Animal Kingdom vs. Hollywood Studios

[nevertoo muchdisney]

Hey Everyone!
I will be going to Disney World in March and I need some advice. I can't make up my mind about how to split my park days up. Right now I am going for a week and half my trip is with one friend and half is solo. I am staying at Port Orleans French Quarter for the first time. I am spending 2 MK days with her and 1 MK alone, 1 day in Epcot with her and one day in epcot solo, and one day in animal kingdom with her. I have one extra day I haven't decided on in the middle. I can't decide whether or not I should do a second day at AK alone now that pandora is open or a solo day at hollywood studios? Or if I should go do something like disney springs? I am not getting a park hopper since the trip is longer I really just want to focus on one park per day. I have never been to disney springs and the last time I went to disney I was in the seventh grade haha( now almost 25). I wasn't sure how worth it HS would be since I don't really like thrill rides like Rock N roller coaster or T OF T. I do like shows or simulators like star tours. Also I have a reservation at Victoria and Albert's that night. Not sure if anyone can give me an idea of how long it takes you to get from HS or AK to the Grand Floridian?

 

[srwarden1928]

While AK is certainly worth time by yourself, I would NEVER skip a park at WDW. If you don't want to ride Rock n Roller Coaster or Tower of Terror, that leaves you Star Tours and Toy Story Mania as RIDES. Both of them are outstanding rides. You also mentioned that you like shows. HS has ALWAYS emphasized shows, and it has some outstanding ones. The shows I personally would recommend seeing include Muppet Vision 3D, Indiana Jones Stunt Show, Beauty and the Beast, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Frozen Sing Along, Walt Disney Present (if they are showing the excellent movie on Walt's life and not an ad for an upcoming film), and Fantasmic. These are NOT all of the shows, just the ones I personally recommend based on my personal experience in seeing them and desire to see them again. Whatever you decide, have a wonderful trip.

 

[brad813]

Hey Everyone!
I will be going to Disney World in March and I need some advice. I can't make up my mind about how to split my park days up. Right now I am going for a week and half my trip is with one friend and half is solo. I am staying at Port Orleans French Quarter for the first time. I am spending 2 MK days with her and 1 MK alone, 1 day in Epcot with her and one day in epcot solo, and one day in animal kingdom with her. I have one extra day I haven't decided on in the middle. I can't decide whether or not I should do a second day at AK alone now that pandora is open or a solo day at hollywood studios? Or if I should go do something like disney springs? I am not getting a park hopper since the trip is longer I really just want to focus on one park per day. I have never been to disney springs and the last time I went to disney I was in the seventh grade haha( now almost 25). I wasn't sure how worth it HS would be since I don't really like thrill rides like Rock N roller coaster or T OF T. I do like shows or simulators like star tours. Also I have a reservation at Victoria and Albert's that night. Not sure if anyone can give me an idea of how long it takes you to get from HS or AK to the Grand Floridian?

One critical question you didn't answer is whether you will have parkhoppers or not. I can't speak to HS to Grand Floridian, but AK to Grand Floridian is about 10-15 minutes travel time by the bus, though you should allow about 45 minutes due to arrival and departures of buses.

 

[nevertoo muchdisney]

" I am not getting a park hopper since the trip is longer I really just want to focus on one park per day."

I did mention it, but sorry it probably got lost in my rambling post haha. I am not doing park hoppers since I am going for a week. I don't really feel like I want to jump back and forth between parks.

 

[brad813]

" I am not getting a park hopper since the trip is longer I really just want to focus on one park per day."

I did mention it, but sorry it probably got lost in my rambling post haha. I am not doing park hoppers since I am going for a week. I don't really feel like I want to jump back and forth between parks.

It did get lost. Sorry about not seeing it. I would suggest developing a solo touring plan in each park, as a sample, and seeing which one you more lean towards. Keep in mind, though, that with Hollywood Studios you can easily take a break in the afternoon and see everything you want to, where AK it is tougher to fit into even one day. That is about the best advice I can give. Everyone will have their opinions, though HS is getting a major revamp over the next two years, so some construction is going on.

 

[nevertoo muchdisney]

Thanks! I would see how I feel at the time, but then I would be out of luck with Fast passes . Good to know that you think that there would be enough to do a second day at animal kingdom, I wasn't sure if there would be ( I really haven't been through that whole park). Curious as to how nuts HS is crowd wise with so much of the park shut down.

 

[brad813]

Thanks! I would see how I feel at the time, but then I would be out of luck with Fast passes . Good to know that you think that there would be enough to do a second day at animal kingdom, I wasn't sure if there would be ( I really haven't been through that whole park). Curious as to how nuts HS is crowd wise with so much of the park shut down.

Honestly, I have run very detailed AK touring plans(think commando touring) into touringplans.com and still couldn't fit it all in, assuming an hour for lunch. Rivers of Light and Pandora(After Dark) you would have to choose between. Hollywood Studios seems to be fairly normal still, but next May will change that with Toy Story Land. You should definitely look at a few crowd calendars for the day that you have free and see if either one has excessive crowds or not.

