AK yay or nay?

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

Hi. Family with 3 DCs ages 3 to 7 heading to WDW for 5 days. Planning on MK, EP, MK, AK, MK. Looking for feedback on this itinerary in general. We live near a great zoo so I'm wondering if AK is worth it? TIA.

 

[TeamH5]

Hi. Family with 3 DCs ages 3 to 7 heading to WDW for 5 days. Planning on MK, EP, MK, AK, MK. Looking for feedback on this itinerary in general. We live near a great zoo so I'm wondering if AK is worth it? TIA.

We lived near a zoo also and were there every other weekend.
AK is NOTHING like a zoo! Lol when we last went in 2013, our 5 yr old and 2 7 yr olds had a blast doing the nature badges from the movie UP. That took us 12 full hours with just a break for lunch. We barely saw Dinosaur land and never saw the back half of the park, and didn't ride any rides other than the safari jungle ride.

The badges kept them entertained all day and they absolutely loved it.

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

We lived near a zoo also and were there every other weekend.
AK is NOTHING like a zoo! Lol when we last went in 2013, our 5 yr old and 2 7 yr olds had a blast doing the nature badges from the movie UP. That took us 12 full hours with just a break for lunch. We barely saw Dinosaur land and never saw the back half of the park, and didn't ride any rides other than the safari jungle ride.

The badges kept them entertained all day and they absolutely loved it.

Thanks. Will give that a try.

 

[tami82]

AK is not like a zoo but I would say to go for the day. We did a bunch of rides and found it nice and relaxing there, plenty of shady trees while you are walking around. This next trip we decided to ditch HS and do AK. The kids weren't too impressed with HS so not going back. Even Epcot not so much their thing as they want rides and not much to ride but we will spend a day there. MK we will spend the majority of our time.

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

AK is not like a zoo but I would say to go for the day. We did a bunch of rides and found it nice and relaxing there, plenty of shady trees while you are walking around. This next trip we decided to ditch HS and do AK. The kids weren't too impressed with HS so not going back. Even Epcot not so much their thing as they want rides and not much to ride but we will spend a day there. MK we will spend the majority of our time.

Thanks. Our kids wouldn't be into HS either so that's out. I think we will stick with our itinerary and choose Ak. If they love EP, we could play day 4 by ear.

 

[mm1971]

I would say yes. It's not really a zoo. There are lots of fun things for all ages to do. I think we spent at least a few hours in the Dino Boneyard while the kids played when they were that age. Add in the new night time stuff if you are up that late and there is a lot of fun things to do. I do agree that the badge adventures are fun for the kids as well. We always do a day at AK when we go. If you are up early, may I suggest an early breakfast buffet at Tusker House before he park opens? You get to go into the park early to get to the restaurant and then are already in when the park opens. KS is right there and it allows you to use FP for other attractions as walk on would be under 10 minutes at park opening. Have a fun trip.

 

[tinkerbell1112]

we have two great zoos within 30 mins from us, and we still LOVE AK. You experience an entirely different side/view/feel of Disney! I would agree to try to do a breakfast at Tusker House. It's so much fun to see the characters in their safari gear!

 

[pigletgirl]

Our family loves AK! Look at my avatar pic.

Anyway, we are also local zoo members and AK is nothing like our local zoo. On our trips, we usually spend a good 2 full days there. For our next trip, we are staying at AKL and are very excited about having a close proximity to one of our favorite parks.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We went to AK in 2014, my kids were 8 month old and 7 at that time...it was so hot on the day we went and they were doing a ton of contstruction (which they are still doing, lol) and we left the park after lunch bc I was tired of hearing everyone complaining, lol. When I planned our returned trip in 2015 to the World I decided to skip AK since it didn't really work out in 2014. When we got to Disney last year we were waiting in line for Splash Mountain and my son (now 8 on this trip) struck up a conversation with a CM, and the CM started talking to my son about all the thrill rides and asked him if he rode Expedition Everest. My son turned to me and asked me about it and I told him that was in AK and I didn't plan on AK this trip...I seriously never heard the end of it the ENTIRE REST OF THE TRIP! LOL. Now I am in the beginning stages of planning our trip back to the world in 2017 and my older son will be 10 on that trip and he keeps reminding me don't forget to work in AK in our plan, lol. We are staying at AKL so its all good about going to AK. Although now that they put in all the new night time stuff I think what we might end up doing is getting a PPO opening ADR for Tusker House (hoping they will have River of Lights packages for all meals at Tusker House), do some attractions then have lunch at Rainforest Cafe around 12:30-1, then head back to the hotel for a break and hang out at the pool, then head back to AK around 5 for a 6PM dinner at Yak & Yeti (maybe they will have a River of Lights package?) and then do some night time stuff and then see River of Lights and then head back to the resort after everything is all done. So thats my plan...I think its too much to stay at AK from before Park opening to Park close specially with 2 younger kids.

