MGM and AK in 1 day?

[KPtoys]

We are going in Jan (and if it's like 2004 the lines aren't that long) I was wondering if doing MGM and AK in 1 day is REALLY pushing it.

 

[InstImpres]

I think it is too hard. Both those parks have great attractions but they are long (not a 3 minute ride like IASW & Dumbo). They tend to be 20-40 minute attractions/shows. I always feel like we get the least done in MGM when you count # of attractions, since they are long (B&B Show, VOTLMM, Animation Tour, etc.)

JMHO

 

[boomhauer]

You know, it really depends on the type of traveller you are and how familiar you are with each park.

I'd say, since you're asking, chances are good you may not be overly familiar, so in that case, I'd say probably don't do it.

If you are familiar, absolutely possible. I would say, start at Animal Kingdom first, right when it opens. You could easily get through there by 1:00PM. You could be over to MGM by 1:30, have lunch until 2:30, then have about 6 hours to go through the park, which is very possible.

Honestly, it depends on whether you want to stop and "smell the roses".

 

[Steph in NC]

i've done mgm and animal kingdom in one day - mk takes all day

 

[KPtoys]

i've done mgm and animal kingdom in one day - mk takes all day

Were you rushed? Did you see a lot of things, not everything, but a lot?

 

[Disneymaddness]

I suppose it is possible but I think you would have to rush through each park and really miss alot. But if you only want the highlights its doable.

 

[Gone Disney]

It really depends on how much you want to see of each park and at what pace you want to do it at. We have done AK and MGM before and just this weekend we did MGM and Epcot but we did not dare to visit every attraction.
You'll need to check the park times for your trip because the parks may close earlier than you planned and that would not be good for a schedule.

My best advice would be do not rush and no matter what does or does not happen just have fun.


Gone Disney

 

[lpizzuro123]

I guess it is doable but you will definately miss things. The problem with both these parks (especially MGM) is that there are specific timed shows (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Who Wants to be a Millionionaire, Lights Motor Action, Indiana Jones, Playhouse Disney) rather than ongoing shows. Animal Kingdom has timed shows also (Lion King, Pocahontas, Flights of Wondor). When you enter the parks you really need to check the scheduled times of the shows you want to catch. Also in January the parks probably closed early. We also really enjoy the parade at AK and this usually does not happen till 3:30 or 4:00. There is also a great parade in MGM. Best advise is to take two days, if you can't - then just really research before hand to see what you really want to see. As far as food goes, just do counter service - a sit down place would take too much time.

Linda

 

[henrylovespooh]

We;ve done MGM and AK in one day without feeling rushed. We usually do it on the AK EMH morning, so we get an extra hour. Then we take a mid-day break and go to MGM after the kids wake up. My son loves AK, but DH and I could take it or leave it. We usually do the safaria, walk the Pangani Forest Trail, the Maharaja Jungle Trek and see Festival of the Lion King. If there is no line, DH will ride Dinosaur and I'll take the kids on the Dumbo-like dinosaur ride.

At MGM, our must-do's are Voyage of the Little Mermaid and the Muppet Movie. The story of Walt Disney is great but the kids aren't into it. The great Movie ride is good. The Beauty and the Beast show is nice, but skippable if you don't have time. Use Fastpass to ride Rock and Roll Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror - I don't ride them. DH likes the Star Wars themed attraction, and we usually take the kids to see Buzz and Woody and Jessie for pictures at Al's Toy Barn. We have had dinner at Hollywood and Vine and it's okay. 50's Prime Time is okay, but DH doesn't like the schtick of the servers.

 

[LiteBrite]

Do-able, but with several conditions:
You need to be familiar with the parks and have a plan laid out
You won't be able to do anywhere near everything at both parks - have your priorities sorted out ahead of time
You need to be there on a good day for both parks, without heavy crowds
Everyone in your party will need to be energetic and with lots of stamina

It's iffy, but if that's the only way your schedule will work out, go for it - just plan carefully.

 

[puffkin]

Unless you have visited before and just want to do highlights, I say no. You wouldn't be giving either park the justice it deserves.

 

[Rella Bella]

I'd say it depends on the ages of your kids. MGM is my DS's favorite park... he's 9 now but he's LOVED it since he was 7. If he didn't get to go on RR at least twice he would be very disapointed! (Once when the lines were short he did it 11 times in a row!)

The shows at MGM take a while... but some of them may not interest or may even be too 'loud' for very young kids.

At AK if you did all the rides & shows you would need more than 1/2 a day but if you aren't interested in several you could probably come close to that.
We usually do it first & then head to Epcot. The only down side of going from there to MGM is that MGM generally closes earlier than Mk or Epcot.

If you do the half day at AK, and your kids are under 9, I would totally skip Dinoland in AK. We always end up stuck there for what feels like forever! It is a HUGE play area with all kinds of places for kids to hide and run! And there is an 'excavation' sand box...which occupies him for hours. It is very hard to get him out of there.

