AK and DHS on the same day?

[Palmetto Chick]

We are taking our boys - ages 5 and 3 - on their first trip to WDW in January. We're only going to be there 3 days, and we're going to spend 2 days in MK, leaving only 1 day to see another park. I've gone back and forth on whether to go to AK or DHS on that day. I think my kids would like AK, but we've got an awesome zoo in our town that they've been to many times, so I'm worried that they won't be very impressed with what they see. I'd love to do the safari and see a few of the shows. ODS loves dinosaurs, so he'd like that at AK, too. They LOVE Cars and Toy Story and all things Disney Jr., so there's the advantage of DHS.

From what I've read here, both parks could be considered half day parks, so here's the big question: Could we spend a half day at each park, keeping in mind the ages of the children (meaning we're slow movers)?

 

[Belle1962]

I think it is. Pick your "top 3" at each park and go from there.
For instance: AK: safari, Dinoland, Legend of the Lion King
Studios: Playhouse Disney (do they call it that anymore?); Toy Story Mania; cars meet and greet.

Anything else you get done is gravy.

I would start at the studios as Toy Story grows the longessssssssssstttttt lines.

Don't be surpised if the boys nap off during the trip between parks (assuming you are driving). If you take the buses add on more time.

But--is it worth paying for the park hopping for only this one day? If I didn't have hoppers I would choose DHS. At 5 my grandson's absolute (and it still is) favorite show at Disney is Fantasmic.

 

[lsenquiz]

DHS is a 2 day park for us and AK is a half day park. We love DHS - it is our favorite park however we have both boys and girls and all age groups with us.

My DS7's favorites at DHS are:

Jedi Training
Indiana Jones,
Lights Motor Action
Disney Junior
TSM
Star Tours
Muppets 3D
& Characterpalloza(my absolute favorite)

I think the problem with trying to do both parks half day is you would have to do AK in the morning because it closes so early and if you go to DHS in the afternoon you would not be able to do Jedi training(if you DS5 wanted to do that) and you would have to wait a very long time for TSM because more than likely the FPs would be gone.

 

[ciera321]

Just back from the world on Tuesday and all the parks were more crowded that I've ever seen them in 17 trips! We arrived June 1 (our usual time to visit) and the crowds seemed to build very fast. By the time we left it was crazy. We used FPs all the time and didn't wait for more than 20 for anything, but with the new FP policy it was harder to see as many things as we usually do. That said, I would pick just 1 park for the day. By the time you get to the 2nd park, FP would be gone for some of the top rides and the crowds would make it hard to ride in standby. When we left DHS on Tuesday at 12:30PM, the standby time for TSM was 140 minutes!!!!! and FPs were gone by around 11:00AM.....Just my opinion.....

 

[LilyWDW]

If you do both parks, do DHS first due to TSMM. Rope drop it and ride. This attraction will get long lines as the day goes on (some of the longest in all of Disney) and most likely will run out of fastpasses by early afternoon. To try and do it later in the day without a fastpass is asking for a very long wait most likely.

 

[gator girl]

Sigh. The old "that's a half-day park" myth.... Yes, if you skip 80% of what's in the park! Sorry, that's a pet peeve of mine.

You could hit the highlights of 2 parks in one day. Start with DHS, be there well before they open, sign up for Jedi at rope drop, and go straight to Toy Story. There's nothing Cars-related there except for a photo op (standing by a car). They'd enjoy the Disney Jr show and probably the LMA stunt show if they're not scared of explosions.

Then you could probably go to AK, grab a safari FP, see Nemo or Lion King (will likely not be able to work both of them in to your schedule), play in the Boneyard, etc. If you're going in January the park will close early. Warning: Please do some research on Dinosaur before you decide that your 5 year old would like it. It's widely considered terrifying to small children. The same applies to It's Tough to be a Bug.

