Which would you omit??

[Gumbo4x4]

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

Correct, you would need at least a 2-day ticket with WPF&M option to go to both water parks (be it on the same day or on 2 separate days). Of course, in my "perfect 3-day scenario", I also need a Hopper so I can split between AK & Epcot one day. And once you have the hopper, upgrading to WPF&M is just $22 more - which is of course less than a 1-day WP admission purchased by itself.

So, my ticket would need to be a 2-day hopper with WPF&M to accomplish my list.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

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 really enjoy the overall experience of AK, but no it would not live up to most Zoos if what you're looking for is a Zoo-specific experience. And as much as I love AK, I do feel that now 16 years later, it's time for a LOT more animal attractions. Australia & North America need to be added.

On the topic of zoos, in addition to the STL Zoo, we really enjoy the ones in Springfield, MO and Nashville

 

[Gumbo4x4]

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

You know, it's an interesting POV to me as I'd never thought about it. Turns out, we spent less time watching shows at AK than we did at any other park To me, DHS is the show-specific park as we don't do the big thrill rides. All we did at DHS was shows whereas at AK, we rode:

Safari
Dinosaur
Primevil hurl (er whirl)
Kali River Rapids
Train to Rafiki (okay, lame choice, but we DID ride there )

At DHS, we rode NOTHING. And the only show we insist on doing at AK is Bug's Life. We saw more shows in Epcot & MK.

So, it's like so many things - all in your perspective