Skip Animal Kindgom?

[Olaf Myfrenzargay]

Easier To skip AK if staying at AKL imho. Also imho, the Pandora rides are way overblown, but Expedition Everest may be the best coaster at Disney. Also, they have that super cool play area at AK for the little ones and Dinoland, also cool area for little ones. Not sure whether those are open during COVID howevr.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

Gotcha, that makes more sense now how it’s charged. I think after all of your great input we will forgo park hoppers and do 1 day at all 4 parks. And if we have extra time on the animal kingdom day we will fill it with a resort day or afternoon at Disney Springs. We are really bad about slowing down and doing a resort/pool day, so worse case scenario this will force our hand . Best case scenario, we got to see almost everything and won’t have missed out on much. And we will try to make anything missed during the trip something that’s a clone from Disneyland...Thanks again!

I think that is the best case. For 1st timers, I never recommend park hopping unless you only want to do certain attractions and not see the whole park. We are(were) AP holders and we still find ourselves spending a lot of days at one park, because we rather take it slow and enjoy ourselves. But there are some days where we just decide to hit a few rides at 2 or 3 parks in a day, but unlike DL, travel between the parks at WDW can take a lot longer.

 

[RanDIZ]

Would definitely not skip AK. With 4 park tix, hitting each park once is ideal. Especially if you’re not coming back for a while.

 

[cdoc29]

I would upgrade to park hoppers. You can do HS as a half day and skip StarWars as it's the same at Disneyland then hop over to EP. AK is a park that closes early but you would probably finish up by 3 or 4 and again you can hop to EP for the evening. And then 2 day's at MK as it has the most attractions. That way you get see everything.

If upgrade is not an option I would visit each park. We visited Disneyland for 5 days in 2019 (loved it) and I can say the FOP is unique and not like anything else, Dinosaur while similar to Indiana Jones in terms of ride vehicles is still fun and different enough to be worth it. The Safari Ride is not like anything you find in any zoo and if spending the whole day ay at AK heading out to expedition station is worth the trip.

 

[briggscreek]

We're Disneyland regulars and AK is our favorite WDW park. We would skip any of the others before Animal Kingdom.

 

[Marek Zyskowski]

We have four day 1 park per day tickets and are trying to decide how to distribute the days. I originally thought 1 park per day sounded good, but am now reconsidering Animal Kingdom. We are Disneyland regulars with young kids and this will be our first time to WDW. While my family likes animals (going to the zoo, aquarium, etc.), I wouldn’t say its what we are most interested in. It seems like Animal Kindgom has equivalent attractions in California which we have experienced many times. Tough to be a bug, Dinosaur (seems very similar to Indy), FOP (seems very similar to soarin). I do understand that Pandora is amazing, but with very few truly unique attractions (safari and Everest), and very limited entertainment because of the pandemic, would our extra day be better spent at one of the other parks that have many attractions that are completely unique to WDW? And if so, which park? We won’t be back for a very long time (if ever), so it’s an important decision for us.

I am an annual visitor to WDW. Animal Kingdom is different than the other parks. Magic Kingdom is a lot of rides and robotic type stuff. Epcot also. But what I enjoy the best about Animal Kingdom is everything is live. There are live animals and shows with actors and acrobats. A really different experience. I would spend one day at Animal Kingdom for sure.

 

[mickeymom22]

Another one here saying you must go to Animal Kingdom! Disneyland doesn't have anything that can compare.

Have a great trip!

While you are there, get a piece of mango pie for me at Yak & Yeti! Super yummy!

 

[JFDIS]

I wouldn’t skip AK. It’s my favorite park. There is just a relaxed vibe there and the imagineering is breathtaking. I would do it on a day in the middle of your trip and spend the afternoon as a resort day or visit Disney Springs.

 

[cjlong88]

I would never skip AK, but it’s my favorite park. It has such incredible theming and attractions, even without a lot of the entertainment offerings. Everest, Flight of Passage, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur...so much fun!

The trails are wonderful. The level of detail throughout the park is first-rate. And I think the food is better as a whole compared to the other parks (except perhaps Epcot). Nomad Lounge is our favorite place to enjoy a cocktail.

 

[bakerworld]

We enjoy AK. If you convert a few ticket days to PH then it would be a definite do. I will say that we only do the parks we're near because we go so much it helps keeping the parks 'new'.

 

[Leight19]

I recently did trip where I was thinking with so many shows closed at ak and my sons being 1 and 3 ak would be the one to skip. There was limited ride options for our kids based on height (safari, triceratops spin, Navi river, and tough to be bug). However, with the many self guided trails, train ride, and wilderness explorer badges this ended up being my kids favorite park and we ended up switching park reservations to go more. I would add my vote to not drop ak.

Regarding park hopper, we added park hopper and pretty much exclusively used it to go to Epcot. Ak closes to early to make use and hs main attraction requires park reservation so was hard to justify switching. While I don’t regret getting it since we did enjoy time at Epcot I feel bit like I paid money to upgrade ticket for “privilege” to spend more money then I should have at Epcot haha.

 

[angelmav]

Do yourself a favor and keep AK in your rotation. It’s a really unique park and should not be missed.

 

[rosiegmendez]

We are from California and squeezing in a quick trip on a college tour and with only two park days we all agree it will be AK and HS. MK is much like DL, but we’ll be bummed to miss SDMT. AK is a great vibe and I don’t think Epcot will be the same experience with COVID restrictions.

 

[hcompton]

I would however do the following:
Park hopper
Mornings in MK, MK, HS, AK
Evenings in Epcot

This is what we usually do if we only have 4 days. Rope drop - 2:00ish spend each day at MK, HS, AK, MK. Then we park hop to Epcot around 5:00pm after a quick rest for early dinner reservations and nights at Epcot. We always spend the last evening at MK, but park hop at least two nights at Epcot. The food choices are great and hit all of our favorite Epcot rides. We love all the parks and wouldn’t skip AK.

 

[Timandalicia]

You are going to get two totally different replies. In fact it will be a heated argument hehe. But listen to me because I of course know. Hehe again. From what you said, if visual theming and the Avatar ride are important to you it’s really cool. But I think you are already heading down a path of thought that I get. Knowing what I know, if it were my only trip and I was a Disneyland regular, I’d go 2 days to Epcot. But not because it is necessarily the best rides or themed the best (although many think so). It’s because Epcot is the Disneyland of Florida. It’s our Mecca.

 

[Dug720]

We enjoy AK. If you convert a few ticket days to PH then it would be a definite do. I will say that we only do the parks we're near because we go so much it helps keeping the parks 'new'.

Hoppers are all or nothing unless there have been drastic changes.

 

[Robo]

1. Hoppers are all or nothing
2. unless there have been drastic changes.

1. Yup.
2. Nope.

 

[bakerworld]

Hoppers are all or nothing unless there have been drastic changes.

1. Yup.
2. Nope.

Due to the responses above I'd skip AK - it's a half day park unless you're going to spend time enjoying Dawa and Nomad.

 

[Dug720]

Due to the responses above I'd skip AK - it's a half day park unless you're going to spend time enjoying Dawa and Nomad.

If all you're doing in AK is hitting bars, you're totally doing it wrong.

 

[fgaini]

I would not skip AK... Soo nice + Flight of passage!