Greeting trails then FOLK?

[firsttimer2013]

We will be at animal kingdom next Tuesday for our first visit! Very excited.
We want to go to the lion king show and are wondering if it is possible to do the safari ride first, then head to greeting trails to get in line for that to open at 10am. Meet some characters and still be able to go to the 10:30am show of lion king?

 

[Robo]

We will be at animal kingdom next Tuesday for our first visit! Very excited.


We want to go to the lion king show and are wondering if it is possible to

1- do the safari ride first,

2- then head to greeting trails to get in line for that to open at 10am.

3- Meet some characters and still be able to go to the 10:30am show of lion king?

1- Yes. The actual ride-time (excluding any queue-waiting) is about 15-20 minutes.
2- Yes. (But, see 3 below, if the line doesn't open until 10AM.)
3- Maybe. But, I'd skip the characters at that time and head to FotLK.

 

[firsttimer2013]

Is there time to really do anything between safari first and the 10:30 lion king show? Just don't want to waste valuable time. We have heard to go to first show of the day for lion king but on January 29th would it really matter which time show we went to?

Thank you!

 

[Robo]

1- Is there time to really do anything between safari first and the 10:30 lion king show? Just don't want to waste valuable time. We have heard to go to first show of the day for lion king but on January 29th

2- would it really matter which time show we went to?

1- A bit of the walking trails. (You can do as much or as little as you like, even return later.)
2- Not really. I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[ktlm]

We will be at animal kingdom next Tuesday for our first visit! Very excited.
We want to go to the lion king show and are wondering if it is possible to do the safari ride first, then head to greeting trails to get in line for that to open at 10am. Meet some characters and still be able to go to the 10:30am show of lion king?

We've done just that. We go during fairly low crowd times, and I'm assuming next week will be like that, and you can get to the Lion King show at the last minute and still get in. The question is whether you mind sitting in the back at the Lion King. We didn't because we had seen it before. We actually hadn't planned on hitting that show at that time, but since we had just finished up the characters and it was getting ready to start, we decided to go on in. We walked in just a few minutes before the show started and sat on the next to the last row. If you want to sit more towards the front, it probably isn't possible. If you decide you want to hit the characters at 10:00, I wouldn't worry about catching a later FOTLK show. During the lower crowd times, it usually isn't any trouble to get in to the show in our experience.

The one thing you don't want to do is go to the characters directly upon getting out of FOTLK or right as the show is getting out. That is when the lines are the longest. If you aren't hitting the characters at 10:00 a.m., then it is best to hit them right before a FOTLK show is starting. That way you have time to get through most of the lines before the show lets out and everyone filters back to the characters.

 

[turftoega]

Last October we actually hit it just right - Donald had no line and actually was waiting at the head of his trail and danced with my 2 DD's up his trail to his spot. We also had Gov. Radcliffe and Pocahontas pop out in the main area. Got a ton of autographs that day in AK. If I remember correctly, it was in the morning - one the first ones and we had done the Safari at rope drop. I know it's not the way folks would have you do it, but some times you have to toss the map and guide and go to where you want to be.

Off topic (but relevant, I think) is that area still under consideration for elimination when Avatarworld is built?

 

[katt789]

I would personally say that you should be in line for FOTLK no later than 10 to 15 minutes before showtime. I usually line up around 30 mins prior, but I'm okay with waiting in the line that much time.

I'd skip a couple of the character lines,and wait to do them til after the show (but you'll want to either hurry out of the show, or wait til the crowds thin out a lot to get to the lines)

 

[EagleFlyer]

We did just that on our trip during the week after thanksgiving. We got AK early (probably 15-20 minutes before it opened),walked right on the safari after the rope drop and then made a bathroom stop on our way to Camp Minnie Mickey. Then we waited with the "crowd" on the bridge for the camp to open and saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Chip and Dale, with a maximum line of about 4 or 5 people. We may have seen King Louie and Baloo then too, I know we say them but I can't remember when. We had to skip Pocohantas, the line was too long by that point. Then we headed over to FotLK and got seats in the top 5 rows.

So it's possible, it all depends on crowds the day you are there I would guess.