Please help me to not hate Disney!

[disneysteve]

I can see people avoid Animal kingdom because it's the worst bang for the buck when they used to close at 5pm. It's so much better now that they open late.

I guess. We just don't see it that way. We would never skip Animal Kingdom. Last trip in June, we were only there for 2 days and did Animal Kingdom and Epcot as our 2 parks. We would have also done Magic Kingdom on part of a day but our daughter didn't have a hopper pass (DW and I have annuals).

If you get to Animal Kingdom at park opening and plan your day well with FastPasses, there's no reason why you could see pretty much the entire park by 5pm.

[AJ444]

I almost skipped going to Animal Kingdom because I figured if I am going to Disney World I want to focus all of my time on the more traditional parks. That would have been a huge mistake, Animal Kingdom is now my favorite park and I make sure to dedicate a solid day anytime I go.

[FLA]

I love Disney but for those who need to be converted, I suggest making your first park Epcot, get there at rope drop and ride Soarin' as many times as you can before there is a prohibitive line. When I can't sleep, I pretend I'm on Soarin', lol

[disneysteve]

ride Soarin' as many times as you can

Once is enough for me. I don't care for the new show nearly as much as the original. And even then, I think the attraction is overrated. It's fun but I don't think it warrants the crowd it gets.

Now it was nice last month when we attended a private party in Epcot after hours and could just walk on and ride it as much as we wanted. We only did it once but we could have just kept riding.

[bennkar]

Pandora opened on May 27. We didn't make it there until May 31 .

The area is beautiful, especially at night. The Na'vi River Journey was underwhelming. It's a nighttime boat ride but really doesn't have any discernible story or point. It does, however, have the most advanced audio-animatronic figure ever made and it is well worth doing the ride simply to see that.

Flight of Passage, the banshee ride, is awesome. That's the one you want to book the FastPass for. It is a simulator ride but unlike anything Disney (or anyone else) has ever done. Definitely a don't-miss attraction.

The new nighttime show, Rivers of Light, is also wonderful.

Not sure why you've been avoiding Animal Kingdom. It's definitely one of our favorite parks.

I have to admit, when we did go to Animal Kingdom we only spent half a day and were rushing, and while we enjoyed it we didn't see anything close to all of it. We did almost made the local news when our animal tour driver just missed running over a giraffe.

Perhaps we will change our tune if we take our time and take it slow. I'll be sure to give my feedback after our visit.

[bennkar]

Pro tip, if you want to get on the rides with no wait, do it right when the park opens. Wait time is still ridiculous wee hours into the night, especially the summer. I have seen the occupancy rate and there are almost 2x more people in the park during summer break vs school days.

We'll be going off peak in Oct/Nov, so many (but not all) rides have very short / almost no lines the last half hour or more. Our last time at Hollywood studios we did the Star Wars ride 6 times in the last hour. But by strategically using the Fast Pass we got to ride just about everything we wanted all day with no waiting (or short lines anyway). It was a very easy and pleasant experience.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I agree with FLA about Soaring for it is my favorite ride. I'm only familiar with the Disney Land version, not Florida. The Disney Land version has scenes of flying over landscapes such as the ocean, orange groves, a naval base, river rapids, etc. It is very realistic and felt like I was in an actual hang-glider. Feeling the ocean sea spray, smelling the oranges of the orange grove, etc. And the people that I was with handled the fast pass where we by-passed something like a couple of 100's of people in the regular line and maybe 20 people in the fast pass line.

[Like2Plan]

I agree with FLA about Soaring for it is my favorite ride. I'm only familiar with the Disney Land version, not Florida. The Disney Land version has scenes of flying over landscapes such as the ocean, orange groves, a naval base, river rapids, etc. It is very realistic and felt like I was in an actual hang-glider. Feeling the ocean sea spray, smelling the oranges of the orange grove, etc. And the people that I was with handled the fast pass where we by-passed something like a couple of 100's of people in the regular line and maybe 20 people in the fast pass line.