 

[amy1981]

Even with the night time attractions, I don't think AK will ever be an all day park for us. We've always gone at rope drop and done Expedition Everest 2 or 3 times, then the safari followed by brunch at Tusker House. After that we see a show...either finding Nemo or Lion King, and that's about it. With your kids ages I would think Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, etc. would be out, except for maybe the 7 year old, so I couldn't see it being an all day park for you either. The first time we went, we did everything and a lot of the attractions ...jungle trek, flights of wonder, etc. just didn't really hold a lot of interest for us, not enough that we ever felt the need to do it all again. So now we just do the top few picks. We usually go to HS in the evening of our AK day, because my kids like to do just 1 or 2 shows and/or rides then go see Fantasmic...with the Jungle Book/River of Lights you could return to your hotel for the afternoon and go back to AK that evening for the show. In terms of your itinerary, I think MK every other day is a good choice. If AK is a half day that will actually be nice, you can recharge and enjoy your resort pool and give the kids a chance for down time, which they will appreciate!

 

[Shanti]

Yay.

 

[Thing 1]

We love AK. There is a ton to do there for your kids age. If you are going for rope drop and plan to see the nighttime shows, I would try to plan a break at some point during the day. There are some great shows, we love Lion King, Nemo and the Flights of Wonder all. A trip out to conservation station is really fun for your kids ages and we spent a ton of time there with a preschool age kid. There are tons of trails as well as the big ticket rides like the safari and Dinosaur and EE. There are things for the littles if you need to split for things like Dinosaur. There is the playground and there is a dumbo type ride for kids. Its such a cool park and just seems a bit more laid back to us.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

AK is our second favorite park (MK is first), and we are debating giving up our resort day so we can do AK twice on our next trip. We live near a great zoo, too, but AK and our zoo are not even close. I did notice that our zoo seems to have taken a trip to AK, though, and took notes on the safari section of AK when they built the latest exhibit. Even so, they obviously don't have a Disney budget or Imagineers on their side. Don't pass up AK because you feel it might be like a zoo. It is definitely a theme park.

 

[mcjaco]

Our last trip, the boys were 2 1/2. I think we had more fun at AK then any other park other than MK. They loved the playground in Dinoland.

One of them still vividly remembers the Safari ride as well. I'd say do it.

 

[tami82]

Thanks. Our kids wouldn't be into HS either so that's out. I think we will stick with our itinerary and choose Ak. If they love EP, we could play day 4 by ear.

Great choice! Make sure to get some fast passes when the time comes?

 

[Jack629]

We could only do AK for 1/2 a day. DD was 6. We would have liked to have had more time there. We loved it.

 

[Walker24]

It does depend on how good your zoo is. Everyone I know who goes to the bronx zoo is not very impressed with AK. In my opinion it is a lot like a zoo. It also depends on what kind of things the kids like. Mine didn't like the lion king show and were too short and young for anything but the dino spin. It's definitely not worth it for us

 

[AspenLL]

No possibly way you could ever compare AK to a "zoo". It's a beautiful park with so much to do and it's super relaxing. It's a close first for us next to MK.

 

[happymommy]

Don't forget about taking the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch! My DD loves this!

We could spend a whole day at AK - walking the trails to see animals, bats, gorillas, etc.... The safari is one thing we always do once per trip. We enjoy the CS dining there (Yak & Yeti and Flame Tree).

My kids used to love playing the games at Dinoland - drove me nuts though! They won so many stuffed animals.

They used to have TV commercials years ago for it & the slogan was "not a zoo". It's much more than a zoo.

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

OP here. I appreciate all the responses from both perspectives. We booked our FPs for AK! I think our family will enjoy it.