Which would you omit??

[jon18uk]

If Park Hopping I would do Animal Kingdom in the morning and then Magic Kingdom in the evening (there is less there I want to ride). Or I would do Animal Kingdom then hop to Epcot for Test Track and the Illuminations.

If I wasn't allowed to hop then I would skip Magic Kingdom. But if you have children then going to MK and skipping Epcot may be better. The question is too subjective on the needs of you and your party.

 

[Flamingeaux]

We have done a couple three day trips and each trip we omitted going to AK. DHS is a must for me and EPCOT is a must for DW.

 

[Missymouse18]

easy answer. you never ever ever ever omit MK or Epcot. You can boot HS or AK. In fact, go to AK in the morning and HS in the afternoon and evening. Both are 1/4 day parks.

I agree! MK is the familiar old shoe, EPCOT is my happy place. Personally, if I were going to skip a park it would be DHS, but then there's Fantasmic and RnR and ToT. So, split the day - half at AK, half at DHS.

We do 2 days at MK and 2 days at EPCOT every summer. DH always says that someday we are going to do five days at MK and 2 at EPCOT and skip the rest. Might be a good idea...

 

[Planogirl]

I am absolutely appalled at the people saying skip epcot. Skipping epcot is a kick in the nuts to walt and imagineering at it's very roots. Spaceship earth and maelstrom are life changing attractions. There is no class here in this thread. I am sad for all of us today.

Walt might already feel offended by the current state of Future World if he even knows what is going on. I like Spaceship Earth but it looks like Maelstrom might become a princess ride. See it while you can!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I'd omit Animal Kingdom, especially if it's summer (AK is hot!) and especially if you have a good zoo/safari/etc. back at home.

Epcot may not have many big headliner attractions, but the small-scale attractions (e.g., the entertainment in World Showcase) always made up for that for us.

I never understood the "skip AK if you have a good zoo back home" comment. We have a World Class zoo here and it has free admission. But, AK is still our family's favorite Disney park.

Now, had you said, "skip AK if you dislike zoos", that (while still not a perfect answer ), would make more sense to me.

 

[NYDisGuy]

Animal Kingdom is easily skip-able. We like Dinosaur and EE but that's all we really go for.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I never understood the "skip AK if you have a good zoo back home" comment. We have a World Class zoo here and it has free admission. But, AK is still our family's favorite Disney park.

Now, had you said, "skip AK if you dislike zoos", that (while still not a perfect answer ), would make more sense to me.

Or if you are like me and don't care for shows much.

 

[DisneyFive]

Dang, that's a brutal question. One that I don't even like to think about! Either Epcot or Animal Kingdom. I voted Epcot.

Dan

Yeah, yeah, I know... I quoted myself.

Well, I got overruled. I asked the kids and wife at dinner yesterday which they would skip, and they all voted for AK. (plus, it would be really really hard for me to skip Soarin at EP. It's my one ride in all that parks that signifies WDW to me)

HOWEVER, by far their preference would be to get park hoppers (which we've never done), so that you could do AK in the morning, and EP after that.

I agree with that 100%.

Dan

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I never understood the "skip AK if you have a good zoo back home" comment. We have a World Class zoo here and it has free admission. But, AK is still our family's favorite Disney park.

Now, had you said, "skip AK if you dislike zoos", that (while still not a perfect answer ), would make more sense to me.

This is something my husband and I have discussed a lot. For us, we absolutely love to zoo. We have annual passes to the one here in Dallas and still visit the one in Fort Worth and Waco (which is surprisingly good) often. We just love zoos. Animal Kingdom was a huge disappointment for us. It's not a zoo. It doesn't have the animals and exhibits that a zoo has. The Africa and Asia sections are neat and remind us a lot of Epcot pavilions on steroids, which is pretty neat, but we always leave the park feeling like Disney just really missed out on some great opportunities there. We would rather go to our local zoo than Animal Kingdom - it's more of what we are looking for in terms of animals.

 

[Jfsag123]

This is something my husband and I have discussed a lot. For us, we absolutely love to zoo. We have annual passes to the one here in Dallas and still visit the one in Fort Worth and Waco (which is surprisingly good) often. We just love zoos. Animal Kingdom was a huge disappointment for us. It's not a zoo. It doesn't have the animals and exhibits that a zoo has. The Africa and Asia sections are neat and remind us a lot of Epcot pavilions on steroids, which is pretty neat, but we always leave the park feeling like Disney just really missed out on some great opportunities there. We would rather go to our local zoo than Animal Kingdom - it's more of what we are looking for in terms of animals.

We feel the same way (and are local to the same zoos ). I agree with all the AK lovers who proclaim that AK is not a zoo. You're right, it does not compare to my local zoos at all, and I prefer them as a zoo experience. However, it doesn't really feel like a Disney park to us either. We too left feeling kind of sad for what we saw as missed opportunities. It definitely has some highlights, but overall just did not appeal to us.

The other thing I hear said consistently is that those who do not like AK must be "ride-ride-ride" people who don't take the time to appreciate the park. We are not those people. We took our time. We walked the trails. We saw the shows. We still did not enjoy it. To each his/her own!

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I wouldn't call AK a "zoo" but too much concentrated on shows vs. rides for me.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

It would depend on ages, but if I didn't have a hopper I would skip Disney Studios. Of course, if you are into "thrills", that would not be a good idea as that is the park with the most thrill attractions.

 

[lustergirl]

I would omit HS simply because I don't find it very interesting. Or I can get through the visit in a half day.

 

[momof1princess]

OP, we've had to do this before, and we skipped AK. Just last year, on our way to WDW, my car broke down about 5 hours north of Orlando, in the middle of the night (about 1:30am). We were supposed to do AK that next day with breakfast at Tusker House. Instead, we spent the morning sitting in the waiting room of the Tire Kingdom in Lake City, FL, waiting for the new water pump to be installed (It cost us over $700 for a $45 part, and it wasn't even installed correctly! My DH had to redo the whole thing about 5 months later-yes, we did get a refund on the part and a portion of the labor from Tire Kingdom). We spent over 4 hours as sitting ducks in the Tire Kingdom parking lot after being dropped there by the AAA tow truck driver about 3:30am. I will never travel without some method of defense ever again. I've never felt so vulnerable and helpless. By the time we got to POP that afternoon, we only had about 2 hours until AK closed, so we checked in and went to DTD instead.

We're doing the same thing again this November. Hopefully, without the car trouble.

 

[jenniy]

If **I** only had 3 days, I'd start 1 in AK and hop to Epcot at AK closing. I'd spend another full day at Epcot. I'd spilt the third day between the 2 water parks.

Can you split the day at both water parks? Can you walk between them? I have never been so I was trying to decide on just one of the waterparks for our first trip

 

[North of Mouse]

Animal Kingdom, for sure, no contest! We only go for a few hours in the morning, at most. DH likes it more than me though.

 

[North of Mouse]

Can you split the day at both water parks? Can you walk between them? I have never been so I was trying to decide on just one of the waterparks for our first trip

No, you can't, unless you want to pay 'two' admissions!

 

[AquaDame]

AK is our favourite park and we have a great zoo at home that I volunteer at. If it were just a zoo, I wouldn't bother either.

 

[AthenaBolina]

Epcot for me! While there is more to do there, I find it stale and boring. My kids didn't enjoy it much either. (my kids are 13,13, 11 and 8). We went to AK our first day last month and they rode Everest 4 times in a row! They were in their glory My husband and I could only stomach twice lol. But we did love it.

 

[LaughinPlace289]

AK for me. This is the only park where there are no "must do" attractions on the list. Typically when we go, we start in the morning and are done by 2.