Anyone do 2 days at Animal Kingdom?

[CathieArms]

I have read quite a few posts on these boards where AK is either described as a half day park or disappointing. However, my kids are more excited about going to this park than the Magic Kingdom (we've watched the vacation planning DVD and a couple Travel Channel specials). It also seems like AK is the type of park where you can take your time and really appreciate the magic of the theming. Has anyone spent two days at AK without feeling bored or like you've "wasted" a park day? We won't be getting park hoppers, so I am interested in others' views on this. Thanks

I'm sure that if AK appeals to you, you could certainly find something to do there for 2 days. Personally speaking, though, I'm perfectly happy with a single day there...and wouldn't do that except I almost feel like we have to do all 4 parks.

 

[laura_<3]

As we take 2 week vacations we normally end up doing AK more than once.

 

[Lights_Out]

I love animals and the outdoors so, to my family, Animal Kingdom is a full day park. I actually think DHS is a half day park (we don't do TSMM or Fantasmic).

It really boils down to you and your family's preference.

 

[That's So Raven]

I like AK so to me it's worth doing 2 days. I always hit it up more than twice because my favorite ride is Expedition Everest. I like to hop there near closing so I can ride EE and Dinosaur faster.

 

[stargazertechie]

I never travel without park hoppers, so on any given trip I'll spend at least 4 half days at AK.

During the summer with later EMH, it's not unusual for me to spend the entire day rope drop to close at AK, and then hop to MK or Epcot from 6-12 (or 1, or 2 or 3:30 AM).

I don't think I could ever grow tired of AK, there's just SO much to do if you slow down and take your time.

 

[Winue]

Wow... I have no idea how so many spend 2 days in AK. We spend half a day. and we only go to AK for the Tusker House breakfast. put me into the "I don't get AK" group. Of course, I don't go to Disney to see animals, so we don't walk around the trails just to see them. If I wanted to see animals, I would go to my local zoo.

ETA: when we go for a half day, we are able to do all the rides with FP. We have seen the shows more than once, and don't care to watch them again. They need to change them up.

 

[Pig Pen]

If you take the time to see all the shows, walk the animal trails, and take the train to Conservation Station, it's going to take you more than one day. AK is a park that begs me to sit and drink in the atmosphere. The only section I don't tour is the carny portion of Dinoland, which I find hot and ugly.

 

[John Tag]

We also love AK, For us its our second best park. We always make sure to make 1-1/2 day to 2 days in the park. Our kids 12 and 8 enjoy the rides,shows and all about the park. The Safari ride in the am is best same at closing when animals are moveing around the most. AK Safari ride at RP is our must.

 

[Metsoskil]

My $0.02 -

We take the kids to the Bronx Zoo every June after school ends. We take a long WDW trip every August for about 10-14 days.

AK is beautiful. It's also very hot - not a lot of indoor attractions and/or shade.

While the animal exhibits are nicer than those at the Bronx Zoo, there are less animals at AK.

Now, it's unfair to compare AK to a zoo. It's much more than that.

But if we want to see animals, I prefer the zoo.

And AK has fewer attractions than the other parks. (Especially if your children don't meet the height requirements for EE, Dinosaur, and/or Primeval Whirl) The shows (FOTLK and Nemo the Musical especially) are great, but don't have the re-do-ability of some of the better rides at other parks.

I enjoy going to AK, but it's hard to spend a lot of time there. We usually do 2 rope-drop mornings (because it's cooler then, too). Around noon we usually find ourselves having this discussion:

"Do you want to see Flights of Wonder? "

"Are you kidding me? I'm drenched in sweat and my belt has melted!"

"We could ride Kali River Rapids first to cool down."

"But the line is 110 minutes because there aren't a whole lot of other rides to eat up the crowds and it's 94 degrees. I'd go swimming in that slushie machine if I could."

"What do you want to do, then?"

"A ride on an air-conditioned bus is sounding pretty good right about now."

"SOLD! Let's go back to the resort to swim, then we'll walk around the World Showcase when it's cooler."


I'd love to go back to AK in the evening, when it's cooler, but AK usually closes at 6PM when we're there. We are really looking forward to checking out AK again when we go in November/December this year to see if we enjoy it more in the cooler weather.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

I can see spending two days at AK. We didn't have the opportunity on our last trip as we went for 7 days and spent two days at the other parks. AK was really nice and I know we missed a lot we spent maybe 6 hours there. However we know we are going back many more times so I will probably still just budget 1 day and we will explore new stuff each time. The day we were there it was packed and hot hot hot so there were times I wanted to run out!