They recently changed the soarin' ride at both places. It used to take you to different places over California, now it takes you to different places around the world at both parks. The ride ending is different, though. When it was Soarin' Over California- you would come back to Disneyland during a Christmas parade.
Now, if you ride it in EPCOT, you come back to EPCOT. If you ride it in California Adventures you come back to Disneyland.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Interesting! Like2Plan knows Soaring!

[disneysteve]

I have to admit, when we did go to Animal Kingdom we only spent half a day and were rushing, and while we enjoyed it we didn't see anything close to all of it.

Disney took a very different approach to Animal Kingdom and, unfortunately, the public just didn't embrace it. It was designed for the park itself to be the attraction, not just the rides and shows. Unlike other parks where everyone races from one ride to the next, this was meant to be a park where you take your time, stroll around, explore, and soak in all of the details. Joe Rohde, the lead Imagineer (who also partnered with James Cameron to design Pandora) is an expert at this sort of immersive experience.

Just look at the entry of the park. Rather than coming in to Main Street or Hollywood Blvd. with shops and lights and hubbub, you enter through The Oasis, a lush area of forest with animals to be seen along the paths - if you actually take your time and look. What ends up happening, though, is everyone rushes through there to get to Kilimanjaro Safari or Expedition Everest. They just want the thrills. They don't care about the other stuff.

We first visited Animal Kingdom a week before it opened to the public in April 1998. We attended the Annual Passholder preview. We were also there for Grand Opening. We love this park. It has evolved over the years to be more of what the public demands. We still love it, though it's a little sad that the concept didn't work quite as intended. I'm very glad to see that Pandora is a huge hit, though. I wasn't sure how that would play out because the movie certainly wasn't great but with Joe Rhode and James Cameron at the helm, it is now THE hot spot in Disney World.

[Thrif-t]

I just wish AK wasn't so dang muggy. We were there end of May too Steve. OMG I was drenched in sweat, it was disgusting.ha I need to go there in the winter. I never thought it would be so hot end of May. Best time we've ever been is spring break, first week of April, weather is PERFECT. But if that corresponds with Easter, forget about it. Waiting for my kids to all get in college so maybe we can go down sometime before Christmas. I want to see everything all decorated.

And I think I agree that I liked the old Soaring better. The new one is ok but if I have to compare the two maybe I do prefer the old one.

We won't plan a trip back until the new toy story & star wars lands open.

[disneysteve]

I just wish AK wasn't so dang muggy. We were there end of May too Steve. OMG I was drenched in sweat, it was disgusting.

AK is renowned as the hottest park despite being the lushest as far as landscaping and trees go. But it is Africa, after all .

The end of May this year was awful, comparable to weather we've had in the heart of the summer. Of course, Disney just can't control that yet. We've been to Disney at every time of year and you just never know what you're going to get. We've been there in March when it was 35 degrees. A couple of years ago, we were there in November and it was 95 degrees. So even if you think you're going at a mild time, the weather can surprise you.

[scfr]

star wars lands

Star Wars Lands? Oh boy - I may need to add another trip to Disney to my list of travel wants.

[disneysteve]

Star Wars Lands? Oh boy - I may need to add another trip to Disney to my list of travel wants.

Disney World and Disneyland are both building Star Wars lands slated to open probably in 2019. We should get more details at the D23 Expo this month.

I'm not a huge Star Wars fan but I'm excited anytime they add new stuff to the parks. As I said, we loved Pandora even though we didn't really care for the Avatar movie.

[Singuy]

Also from a Disney Nut coworker of mine saw that Siemens lost their sponsorship with Epcot so they are redoing a lot of Epcot.

The Land is getting a renovation, innovations will be gone, Fragment is gone. The energy ride will be converted to Guardians of the Galaxy. Lots of change coming!