MGM &AK in one day- Which one AM?

[MomofKatie]

We are going to WDW in a little over a week. Since we have school and a wedding to plan around, we will only be spending three full days/nights at the parks. We will have UPHs, so hopping is no problem.

We planned on doing MGM and AK on the same day- there are only a few things that are must-dos for us at each park. Right now, I have us going to MGM at opening, and leaving around lunchtime to head to AK. We will eat as soon as we get to AK, and then stay there all afternoon til 5.

Does this sound like a good plan? This will be Wednesday, so neither park is a EE park. I figured we could rush to ToT and RNR first thing in the AM, and do the AK stuff-KS and FOLK- during the afternoon parade.

Let me know if you've done this, or if you think it would be better to reverse the parks. BTW, we don't plan on attending Fantasmic, so we don't need to be at MGM in the evening.
Thanks!

 

[Pluto2003]

MGM in the morning and AK in the afternoon and dinner at Boma's
in the evening....

 

[Leota]

We usually do it the opposite way - AK in the morning & another park in the evening. Two reasons - If it is at all warm, AK is much more comforatable in the AM. It's always about 10º hotter there than anywhere else.
Also, AK closes early no matter what season it is, so we do AK early & then take advantage of the other parks later hours....

 

[chyam]

Defineately do AK in the morning, it closes earlier and sometimes that means 5pm depending on the time of the year, also the animals are more active in the morning so it is best to get there at opening. MGM is usually open til 8 or 9 also depending on the time of the year. You should be able to do AK by 1pm if you are there early and see only what you want to see.

 

[Steve Hurley]

I'd suggest AK in the morning then MGM in the afternoon. That way you'll see the animals at their peak showing time and end at MGM to see Fantasmic. We've always found MGM to be less crowded in the afternoons.

 

[TN Traveler]

For once I'm in agreement w/the majority! I would do AK in the morning and MGM at night. Have you been before? If so, you know what to hit and what to miss for your family....if not, I wouldn't miss Lion King Show, Bugs Life, Safari or Rapids. Dinosaur is pretty neat if your kids are older and can handle it. My DD5 didn't like it at all.......said it was too dark and too loud.
I really regret not seeing the parade there.

At MGM you can fast pass for ToT and RNR....fill in rest. If you haven't see Fantasmic, I encourage you to do so. It's great.

 

[ainmama2001]

AK in the morning. The safari is great then, and the animals are very close. Make the dinner reservations for Fantasmic. It saves you a lot of grief.

 

[MELSMICE]

I would also do AK in the morning & MGM in the afternoon/evening. The animals are more active in the morning. There are a lot of shows at AK so you should get there early to time them right & get to see as many as possible. AK closes earlier than MGM.

I think the only thing you may miss at MGM depending on when you get there would be Beauty & the Beast. They seem to have their last show fairly early in the day. Also, if you are at MGM in the evening you can do Fantasmic - that is definitely a must see.

 

[PlutoPony]

Also agree with the majority to do AK in the a.m. - UNLESS you're pretty sure of a rainy afternoon...... if that were the case, MGM in the a.m. would work better, and most of the AK things are fine in the rain (especially KS as animals are typically active in the rain).

Have fun!

 

[swilphil]

I like your MGM in the a.m. and AK in the p.m. plan. Here are my reasons:

1. You will want to get fastpass for either ToT or RnR. If you wait till afternoon, they may be all out and you'll spend all your time in the park waiting for those two rides.

2. You'll be able to plan around the show times in MGM more easily in the morning. Must see shows are: Beauty and the Beast, Muppets, and Millionaire. During this time of year, the shows may be not be playing later in the day. If you have little ones, go to Disney Playhouse.

3. There's many more attractions at MGM compared to AK. That way if you still have some things you want to do, you can stay a little longer if you go in the morning. Other fun things are: the Stunt Show, Star Tours, and the Great Movie Ride. These tend to be time consuming attractions--use your fast passes wisely. Our family can easily do AK in 3 hours, so you don't really have to be there until 2 p.m. You could grab some quick counter service for lunch at MGM--we like the Backlot Express.

If you were going in the summer, I would definitely say do AK in the morning and only in the morning because of the heat. I think this time of year you will be fine in the afternoon and the crowds will be very low because most people do go in morning and then leave early afternoon.

 

[MomofKatie]

Thanks everybody! I think we will stick with the origional plan and do AK in the afternoon. We want to relax at the resort that evening, and DH and I will head out for a "couples only" night at DTD/PI. I really do think that since the conventional wisdom is to hit AK first, the crowds should be thinned out by 2pm. We also are really only planning on FOLK, KS, and the animal trails, so we should be able to do those in a few hours. And we really do want to use FP for RNR/ TOT, and morning will be a better time to make sure we get those. RNR, ToT, GMR, Muppets, Star Tours, and VOLM and B&B are the only things we want to do at MGM, so we should be able to do those by 1 or 2 pm.

Thanks for the input- can hardly wait to get there!