It's a great place if you want to rest while they play, but DS is SO disapointed when it's time to go (even after a couple of hours) that he loses it. The Dinosaur ride to scary for DS, he hates it. And they have those horrible Carnival games, which suck DS in every time... his mission in life is to win every one... which makes for a very sad little boy whether he gets to play a few times or not!

 

[KPtoys]

Thanks for the responses. I should have added that I have a 3 yr old DD and a 1 yr old DS. So I guess the shows won't be too much fun for them thats why I was thinking we could do 2 parks in 1 day.

 

[speakupjc]

We are doing 2 parks in 1 day with my little 2 year old daughter. This will give her variety, be a change of pace and hopefully 1 park will even have less crowds than the other one (We are going at Thanksgiving). I recommend it.

 

[jann1033]

we spent a day and 1/2 at ak, a day and an emh am at mgm. we still missed a few shows ( indiana jones, catastrophy canyon was closed, all the playhouse disney stuff, missed the bird show and some of dinoland ). fisrt time for us at ak, not mgm. unless you want to miss most of both parks( or don't want to see most) i think you'll be sorry you didn't spend more time

i think your kids would be interested in most of the ak shows( maybe not tarzan if it's still there or the bird one) and many of the mgm shows( maybe not indiana jones, beauty and the beast might be a little much dancing depends on what the 3 yr old likes) but truthfully that is most of what mgm is except for tot , rnr, and star tours, none of which i think your kids can ride& the movie ride ( boring for kids imo). in that case i might concentrate on ak and if you want to do the mgm thrill rides go at an am emh..those are all open i think and you could get them done in that time frame then head to another park for the rest of the day

 

[AnaheimGirl]

We did AK and MGM in one day this past Sept. 29th, with an 8yo and a 2yo. I'll try to remember exactly what we did, so you can see what we had time for:

We arrived at AK around 9:30, grabbed a fastpass for Kilimanjaro Safari, then headed over to Dinoland where there were no lines, so we rode Triceratop Spin, then dh and I took turns on Primeval Whirl with dd8 while the other took dd2 on Triceratop Spin again and played in the Boneyard. Then, dd8 and I rode Dinosaur, and then it was time to go on KS. I really wanted to see FOTLK, but the show times just didn't work out based on our FP return time and the fact that dd8 wanted to be at MGM by 2:00 for Power Rangers autographs. Let's see, we were done with KS around 12:00, so we ate lunch at Tusker House, then headed over to MGM. I would have loved to stay at AK longer and do some exploration trails, but dd8 and dh just aren't that into the place. So, depending on whether you and your dh want to do some less kiddie-ish things or not, and how into the animals your kids are, you may not have time to do everything you want. I like the idea of going to AK on an EMH morning, though. If you got there before EMH opening, you'd have 1.5 hours more than we did and could easily get a couple more attractions in. You'd probably want to skip ITTBAB anyway, as it can be scary for little ones, and Tarzan Rocks (loud for little ones). The Pocohantas show is really geared towards little kids, though, your kids might like it.

We arrived at MGM around 1:30, grabbed FP's for RnRC, headed over to Streets of America to get Power Rangers autographs. Probably were there till 2:30 or so. Then, went back and got FP's for ToT, baby swapped to ride RnRC, then baby swapped and rode ToT. I took the 2yo to HISTK playground while dh and dd rode ToT and RnRC again. Then, dd2 and I went to see Playhouse Disney while dh and dd8 watched LMA, and by then it was around 7:00, we were tired, ate a quick dinner at ABC Commissary and went back to the hotel.

As you can see, we didn't get much done at all. We tried to make it to Beauty and the Beast, but ToT had a little technical difficulty and by the time dh and dd got out, we'd missed it. That's the one thing I don't like about MGM. Since the majority of the attractions are shows, you have to work around the showtimes. It never seems (to me) like one is starting at a good time to just leave one show and head to another. The next show we want to see is always starting too soon, or far enough out (so we think) to hit one of the thrill rides in between, but then something always seems to get messed up and we end up being too late to make it to the next showing, too.

Anyway, with the ages of your kids, you might not want to do a whole lot more at MGM than we did, anyway. At age 4, dd was bored stiff on the backlot tour on our previous trip, LMA might be too loud for your kids. Apparently, some little kids think Muppetvision 3D is too scary and VOTLM is too dark, so I don't know if you want to take your kids in those or not. If you don't spend as much time on the thrill rides as we did, you could probably fit in one or two more shows, which may be enough for you.

It all depends on what you want to do. We know we missed a lot at both AK and MGM by doing it this way, but we hit our (well, our kids') favorites, and we were able to schedule a full day at each water park and two full days at MK, which are more appealing to our family than either AK or MGM. You just have to decide where your family wants to spend their time.

Good luck. No matter what you decide, you'll have a blast!

 

[edk35]

For us............ we only do a few things at AK..it is our least fave park. We were just there in Jan. so this trip we plan on just doing Dino Land for the few things there, safari ride probably....maybe Lion King show again.....not much there we want to see. AK is a quick park even if you do most of the stuff.. NOW..MGM we like...........but we don't do it all anymore either. We will do the TOT, RR, Movie Ride, Star Tours, Stunt Show and Osborne lights....probably skip Fantasmic too.