Half day in Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom?

[xlauren13x]

Hi! I am planning a trip in October and only going to have 3 days for the parks. Is it possible to do Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom in the same day or should we just choose one or the other. This would also be on a Thursday so we are thinking of trying to Mickeys Not So Scary as that'll be our last night in the parks.

 

[mindeola]

You could hit highlights of each park by doing both in one day. I would not do both in one day and then the Halloween party. That is a lot if you have never been before.

 

[rwdavis2]

I agree with mindeola. Not both and then a party. Too much running around.

 

[xlauren13x]

You could hit highlights of each park by doing both in one day. I would not do both in one day and then the Halloween party. That is a lot if you have never been before.

Okay. I know we are definitely doing Halloween party because none of us have ever been so I guess we'll just have to choose one to do that day. We've all been to Disney World before and have certain rides we really only care about riding from those 2 parks. Just haven't done the halloween party.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Could you do one day Epcot, one day AK/HS, and one day MK, with that being the party day?

 

[rg35]

Personally, I think AK really requires a full day, especially now with Pandora. It's a huge park with a lot to do, but because it is a THEME park rather than an AMUSEMENT park, it has always gotten an ill-deserved reputation as a half day park. People think "well, there aren't tons of rides, so not a lot to do". But, if you're interested in the wildlife trails and the rides and the shows, it has always been a full day park and now is more than ever because they have added two more rides.

Now, this is all very subjective, but I would probably dedicate 1 day to MK and 1 to AK, and then split your second day between DHS and Epcot and do the highlights of those parks. Book your FP+ reservations for whatever park you plan on doing in the afternoon. I feel that unless you really really want to see all of the countries in the World Showcase at Epcot, you can hit the highlights and be done pretty quickly. We like the world showcase, but touring mini, disneyfied versions of various nations might not be everyone's cup of tea as far as how to spend time on a very short visit.

 

[BebopBaloo]

Both, esp. AK as others have said can take a full day. I've done both in the same day due to time constraints. If you choose the three things you want to do most from each park, make FP+ for the second park and rope drop the first one..you should be ok. I wouldn't try to do both and a party at MK on the same day though. That would not work out well at all.

 

[Bellechin06]

We did AK and HS in one day but that's only because we had already spent half of the previous day at AK. The day before we did Dino Land and Discovery Island things and wrapped up the night with ROL. And the next morning we did everything in Africa and Asia. Finished with the Lion King show at 12 and was at HS by 1:30pm just in time for our 2pm ADR at Mama Melrose.
If you don't plan on doing an ADR for dinner at HS, you'll have time to do all the rides AND shows. Trust me, we did

 

[Delirium]

I would not do any other park on a party day. The party is best enjoyed with plenty of rest. You did not mention if you had small children or not,and that certainly plays a part as well.

 

[SplashMo]

Arrive at AK 20 minutes before open. Leave at noon. Hop to HS 1-5. Enjoy the party...

 

[Accident]

If you only have 3 days, you are going to have to make it work. That's a long day to end with a party.. I would skip one and nap between park and party myself. are you nature or star wars fans? if you have kids I think leaning towards hollywood might be better as there is a variety of things children enjoy between beauty and the beast, frozen, toy story and star wars. any action fans will find it better. but if your nature and animal fans AK might be the better choice if skipping.

HS and AK are what I call the 1 hour attraction parks. It's either a short wait and a 20-40 minute show or a long wait and a short ride. I'm not sure there is any attraction you could actually do in less than an hour. There is 15 attractions not counting the street performers, stage shows and eating so it's roughly 15+ hours to do the whole park. AK is the same with several stage shows that again seem to take an hour each. safari is easily 40 minutes with a fastpass and an hour to 90 minutes with standby wait. flight looks like it might be 3-6 hour lines and they made a queue for that long of a wait... It's going to be at least an hour fastpass because of where you merge, and how long the preshow is.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

If you are planning to do Pandora, I don't know if you will be able to get all of the "highlight" attractions done at both DHS and AK. I would personally pick one or the other. It really depends on what you are wanting to make out of your visit.

