EP Xmas or AK Pandora?

[WanderlustNZ]

A bit of Background Info:

We (2 adults, one 11yr old) have just one day (the Wednesday the week before Xmas) to either go to AK or Epcot. It will be from about midday to closing, so we are not interested in hoppers and can’t get there for rope drop.

We haven’t been to WDW in over 5 years and have never seen Pandora. Nor have we been at Xmas. There’s a good chance we may never be back to WDW again after this visit.

We are at WDW for 3 days and we are prioritising all things Xmas by staying at WL and doing things like MK, a sleigh ride at FW, and JBJB dessert party on our other 2 days. We will be in the middle of the Costa Rican jungle on Xmas day, so WDW will essentially be the days we celebrate Xmas.

Epcot is offering such a wonderful array of festive options, so I currently hold fastpasses there. Plus, I think we will cope with the crowds better here since our priority at Epcot won’t be the rides.
But if it wasn’t Xmas, it wouldn’t even be a competition - AK would win hands down as we love the rides there.

I’m looking 2-3x daily for FOP fastpasses, thinking that that will be the sign I am looking for to make the switch. But even if I do find them, the switch will be a reluctant one. It seems a waste of time to keep looking so frequently when I haven’t even fully decided what I want to do.

Which park would you pick and why?

 

[CERS]

If I only had one option, I had already been to Pandora and been on FOP before, then I would choose Epcot, because of the Festival of the Holidays and Candlelight Processional.

If I had not been to Pandora or been on FOP, then I would choose AK without hesitation.

 

[DWillowBay]

I say this reluctantly because I LOVE the Christmas presentations at EPCOT. But...since you are doing other Christmas activities, I would suggest that, if you can, see Pandora. Frankly, I love the FOP ride and atmosphere of Pandora. It's worth your effort to at least try for those FPS. You surely won't be disappointed by EPCOT, though. You have two really good options. Enjoy your trip, no matter how it shakes out! ...and enjoy Costa Rica. How exciting.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

If I only had one option, I had already been to Pandora and been on FOP before, then I would choose Epcot, because of the Festival of the Holidays and Candlelight Processional.

If I had not been to Pandora or been on FOP, then I would choose AK without hesitation.

Thanks heaps for your input.

Out of interest, would you still pick AK if you couldn’t get FOP fastpasses?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I say this reluctantly because I LOVE the Christmas presentations at EPCOT. But...since you are doing other Christmas activities, I would suggest that, if you can, see Pandora. Frankly, I love the FOP ride and atmosphere of Pandora. It's worth your effort to at least try for those FPS. You surely won't be disappointed by EPCOT, though. You have two really good options. Enjoy your trip, no matter how it shakes out! ...and enjoy Costa Rica. How exciting.

Thanks so much.

It really is a hard decision as even without FOP, Pandora at night looks really pretty. Plus that projection show on the Tree of Life looks great. Yet so does Holiday Illuminations.

I’m even torn over whether I should switch all our fastpasses over to AK while there are still plenty of Non-FOP fastpasses available and keep trying to find a swap from Navi to FOP.
Other than Frozen (which we’ve also never been on), I’m not particularly attached to my Epcot fastpasses.

 

[djc9699]

If it were me and I was prioritizing Christmas, I would go to Epcot. Pandora is nice and FOP is an awesome ride but with only half a day, I wouldn't waste half of that waiting in line for it. Your family will see much more Christmas in Epcot.

 

[CERS]

Thanks heaps for your input.

Out of interest, would you still pick AK if you couldn’t get FOP fastpasses?

In my opinion, Pandora is the best themed land in WDW and FOP is probably the best ride in Orlando. Therefore, if I hadn't been on FOP... I would go for it. It is a ride you gotta experience at least once and it was my top priority on my last trip to WDW.

If this was my case, I would go to AK with Navi FP+; try to find same day FP for FoP, and if impossible, I would go on it before park closing (in fact, in my last visit this was the case, as I couldn't find FoP FP+ and was my first time in Pandora)

 

[WanderlustNZ]

If it were me and I was prioritizing Christmas, I would go to Epcot. Pandora is nice and FOP is an awesome ride but with only half a day, I wouldn't waste half of that waiting in line for it. Your family will see much more Christmas in Epcot.

