Animal Kingdom at Night. Wow!!

[jsbowl16]

Can anyone comment on the mosquitoes there lately? Between Rivers of Light being postponed and some of the early reports saying the mosquitoes were horrible at night with the fear of Zika, we are pretty sure we are skipping it this time but we would love to see it. I have never really noticed the mosquitoes in other parks but people were saying on these boards that they are horrible at AK at night. I just don't want to increase the chances of getting Zika.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

If you haven't been, you must go.

The Tree of Life is gorgeous with its new Awakenings. The new street entertainment is lively and fun. EE at night just seems more exhilarating.

And the best part? The park was nearly empty during the last hour. I had an hour and fifteen minutes in the park from 9:45 until 11 pm one night. In that period, I met Minnie and Mickey (four minute wait), rode EE twice (no wait) and rode KS (I was the only person in the queue. I will repeat. I was the ONLY person in the queue. When I got to the truck there were about six other people waiting for their nighttime safari. I was like, "This is my Disney dream!"). I also watched Tree of Life Awakenings twice and had several photopass photos made.

I took the kids back another night and we watched The Jungle Book show. It was worth watching, though not something I need to do again. The first show was about full, but we could tell from walking by that the second show was less than half full. My older daughter rode EE twice in a row with almost no wait. We all rode Kali three times in a row with no wait. We then went to Dinoland, which we practically had to ourselves. My older daughter rode PW three times in a row without even having to get off. My younger daughter and I rode TS twice without getting off and could have ridden it as many times as we wanted. We went to the Boneyard and there was one other family in the entire place.

While it was an awesome experience, I don't see how Disney can afford to keep up AK hours until 11 pm if more people do not go. It seemed to me that there were more CMs than guests in that last hour.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out. I was talking to some folks on the bus on the way to HS one night and they did not even know that AK was open until 11. I was talking about it and a woman kept saying, "You mean Magic Kingdom is open until 11." I think she thought I was confused. She did not seem to believe that AK was open until 11.

We had a great time, but I hope more people will attend at night so Disney will keep up the late hours. AK turned out to be our favorite park this trip because of the late hours and the low crowds.

A few questions for someone planning their trip:

- Was getting a Safari FP+ around dusk difficult?
- Did they keep Expedition Everest open during the show or did it close earlier?
- Is the Tree of Life a show at night or does it just have cool colors?

 

[Duffywannabe]

Can anyone comment on the mosquitoes there lately? Between Rivers of Light being postponed and some of the early reports saying the mosquitoes were horrible at night with the fear of Zika, we are pretty sure we are skipping it this time but we would love to see it. I have never really noticed the mosquitoes in other parks but people were saying on these boards that they are horrible at AK at night. I just don't want to increase the chances of getting Zika.

I personally have never noticed any mosquito problem at any parks or resorts. I go to Ft Wilderness to camp often and even there never noticed them. Even AK at night was not an issue. I mean, yes I've gotten a few bites but nothing of the swarming kind where I got eaten up. And i never use bug spray. I haven't been to AK at night though since the first two weeks of them opening late.

 

[disneymom0104]

We can't wait to see the late night AK things in early Sept!

 

[Stephanator]

When I started trip planning in early June (for our mid-September trip) AK hours only showed 5p, but just checked again and it now shows 8p!

 

[lauris87]

If you haven't been, you must go.

The Tree of Life is gorgeous with its new Awakenings. The new street entertainment is lively and fun. EE at night just seems more exhilarating.

And the best part? The park was nearly empty during the last hour. I had an hour and fifteen minutes in the park from 9:45 until 11 pm one night. In that period, I met Minnie and Mickey (four minute wait), rode EE twice (no wait) and rode KS (I was the only person in the queue. I will repeat. I was the ONLY person in the queue. When I got to the truck there were about six other people waiting for their nighttime safari. I was like, "This is my Disney dream!"). I also watched Tree of Life Awakenings twice and had several photopass photos made.

I took the kids back another night and we watched The Jungle Book show. It was worth watching, though not something I need to do again. The first show was about full, but we could tell from walking by that the second show was less than half full. My older daughter rode EE twice in a row with almost no wait. We all rode Kali three times in a row with no wait. We then went to Dinoland, which we practically had to ourselves. My older daughter rode PW three times in a row without even having to get off. My younger daughter and I rode TS twice without getting off and could have ridden it as many times as we wanted. We went to the Boneyard and there was one other family in the entire place.

While it was an awesome experience, I don't see how Disney can afford to keep up AK hours until 11 pm if more people do not go. It seemed to me that there were more CMs than guests in that last hour.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out. I was talking to some folks on the bus on the way to HS one night and they did not even know that AK was open until 11. I was talking about it and a woman kept saying, "You mean Magic Kingdom is open until 11." I think she thought I was confused. She did not seem to believe that AK was open until 11.

We had a great time, but I hope more people will attend at night so Disney will keep up the late hours. AK turned out to be our favorite park this trip because of the late hours and the low crowds.

Amazing report! I'm not going until June 2017...but I can only hope to have an experience similar to yours But, that may be too much wishful thinking though...because, by then, it may be more popular and packed....