Honestly, with the short park hours in January & the ages of your kids, I would pick one park & skip paying for parkhoppers. You will find PLENTY to do all day long (or as long as 2 young kids can hold out).

 

[t_catt11]

These are honestly both two days parks for us. I say pick one and do it well instead of leaving so much undone at both.

Toy Story will run out of fastpass early in the day. Animal Kingdom will close at least two hours (could be more like four) earlier than DHS.

There are good arguments for starting at either park. Again, though, I would not recommend a half day for both. Not to mention that you'll need hoppers ($55+ per person). I don't see the need in hoppers if you only have three days total.

 

[loislane]

You can certainly hit highlights at both of the parks in one day. It really depends on what you and your kids like to do. At their ages, I'm guessing rides like EE and Dinosaur at AK and RnR and ToT at HS are probably not something you're looking to do anyway.

AK is a beautiful park to experience, the scenery, the amount of detail they have put into everything, the Tree of Life - it's all gorgeous. For animal lovers, KS is a great ride - but because it involves live animals, there is no guarantee as far as what you will see and what kind of experience you will have. But, generally, it is a really great opportunity to see some animals up close that you don't normally get to see. We had a rhino walk so close next to our truck that we could have reached over and scratched it - my daughter will NEVER forget that experience!

At HS, if you aren't resigned to riding TSMM, has lots of great stuff for kids to see and do.

On our trip last August, we did both of these parks as half days - but we did them several times throughout the week we were there and didn't take in any of the shows that trip.

 

[DisneyMike13]

Depending on which day you go in Jan, AK may only be open Til 5. I went in Aug and was able to leave at 3 (with a lunch in there) and saw all I wanted to see

 

[DavidNYC]

Definitely possible with kids that age. Really not too many things for them at DHS (Toy Story is probably not worth the wait at that age unless you did get fast passes). You obviously won't see everything but can do a bunch of highlights in each park (especially the shows which are scheduled).

At DHS they may like Disney Junior, Little Mermaid, possibly Muppets. The Stunt and Car shows you can probably skip at that age unless you think your kids really are into that. They'll be great in a few years. Same with Jedi training - a little on the young side. The playground is cute and of course various character meetings. Other rides almost certainly can be skipped at that age.

AK - Finding Nemo and Lion King are great. Would be hard to schedule in half day but possible if timing works. Safari ride is great at that age. Dinosaur is very rough and loud - wouldn't take a 3 and the 5 year old only if you knew they'd like it. A few other fun kids things in Dinoland. The bird show is also very cute but there are section that might be a little low key for kids. EE is obviously out!

If you only had one day, I'd definitely split it half and half to see some highlights of both parks.

 

[thelionqueen]

I'm sure it can be done, but I would prefer quality over quantity. If you think about the time you will lose hopping from park to park (could be hours if using Disney transportation..then walking, etc) and what you will be missing, I would personally pick one park and make it count.

For kids that age I would pick AK. Many think of it as a 1/2 or 1 day park. It's definitely a full day + park for us. Nemo, Kilamanjaro Safaris, Boneyard, Dinoland, It's tough to be a bug and the parade are all great. Since they close at 5:00, if you have energy left head over to DHS & see what you can take in..probably Star Tours would be high on their list..TSM would likely be a an hour+ wait with no FP's left. That's my .02

 

[deuceswild10]

You can make each park a half day park, but you will miss a ton. I guess in your situation, I would head to DHS.

Have fun!

 

[Suz8]

Neither. Go to Epcot instead. My 9 year old is an animal lover, but we have a really good zoo at home, too. She loved KS, but nothing else really stuck with them. AK was so much walking. (If you do both AK and HS, bring a stroller). You will lose park time going from one park to another. We made the mistake of eating breakfast at Norway in Epcot then going to HS. All the fast passes for Toy Story Mania just ran out when we got there. (MLK weekend)

My DD (9) loved spaceship earth.

