Another AK post- would you skip it if you were me?

[mster425]

Trip is NEXT WEEK.

Here are the facts-
-We are staying at AKL so not going to AK seems bonkers
-AK is my favorite park due to theming,
-DD is scared of dinosaurs and they are too little for everest
-DD is 5 and has autism, DS is 3 and has terrible behavior when he is high on sugar and low on sleep
- I have the dining package for ROL at Tusker house at 4 on a Saturday, so the original plan was to go for late afternoon, maybe have the adults do rider swap on everest and play in the boneyard or see Lion king until ROL

I have been seeing posts that AK has been slammed recently, so in a way getting to AK at 3 when the crowds are 7 or higher sounds kind of like a terrible idea. We do have hoppers so we could always leave, but dining package.

Advice?

 

[goodeats]

I could not travel to WDW and skip AK. DS sure, but not AK.

Would you not have FP for AK this day? Is there a reason you would skip the safari? I can't see taking two small children to AK and not attempting the safari. Or the animal trails. The gorillas and the tigers are a must imo.

 

[Harambe]

-DD is 5 and has autism, DS is 3 and has terrible behavior when he is high on sugar and low on sleep
- I have the dining package for ROL at Tusker house at 4 on a Saturday, so the original plan was to go for late afternoon, maybe have the adults do rider swap on everest and play in the boneyard or see Lion king until ROL

You can't miss AK! Would you be willing to spend some of the morning at the pool at AKL, let the kids get tuckered out from swimming, followed by a good nap and high-protein snack before heading to AK for the rest of your plans? Take them to Conservation Station as well as the animal trails. You can really skip all the rides here other than the safari, and still find plenty to do.

 

[coasternut22]

What I've found is that my 3&4 year olds prefer the less structured environment of AK to the other parks. Our AK visits are way more relaxed than other parks. With MK, everything is structured. Get in stroller, walk to attraction, get out of stroller, stand in line, sit during attraction, get back in stroller. Repeat.

At AK, there are so many places we could let the kids out and just play. The trails, Planet Watch, and my kids could spend all day at The Dig. None of these places have lines, and the kids loved being "off-leash" to roam around and explore. Overall, I feel that AK is the best park for little kids.

What I've found as a parent taking my kids to Disney is that it not alway about the headliner attractions, but it is the little things that make my kids happy. Now I plan for it.

 

[gumbo1009]

I think you should head to AK, just be mindful of what the kids can handle...

I see goodeats recommends the Safari - while I agree that many kids would love the safari, you're TRAPPED for quite some time. So if your kids get bored/fidgety, there is no escape... given the special needs of your kids, I guess it depends on how much you think your kids can handle.

The kids might enjoy the Nemo show and the Lion King show (if you work with Disney, perhaps you could be granted accommodations to have one parent reserve seats so you can bring the kids in later - so the kids don't have to wait too long). The benefit of these venues is you can escape if needed (unlike the safari). AK also has that great Bird show (as long as the kids would be OK with birds swooping in from behind). PLUS they have that SUPER playground! The only downside is you may never get them out of there!

If I were you, I think I would try it (especially since you have hoppers - and you could "splurge" and purchase the new park-hop express option so you can avoid security lines at park2 when hopping).

 

[allsaintsatx]

Don't miss AK, esp if you're staying at AKL. Flights of Wonder is a good show, not too long and not intense. Gorilla trail, tiger trail, they just recently opened the trails around the Tree, the Oasis (try to find Divine your kids will prob enjoy that), Triceratop Spin is fun. There's also a lot of character meets there, including a fun one with Mickey and Minnie in safari gear. Tons of stuff to do there that's not a scary ride!

 

[mster425]

I could not travel to WDW and skip AK. DS sure, but not AK.

Would you not have FP for AK this day? Is there a reason you would skip the safari? I can't see taking two small children to AK and not attempting the safari. Or the animal trails. The gorillas and the tigers are a must imo.

I swapped my AK days a few weeks ago from Friday to Saturday when the ROL packages opened, so no I don't have fastpasses there, they are in Epcot in the AM still. I am finalizing them this weekend

 

[bumbershoot]

DS is 3 and has terrible behavior when he is high on sugar and low on sleep

(Aren't we all? )

Thankfully those are easy to manage since you're totally in charge of his eating and his access to rest time.

We have to manage the types of sugars in DS's diet and we have done so since he was 3 and we realized over that year that he canNOT have sugar based on corn syrup. Corn syrup, corn syrup solids, and HFCS are dreadful for him (and dh, it turned out). When you cut out those sugars at Disney you cut out a LOT of junky food that might be tempting. By avoiding the easy Uncrustable meal (cs and hfcs) you get to find more wholesome and less sugary foods. Avoid the Mickey bar (cs in the ice cream) and choose the chocolate covered banana instead and he gets deliciousness AND fruit. (Not recommended if you didn't mention an existing peanut allergy) etc.

When you focus on it, the food you eat becomes more wholesome and the trip goes better for everyone.

