Which is a better half day park... HS or AK?

[hope23]

We have a half day to maximize on our last day at the parks... looking to do predominantly rides, not shows. Between HS and AK, which park do you think is best for experiencing from rope drop until about noon? One of the days, HS has AM EMH... not sure if this would be beneficial for getting more things done, or if it makes it more crowded for the morning? Appreciate your thoughts!

 

[bbjunkie]

Oh my; I think you are going to get many conflicting answers. I'll give it a go. I'm essentially "thinking out loud" because I think you need a day at both. Here goes:

First of all, are you spending any time at either park during your trip before this last half-day? That would influence my opinion.

Also, I believe you mentioned there are morning EMH at HS that day. Are you staying on-property and able to take advantage of the extra hour? If not, then I would absolutely say, stay away from HS and enjoy AK.

Ok, so taking neither of the things above into consideration, and knowing you want rides and not shows, I would go to Hollywood studios. I would hit it at rope drop and ride TofT and RNR twice with little to no wait right away. I would Fast Pass TSMM so you could ride it at least once. I'd ride GMR stand-by on my way to TSMM if the line were 30 minutes or less, which it could still be if you were there for rope drop and EMH. After all of that, I would have a Fast Pass for TOfT to ride again on your way out. Your third FP is a throw-away because you said you are not "show" people and the tiering system won't allow you to have another from the first category.

AK doesn't have enough "rides" for you IMO. Of course, if you'd like to be really wild and crazy, you could take advantage of the EMH at HS, run into the park and try to ride TSMM first, then work your way forward and get on RNR and TofT in quick succession, then head over to AK with a Fast Pass Dessie for about 11:00 for EE. That would be fun and wild!

Are you Dinosaur, Triceritop, Whirl kind of people? (See....when you say you are ride people, that makes me think of RNR and TofT immediately.

 

[hope23]

Thanks for your thoughts. This will be our only time at that park during our stay, so just the half day. Yes, we will be staying on property, so we can take advantage of EMH.

 

[ZoZo]

Do you have kids in your group? What ages are they? Big enough to do the headliners at DHS (RnR, ToT)? Since you're focused on rides only, that will make a big difference - if they're too little to do the big rides, I'd recommend skipping DHS and going to AK. At DHS, there isn't much to do for little kids except TSM and Muppets (I don't like the Great Movie Ride) if you're only doing rides. [I must admit DHS is my least favorite park; I mainly do TSM, Muppets and RnR and call it a day.]

AK is my favorite park. It's not ride-heavy but there's lots to do.

 

[aVASTGrl]

^ Agreed Unless you have your hearts set on ToT, skip DHS and do AK...there is tons to do, and plenty of rides to keep everyone occupied. Plus it's gorgeous!