Friends of ours were at Disney last summer and must have done the safari first thing. They said it was great cause all the animals were up and about whereas other parts of the day when it’s hot they may not be as active. TP recommends a FP for this around 5pm. We are going the end of September. Have you followed the TP and done the safari later and still really got to see the animals?
We did it first thing in the morning, during EMH, and the animals were very active. We walked right on without a Fastpass. Also, I imagine that temperature wise it will be cooler in the morning and a more pleasant experience (we were also there in September, and it got HOT during the afternoon).
We actually really enjoy doing the safari around sunset. We have seen tons of animals at that time of day.
I’ve been both first thing and mid day, and I saw lots of animals both times. “Generally speaking”, the animals will be most active during the most moderate times of the day. In the winter, this would be mid day, in the summer it would be first thing or approaching sunset. But Disney also has some “artificial” means of helping you see as many animals as possible such as placement of feeding stations, water, etc. The most notable of these is the rock structure in the lion section; they are cooled in the summer and heated in the winter so the lions are more likely to be on them - although not necessarily awake…
Thank you everyone! I will ‘trust the plan’. And makes sense why our friends who went in JULY said the early morning was the best.
Cheers!
The night time safari is supposed to be quite a different experience (I haven’t done it yet), but most people say to do it as a second safari and not you only safari as you will not see as many of the animals.