AK yay or nay?

[ktlm]

I guess you don't have hoppers? I think all the Disney parks are great and should be experienced, but if we had to skip one, it would be AK. DD (now 10) has been going to WDW since she was 2 and she has never cared that much for AK. I think it is because we have a really good zoo at home- and because AK has no Princess presence. She has no interest in looking at the Animals when she can see most of the same animals at our zoo at home. She is usually begging to hop by noon. There is one exception though- I don't know your kids ages, but AK had a Wilderness Explorer book where the kids can do tasks through the park and get a sticker badge each time they complete a task. When that book was new, DD loved it and stayed at AK almost all day without complaint doing the tasks. It took her 2 trips to finish the book- and after that she was back to not wanting to stay that long at AK. Not sure what we are going to do now that they have nighttime entertainment.

Are you sure your kids won't like DHS? My DD liked it better than AK. She loves the Star Tours Ride, Toy Story Mania, Great Movie ride, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid and Indiana Jones show. When she was little, she liked the Disney Jr show an the Disney Jr. characters too.

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

I guess you don't have hoppers? I think all the Disney parks are great and should be experienced, but if we had to skip one, it would be AK. DD (now 10) has been going to WDW since she was 2 and she has never cared that much for AK. I think it is because we have a really good zoo at home- and because AK has no Princess presence. She has no interest in looking at the Animals when she can see most of the same animals at our zoo at home. She is usually begging to hop by noon. There is one exception though- I don't know your kids ages, but AK had a Wilderness Explorer book where the kids can do tasks through the park and get a sticker badge each time they complete a task. When that book was new, DD loved it and stayed at AK almost all day without complaint doing the tasks. It took her 2 trips to finish the book- and after that she was back to not wanting to stay that long at AK. Not sure what we are going to do now that they have nighttime entertainment.

Are you sure your kids won't like DHS? My DD liked it better than AK. She loves the Star Tours Ride, Toy Story Mania, Great Movie ride, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid and Indiana Jones show. When she was little, she liked the Disney Jr show an the Disney Jr. characters too.

We live near a large zoo and the older kids are doing a zoo/science camp for a week. DHS hasn't been on our to do list for this trip because the kids aren't into movies so we've been thinking most of that would go over their heads. They're not into princesses either. I suppose it would be ok if we head back to the pool early, but I think the badges are a great idea. I also hear the dinoland playground is good for little kids. Would be an expensive trip to a playground!

 

[pigletgirl]

I guess you don't have hoppers? I think all the Disney parks are great and should be experienced, but if we had to skip one, it would be AK. DD (now 10) has been going to WDW since she was 2 and she has never cared that much for AK. I think it is because we have a really good zoo at home- and because AK has no Princess presence. She has no interest in looking at the Animals when she can see most of the same animals at our zoo at home. She is usually begging to hop by noon. There is one exception though- I don't know your kids ages, but AK had a Wilderness Explorer book where the kids can do tasks through the park and get a sticker badge each time they complete a task. When that book was new, DD loved it and stayed at AK almost all day without complaint doing the tasks. It took her 2 trips to finish the book- and after that she was back to not wanting to stay that long at AK. Not sure what we are going to do now that they have nighttime entertainment.

Are you sure your kids won't like DHS? My DD liked it better than AK. She loves the Star Tours Ride, Toy Story Mania, Great Movie ride, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid and Indiana Jones show. When she was little, she liked the Disney Jr show an the Disney Jr. characters too.

That's fair. For us, it's more of a relaxing place to be. We love the shows, riding the train, the safari, everest (DH and I)... heck even the food! But it's all subjective. Plus, our girls are little and in 5-7 years AK may be a dud... I'm hoping Avatarland will be amazing!

 

[Accident]

I grew up not too far from six flags great adventure and their drive through animal safari is the closest thing in the US to animal kingdom. But it's only 1 of many things to do at animal kingdom so again it's not really the same. It's very africa/asia themed. It's also dinosaurs (not just the ride), boardwalk style games, the nemo show is a really nice and what kid doesn't like nemo. Lion king, etc etc etc A family raft ride.. They may love everest (the older one will)..

the only negative thing I will say about it is it had very little escape from the sun except for shade and fans. There is some indoor and with air conditioned places but even many of the places to eat are outside.. I found the park miserable until the first time I saw it without summer weather. Now that i know what the park can be, I'm more cautious on what I do to try to get a mix of indoor time to cool back off... It also has lots of ice cream all over the place

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

There is some indoor and with air conditioned places but even many of the places to eat are outside.. I found the park miserable until the first time I saw it without summer weather. Now that i know what the park can be, I'm more cautious on what I do to try to get a mix of indoor time to cool back off... It also has lots of ice cream all over the place

Thanks. What are the indoor activities at AK? We have the rapids booked for after lunch. That should cool us down. Is Lion King indoors? We have FP for LK booked before lunch.

