Is Fastpass+ necessary for Animal Kingdom?

[lincolnryan]

I am going to DW at the end of Jan and we'll have 4 days of park-time. My plan is to spend 2 of the days at MK, 1/2 at Epcot, 1/2 at Animal Kingdom, and 1/2 or 1 full day at Hollywood Studios.

Since we have dinner reservations at Epcot on the 2nd day we are there, it probably makes sense to do the morning at Animal Kingdom that day. I'm thinking since Soarin' tends to have huge lines that it makes more sense to use the Fastpass reservations for Epcot on that day and just do standby at Animal Kingdom. My oldest is 6 and I think that the Everest rollercoaster might be a bit much for him and I'm not sure we'll end up doing the safari, which seems to be the other big attraction.

If you leave those 2 rides out, are Fastpasses really necessary at Animal Kingdom? I think the day we are planning on going there is EMH (not sure if that'll just make it busier though).

 

[thelookingglass]

Usually the wait times at DAK are short to non-existent for the first hour of the park's operation, and the last two hours. So, if you get there right at park open, you shouldn't really need to use any Fastpasses. If you arrive closer to noon, however, you can expect moderate to longer waits for Everest, Safaris, and maybe Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl.

 

[chemicalart]

If you don't plan on doing the rapids, safari, or everest in the morning you should be OK. Morning is the best time to go anyway, since the animals are most active then.

 

[chemicalart]

and maybe Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl.

This reminds me if you are there at opening go ahead and do dinosaur from what you told me. Once that is done you are free to lesuirely walk around and view the animals.

 

[Ember]

I second getting there early. Get there at opening and you'll be fine. We didn't wait longer than 10 minutes for anything until early afternoon.

 

[disney4life2008]

I arrived at 11am last Saturday and it was packed there. Longest wait was safari at 55 minutes. Everything else was 30 or less

 

[lincolnryan]

Ok, thanks for the replies. We'll probably use the Fastpass at Epcot for later in the day.

On a similar note, what are the opinions of The Safari? I actually went on this back in 2008 (before I had kids), but can't remember much about it. I have a 6 year old and twin 3-year olds.

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

Ok, thanks for the replies. We'll probably use the Fastpass at Epcot for later in the day.

On a similar note, what are the opinions of The Safari? I actually went on this back in 2008 (before I had kids), but can't remember much about it. I have a 6 year old and twin 3-year olds.

Your kids should really enjoy it if they are into live animals. I like it a lot. Your "guide" will point out all the sightings as you ride and stop the "jeep" if it is feasible.

 

[JohnD]

Can't go wrong with Safari. You're viewing "wild" animals. (Well, wild in the sense they're not audio animatronics in their own separate areas). And it's subject to the whim of the animal. Your kids will love it. BTW, there is no standing, so you may want to put the three year olds on your lap so they can see better.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I think AK is one of the most "do-able" parks without FP+. Last time we went we got there at 8:30am on an EMH morning on a crowd day rated 5 or 6/10 by touringplans standards. (We should have been there at rope drop, but were delayed by a Disney bus snafu.) We were "saving" our FP+ for an afternoon visit to Epcot, and thus made none in AK.

We went directly to Kilimanjaro Safaris (wait was still only 10 minutes by this point -- 8:30am). Then we split up and half of the group did the Pangani/Maharajah Trails while the rest of us did Expedition Everest twice (walk-on the first time, 5 minute wait the second time). We met up outside Kali River Rapids and did that (15 minute wait). We then proceeded to Dinosaur (nearly a 20-minute wait -- the standby wait times for it have doubled since the introduction of FP+. Had we arrived at rope drop like we'd planned and thus gotten to Dinosaur 30-45 minutes earlier, the wait would likely have been much shorter, but at this point it was after 10:00am and latecomers who were starting their tour in Dinoland were flooding that part of the park.) Then we did Triceratop Spin (walk-on) and the Finding Nemo Show (arrived 10 minutes before the show began and still got quite good seats although the theater was nearly full). After Nemo, we had lunch and called it a day. (We certainly could have stayed longer, but FOTLK was down for refurb during this visit, and nobody was really interested in It's Tough to Be a Bug, Rafiki's Planet Watch/Affection Section, the Character M&Gs or the Flights of Wonder show.)

 

[Tinkerbell397]

We were at The AK last week on 11/9 and 11/14.....it was very crowded both day. We had FP's for Safari for both days and there were long waits for the stand-by line both day....60 minutes. We do not do Everest so I cannot speak to that ride. We saw animals up close both days....the giraffes came right up to our vehicle...almost put their heads right in....it was wonderful. The rest of the animals, with the exception of the lions were awake, active and visible. Both rides were a wonderful experience.
FP's were not needed far anything else....

 

[Mia22]

We needed fp to do Everest and dinosaur. Wait times 60 mins during 10-4. I would recommend trying to get the last vehicle on Everest the ride was super better !

 

[DizneyPryncess]

We used it for the Safari & the Minnie/Mickey meet & greet. It was me, my husband and our 2 year old though, so those were priorities for her. We weren't doing Everest or Dinosaur, or those would've probably been considered. Both of the things we used our FP on had maybe 20 minute waits, as it was still early in the day. But we used them, because 20 minutes with a toddler still is 20 minutes.

 

[CheshireCat12]

Last time I went to AK I had FP+ scheduled but I wanted to change for MK FP+ options in the evening, so I cancelled my AM selections completely. Get to AK for rope drop and you should be able to ride EE at least two or three times in a row without a wait. I don't usually do the safari but if you want to, it would be a good idea to hit that early as well. As long as you are there in the first hour, you can do a lot.