After AK closes -- head to another park?

[JudyS]

I'm going to the World next week. (Hooray! ) Animal Kingdom closes at 5 pm every day that I'll be there. There is no way that I want to end my day at 5! And, since I'll have paid for a theme park admission, I figured I'd head to one of the other parks. I'm leaning towards going to MGM to catch Fantasmic, which will be at 7 pm. Is getting a seat at Fantasmic feasible if I leave AK at 5, or do I need to leave AK early? Will driving from AK to MGM be faster than Disney transport? And, it is crazy to go to Epcot after Fantasmic ends?

It's possible that I'll go from AK to MK or to Epcot on one of my other days, so I'm interested in transportation strategies for going AK--->MK and AK---> Epcot, too!

I'll be staying at the Boardwalk or Dolphin, so taking Disney transport "home" from MGM or Epcot would be very convenient. However, I'm willing to drive to the parks if that's going to save me substantial transit time when I switch from AK to another park.

Thanks in advance!

 

[KathyFP]

We always go to another park or downtown Disney after AK.

You should be able to get a seat for Fantasmic.

 

[cleo]

The only park it is not worth driving to is Magic Kingdom. You're better off taking a bus, unless you get there for Extra Magic Hour and leave during a slow time. That said, if you're going to spend a full day at MGM, take the water taxi. Obviously, it's more convenient to walk or take the water taxi to Epcot, even if you plan to hop to MK later (via monorail). If you're going to MGM on an Epcot day, I'm not sure if the water taxi will be faster than driving. Could be, but it does make a lot of long stops.

You should have no problem getting a seat for Fantasmic if you leave AK at 5:00 pm (or just a bit sooner, to avoid the rush). I would think Epcot will be closed by the time Fantasmic ends and you were able to get over there.

 

[strawberryblonde]

Don't know if the characters are important to you but they are in Christmas costume just outside the park at closing time. Great photo opp for some Christmas photos. I didn't realize this and DH dragged us past them so he could get to Boma for his supper . I'm still wishing I had their photo with the kids and us

 

[WhispyPixie]

Getting a seat for Fantasmic is definately a possiblity!! We always love going over to Epcot and touring the WS in the evening when it is dark! It has a totally different persepctive then!

Pixie

 

[gshoemate]

We had friends that did that yesterday. They spent the day at AK, arrived at MGM around 5:00. The rode ToT twice and then went to Fantasmic. We would of had plenty of time to head over to Epcot but they ran out of energy and just headed back to their resort. If you have the energy to fit it all in, go for it.

 

[kaabost]

I have done this before! Well, part of it. We usually leave AK earlier (just because AK is an "early part of the day park" for us). But yes, last time went moved to MGM after AK, watched Fantasmic, ran out of the ampitheater AS SOON as it was over (to beat most of the crowd), and drove over to EPCOT. We rode Spaceship Earth a couple of times, bought something in WS and watched Illuminations. It was great-----we sure got our monies worth out of our park passes for that day!

 

[JudyS]

Wow! Lots of good advice! Thanks to everyone who posted!

Strawberryblonde, I won't have kids with me, so I think I'll just head directly to MGM.

Ok, now that I'm planning to do Fantasmic after AK, I can finally stop agaonzing over whether it's worth it to buy the Fantasmic Dinner Package!