 

[Accident]

Thanks. What are the indoor activities at AK? We have the rapids booked for after lunch. That should cool us down. Is Lion King indoors? We have FP for LK booked before lunch.

Indoor would be bugs life, nemo, dinosaur the ride. eateries with indoor would be tiffins+the lounge they have and whatever that quick service is near dinosaur the ride. Some of the shops and all the restrooms.

It's not uncommon to ride kali and not get wet btw. If you do get wet though, you'll be soaked.

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

Indoor would be bugs life, nemo, dinosaur the ride. eateries with indoor would be tiffins+the lounge they have and whatever that quick service is near dinosaur the ride. Some of the shops and all the restrooms.

It's not uncommon to ride kali and not get wet btw. If you do get wet though, you'll be soaked.

Thanks for the tips. Dino will be closed unfortunately.

 

[Sagginit]

AK I feel is geared more towards children so I don't think you should skip it based on others saying its a half day park or not that great. I am a fan of both Nemo and LK shows, I think they are two of the best in WDW. I think the theming here is very good, you have a few different lands and they all have a unique feel. If anyone is tall enough for Everest it is my favorite coaster as it is very smooth and a lot of fun. You will be in the shows for a while so it gets you out of the sun and TS restaurants are indoors. We love the food at Tusker House and Yak & Yeti. The park tends to get humid for some reason, I think all the plants and misters they have there, it feels extra swampy to us on hot days. We tend to take it slow there for that reason, doing a TS lunch and a show in the afternoon to get some rest in as the morning tires us out faster than other parks. Also we hardly ever look at the animals unless we see them from a ride but even so Disney does a really great job of displaying them and they are scattered in different areas of the park so just pick a few to see along the way.

 

[Magical2017]

AK became my second favorite park on our last visit and we live close to the Smithsonian National Zoo. Our kids were 9 and 6, and we took them out of school for the week. They earned a bunch of badges and took photos and shared it with their teachers when they returned. It was clearly one of the highlights of the trip. We could have used more time there! I cannot wait for Rivers of Light and Avatar Land. I guess we will need to plan another trip. The Dino play area is great. Don't forget to take the bridge that takes you back to the quieter area where they can dig. My husband and I really appreciated the break while the kids played.

 

[aretha30]

We love AK, while it isn't an all day park for us we do spend a few half days there. We tend to take a break and hop to a different park after our break through so no park is a full day for us! We wouldn't skip it, there is so much to see and do. Now with all the new nighttime shows its a must do after dark for us.

 

[brooke789]

AK is great (very much unlike a zoo) except during lightening. If it looks like most of your day is going to be lightening (not just rain) then I'd skip it. When we were there one afternoon every thing except for Safari & Dinosaur closed due to the lightening. Even the Jungle Trek closed (do they put the animals inside?!). We went 3 or 4 times (all half days) on our trip last month. Kids (5, 5, 2) all loved it.

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

AK is great (very much unlike a zoo) except during lightening. If it looks like most of your day is going to be lightening (not just rain) then I'd skip it. When we were there one afternoon every thing except for Safari & Dinosaur closed due to the lightening. Even the Jungle Trek closed (do they put the animals inside?!). We went 3 or 4 times (all half days) on our trip last month. Kids (5, 5, 2) all loved it.

Good to know. I guess we will go to Epcot in inclement weather in lieu of AK. We won't have hoppers and won't be going to the studios this trip.

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

We love AK - I wouldn't say it's anything like a zoo. It's my favourite park after MK.

 

[Marbel]

The theming in Africa and Asia is amazing.

MK, EP, MK, AK, MK.

That was my exact itinerary in Feb. I don't care for HS so skipped it.

 

[theyoungs07]

It isn't a zoo, but it is really big and really hot. For my kids that age, they're prefer time at HS than AK. The things we love about AK are Lion King, Nemo, Safari, and EE. There are more things for my 3-7yr olds to do at HS. IF I had to choose, I'd skip AK for more MK or HS time. In reality, unless your kids are REALLY interested in the countries (and TONS of walking) I'd put HS and AK above Epcot.