Help! Which park to do twice: MK or AK?

[Alexsandra]

Hi there,
I have been to Disney so many times now, I should know what to do but I seem to be unable to decide so am looking to you, my fellow DISers, for advise.

My husband surprised me with an 8 day trip to WDW for our wedding anniversary this September.
This trip is a romantic, adult-only trip so the kids are sitting this one out!

We are staying at the Polynesian resort so will be on the monorail except for our last night were we are switching to POFQ. We have a 5 day park ticket (without park hoppers) with an extra Water park ticket that we got as a bonus offer. We also want to attend MNSSHP on the 09/08.

So the question is do I go to MK twice (not including our MNSSHP night) or do we do AK twice?

On my first day at WDW (09/04), I was determined to go to AK because I wanted to see the last showing Jungle book Alive night show but after reading bad reviews and watching the show on youtube, I don't think it is worth it anymore. AK is my husband's favourite park so I was trying to make him happy, however we are going to AK on our last day (09/11) where I booked him a surprise. We are going on a VIP tour in AK: the Wild Africa Trek. The tour is 3 hours long and I thought it might eat up most of our day, so that is another reason why I booked AK twice. But I now see that AK is closing at 9 PM on that day so it might give us enough time to do the tour and to visit most of the park anyway.

Another reason I am thinking of switching the AK on our first day for MK is because this is the only day I was able to get Ohana' for dinner and BOG for Lunch. We are going to MK on the 10th but was not able to get my desired ADR.

Take a look at my schedule and let me know what you think:
09/04: afternoon arrival (no park)
09/05: AK or MK?
09/06: EP
09/07: HS
09/08: Pool day and MNSSHP
09/09: Typhoon Lagoon
09/10: MK
09/11: AK and Wild Africa Trek

 

[mawatcha]

That's a tough one because there is a lot to do in both but I would say MK, solely based on more attractions being there and I find that one day never feels long enough. With the right planning, I have found that you can do almost everything at AK in one day.

I guess it will really depend on the timing for the VIP tour but if you can get fast-passes for the attractions you want to go to most in AK, would still do two full days at MK.

 

[Shanti]

Hi there,
I have been to Disney so many times now, I should know what to do but I seem to be unable to decide so am looking to you, my fellow DISers, for advise.

My husband surprised me with an 8 day trip to WDW for our wedding anniversary this September.
This trip is a romantic, adult-only trip so the kids are sitting this one out!

We are staying at the Polynesian resort so will be on the monorail except for our last night were we are switching to POFQ. We have a 5 day park ticket (without park hoppers) with an extra Water park ticket that we got as a bonus offer. We also want to attend MNSSHP on the 09/08.

So the question is do I go to MK twice (not including our MNSSHP night) or do we do AK twice?

On my first day at WDW (09/04), I was determined to go to AK because I wanted to see the last showing Jungle book Alive night show but after reading bad reviews and watching the show on youtube, I don't think it is worth it anymore. AK is my husband's favourite park so I was trying to make him happy, however we are going to AK on our last day (09/11) where I booked him a surprise. We are going on a VIP tour in AK: the Wild Africa Trek. The tour is 3 hours long and I thought it might eat up most of our day, so that is another reason why I booked AK twice. But I now see that AK is closing at 9 PM on that day so it might give us enough time to do the tour and to visit most of the park anyway.

Another reason I am thinking of switching the AK on our first day for MK is because this is the only day I was able to get Ohana' for dinner and BOG for Lunch. We are going to MK on the 10th but was not able to get my desired ADR.

Take a look at my schedule and let me know what you think:
09/04: afternoon arrival (no park)
09/05: AK or MK?
09/06: EP
09/07: HS
09/08: Pool day and MNSSHP
09/09: Typhoon Lagoon
09/10: MK
09/11: AK and Wild Africa Trek

Based on the number of popular attractions, Magic Kingdom is a two-day park, and Animal Kingdom is a one-day park.

