I see a lot of posts stating HS and AK are half-day parks. Those statements are terribly misleading for those that have never been to Disney and are not familiar with what those parks have to offer. I hope everyone that reads those types of statements understand that such comments are simply opinions of specific posters and not actually reality. Honestly, there is enough to do two days at each of those parks and not repeat.
Those that only do half-days are skipping a lot, and not because its not worth doing. In many cases, its because they are Disney veterans and simply choose to do something else. But, everyones perspective should be determined by their own experiences, and not someone else.
Sure, if you only have 3 park days, you cant devote a full day to everything, but Im talking about visits of 5 days or more. Consider the following things, which people that only do the headliners have to be skipping, in order to get it done in a half-day.
Hollywood Studios has a ton of characters, many of them unique to that park (Phineas & Ferb, Sofia the First, Wreck-It Ralph, Green Army Men, Buzz & Woody together, etc.). And, then there is Characterpalooza. You could do almost a full day on characters alone at HS.
HS also has a lot of shows with specific schedules that make it tough to get them all done in a day. For the most part, these shows are must-do for the first time visitor. Even repeat visitors can get a new experience. Last year, after 6 visits in the last 7 years, I finally got to be an extra in the Indiana Jones show. That is an experience Ill remember forever.
Like HS, AK has a lot of shows and some unique characters (Pocohontas, Baloo, Rafiki, etc.). Combined with shorter park hours, and long attractions such as the Safari and the walking Trails, make it almost impossible to do it all in a single day. We spent two days of about seven hours each there last October (park closure at 5) and did not duplicate a single thing.
Animal Kingdom also has some unique activities such as Rafikis planet and the Wilderness Explorer Adventure. My kids (7 & 9) loved the Wilderness Explorer activity (and my wife and I had fun with it as well). Heres the thing though. It took us the full two days to collect all of the badges. I realize not everyone can devote two days to a park, but my point is that AK is NOT in any way a half-day park if you want the full experience (P.S. a good zoo at home is not even remotely the same thing).
Bottom line is that posters who say that this park, or that park, are only half days should qualify the reasons they think that way. And, people who are visiting Disney for the first time should experience everything they possibly can and make their own decisions versus assuming someones opinion is fact (and that includes mine).