 

[kwdw]

I can't skip a park..... So - I'd plan a solo HS day. To get in Indy, Frozen, and Beauty and the Beast in one day takes some planning! Plus - TSM, ST, Muppets, Little Mermaid. And I usually hit the Path of the Jedi, whatever is showing in Walt Disney Presents, and the SW show in Launch Bay. Add in a couple character meet and greets (Little Groot!), a QS lunch - and time to change to head to V&A for dinner - that's more than you can do in one day.

Now - I can also spend two full days at AK.....

 

[TawnyLynn]

After just coming back from Disney I would definitely want to allow 2 days to see everything at Animal Kingdom. I thought one day would be enough, but with Pandora taking up my first two hours it screwed up the rest of my day’s plans. Personally, I love Hollywood Studios and spent 2 days there on my last trip because of wanting to go back and see stuff again and ride rides again. It’s all based on what you really enjoy seeing and doing at the parks.

 

[Bete]

You can't go wrong either way. I think I would choose based on which park you have seen the least or like the most.

On our last trip we did AK with 2 days. If you want to do Na'vi and FOP and ROL and take in the shows it really has become a 2-day park.

Toy Story Mania is my favorite ride and I wouldn't want to skip it; so, I could be happy doing HS.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

For those without an AP or park hopper, I actually think skipping HS makes sense until more of the new attractions open there. There isn't much to do there now that interests me. I do like Toy Story Midway Mania, and Walt Disney Presents (even though lately the film at the end is just a preview of the next Disney movie, rather than a focus on Walt's life). I usually go for a meal at Sci Fi, a ride on Toy Story, and then may leave the park.

 

[brad813]

For those without an AP or park hopper, I actually think skipping HS makes sense until more of the new attractions open there. There isn't much to do there now that interests me. I do like Toy Story Midway Mania, and Walt Disney Presents (even though lately the film at the end is just a preview of the next Disney movie, rather than a focus on Walt's life). I usually go for a meal at Sci Fi, a ride on Toy Story, and then may leave the park.

Or for Star Wars fans, HS is a good choice.

 

[TawnyLynn]

Last month when I was at Animal Kingdom the entire park felt too busy because of all the people visiting Pandora. Personally, I’m not a fan of crowded places so I couldn’t wait to be done for the day there. I’m trying again next month. I have a day planned at Hollywood Studios and one at Animal Kingdom. I love Hollywood Studios and could just spend all day there. I am a huge Star Wars fan and I also love Toy Story so I have a feeling that Hollywood Studios will always be the Park I choose to spend the most time at while at Disney World.

 

[HooplaFan]

Hey Everyone!
... I can't decide whether or not I should do a second day at AK alone now that pandora is open or a solo day at hollywood studios? Or if I should go do something like disney springs?...?

I would recommend HS over a second day at AK. One of the things you can do at HS (I haven't) is meet with an Imagineer.

 

[magical-me]

I love Hollywood studios. It’s nice and small my feet don’t hurt after a full day there.

 

[fizzymint]

We had four days when we went last month and skipped Hollywood Studios in favor of an extra day at Epcot and I'm not sad about it. I am not a coaster/Tower of Terror person either. I do think I'd rather do HS over a second day at AK, and that's even having spent four of those hours in line for Flight of Passage.

 

[mustinjourney]

FYI- Victoria and Alberta is a nicer restaurant. I think they require a coat. At a minimum you have to wear nice jeans or slacks.

As such, I would plan on heading back to your resort before heading to V&A. I would NOT go straight from the park to V&A. It’s a 5 star restaurant. I wouldn’t feel comfortable there in theme park attire.

If using buses, plan on taking an hour to get where you’re going to account for the walk and wait. Sometimes it can take 20-30 mins for a bus to show up, and you don’t want to be feeling rushed going to dinner.

Another option is using Uber. It works very well at the parks and driving from DAK to GF is about 15-20 mins including your wait time.

Again though, I would plan on using bus or Uber to go back to hotel. Shower and change. And then Uber to GF (there are no buses from resort to resort). You can take a bus to MK and then boat or monorail to GF, but that can take a long time. It once took us 1.5 hours to go from port Orleans to GF...buses were slow and then monorail broke down while we were waiting and then broke down again while on it.

The lobby at GF is super nice so I would honestly suggest getting there at least an hour early and hanging out.

Another option would be to just do DAK or DHS for a half day and then resort hop on monorail resorts leading up to dinner. There’s a lot of lounges to check out and you could even do the monorail pub crawl prior to dinner.

*ETA -- V&A requires jacket and dress pants or slacks. Jeans aren't even allowed.

"Men must wear dinner jackets with dress pants or slacks and shoes. Ties are optional. Women may wear a cocktail dress, nice dress, dressy pant suit or a skirt with a blouse. Jeans, shorts, capri pants, sandals, flip-flops or tennis shoes are not permitted."

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/grand-floridian-resort-and-spa/victoria-and-alberts/

 

[DisVegas]

50’s Prime Time Cafe makes for a great lunch in HS.

There’s no question Victora & Alberts is great, although dinner for one night cost more than our hotel room for the week!