Need Help - First Timers

[Karen M]

My husband (35), myself (33) and our son (6) are taking a cruise out of Florida in December so we have decided to go a couple days earlier and spend one day at either Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom. We are from California and have been to Disneyland. The problem is we cant decide between the two parks. We dont know when the next time is we will be out there so we want to make sure we pick the better one. Any advice on how to choose the correct one would be super helpful. We are staying at the All-Stars Movie resort and really looking forward to our first trip. Thank you for the help.

 

[Helvetica]

It really depends on your tastes. Animal Kingdom is my favorite park because I love animals and I think it’s super unique. Animal Kingdom does close earlier than the other parks because of the animals. Tusker House is also one of the better character meals.

What does your son like?

 

[AnnieOakley]

If you have been to CA Adventure, I suggest Animal Kingdom. I think there are a lot of aspects of DHS that are like DCA. I grew up in SoCA and just came to WDW for the first time in 2015. The first thing I thought at DHS was how much it reminds me of DCA. As Helvetica said, though, it really depends on what you like as a family. The hours at DAK have been later recently with the show and nighttime Safari, if that is a concern.
We just really enjoy all aspects of Animal Kingdom from the shows, attractions, animal exhibits, theming and food, so I'm a little biased in what I'd choose if I only had one day.

 

[Kevlar10]

I love AK but I'm excited about the new Star Wars additions at DHS, although it won't be full blown until next year. At 6 my son loved DHS when we went last time, but now they have Pandora. It's really a choice of what is more interesting, Star Wars and Toy Story or the animals and Pandora. We are planning on AK first then DHS later in the week so we can hopefully score some FPs for the new Toy Story land rides.

 

[mrsclark]

If you can only go to one park, I wouldn't pick DHS until Star Wars Land AND the new Mickey Mouse ride taking over the old Great Movie Ride are both open (and Toy Story Land too - but that will be fully open in time for trip). I think there is still so much under construction there, that I wouldn't pick that as my park if I only had one day. However, if your son really really loves Toy Story it might be worth it (we will find out when the reviews of the new land come out in the summer).

 

[eric1985]

I'd go with Animal Kingdom because of what a previous poster mentioned....Hollywood Studios having some duplicate rides with California Adventure. However, if you do go to Hollywood Studios you can always take a bus to the Jambo House where you can see the animals from the lobby of the hotel.