How much time should I spend in Animal Kingdom?

[momof2n2]

WE normally allocate one full day. But - that usually means 9AM - 6 or 7PM when we've travelled. We usually leave admitting there were one or two things we were sorry we didn't fit in. My family does not see it as a half-day park at all. Part of what contributes to that is needing to queue up for so many shows (and they do have really good ones).
I confess that although at first I was sad when they did away with the parade, I'm now secretly okay with it. We'd find a spot a solid hour ahead. That plus the parade time would easily eat up 75-90 minutes depending on things. Having that opened back up to tour will help us, I think.
It's a great park IMO.

 

[Magic Band Defender]

I like, but don't love, AK. It is a half day to three quarter day park for my family.

Does your family enjoy shows? If you see both the Lion King and Finding Nemo show every time, I can see how it could be a full day. If your family will only see one show (or zero shows!), you could do it in a half day, especially if you arrive at rope drop and utilize fast pass +.

 

[RustManFan]

basically I think ride people say 1/2 day and animal and show people say 1-2 days

 

[librarymom2007]

Animal Kingdom is actually one of my favorite parks, but one day is enough for me to really see most of it. AK also is harder in the summer when it's hot, as relief isn't as available as with the other parks, due to the outdoor nature of it. After having been to it before, a half-day now serves me best for seeing everything I want. But I would say one day to really see everything worth seeing.

Agree with this.

 

[JZCubed]

Some people say half a day is plenty, but others say at least 1-2 days. What are your thoughts?

Depends on how you calculate a day in the Parks.

Between the Shows and Rides we have on our 'must-do' list, Animal Kingdom is the Park where we spend the second-most amount of our time.

No other Park compares with Magic Kingdom, but unless a nighttime activity is involved, we spend as much, if not more, time in Animal Kingdom than H'Studios & Epcot.

 

[Ava]

We spent one day in AK last year, but missed out on a lot of things partly due to rain and partly due to having a 16-month-old who would not sit through a show if her life depended on it. (She is now almost 2 and we've tested her with a Disney Live! show at a local theater, which she sat through wonderfully.)

This year I'm planning one morning with an 11:30 lunch at Tusker House, and one day 9-4ish with a 5:00 dinner at Boma afterwards. My tentative plans are:

Morning:
Safari
Pangani Trail
11:00 FOTLK
11:30 Tusker House ADR
Discovery Trails and/or ITTBAB on the way out

Full day:
9:00-9:30 Safari again if we want to, or just walk Discovery trails/meet characters (need to figure out which ones start meeting at 9)
Rafiki's Planet Watch when it opens at 9:30
Depending on what time we get back from Rafiki's, we'll either see Flights of Wonder or just meet Baloo/King Louie & Pocahontas
Lunch ~11:30
FP Kali ~12:30
FP Everest ~1:30
Maharajah Trek
Dinosaur
(Hopefully toddler will take a stroller nap during these 4 things.)
Triceratops Spin
3:00 Nemo show
After Nemo, see if we can catch the end of the Dinoland Dance Party or just let kids play in Boneyard until its time to leave for dinner.

I'm trying to be somewhat flexible, especially on the full day, since AK is more of a walk around and explore type of park.