 

[allsaintsatx]

I swapped my AK days a few weeks ago from Friday to Saturday when the ROL packages opened, so no I don't have fastpasses there, they are in Epcot in the AM still. I am finalizing them this weekend

I was going to mention in my post that AK felt like one of those parks you could go to without FP's and still have a really good time but it didn't seem relevant, but I guess it is! Hey! You can go to AK without FP's and still have a really good time! There. Much better.

 

[mster425]

(Aren't we all? )

Thankfully those are easy to manage since you're totally in charge of his eating and his access to rest time.

We have to manage the types of sugars in DS's diet and we have done so since he was 3 and we realized over that year that he canNOT have sugar based on corn syrup. Corn syrup, corn syrup solids, and HFCS are dreadful for him (and dh, it turned out). When you cut out those sugars at Disney you cut out a LOT of junky food that might be tempting. By avoiding the easy Uncrustable meal (cs and hfcs) you get to find more wholesome and less sugary foods. Avoid the Mickey bar (cs in the ice cream) and choose the chocolate covered banana instead and he gets deliciousness AND fruit. (Not recommended if you didn't mention an existing peanut allergy) etc.

When you focus on it, the food you eat becomes more wholesome and the trip goes better for everyone.

Hahaha, thank you for the concrete suggestions, which I think I will create a new thread about in the dining section re: easy food swaps. The rest thing I'm particularly concerned about as we are all sharing a room and I think they'll be pretty wound up at night, but we'll see

 

[mster425]

I was going to mention in my post that AK felt like one of those parks you could go to without FP's and still have a really good time but it didn't seem relevant, but I guess it is! Hey! You can go to AK without FP's and still have a really good time! There. Much better.

I agree! I mean, I can swap them to AK, but the only thing I think I'd really need them for is the safari, and I'd hate to lose access to all three passes for the AM for that

 

[hooch11bear]

There is quite a bit you can do there without going on any rides. I have to say that AK is beautiful at night. I would try to rest a bit in the afternoon and then head to the park for your dinner reservation! I don't know how much you'll be able to get done with ROL starting at 7:15. I think your plan of seeing The Lion King or the dig site will be perfect for the kids.

 

[elaine amj]

Are you going to AK a different day? Could you do the safari then? That way, this can be a low key chilled out AK evening doing stuff like the Boneyard.

How long were you planning to stay in Epcot in the AM? If you are out of there by 12/1, you can head back to AKL for some quiet time/nap until you have to get to AK for your 4pm ADR. You'll be done about 5:30ish at which point you can get in line for the 6pm Lion King show. You may be able to get in standby (or try for 4th FP?).

Or for even less stress, just plan to spend 5:30-6:30 at the Boneyard/Tree of Life trails (the two major animal trails close at 5:30pm)/evening street parties and entertainment (an hour is not much time to squeeze all this in! I imagine you will want to go to your seats at about 6:30/6:45pm since ROL starts at 7:15pm. Once ROL is done, enjoy the Tree of Life awakenings and you should then be able to head back about 8ish for a reasonably early bedtime.

 

[mster425]

There is quite a bit you can do there without going on any rides. I have to say that AK is beautiful at night. I would try to rest a bit in the afternoon and then head to the park for your dinner reservation! I don't know how much you'll be able to get done with ROL starting at 7:15. I think your plan of seeing The Lion King or the dig site will be perfect for the kids.

I have never seen AK at night, might be worth it just for that!

 

[mster425]

Are you going to AK a different day? Could you do the safari then? That way, this can be a low key chilled out AK evening doing stuff like the Boneyard.

How long were you planning to stay in Epcot in the AM? If you are out of there by 12/1, you can head back to AKL for some quiet time/nap until you have to get to AK for your 4pm ADR. You'll be done about 5:30ish at which point you can get in line for the 6pm Lion King show. You may be able to get in standby (or try for 4th FP?).

Or for even less stress, just plan to spend 5:30-6:30 at the Boneyard/Tree of Life trails (the two major animal trails close at 5:30pm)/evening street parties and entertainment (an hour is not much time to squeeze all this in! I imagine you will want to go to your seats at about 6:30/6:45pm since ROL starts at 7:15pm. Once ROL is done, enjoy the Tree of Life awakenings and you should then be able to head back about 8ish for a reasonably early bedtime.

wow thank you for knowing that the trails close at 5:30, I wouldn't have thought to check. I think we will stick to the AK plan you suggested. I might skip epcot altogether that day and stay at the resort to swim/ chill and head to AK in the afternoon- either way the plan is to be out of epcot by 12 if we go. I think we'll stick to going to AK and deal with the crowds. I'll just breathe deep and stick a GPS locator on my youngest

 

[adisneyaunt]

So many good responses! My only comment.. don't skip AK!
Enjoy!

 

[dreiwhit]

FWIW, while I enjoyed walking around the different areas of AK when we visited there last year, we found there wasn't enough that we wanted to do again to justify the cost of using one of our non-hopper tickets to go there. So, we have skipped it and not looked back.

As always, YMMV.

 

[mster425]

Just to follow up, we ended up doing AK but switching it to a less crowded day and skipping ROL, which I think was the right call since I'm hearing bad stories about our planned day in AK. But DD ended up liking dinosaur, and both kids loved Kali so much they made us go on it twice. I don't know that financially we'll be able to go back soon but I'll definitely carve out a full day, or 1.5 days.