I went in the afternoon and I was able to see all the animals except the bear for obvious reasons. I honestly can say that most of the animals are exposed constantly, so I don’t think I will matter at what time of the day you go

It depends on the situation. If the animals are felt to be able to safely survive on their own, they will get released back into their native habitat. I know they have a bison program where that is their ultimate goal. On the other hand, there are some rescue animals who are either too injured or too habituated to return to the wild, so they do stay in the relative safety of the sanctuary.

In Fairbanks, the two really nice activities are the gold mine dredge tour and the riverboat cruise with lots of activities and sights along the way, ( the boat cruise includes lunch on land, then cruising by a sled dog homestead with demo, a seaplane demo, a shore excursion to an indian village, etc. really fun. The gold dredge tour includes a mini railroad trip with instructional info along the way before you arrive at the dredge and pan for your own gold. In Fairbanks try Lavelle's downtown for dinner. Great service and food. We visited Talkeetna but didn't stay long. Weren't too impressed. If you could ride the train from Anchorage to Talkeetna, that would be a nice excursion. The highlight of any Alaska trip would be the Tundra Wilderness tour in Denali national park. It is an 8 hour all-day bus ride with magnificent views of mountains and wildlife. Also, we did the Husky Homestead excursion in Denali that takes you to an Iditarod winner's dog facility. You are handed a puppy when you arrive and the ensuing demonstrations and talk about dog mushing and racing was fabulous. As for Anchorage area, we loved the Glacier Brewhouse but try to make reservations as it is a happening place. The Wildlife Conservation park is wonderful and you get to see these wonderful animals ( grizzlies, lynx, wolves, musk ox, moose, etc etc) close up. The Portage Glacier cruise is how you can have a close up experience with a glacier that ends in a glacial lake from a small tour boat. The Aleyeska Resort, outside of Anchorage is a gorgeous hotel. The cable car up the mountain is behind this luxury hotel. If you did all of these activities, you would have a great taste of Alaska.