2 days in MK or AK?

[disney144]

husband and I going to the world in January. Husband has never been. We had planned to do 1 day in AK/HS and 2 days in Epcot/MK. When I went a few years ago, I loved AK but thought 1 day was perfect. We are disneyland regulars. Should we eliminate one of our MK days to add another AK day? We definitely want 2 days in Epcot.

 

[Shellyred8]

Are you getting hopper passes?

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

It depends on your interests. I'll say that I grew up around Disneyland before moving away for school a couple years ago. Whenever my Dad and I have ended up going to Walt Disney World, we usually spend the least amount of time on our vacation in the MK. For example, I was there for 3 1/2 days 2 weeks ago...We spent no more than 3 hours in the Magic Kingdom on those 3 days, because we would rather spend our time elsewhere. We have just been used to having our own "Magic Kingdom," so it is difficult to not want to go someplace that is different. Now, the Magic Kingdom at WDW has several things that are different including differences in rides that Disneyland has.

So, it is definitely worth an entire day at the MK since your husband hasn't been there. If you like the feel of the MK, spend two days there. If you feel like one day was enough, you can easily switch your park day to another. I have been able to switch my fastpasses from one park to another the day before with no problem, because I didn't feel like going to the park I had originally planned the next day. I also got all of the FP's I wanted (including big name attractions at decent times).

I am just a little biased, because Animal Kingdom is my favorite theme park at Walt Disney World. The addition of Pandora is incredible. If you are getting park hoppers, you can do 1 1/2 days at both AK and MK. I can easily spend 2 days in Animal Kingdom though. If you decide to change your fastpasses to AK if you decide to spend a 2nd day there, keep in mind that getting a FP for Pandora will be near to impossible. Also, Rivers of Light can be difficult to get. Most of the other attractions should have availability.

 

[Hootch]

We were there a week ago. Epcot was my families least favorite park this trip.We even cut our visit one day and headed to the MK. I'm sure there are many that would disagree. We have seen the pavilions many times. Have done the rides. Mission Space was closed for refurb which was unfortunate. The standby line for Test Track showed an almost hour wait. Two thirds of the audience at Soarin' has a distorted view.

It needs help.

 

[kay1864]

Since I always recommend RideMax, I would use its software to help you decide ($20, but well worth it IMHO since it saves you at least 2 hours a day, for $3/day). The subscription is good for a year, so you can pick a similar date in September (they won't have the January data loaded until about November), and see if it shows you can do all the MK rides you want to do in 1 day, or all the AK rides you want to do in 1 day.

Offhand, I'd say MK 2 days and AK 1 day--even with Pandora.

Here's what we do. (you can do steps 1-5 now, for dates in September):

1. First, choose "which day/which park", based on the easywdw calendar. I'd check the RideMax calendar as well.

2. Select all the rides you want to do in each park (regardless of Fastpasses). Wikipedia and other sites have the rides for each park. YouTube is helpful for a preview if you're not familiar with certain rides.

3. Of the rides you want, "assign" your 3 FPs (for each park) based on mesaboy's list.

4. In RideMax, select FP attractions (but not times) (Note that RideMax has tiering built in.) Also add in your dining reservations, and it will plan around those.

5. Then in RideMax, select the rides for each park. RideMax will generate the touring plans, including FP+ times. Ridemax will also tell you if you can't fit all your rides into your allotted times.

6. (for January, 30 or 60 days out) Then get on MDE to select the FPs, based on the FP times in the RideMax schedule. (after you pick your 3 FPs for each park, you can usually modify the times)

 

[Dan Kerner]

It all comes down to personal preference, but I think if you have park hopper passes the 1 1/2 and 1 1/2 strategy mentioned above is great. If not, I would suggest you save that 2nd day until after you have spent 1 day at each AK and MK, and then make a decision what you would like to do with that extra day.

 

[ucfknight]

Animal Kingdom, even with Pandora open now, is still easily doable in 1 day if you are committed to being there all day. I would personally say 2 days at MK and 1 at AK if you don't have hoppers.

 

[ELSA711]

We would opt for 2 days at AK if we had to pick but we always get hoppers so we always do 2.5 days for both AK/MK.

 

[ELSA711]

We were there a week ago. Epcot was my families least favorite park this trip.We even cut our visit one day and headed to the MK. I'm sure there are many that would disagree. We have seen the pavilions many times. Have done the rides. Mission Space was closed for refurb which was unfortunate. The standby line for Test Track showed an almost hour wait. Two thirds of the audience at Soarin' has a distorted view.

It needs help.

Same! We usually love Epcot but we cut it down from 2.5 days to 1.5 days
We had planned a full day, evening and then half day morning.
It always feels unbearably hot there to us and this trip proved painful.

Our evening we planned there went to AK and the other evening on our half day went to extra rides on RNR at DHS.

 

[ucfknight]

Same! We usually love Epcot but we cut it down from 2.5 days to 1.5 days
We had planned a full day, evening and then half day morning.
It always feels unbearably hot there to us and this trip proved painful.
Our evening we planned there went to AK and the other evening on our half day went to extra rides on RNR at DHS.