 

[aceys_h0ney]

Around noon we usually find ourselves having this discussion:

"Do you want to see Flights of Wonder? "

"Are you kidding me? I'm drenched in sweat and my belt has melted!"

"We could ride Kali River Rapids first to cool down."

"But the line is 110 minutes because there aren't a whole lot of other rides to eat up the crowds and it's 94 degrees. I'd go swimming in that slushie machine if I could."

"What do you want to do, then?"

"A ride on an air-conditioned bus is sounding pretty good right about now."

"SOLD! Let's go back to the resort to swim, then we'll walk around the World Showcase when it's cooler."

This is how I felt on our last trip which was our first time in AK LOL.

 

[Metsoskil]

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'll throw this out:

Do you think Disney would have gotten more bang for their buck by creating a really awesome zoo instead of AK (no rides), putting the rides in the other 3 parks to really plus them up, and making the zoo a WP&M admission?

I don't think anyone would be having the "Is AK a 1/2 day park?" discussion if they finished the Beastly Kingdom like they had originally planned. Without that, though, it just seems like an unfinished park.

 

[Lees3rwe]

We love AK... truth be told, it may be our favorite park!

EE and Dinosaur are two of our favorite rides and the shows are FABULOUS!

We had the quick service dining plan and LOVED the Flame Tree!

Very nice park to stroll through after racing around for a couple of days!

 

[Tigger1]

I never spend enough time at AK. Thats the bad thing about hoppers and rain. I could spend several days at AK.

 

[Lees3rwe]

We hopped over there for EMH one evening and rode Kali 4 times in a row without getting off and EE 4 times. It was great!

 

[clshirk]

I do ask though, those of you who are so willing to spend 2 days at AK... are you going for 6-8 days or longer in WDW? We don't have the vacation time to take more than 4 days total and if I had 5 or 6 days total there is no way I'd use one of my extra days to hit AK again, it would be Epcot and MK most likely to hit for 2 days.

 

[ascwilson]

We absolutely love AK. It is one park where you definitely have to go slow and enjoy the surroundings. The only thing we don't do/see each visit is the Nemo show, but you have to see it at least once. My DS4 I thought it was fabulous, but my DH & DS13 said they could take a pass on it. Our DS4 could spend hours in the Boneyard play area, and honestly, it is nice to sit a spell so he can burn some energy. If you want to have a lot of time with the characters, get to Camp Mickey & Minnie first thing. One year we were there early and we had all of the characters to ourselves to the delight of our youngest. I hope you have an awesome time and become a fan of it like we are!

 

[heatherandnick]

We normally get PH, so we spend 3 to 4 mornings at AK each trip. I think many people don't enjoy or "get" this park because is the not the type of park with which you can go "commando" and truly see all it has to offer. The animal trails are so cool (especially the ones with the gorillas and the tigers).

We love the FOTLK show and the Nemo show.

Rafiki's Plant Watch is worth a trip...even if you just go to find all the awesome hidden mickeys in the mural at the entrance of the building.

Also, Expedition Everest is our favorite attraction in all of D-World.

I say, plan for 2 days. If you decide you do not want to return on the second day, then you have a free day to select another park, relax, or do something else.

Have fun!

 

[kirsangel]

Depends on your kids...My kids wanted to go to AK every day! They love the Boneyard and could spend hours there. This was when they were 3 1/2 and 1 and again at age 5 and 3 1/2. They also enjoyed the safari ride, walkthru stuff, Flights of Wonder, banging on the drums, playing in a small fountain
(I think this is in Asia somwehere) to cool off. Just take alot of breaks and drink water.

 

[mfinley]

We love AK! Last time we were there, we started at Tusker House for breakfast, then went straight to the safari. There wasn't a line and it was beautiful in the early morning sun.

EE and Dinosaur are 2 of our favorite things in all of the parks. My husband doesn't like roller coasters, but LOVES Dinosaur. That's worth it for me! I love the relaxed atmosphere. We go for 2 days although they may not be full days.

We are so focused on getting to the "rides" that it seems we are missing alot of other great attractions. Thanks for mentioning all the great shows and exhibits!