Animal Kingdom Restaurant/Attraction Advice?

[HalfGlass]

Hey Everyone!

I'm going around to each park to get enthusiast advice for how to tackle each of my 3 days at Disney!

We are going to AK in the morning on May 20th and then park hopping to EPCOT. What are some good places to eat lunch there? Overall, we are looking for some place with middle of the road entrees (like 10-15 dollars).

Also, here are the attractions we want to see! Any advice and a plan of attack?

Expedition Everest
Dinosaur
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Lion King
Nemo Musical
Jungle Trek

 

[IzzyB]

Honestly, this is easy. Fast pass Everest, everything else should be easy to get in to.

 

[Hockeyman55]

But if you want to see the Animals on Kilimanjaro I would do that first. They are pretty active first thing in the AM and then in the evening when it cools down. You go mid day and may run into a lot of nap times We usually hit KS first then head straight Everest and either ride or grab a fastpass then after do what ever since things wont be to crazy like Izzy mentions

 

[Dr. Emmett Brown]

Ah! My home park. It's very possible to make Animal Kingdom a full-day park, but if you just want to hit the highlights and move to EPCOT, here's what I recommend:

1. Get there early. Grab your Expedition Everest Fastpasses and head right to Kilimanjaro Safaris.
2. Safaris should be your first attraction target. The majority of the animals are out when it's cooler outside (morning), and the line is much shorter.
3. After hopefully seeing all the animals out there (I've had some pretty awesome morning safaris), head back towards Asia for Everest. If you're early for your Fastpasses, hit the Maharaja Jungle Trek, right next to Kali River Rapids. The tigers should also be out in the morning.
4. Make sure you check your times guide for showtimes for both Nemo and Lion King. If time allows for only one of the two, go see the Lion King. Nemo really isn't all that good, and the Lion King musical has been thought to rival Broadway. It is also currently the highest rated show on property as ranked by park guests.
5. MAKE SURE YOU RIDE DINOSAUR. The ride gets a lot of hate on the boards here, but it's an indoor attraction that'll allow you to help cool off for a bit. Scary for the little ones, but it's a really awesome ride. Oh, and if Ryan's working, don't forget to say hi!
6. For lunch: Rainforest Cafe is well overpriced and generally outside of the price range you specified. I'd recommend either trying to make a reservation at Yak & Yeti, or, depending on where you are in the park, trying out one of the quick service restaurants. Pizzafari is by far the best deal in the park. $10 should get you a personal pizza and a side salad. Yak & Yeti and Rainforest Cafe are the only table service restaurants in Animal Kingdom.
7. You should be all done! If time allows, It's Tough To Be A Bug is another nice cool-down, air conditioned attraction. I personally don't like water rides so I stay away from Kali River Rapids, plus the line for it generally exceeds the line for Everest during hot summer days.

In terms of Fastpasses:
If you follow this model, you should only really need Fastpasses for Expedition Everest. Dinosaur tends to fill up on hot days as well, and grabbing a Fastpass there before heading to lunch and a show can be recommended, but not always necessary.

Have fun in the kingdom!

 

[HailSouthern84]

I would say go straight for Safaris and ride it, head to Everest grab a fastpass and ride standby, walk over to Dinosaur and ride, come back hit your fastpass for Everest walk the Maharaja Trail in Asia, hit Pangani Trail in Africa head out to ITTBAB. Fill in Nemo (must see IMO) and Lion King as show times allow. For lunch, I'd go for Flame Tree BBQ. My wife and me tend to get a meal and an extra side of fries. We split the sandwich and it fills us up.

 

[Bryce]

I would say to get Fastpass for Kilamanjaro Safaris and then utilize the single rider line for Expedition Everest. I was able to ride Expedition Everest 7 times in one day thanks to single rider.

 

[IzzyB]

The only issue with Single rider is it is very hit or miss by who is running it. I have had days where it is walk on and other days it is a 30 minute wait. If you grab a FP and then go ride the safari first thing in the morning, the safari line should not be bad. Maybe 20 minutes. I also agree with others who say safari is best first thing in the morning. I did forget that when I wrote my earlier post. So if you FP it you may not get first thing in the morning.

 

[Teebin]

Flame Tree Barbecue and the hot barbecue sauce on the ribs is Tops. They use true southern smokers (not sure what kind of wood) for the ribs and the seasoning is awesome.