 

[Momof3WDW]

A few questions for someone planning their trip:

- Was getting a Safari FP+ around dusk difficult?
- Did they keep Expedition Everest open during the show or did it close earlier?
- Is the Tree of Life a show at night or does it just have cool colors?

- Was getting a Safari FP+ around dusk difficult? - I didn't have any issue getting a fastpass for 7-8 on Sept 5 (Labor day) for the safari, I just booked them at 60 days out last week.
- Did they keep Expedition Everest open during the show or did it close earlier? sorry don't know about this one
- Is the Tree of Life a show at night or does it just have cool colors? my sister, who was there is June, says the awakening is a show but they happen multiple times throughout the night and are random (no set time when they happen)

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

A few questions for someone planning their trip:

- Was getting a Safari FP+ around dusk difficult?
- Did they keep Expedition Everest open during the show or did it close earlier?
- Is the Tree of Life a show at night or does it just have cool colors?

I had no problem getting a FP for KS between 8-9 pm. In fact, there were several FP still available at that time for 4th FP after we got done with our first three. But then again, we did not really need any FP at AK during our trip. Everything was a fifteen or fewer minutes wait. Many things were walk on. A CM even gave us three extra anytime fastpasses for AK (I had a nice conversation with her while waiting for DD to ride EE) and we never even used them. No need. AK crowds were super low over the last week.

EE was open until park close (11 pm when we were there) and open during both Jungle Book shows.

The Tree of Life has mini animated, colorful "movies" that tell stories. Kind of like the laser show they do at Stone Mountain in Georgia (but Disney's are more elaborate and more beautiful) if you have ever seen that. There are several different ones and they project them on the tree about every 10-15 minutes or so after dark.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Can anyone comment on the mosquitoes there lately? Between Rivers of Light being postponed and some of the early reports saying the mosquitoes were horrible at night with the fear of Zika, we are pretty sure we are skipping it this time but we would love to see it. I have never really noticed the mosquitoes in other parks but people were saying on these boards that they are horrible at AK at night. I just don't want to increase the chances of getting Zika.

I did not notice any at Animal Kingdom park. However, I did get bitten several times at AK Lodge. That is the first time I have ever really noticed mosquitoes at Disney. I was sitting outside watching the animals in the evening and that is when I was bitten several times.

Still a good idea to use spray when you go to the parks.

 

[laura428]

Agree 100%. We got to AK after the storm let up last night (around 6:00), unfortunately missing our EE FP+ window. But fortunately, we found a bonus FP+ sitting in our MDE shortly after.

AK at night is just magical. Even Kali was more fun. And Safaris?? Oh wow - DD10 and I agreed that after riding KS probably 10-15 times, this was hands down the best time ever. The lions were amazing, and awake! And the Tree of Life was really touching.

Cannot recommend enough. Great job, Disney.

 

[socababy]

Being a rope drop person, I've never even looked into going to AK at night. Like many others, we leave around 4ish each time. Now I'm excited about going at night. If they don't extend hours Thanksgiving week, we'll be back, staying at AKV, for 10 days next June. Fingers crossed!

 

[Tomh]

We skipped AK last summer, but plan on visiting in August, and I am very much looking forward to seeing the park after dark. Thank you OP for the report!

 

[TexasPrincess1]

We were at AK on Friday evening, July 8th. We also experienced very low crowds. We were able to do every ride multiple times. EE is different at night. I also felt one and done about the jungle book show. We were some of the last people to leave the park. Everyone was super nice as we left.

 

[E-ticket Princess]

We did AK at night 2 weeks ago. We could not believe how empty it was!! We walked on everything. I had made fastpasses but they were not needed. Beautiful park at night. When we went on the Safari the male lion was out and was roaring--so cool!

What time did you rude KS?

 

[Delirium]

We get all of 15 minutes of nighttime at AK in October when the park closes at 7:30. Wonder how much I can squeeze into that time-frame.

 

[RobinEJ]

I had a question about the animal trail Pangani forest with the gorillas, does anyone know how late that stays open?? That's a must do for me Thanks!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

This sounds great but one if the reasons Disney said it closed early was because of the animals. Does this not disturb them? How is it now ok? I worry about these things!

 

[johnsonet]

Great to read this. Thank you. Going in about 2 weeks. AK is so beautiful. Can't wait to enjoy it at night!

 

[AmyA]

We get all of 15 minutes of nighttime at AK in October when the park closes at 7:30. Wonder how much I can squeeze into that time-frame.

We are there the first week of Oct and have been wondering this as well. They already extended the hours once from 5pm so am hoping for another update to hours before we leave!!

 

[AngiTN]

We too love it. Much of what they brought in was offered during Harambe Nights and we loved that, 2nd only to Club Villain. So happy to see AK do more. It's our favorite park. Yes, more than MK
What I don't comprehend is how to people not know the hours?
You don't have to be on a message board to know. The hours are all over WDW, on the TVs, boards at the Resorts, guides you pick up, etc. Baffling to me