Animal Kingdom or Epcot for 5/8/11 year olds?

[MaxSkywalker]

We have three boys - 11, 8, and 5. Going in October, will hit HS and MK, but have one extra day to do another park. Prefer not to park hop, so if we were to spend one day in another park, which would you recommend, AK or Epcot?

 

[StarSpeckledSky]

Ahhhh tough choice! Probably AK for me because, from what I’ve heard, one day at EP doesn’t allow much time to really take in the atmosphere... plus AK is my favorite park.

 

[katiec786]

I would say Animal Kingdom, unless the kids are geography nerds like my sister - she was obsessed with the World Showcase when we were kids! AK has so much interactive stuff and more lands to explore, if they're not interested in the different countries then they might get bored at Epcot pretty quickly.

 

[Elle :)]

Animal Kingdom. It’s my favorite park because it has so much to do and lots of rides. Plus Flight of Passage...nuff said.

 

[Finerfam]

I'd also say Animal Kingdom. Your 5 year old should be tall enough to ride all (or most) of the rides there, plus some great shows, trails and street performances. And it has such a different feel than the rest of the parks.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I would say AK. Epcot is in transition right now and while i love it, I think AK will have more of interest for your family between the safari, Pandora, dinoland, expedition Everest, the shows and the animal trails.

 

[Katie1174]

Another vote for Animal Kingdom. But i am probably biased as it has 2 of our favorite rides, FOP and Everest. But we also like to do the animal trails, safari, some of the shows and we never ever miss the chocolate chip cookies on the bottom shelf of the sweet case at Zuri’s Sweet Shop.

 

[ebenmax]

Animal Kingdom gets my vote, too! Animals are generally more appealing to kids than countries/cultures (unless as said earlier they have a passion for it). Plus, the attractions are far more kid friendly at AK.

 

[bethannie203]

One more vote for Animal Kingdom!! I went for the first time at age 9, and it was my favorite park then and it still is! (And I loved the countries at Epcot as a kid too, but as others have said, Animal Kingdom just has so much more going on in my opinion! Especially for kiddos!) My favorite ride is Expedition Everest for sure, Flights of Passage, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur and it’s tough to be a bug are all fun, and the safari attraction is AWESOME! Both the Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo: The Musical are broadway quality productions, and those are great for a hot afternoon to get out of the sun and into some A/C! (If I had to pick just one, Lion king wins!) The younger kids especially will probably enjoy the Dino Dig play area, but honestly the 11 year old could have fun there too!

On top of all that, they have all the awesome animal viewing areas and trails, great food, and they recently added an Animation Experience at Conservation Station where you can learn to draw Disney characters (makes an awesome free souvenir!) we haven’t done this yet (we don’t have kids), but we’ve heard great things about the Wilderness Explorers thing (I think it’s like a scavenger hunt of sorts) .

Also, the theming is SO immersive parkwide. When you walk into Pandora, Africa, or Asia, you don’t feel like you are in Orlando anymore!

I’m a little biased towards AK if you can’t tell! whatever you choose, have a wonderful time!!

 

[Dr.Mickey]

We are Epcot lovers, even my kids when they were that age. But alas, my vote is for AK.

AK is such a unique and beautiful park, with fun rides and an amazing Disney touch and incredible attention to detail. Part of my kid’s love of Epcot probably came from the change of pace during a full week-long vacation, and a love for Fireworks. But on a shorter trip like yours, I think AK would be perfect!

 

[Delirium]

We enjoy looking at vacant buildings, so we tend to spend all of our extra time in Epcot, specifically Future World.

 

[mco65]

At that age, i would expect them to enjoy AK far more than Epcot... at least i know mine did at that age... and they still do in their mid and late teens.

 

[garris3404]

Looks like the people have spoken (and I agree). Animal Kingdom!

 

[unrequited23]

Make sure to plan a good chunk of time for The Boneyard play area. We let our boys spend at least an hour and still have to drag them out.

 

[KenHutch]

Yet another vote for Animal Kingdom. Now I have girls and its easy Epcot. We spend one day at AK and 2 full days at Epcot. I have a pair of shopping queens and even thou they didn't find much on the last trip they still have high hopes for the next one.

 

[Shellyred8]

Another vote for AK. I think there's more to do there for the kiddos. I would also recommend the Boneyard. Everytime I've been there with kids, they absolutely love this area and we had to drag them out. It's a great place to just let your kids run and burn off some energy.

 

[epcotty]

Even though we love Epcot, I'd still say AK (especially considering that the younger ones might not like Epcot that much yet)

 

[saraheliz]

I'd say AK, but my kids (8 and 10 at our last visit) would be split. Younger would definitely say Epcot, older might be more torn mostly because of Pandora. The "thrill" rides at Epcot were just the right amount for the 8, almost 9 year old, whereas at AK, she wouldn't go on Everest and Dinosaur and FoP were over the edge of too much thrill.

 

[theXfactor82]

I have three boys as well. They are roughly the same age and when we went last year they all preferred AK over Epcot. They love EE so we went to AK at rope drop and rode EE 5 times in a row while everyone else went to Pandora.