 

[ZoZo]

Just back from the world on Tuesday and all the parks were more crowded that I've ever seen them in 17 trips! We arrived June 1 (our usual time to visit) and the crowds seemed to build very fast. By the time we left it was crazy. We used FPs all the time and didn't wait for more than 20 for anything, but with the new FP policy it was harder to see as many things as we usually do. That said, I would pick just 1 park for the day. By the time you get to the 2nd park, FP would be gone for some of the top rides and the crowds would make it hard to ride in standby. When we left DHS on Tuesday at 12:30PM, the standby time for TSM was 140 minutes!!!!! and FPs were gone by around 11:00AM.....Just my opinion.....

But the OP is going in January, when it's likely to be much less crowded.

 

[jrtoastyman]

Keep in mind that the people that are telling you that AK is a half day park are most likely people that can do it in a half day because they've been before and have a short list of things they want to do. The first time I saw Festival of the Lion King, I LOVED it, but having seen it now, it's not a must do for me every time I set foot in the park. Same deal with Nemo. I can do what I want to do at AK in a half day now, but that certainly wasn't the case the first time I went when everything was new and I wanted to experience it all. DHS is the same way, in a lot of respects. There are shows and attractions that I enjoyed, but having seen them once, they aren't a necessary part of a trip to DHS the same way that something like ToT is for me.

With all of that in mind, I think you'd be better off just picking one park and doing it right. I think I'd probably go with DHS based purely upon the fact that it will be open much later than AK, but with children that age, you might not be touring late into the day anyway, so that might not be as important to you. They are both great parks, you and your kids will have a blast at either one.

 

[jenlov]

These are honestly both two days parks for us. I say pick one and do it well instead of leaving so much undone at both.

Toy Story will run out of fastpass early in the day. Animal Kingdom will close at least two hours (could be more like four) earlier than DHS.

There are good arguments for starting at either park. Again, though, I would not recommend a half day for both. Not to mention that you'll need hoppers ($55+ per person). I don't see the need in hoppers if you only have three days total.

TOTALLY agree with this post! We've been twice with our kids and spent the WHOLE day at the park each time and still have not done/seen everything. We're actually doing 2 days each this time (10 days, spread across the 4 parks). There's tons that the kids would enjoy!
Upon reading the many posts of people commenting about riding all the "good" rides and being done, I'm reminded of a post in the "10 things you must know" thread...someone mentioned that you miss so much of WDW and the magic by focusing on just the best rides and skipping around. There's so much more to be found! There was plenty that my then 2 and 3 yo boys loved that had nothing to do with riding a ride. Even my big kids enjoyed the shows!

 

[serene56]

Sigh. The old "that's a half-day park" myth.... Yes, if you skip 80% of what's in the park! Sorry, that's a pet peeve of mine.
.

When planning out our time in 2010- everything I was reading told me if we have a zoo and its not an all day park-- make plans to go elsewhere--blah blah blah.

I believe the mindset that if you seen one zoo there is no need to go to Animal kingdom is sooo very wrong.

We only planned to go half a day-- arrived at rope drop and was planning on leaving at lunch time.

what happened-- we found the conservation station- wasnt even planning on going over there--

we stayed in Animal Kingdom until it closed-- (the characters come out and in a nice way tell people get the heck outta there- was quite fun.

For kids ages 3 and 6- I would do all day in this park and skip DHS.

See the Lion King show and the Nemo show- and the bird show.

we went mid Sept and crowdes were verylight=- there was no way we coulda experienced what we did by going and leaving by noon

 

[jenlov]

We didn't even see the animals other than the jungle cruise and still spent all day, lol. we did the shows, rides, etc.

 

[Palmetto Chick]

Thanks for all your input, everyone! I've definitely decided to just do one park and do it well, and I'm leaning toward AK since there's just more there that my boys would be interested in. You all have been a big help!

 

[jenlov]

Great idea! plus, you'll save money by not having to buy a park hopper!