’t that bad. We also had FP’s for the safari and Navi which were both a 5 minute wait compared to the 2hr regular line. We had lunch after 11 to get ahead of the big crowds, spent plenty of time at the dino playground and had a good time!
I had a CL 10 and we did just fine. I didn’t really feel the congestion too much. It was busy but still manageable. I think when you are geared toward shows and little one friendly activities you feel it less. The shows are built to swallow the crowd, and the few thrill rides suck up the attention of lots of people.
. Appreciate your input!
so I think we will head there with your tips in mind!