 

[xlauren13x]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I think we are going to go to HS as soon as it opens hit the main rides we want and then maybe do Epcot and that day will be when Epcot is open to 11 for extra magic hours so we will have plenty of time. And then do AK on Thursday as soon as it opens on Thursday before the party. Still trying to figure out what we can't miss. And there are no kids going. Just 3 26 year olds so we won't have to worry about kids needing a nap.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

I would rope drop Epcot, hit Soarin, TT, FEA and Mitsusoki and then head to DHS for the rest of the day. FP+ TSMM, ToT, Star Tours, single rider RnRR, catch Frozen Sing Along, catch B+tB live, catch the Muppets hit ToT a few more times depending on the wait, then head to the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular dessert party. Well, if I could have my wish I would anyway
ETA: I almost forgot to get a Great Movie Ride in there...DS15 would never forgive me if we missed that!

 

[Nick6300]

Personally, I think AK really requires a full day, especially now with Pandora. It's a huge park with a lot to do, but because it is a THEME park rather than an AMUSEMENT park, it has always gotten an ill-deserved reputation as a half day park. People think "well, there aren't tons of rides, so not a lot to do". But, if you're interested in the wildlife trails and the rides and the shows, it has always been a full day park and now is more than ever because they have added two more rides.

Now, this is all very subjective, but I would probably dedicate 1 day to MK and 1 to AK, and then split your second day between DHS and Epcot and do the highlights of those parks. Book your FP+ reservations for whatever park you plan on doing in the afternoon. I feel that unless you really really want to see all of the countries in the World Showcase at Epcot, you can hit the highlights and be done pretty quickly. We like the world showcase, but touring mini, disneyfied versions of various nations might not be everyone's cup of tea as far as how to spend time on a very short visit.

I agree with Mouseketeer. DHS is a half day park even for less frequent goers with all of the construction/closures. AK will command a lot of time with Avatar land and again if you do all of the trails and 3 main shows. With the Oct timeframe, EP would have the Food and Wine with the concerts being in the evening, which if important to you may dictate going to EP 2nd. If F&W isn't your thing and Fantasmic or Star Wars laser light show is more important then you could flip those 2 parks. You could do DHS then EP and 2 full days at AK and MK. Again, down to preference on attractions. While DHS isn't as time consuming, Toy, Aero, Tower are among my fav's and we have a hard time skipping.

 

[xlauren13x]

I think we are going to go early to DHS on Tuesday and then end with Epcot on the night it has extra magic hours

 

[Nick6300]

Idk if others mentioned but you're going during food and wine fest at Epcot, not bringing kids... sounds fun to me! The first day of F&W is on our last day, and looking forward to concert listings. It'll be crowded at WS but fun. Yes, itll be a late night at EP (possibly drinking involved). you'll be tired and perhaps not feeling super perky in the morning. But i'd do it. Where else but WDW do you see non morning people eager to get up at 6am to be early to rope drop, then proceed to walk 10+ miles in a day?

 

[davkata]

No kids going...just 26 year olds...go for it all if it's the only way you can fit it into this trip. You can certainly handle a long busy Disney day. I'm almost twice that age and can! Have a blast!

 

[xlauren13x]

Idk if others mentioned but you're going during food and wine fest at Epcot, not bringing kids... sounds fun to me! The first day of F&W is on our last day, and looking forward to concert listings. It'll be crowded at WS but fun. Yes, itll be a late night at EP (possibly drinking involved). you'll be tired and perhaps not feeling super perky in the morning. But i'd do it. Where else but WDW do you see non morning people eager to get up at 6am to be early to rope drop, then proceed to walk 10+ miles in a day?

Oh we definitely plan to do F&W. This will a trip of a lot of firsts. The 2 people I am going with have never been to Disney. I haven't been during F&W or during Halloween for Not So Scary.

 

[xlauren13x]

No kids going...just 26 year olds...go for it all if it's the only way you can fit it into this trip. You can certainly handle a long busy Disney day. I'm almost twice that age and can! Have a blast!

Thanks! We may add another day ticket before we leave that Friday but we are just going to see how it goes and see what all we fit in.