Should I plan a 1/2 day at MGM or AK?...

[jenimay]

Hi, our trip will be in OCt. It's our first trip which inludes, husband & myself, and our two boys, 7.5 & 6.5 and our daughter, almost 2.5. Anyway, I had planned for the first day is MK, next day EC, next day I had planned AK(with a PS in the AM for Breakfastsaurous)-I figured we wouldn't be there all day, we'd go swimming, etc the rest of the day, then a half day at MGM with the MNSSHP that night, and then we leave the next day for the beach. But I got to thinking that MGM has alot of shows that the kids might enjoy and we may want to stay there past noon or 1 pm(I'd like to go back to the hotel for a couple of hours before the party to rest-and we have a 4 pm PS at the castle), Soooo do you recommend I switch AK for the last day? Thanks for your help!

Jeni

 

[susykt4]

I'm a bit biased because I'm a zookeeper and therefore LOVE Animal Kingdom, but I'd keep your plan as is. We went to WDW in April w/ DD5 and DS2 1/2. I thought MGM would be their next favorite park after MK, but they ended up liking only the Honey I shrunk playground and the characters. They hated Little Mermaid and Playhouse Disney, were terrified of all the loud noises on The Great Movie Ride and on and on. I was really surprised at how many things I was SURE they'd like and ended up hating. However, if character greetings are high priority to your children, I thought MGM was THE place to go. Tons of characters with much shorter lines than MK. If it wasn't for the characters, I'd seriously consider skipping MGM next trip.

 

[DisneyMom5]

My kids very much preferred AK. We got there for EMH, then did a late morning breakfast at Donald's that took way too much time. (They were having a problem getting us seated, don't know why when we had a PS?) We closed out AK that day, hadn't seen anything of Asia, so we came back the next morning and stayed until around 11 am. So I think if we hadn't wasted time at Donald's we would have barely squeezed in everything we wanted to do into one day. (GREAT breakfast, don't get me wrong, it was a scheduling thing both on their part - couldn't get their act together- and ours - shouldn't have gone for the last seating and checked in too early and didn't complain enough when they kept skipping us for seating)
We were even there off season, and we just couldn't see how people considered it a 1/2 park. Maybe they don't bother to look at any animals?
We didn't do Kali river rapids or the smaller rides in Dino land, or the Pocohontas or Tarzan shows.
We did use our night after AK (it closes at 5) to do laundry and swim, so that is totally do-able.
Anyway -- my kids liked MGM, but were scared by a few things, so if you want to fit everything in, get there early and hit the highlights. You would miss Fantasmic, but the party would be a nice and fun thing to do.
Either plan you are going to miss a lot, but you will have to priortize.
Hope that helps.

 

[abaldacci]

AK would be my pick for a 1/2 day. MGM has way more to do.

 

[lovesdumbo]

We too like AK better than MGM. AK is a bigger space so it takes longer to walk around too.

 

[marathonmommy]

I've never stayed very late at AK. You can do it (not all, but enough) if half a day. MGM has Tower of Terror (my 5 year old LOVES it!), Star Tours, Muppet Movie, Aerosmith Rock n' Rollercoaster (my personal fave - DD not tall enough yet though).

 

[rt2dz]

My kids prefer AK over MK. I know that's weird, but it is a FANTASTIC park. So much to see and do. The first time we bothered with AK was our Sept. 2004 trip. Our oldest DS just kept wanting to go back. We all had a blast there. I had commented to my DH that anyone who calls AK a half day park really isn't doing it right. Or maybe they just don't care to take in things and savor all that is going on around them--pure thrill seekers. The best way I can phrase it is that you can't have a MK mindset, but an Epcot mindset. I don't think it is necessary to plan on more than one day there for the typical Disser, and it does close early giving you plenty of time to do much more (another park, the hotel, DtD). I would keep your plan as is.

 

[crisi]

Its going to completely depend on you and your kids. We can easily spend two days in AK and still feel like we missed alot. On the other hand, last trip we went into MGM for Fantasmic and that was it and didn't feel like we'd missed anything. Obviously, others feel differently.

AK can easily be half a day of park, if you don't take any time to look at animals, don't go out to Planet Watch, don't do the trails. The half day schedule is Safari, Dinosaur, FotLK, ITTBAB, and maybe Kali. However, if you do what we do and spend an hour watching the silverback gorilla, you are going to be there much longer than a day.

 

[annie1995]

My kids definately enjoyed AK over MGM. I personally did too. They really were not into the shows or big rides at MGM and they absolutely loved the different animals. My oldest son who is now 10 really liked seeing the Komodo Dragons because they are not in a traditional zoo. Anyway it's your personal preference. One point of advice, try and do Kilimanjaro safari first thing, we saw way more animals that were active! Have fun when you go!!

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

We're planning the same thing for our trip over Labor Day weekend. Our last day we'll get to AK at park opening and hit the highlights. My wife and I actually really like AK so we'll stick around as long as we need. We have ADR for the Fantasmic package at MGM at 4:00p - so we need to be to MGM by then. MGM has EMH that night so I thought we could keep the kids up late on their last night and see what we need to see. I'm a little nervous about the crowds for the EMH at MK, but we'll see how it goes.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

I would be more concerned about such a full day than which park. Doing a morning character breakfast, then AK, trying to get a rest and be back at MK for dinner at 4:00 before the party at 7:00 is a full day!
Unless you are at a monorail resort that will mean leaving for the MK by shortly after 3:00. The party last quite late!
I would stick with AK, we love the park and DS always has liked it more than MGM, I would do breakfast, hit your must do's and head back to the resort by noon. I know it is hard not to try and do it all but it really makes for a much better trip!

JOrdans' mom