MGM or Animal Kingdom?

[Nanisashi]

For sure we are doing 1 day MK and 1 day Epcot. What we aren't sure is about our third park. Should we do MGM or Animal Kingdom? We have two girls, 7 months and 4 yrs old. THanks!

 

[dawn8226]

Now I don't have a small child (my daughter is 10, but was 7 on our first trip), but you could do both. With kids that age you probably won't be going on any rollercoasters or big rides. So if your 4 year old loves animals go to AK in the morning, see the animals and a couple of shows. Take a break in the afternoon for nap time. Then go to MGM for late afternoon and evening to see some of the shows there. This is what we are planning to do on our next trip (without the afternoon nap). We don't like the rollercoasters or any of the "big" rides, but we enjoy the shows and parades. The last time we were there it seemed like we didn't need a full day for either of those parks. Otherwise I suggest looking at your child's interests. Is the 4 year old really into animals, or does she love Bear and the other disney channel characters? Hope this helps.

 

[akamom]

Animal Kingdom. MGM is fun when you have an extra ticket, my kids would rather do Animal Kingdom.

 

[LISAVWL]

another vote for AK. My kids -- 14, 5, 3 and 2 -- love animals! We plan to be at AK for opening and spend the early part of the day there. A quick lunch and we're back to the room for naps and swim time. You could do both in 1 day like the PP suggested but it may be too much for the little ones, I know it is for my kids.

 

[srgibbs]

MY vote is MGM. The afternoon parade in our families opinion is the best in Disney! Voyage of the little mermaid and beauty and the beast are great! My DS is 5 and loves Tower of Terror and Star Tours. DD2 loves playhouse disney, muppets 3D and the above listed shows. IMO, this is one of the least crowded and easy to get around parks. MK is our favorite with MGM coming in 2nd. Kids also love eating at Toy Story Pizza planet and doing the meet and greet at the Toy Barn. AK is nice but we can just go there for a few hours 1 day and we have done everything we are interested in. Hope this helps as it really just depends what your family likes to do and see.

 

[hematite153]

AK all the way!

(Keep in mind, if you want to try for both parks in the same day, that many of the MGM shows stop long before park closing. Get a copy of the times guide in advance, or look it up online.)

 

[Mouse House Mama]

MGM 110%! I have a 4 year old and even he prefers MGM. As a whole we are not fans of AK. MGM has great meet and greets. It's never super crowded and there is alot to see that is for the younger set. AK is set up really badly. You have to constantly backtrack to get anywhere. It is also the hottest place on the planet. We think AK is really beautiful but aren't that impressed. Other than a few shows, we see animals at the zoo all the time. No big thrill for the kids to be honest. We even tried it in February because it was cool out and we thought maybe we'd enjoy it more. Nope. Does nothing for us and the kids were bored. We love MGM! Good luck in your decision!

 

[tadamom]

I think you could probably do them both in 1 day. We only have a couple of things that we do in MGM and some things in Animal Kingdom. Good luck on your decision.

 

[susykt4]

We are HUGE fans of Animal Kingdom and spent 2 1/2 days of our last trip there and did NOT do Everest, FOTLK or the Nemo musical. My kids can watch the animals and play in the dinosaur dig area for hours. They also have lots of characters. On the other hand, we spent a half day at MGM because there are so few things my kids (ages 6 and 4) like to do.

That said, if your family isn't zoo crazy, MGM has TONS of characters. If your kids like characters, MGM is the only place to find Little Einsteins, JoJo and Goliath and Cars Lightning and Mater. They also have a great Toy Story character area as well as lots of other chars. The parade is great, the Honey, I shrunk playground is fun. My kids don't like Little Mermaid or Playhouse Disney (EVERY other kid in the theater seemed to love it) and were terrified by the Great Movie Ride. They weren't crazy about Star Tours so we definitely skipped ToT. The great thing about MGM is how small it is. Oh, DS4 LOVED the new stunt show.

My kids hate to sit through shows but love to watch animals so AK is our choice.

 

[wendy18]

AK! We did 3 days two weeks ago and did MGM, MK and AK. (DS is 5 and DD is 3) We did MGM cause none of us had ever been, but we had been to Epcot. But AK was definatly better for littler ones than MGM.

 

[Lisa_Belle]

My DD5 opts for Animal Kingdom. You must go see Festival of the Lion King and the parade. My DD wasn't big on MGM. Personally, I would choose MGM because I like the shows.