Thanks djc9699
We would miss the first 3-4hrs of park time, but would still get about 8-9hrs in whichever park we choose, which is kind of our energy/patience limit anyway.

In saying that, I agree that queueing for the hours that FOP demands would be a waste of our time. The ride would need to remain a case of ‘ignorance is bliss’.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

In my opinion, Pandora is the best themed land in WDW and FOP is probably the best ride in Orlando. Therefore, if I hadn't been on FOP... I would go for it. It is a ride you gotta experience at least once and it was my top priority on my last trip to WDW.

If this was my case, I would go to AK with Navi FP+; try to find same day FP for FoP, and if impossible, I would go on it before park closing (in fact, in my last visit this was the case, as I couldn't find FoP FP+ and was my first time in Pandora)

Thanks CERS. You’ve given me some food for thought.

 

[CarolynFH]

I too would go to AK and ride FoP at closing. Awesome ride and the perfect way to end the day! If I got a FP for it, I’d ride twice.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I too would go to AK and ride FoP at closing. Awesome ride and the perfect way to end the day! If I got a FP for it, I’d ride twice.

Thanks for your input.

Most of the comments seem to be in favour of AK, but most of the votes in favour of Epcot. It’s not making my decision any easier.

 

[CynBeth]

I would do Epcot for the holiday stuff and to see Illuminations before it ends.

 

[Disneylover99]

I would never miss Epcot at Christmas.

 

[jenmsmith]

I would do Epcot. So many wonderful Christmas experiences there, including food, storytellers, holiday Illuminations, the Candlelight Processional, awesome ambiance.

I do love AK, but to be completely honest, I have ridden FOP three times and am underwhelmed. Pandora is beautiful. But I’d choose Epcot.

 

[CarolynFH]

Thanks for your input.

Most of the comments seem to be in favour of AK, but most of the votes in favour of Epcot. It’s not making my decision any easier.

Oops, I completely forgot about the poll! Just voted!

 

[glocon]

FoP is a fun ride- but I personally like Soarin better. EP will be more “Christmasy” I think.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

I would never miss Epcot at Christmas.

This ^
Times 100

I love AK - rode FOP 7 times during our last trip. But IMO one ride is not a reason to go to AK. If it’s christmas feel/spirit (both drink and atmosphere ) then EPCOT gets my vote hands down. AK is a lovely park and our second favourite to MK but it is lacking in the Christmas atmosphere department.

 

[bkfamilyof5]

We will be doing a Christmas week trip and have plenty of time to spend in all parks. I love AK (as does my family) and we’ve not done Pandora yet, but if I had to choose one for Christmas atmosphere and using it as “substitute Christmas” I’d definitely pick Epcot and not worry about what I was “missing out on” at AK. I don’t feel like I’ve been missing something super important by not having seen pandora.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Hi Everyone. Thanks so much for your input.

I have an update. I changed all my fastpasses to AK and to be honest I feel a bit disappointed, confirming that my heart was set on Epcot.

But... I was watching a Disney You Tube video yesterday, when my son piped up and said “I can’t wait for the Yeti ride”. Yeti ride is what we named Everest and it was our shared family favourite ride in all of WDW last visit.

I reminded him about prior discussions where we’d discussed not going to AK and him and DH saying they didn’t really care what I picked (their response to all vacation decisions I throw at them).
But it was like it had suddenly dawned on him which rides were actually in which parks, and let’s just say he looked really disappointed.
“But isn’t Epcot where our least favourite rides were?” was his response to my argument that Epcot would have heaps of great Xmas stuff.
So with that, on a whim, I changed everything.

I’m not convinced I made the right decision, but given all my indecisiveness, it’s seems right at this stage to follow the one member of my family who is not indecisive (even though his opinion would have been even more useful months ago).

 

[Tksolomom]

I think you made the right choice. I don’t think the Christmas festivities (other 5han the Candlelight Processional) are good enough to miss AK, especially if you love the rides there. I think Pandora is worth it.