You find Epcot more unbearable than Animal Kingdom? That's interesting to hear. Epcot is our go-to place on a hot day. It has air conditioning everywhere and usually a nice breeze off the World Showcase lagoon.
On the other hand, Animal Kingdom feels like the hottest place in Orlando to me. The air is usually stagnant and stifling. I'm convinced they put radiant heating in all of the concrete there to add to the "atmosphere".

 

[ELSA711]

You find Epcot more unbearable than Animal Kingdom? That's interesting to hear. Epcot is our go-to place on a hot day. It has air conditioning everywhere and usually a nice breeze off the World Showcase lagoon.
On the other hand, Animal Kingdom feels like the hottest place in Orlando to me. The air is usually stagnant and stifling. I'm convinced they put radiant heating in all of the concrete there to add to the "atmosphere".

IKR
I don't get it either. AK is by far our favorite park though consistently.
We spend a lot of time at Rafiki's planet watch though, something I notice others don't.
We love the Lion King show (sometimes 2x in one day) and always eat in the AC places at AK.

As for Epcot this trip, maybe it's just because after our morning in Future World we only had 2 goals before our afternoon break. We had to go to Japan for 'pick a pearl', it was my little DDs birthday and she just couldn't wait until evening. That walk to Japan just about did us in, then we hit FEA and that was it. No one wanted to return for the evening hours.

 

[Bullseye]

I would vote for Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom went down from number two to four on my parks list this year just because it's always so mobbed just about anywhere you go in the park. I still love many things at MK, but AK has more "thrill" rides and things I like to do. FOP is now easily the best ride in all of WDW. If I were you I'd plan two days at AK and pick FOP as your FP for both days. Also, I recommend the Satu'li Canteen for lunch. It's a little pricey for QS, but it has some really tasty entrees, not your average stuff.

 

[disney144]

Thanks for the feedback. We are looking into the possibility of adding another park day. Epcot is non-negotiable. As an adult couple, we are looking forward to wandering through the pavilions and tasting the yummy foods.

 

[isabellea]

With young kids I would have said 2 days at MK but for an adult-only trip I would do 2 days at AK.

 

[JZCubed]

husband and I going to the world in January. Husband has never been. We had planned to do 1 day in AK/HS and 2 days in Epcot/MK. When I went a few years ago, I loved AK but thought 1 day was perfect. We are disneyland regulars. Should we eliminate one of our MK days to add another AK day? We definitely want 2 days in Epcot.

Kinda' like the punchline to the boxer or briefs question - Depends.

MK & AK are our two favorite Parks.

The difference for us is the Shows.

MK has the Animatronics at Country Bears, Tiki Room, and Carousel of Progress to help fill in time between rides. Monsters Laugh Floor & PhilharMagic fill out the non-ride attractions.

AK has Flights of Wonder (I love birds), Nemo, and Lion Kong Shows. These are simply superior for an all-around theme park experience for us. And the new Pandora: World of Avatar has us adding an AK day.

There is no right or wrong on this. Simply a personal choice.

But two days in Epcot would be a waste of time for us - not enough rides or shows that we enjoy for a return visit during a typical stay.

 

[disney144]

But two days in Epcot would be a waste of time for us - not enough rides or shows that we enjoy for a return visit during a typical stay.

I get the Epcot thing. Everyone is different. Our favorite thing to do at DLR is sit outside Flos next to radiator springs racers and drink a beer while we people watch. Then we get up and go to Disneyland and sit in New Orleans square while we eat beignets and people watch. For us, Epcot is a perfect park.

 

[Kiwibella88]

I'm hoping I can jump in on this thread with my own related question. I'm heading to WDW in December with my boyfriend for xmas and my dilemma is this:

I have a BOG booking on a MVMCP party night December 22 (which we're attending) at 6.30pm AND on December 26 at 7.50pm (Very lucky, I know). If we go to BOG on party night we run the risk of not seeing the beast and/or wasting too much party time BUT we can free up December 26 to potentially go to Animal Kingdom.
If we cancel BOG on party night then we are pretty much locked into Magic Kingdom on the 26th and will not have time to go to Animal Kingdom.

Current Itinerary - 4 day pass no PH, 1 x MVMCP ticket additional:

12/22 - Check out resorts during day and attend MVMCP
12/23 - Hollywood Studios
12/24 - EPCOT (woohoo)
12/25 - Magic Kingdom
12/26 - ? Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom


HELP??? Not sure if the extra day in Magic Kingdom is overkill and would be better spent at Animal Kingdom (sidenote: Baloo is one of my faves and he is only available at AK so he would be my main drawcard for AK)

Thanks in advance everyone!!

Erin

 

[lifepaused]

i had the same problem of deciding how much time to spend in each park as I had a 7 day pass. I upgraded it to 8 days so it gives me 2 days at each park and split up the parks to 1/2 park per day. I signed upto tourning plans and they have it so it will work out your schedual for the days. You can choose what you want to do and it will organise it for you.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Animal Kingdom, even with Pandora open now, is still easily doable in 1 day if you are committed to being there all day. I would personally say 2 days at MK and 1 at AK if you don't have hoppers.

I agree with this. Although why dont you play it by ear and decide on the trip? After doing both AK & MK you'll know which park you'd want to visit for the 2nd time.