Anyone do 2 days at Animal Kingdom?

[dapoteete]

It wasn't until my third trip to WDW that I really appreciated Animal Kingdom. Now it is one of my favs. The detail is amazing and there really is too much to see in one day. Even with two days we missed a couple of things.

 

[Winue]

We will have 8 days in WDW so our "plan" was to do a rope drop day at AK to see the opening show, do the safari, Camp Minnie & Mickey, Dinoland area, and shows (Nemo, FOW, FOTLK). Then on a second day which would be our "sleep in day" do a table service lunch (most likely Rainforest Cafe) then tour AK for its last few hours to do the trails, train ride, parade, and a couple of the major rides like EE & PW since a lot of people say that the lines are very short for the rides closer to park closing. Also my kids want to get their faces painted at AK. AK closes at 5pm during the week we will be in WDW. So I guess for some people that would really be two "half" days, but it would allow us to take our time and not feel like we have to rush through just one dedicated day at AK.

read this, and just thinking... you might be better off doing the bigger attractions the day you are there for rope drop... get fastpasses for EE then go on the safari? you just might be risking not making it on the bigger attractions by going to them in the afternoon, especially if its closing at 5pm.

 

[dkbnyc]

my friends just came back yesterday after spending 1 week at disney, but staying off site. They have a 4yo boy that doesnt like dark scary rides and hates fireworks. He looves dinosaurs so they spent 2 days at AK and skipped DHS. Since they were staying offsite they probably did either 1/2 or 2/3 days at the parks, never really a 'full ' day.
They said that AK was one of their favs

 

[DisGal520]

OK - some of you mentioned FOTLK which is great. But don't forget Finding Nemo - the Musical. Its quite a production in itself, just as inventive as FOTLK.

And going early on the train to Conservation Station gives you a chance to check the veterinarian's schedule for the morning. How often in any city's zoo do you get to see a tiger's teeth cleaning or a cystoscopy on an African Angelfish or the x-raying of a bird? Hmmmm? And have the vet staff explaining what they are doing all the while.

Yes the lines to meet and greets are shorter. Yaaa!

As for the heat, I imagine most vacationers are going in summer. But the rest of the year the weather is good for this park. Gotta say the MK gets just as hot in the summer.


So make a full day of it. And some of you will enjoy a second day too.

 

[stargazertechie]

OK - some of you mentioned FOTLK which is great. But don't forget Finding Nemo - the Musical. Its quite a production in itself, just as inventive as FOTLK.

Finding Nemo the Musical is my FAVORITE show at Disney!

And don't forget the BEAUTIFUL baby animals on the Safari

Those are just two of the 800+ photos I took at AK alone on my last trip.

 

[Edwy]

Don't miss the bird show, Flights of Wonder! It is wonderful. Not at all boring or like a lecture. We always go and it is nevery the same. Sit in the middle, back about 5 rows, or on one of the sides, back a little further. You will have a "surprise" you won't forget!
Also, of course, make sure you do the Safari. Getting a Fast Pass first thing, to come back later, can help. The earlier times are best as the animals are more active, usually. You never know what you will see! We were in a "traffic jam" with a Rhino who wanted to stand in the middle of the road, once! Very interesting!

 

[musicluvr40]

On our trip in October, we spent one entire day at Animal Kingdom and then another 1/2 day. I have two daughters both interested in veterinary medicine, and we spent well over two hours on our second day observing the vets working on a kangaroo. The staff there was amazing and took the time to talk to my girls, explain what was going on, and answer questions. We also love to do Tusker House for breakfast and do the safari since it's different each time. It is one of our favorite parks!

 

[tony609]

Yes! We are doing 1 day Mk, 1 day Epcot,1day dhs1 day ak and then 2 evenings at Mk 1 on our DTD night and another on a 1/2 day ak day.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Animal Kingdom is our favorite park. We don't usually have two days in the time budget, but on our last trip we had two days and I loved it. We go at a slower pace, stop and enjoy things instead of racing from one line to the next. We always do it at the end of our trip for that reason.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

If my vacation was that long, sure I'd go for two days. But if my vacation is only a week, I'd likely only go for one day. The standard model most people go with are 2-MK, 2-Epcot, 1-HS, 1-AK. Of course it varies, and with extra days the plan changes.

We were there for 7 days, Sat-Sat, on our last trip. We did 2.5-MK, 1-Epcot, 1-HS, 2-AK (no park hoppers). We prefer AK over Epcot, which for us is usually the half-day park (except that we love Illuminations.)

 

[maroo]

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

YES!!

In my dream plans I had split the park in half...We did EE both days, but one day we did Lion King, all the trails, Safari and ended up at Kali at the end of the day so we could go home wet instead of roaming the park wet.

Then we came back for Day 2 and did Nemo, the Bird Show, Rafiki's...and we didn't even do Dinoland at all...

I love their parade, especially the one they do at Christmas!

BUT...we also had someone in a wheelchair that required a lot of breaks, so that was part of our issue. We used FPs the whole time and never waited in much of a line.

AK is my very favorite "day" park! I love the MK at night!

 

[maroo]

Finding Nemo the Musical is my FAVORITE show at Disney!

ME too!

And this is a GREAT picture!!

 

[RobDIS]

I loved AK, but you can fairly easily do everything in one day. I'd say play it by ear and if you love it and feel like you have more to see, then go back.

Even though I say you can see everything in one day, I did in fact go here on two days on my last trip. My wife was in an all day conference the day I did AK solo and we went back the last partial day of our trip and did nearly everything from rope drop (9AM) until we had to leave about 2. I had a blast experiencing everything with her a 2nd time.

Finding Nemo The Musical is my favorite show and DINOSAUR is my favorite ride in all of WDW. I watched Finding Nemo both days and could have easily watched it again!

 

[BarbieGal457]

Although I love animals and the theme/feel of AK, I don't know if I could do it for two days on my usual trips. Normally I stay for 5-7 days, so that may be why - if I had say, two weeks, then of course! But it really is up to you. I honestly enjoy wandering around the park and finding all the pathways and animals. Neither I nor the DBF are big thrill seekers, so we do a few attractions then go off to find the animals! It really is a beautiful park, and I think slowing down helps me take it all in. We do park hop away from AK though, as sometimes it's just too hot for me.

That said, I typically only spend one day there, mostly because my trips are short-ish and I love MK and EPCOT so much! But I do think AK is a very interesting place, and there really is so much to see and discover, that if you can do it for two days, why not?

 

[travelbel]

We were there this past February and scheduled breakfast at Tusker House. We were at the park when it opened at 9am, had breakfast at 10am and didn't get out of breakfast until 11:30pm. We raced around to see everything and felt that we were really rushed and wish we had skipped the character breakfast all together (slow, food was okay, but slow, slow, slow!).

I would have loved to do another 1/2 day or full day. The kids asked on our last 1/2 day if we could go there, but it was raining and we opted for MK since it was closer to the Cont, where we were staying.

I say try it! Worse case, you go back to the hotel early and swim!