Has anyone done one of the post-11:30 tour times for the Wild Africa Trek that qualify for the 15% AP discount? We’re going late-Nov/early-Dec – is heat still going to be a concern in the afternoon at that time of year? Are the animals as active in the early afternoon as if we took an 8am tour? Trying to save some money where possible, but not if it means the tour itself won’t be as enjoyable.
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DS and I just did a 1:30 tour last month. We enjoyed it and saw plenty of animals. I have also done the 8 am tour in the past. The initial portion will be essentially the same regardless of the time of day (meaning the hippo and crocodile portion). The safari part varies day by day and by time. We picked afternoon to get the discount. It certainly was hot on our afternoon tour, but I didn’t think it was awful. It’s really not strenuous. There’s plenty of sitting in the safari truck and hanging out in the pavilion on the savanna. And they give you a bottle to fill and refill with water along the way.
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Did you feel like you saw as many animals during the second/safari part of the tour on the 1:30 tour as the 8 am one? Were the animals you did see as active? Basically, I’m just wondering if the extra $30/$40 for the morning tours is worth it or if we’ll enjoy it just as much in the afternoon.
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It was on my “maybe” list, but we decided to do the savor the savannah one.
Something about hanging out at twilight…seemed appropriate since we are traveling without the kids! (Although mine are old enough they could go hang out without us. Most disneyland trips I don’t see them until it’s time to go.)
I would imagine Disney would prepare for the heat, I know they often have cool towels and lots of water on tours!
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I feel like we saw many animals and they were active. We didn’t see the lions up and moving. They were just sleeping.
Here’s a few photos. They were taken on my phone so they aren’t the greatest.
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@DreamLaughImagine Thanks so much for sharing! Those photos look so awesome!
I admit that I’m also tempted to do the afternoon tour so that we can take advantage of early-morning touring time to do some rides and the other animal trails (the tigers, especially) while the crowds are still building. We have two AK days, so we’re not planning to RD Pandora at all, and I’ve heard that you basically can walk onto to Dino, EE, etc. during those first few hours.
We did EMH at AK in February. Skipped Pandora and went on everything else. Kids were first ones on primeval whirl and rode 3 times without getting off (no one was there!!)
Even rode Everest twice. Then hopped over to Pandora where we had FOP fastpass. I wouldn’t race to Pandora, go do everything else in that hour! Plus it’s so cool to have the rides and that side of the park to yourself in the mornings!! (This is making me more excited for Monday morning at AK!! 48 hours and we will be IN Pandora!)
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That sounds amazing, @JuliaMc. One of the things I love most about AK is the way it can feel . . .serene? . . . in the early mornings. We were once the first people into the Maharaja Jungle Trek in the morning and we got to see them throwing chunks of meat off the roof to lure the tigers out to the area visible to guests for the day. One of the tigers came right up to the glass and put both his paws up on it to see us better!
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That’s a really good plan. Everyone heads to Pandora in the morning so the rest of the park is relatively quiet. You would accomplish a lot in those first couple of hours.
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I’ve only done WAT once, and that was at 8:00 AM in mid Nov and saw lots of animals, despite it being a bit chilly. In the cooler months, the animals are generally more active after it warms up a bit. I’ve been to WDW a number of times in the Nov time frame, and I don’t think it would be too hot to do it in mid afternoon. The walking part is mostly in the shade, and the rest is in an open, but covered, safari truck. June - September on the other hand… I was talking to the guides and even they said it was miserable.
I’m booked in to do the 1.15pm tour because that suits my schedule. I did think about switching to the 2.30pm tour but the cast member on the phone advised me that the high temperature point is around 4pm, so the earlier tour was likely to be a little cooler.
I’ll be reporting back in late June!
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I’d love to hear a report from your June tour! I’d personally not even consider the afternoon tour at that time of year, because too much heat basically makes me hate people’s faces . . . we went at the end of September last time and even those afternoons were enough to make me pretty crabby! But if you can take the heat, I’m sure you’ll have a great time!
That’s great to hear @bswan26! I think this thread has convinced me to do the afternoon time – I think we’ll also like the ‘lunch’ menu food a bit better as well, so that’s something.
One of my biggest worries last year was how I’d handle the heat and humidity. (I went in late August.) I was surprised by how well I did. I remember being sweaty in all kinds of places that I didn’t think you could be sweaty in. But I was sensible – walked slowly, ducked into air-conditioned spaces whenever I got the chance – and it was relatively fine.
I think AK is challenging because there aren’t that many air-conditioned spaces. But the toughest day was Epcot, which was particularly hot on the day I did WS.
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Lol, exactly. Even in September I went through two outfits a day – I remember opening the plastic bag of our dirty clothes when I got home and . . . well, it was a smell that’ll stay with me for a while.
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You could always do laundry midway through! 
(see my tag line)
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I have to do laundry if we are there for a week or more. I can’t stand all the sweaty, smelly clothes. And going home with laundry mostly done is a great feeling.
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We’ve only ever gone for a few days at a time on previous trips, so no laundry as we were pretty much all-day every-day in the parks. This time is 9 days/8 nights, so we’ll be doing our first set of Disney laundry! Is it weird that your photo trip review has me oddly excited about that?
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LOL Not to me! 
This trip I only did it mid-week. I usually wash on the last day too, but we were late night in MK and super early up for AK WAT so there was no laundry time that day. The afternoon break time, when I would ordinarily get it done, I was visiting with a local friend.
I am looking forward to the time when we will be DVC and have in-room washer/dryer so I can toss a load in so easily!
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In the end, I have made the switch to the 2.30pm tour. It just fits my schedule better.
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