AK Wilderness Explorers - Possible in One Day?

[BingandNelsonFan]

Wondering if it's possible to complete all badges for the Wilderness Explorers book in one day? Not riding any rides, just thinking of doing the Gorilla and Tiger trails.
Cousins have done this before, but it was all pre-COVID. Wondering if anything has changed and if it's possible in one day? Thanks!

 

[ilovebassets]

Wondering if it's possible to complete all badges for the Wilderness Explorers book in one day? Not riding any rides, just thinking of doing the Gorilla and Tiger trails.
Cousins have done this before, but it was all pre-COVID. Wondering if anything has changed and if it's possible in one day? Thanks!

It's possible if you arrive early and truly plan to spend no time doing rides or attractions other than the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch/Conservation Station and the Asia and Africa trails.

 

[BingandNelsonFan]

That's good to know. Thanks! Is Rafiki's part of the scavenger hunt? That's cool!

 

[hpsalb]

As PP mentioned, it is possible if that is all you do in the park that day. Also, be aware that the WE stations do not stay open for the full park day. We’ve done it twice with our kids and found it challenging to even find all the stations in the first place. Be sure to ask for help finding them.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

I was wondering the same. My older kids were not into it at all last time we went so I never paid it much mind beyond noticing some stations here and there. Now DS6 caught wind of this and now it's all he's talked about. We had to make a flight change that leaves us with an "extra" day so while DH and DS16 go to HS I might take DS6 to do this and see how long he lasts. It does look like it's doable in a day if this is all you do.

Piggybacking- does anyone know how long it takes to do the initial check-in at the "headquarters"? He doesn't want to just grab a book and keep moving- he wants the whole spiel, the wilderness call, you name it. I'm seeing 30 minutes but that can't be right.

 

[teawar]

I’ve had the initial checkin take 5-10 minutes. I’m not sure what people are doing to make it take 30. All you do is get a book and pencil, talk to the cm for a few minutes, and do the “wilderness must be explored” chant and off you go.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

I’ve had the initial checkin take 5-10 minutes. I’m not sure what people are doing to make it take 30. All you do is get a book and pencil, talk to the cm for a few minutes, and do the “wilderness must be explored” chant and off you go.

Thanks! That's what I thought as well and then I made the mistake of poking around on Facebook and Touring Plans. I then turned to YouTube and can't see a video over 20 minutes on the topic and the first 5-10 are how wonderful this is and how much the vlogger's kids loved it and so on. DS6 won't hang out for much for 30 minutes but that's another story.

 

[hpsalb]

I was wondering the same. My older kids were not into it at all last time we went so I never paid it much mind beyond noticing some stations here and there. Now DS6 caught wind of this and now it's all he's talked about. We had to make a flight change that leaves us with an "extra" day so while DH and DS16 go to HS I might take DS6 to do this and see how long he lasts. It does look like it's doable in a day if this is all you do.

Piggybacking- does anyone know how long it takes to do the initial check-in at the "headquarters"? He doesn't want to just grab a book and keep moving- he wants the whole spiel, the wilderness call, you name it. I'm seeing 30 minutes but that can't be right.

I’d agree on 5-10 mins at most. But you do have to go back to the bridge where you first go into the park from the Oasis. So if you are already in the park and have to go back, maybe some reviewers are adding this time on?

The main WE station opened at 10 am on our last trip, I believe the park opened at 8 am with EE at 7:30. We did River Journey and Safari, plus a snack and some walking around before it opened and had to head back. I wish it either opened earlier or there was another station you could pick up the books.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

But you do have to go back to the bridge where you first go into the park from the Oasis. So if you are already in the park and have to go back, maybe some reviewers are adding this time on?

The main WE station opened at 10 am on our last trip, I believe the park opened at 8 am with EE at 7:30. I wish it either opened earlier or there was another station you could pick up the books.

That's a good point- if we had walked past it to go to something else and circled back I could see 30 minutes (or more) to do that.

So far on the day we'd be going in August it's due to be open from 9-6:30 (park is open 8:30 EE to 7 pm) but I know both of those schedules could change (we're probably not arriving at AK until around 10 AM that day so even if it doesn't open until 10 we'd be fine). I considered getting the booklet and starting on this on our other AK day but that would mean back-tracking from somewhere in Africa (which would waste more time on a day I plan to ride rides than it wastes on a day planned around just doing this with my son).

I believe at one point you could get the booklet at something like 9 stations (Troop Leader stations) around the park but I have no idea if that's the case or if/ when it stopped being the case).

To OPs initial question- I'm doing the math and based on a bunch of data nerd facts (happy to share my math but don't want to bore everyone here) I vote it doable if it's all you plan to do, you plan to move at an average pace, and you plan to be there when the booklet station opens for the day.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

As of last summer, you could pick up a book at other locations besides the "headquarters." It's possible that not every station will have extra books, but my kids received books at one of the stations, and I saw multiple other kids picking them up at other stations as well.

Unless you physically wouldn't be able to move around the park and/or find all the spots, I'm not sure why someone wouldn't be able to visit each of the 30 locations in a day if that's your primary plan. Some of the badges do take a bit more effort than others, but the average badge time is probably fewer than 10 minutes, and some are pretty quick (ones where you can get multiple badges at roughly the same time).

 

[hpsalb]

I thought you could pick up books at other stations too, but on our last visit they told us we had to go to the main station. Probably depends on the day and who you ask. If you are going multiple days, I would definitely pick up a book on the first day, even if you wait until another day to do the badges.

 

[teawar]

Also, for one of the clues, you are supposed to ride the safari, but I’m sure you can find that answer somewhere on the internet.

 

[Rick195275]

We have done this before in a day, most of them don’t take long. It would/does take the majority of the day though and like others have said all/most locations are not open as late as the park. Also hi DPF friend

 

[IndyToThere]

What do you get if you complete everything in your book? My son completed everything over two separate days, but the initial station where you turn in your book was closed by the time we made it back on the 2nd day so we haven't seen what they receive.

 

[teawar]

What do you get if you complete everything in your book? My son completed everything over two separate days, but the initial station where you turn in your book was closed by the time we made it back on the 2nd day so we haven't seen what they receive.

We have never completed a book in the 50 plus times we’ve been to AK. so I have no idea. We have a couple of books that our family uses at different times. I just assumed the prize was the journey. (Deep, I know)

 

[parasail_of_congress]

What do you get if you complete everything in your book? My son completed everything over two separate days, but the initial station where you turn in your book was closed by the time we made it back on the 2nd day so we haven't seen what they receive.

I'm pretty sure you just get a sticker that says you completed the book. There are actually 31 spots in the book total.

 

[Rick195275]

I'm pretty sure you just get a sticker that says you completed the book. There are actually 31 spots in the book total.

I also only remember getting a sticker but could be mistaken, it was a couple years ago for us.