 

[cdnjason]

5 day park tickets = 2 days MK, 1 day DHS, 1 day AK & 1 day EP.

Have a great trip!

 

[Alexsandra]

Great! That is exactly what I needed, a little push in the right direction. Thanks guys I appreciate your input!

 

[nilla]

If those are the choices, then definitely MK. Far more to do there. You can pretty much wrap up AK in a day.

That said, if it were me, I would absolutely be picking Epcot as my "double" park.

 

[mister morrow]

I'm gonna go against everyone and say AK! I think it deserves more than one day. But of course, this is entirely based on what you enjoy!

have a great trip!

 

[Alexsandra]

If those are the choices, then definitely MK. Far more to do there. You can pretty much wrap up AK in a day.

That said, if it were me, I would absolutely be picking Epcot as my "double" park.

I know, that was another one I was debating on doing twice but since I got ADR for BOG and Ohana' on 09/05 I decided to make it a MK day.

However, I could still replace my MK on the 09/10 with EP but I would need a whole new thread to debate that issue

No, but seriously, it is something to think about. At least I decided on MK instead of AK for my first day!
Too many choices!

 

[halssister]

AK is our favorite park, but that being said, when we have five day passes we still spend two days at MK. There is just so much more to do there. We normally only do 4-5 hours in a park (DS has a disability and can't handle longer than that at a time) but still manage to do everything we want at AK. Even with you going to the MNSSHP, I'd still spend the second "full" day at MK too.

 

[Mama Lo]

Did you consider adding a day on to your tickets? I think it would only cost $30 for the both of you to go that additional day.

 

[Alexsandra]

Did you consider adding a day on to your tickets? I think it would only cost $30 for the both of you to go that additional day.

Yes but since we are splurging to stay at the poly, we really want a day to enjoy the resort. Plus I got a free ticket for one of Disney's water parks so we are going to use it on typhoon lagoon since we've never been.

 

[hakepb]

I'd lean MK for 1st park day and taking advantage of the Poly's location.

Ideally, you'd be able to save the 5th park day as a wild card, and go to which park you most felt like (but that wouldn't work unless you moved up the Wild Africa trek

 

[Alexsandra]

I'd lean MK for 1st park day and taking advantage of the Poly's location.

Ideally, you'd be able to save the 5th park day as a wild card, and go to which park you most felt like (but that wouldn't work unless you moved up the Wild Africa trek

Good point! Unless I change my park day on the 09/10 to AK and call Disney to move my Wild Africa trek then, I could leave my last day as my wild card. The only problem is those FPs

 

[hakepb]

Good point! Unless I change my park day on the 09/10 to AK and call Disney to move my Wild Africa trek then, I could leave my last day as my wild card. The only problem is those FPs

Or make the 5th MK
Then the 10th is a "wildcard" tentatively planned for MK
But if you decide you had enough MK after MNSSHP, then switch it to AK

 

[RedOne3781]

I would go to MK twice, especially since you are staying at the Poly.
Sounds like you have an amazing trip planned! Enjoy.

 

[Alexsandra]

I would go to MK twice, especially since you are staying at the Poly.
Sounds like you have an amazing trip planned! Enjoy.

Thanks so much!

 

[disneymom0104]

I would absolutely do MK twice. I think 9/5 will be more crowded there than other days, but still more to do than 2 days in AK.

 

[CounselorX]

But I now see that AK is closing at 9 PM on that day so it might give us enough time to do the tour and to visit most of the park anyway.

Where are you seeing that AK closes at 9:00 PM? The website shows AK closing at 8:00 PM.

 

[Alexsandra]

I would absolutely do MK twice. I think 9/5 will be more crowded there than other days, but still more to do than 2 days in AK.

Ya definitely more crowded on Mondays but now I can book some FPs here and FPs for my 09/10 day. Should be able to cover all the main attractions that way.

 

[Alexsandra]

Great thanks everyone, I am so happy I asked. I feel better now that I have a plan. MK twice is the smarter choice!