Originally Posted By chipndale16 We are planning a trip for fall of next year and plan to spend 10 days in the parks. We want to spend atleast 3 days at Magic Kingdom and 3-4 days at Epcot, but aren't sure how long it will take to see MGM and Animal Kingdom. If I take advantage of extra magic hours, would it be possible to see/do most of the attractions in one day per park?
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo You can indeed do each park in a day, but not everything. Personally, I think a day and a half for the Studios and if you like Animals, you could do DAK in a day and a half. However, others consider both of these as half day parks. Also, if you are used to Disneyland, you could reduce your time at the Magic Kingdom by a day. Personally I think 3 - 4 days for Epcot is right, but some consider this a one day park. The reality is it all boils down to taste. What kind of things do you and your party like doing, that's probably a better starting point.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I think 2-3 days at the Magic Kingdom would easily cover it; especially during the fall when crowds are reduced. I agree with a day and a half for both Animal Kingdom and the Studios. I've spent 2-3 days at the AK during some visits, but I'm a real fan of the AK.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad ^^^ RoadTrip used to live there inside of the AK. His place was on these high shite Asian looking column things, near Khali River Rapids, and there were ropes and stuff to climb and swing on. That part of the park was never the same after he escaped but the other Monkeys seem to have survived without him so far.
Originally Posted By cstephens On our trip in 1999, we skipped Animal Kingdom altogether because it didn't sound interesting to us at all. On our upcoming trip in January, we're figuring we'll probably be there for a half day since we want to ride Everest and I think there are just a few other things we want to do. We're figuring on going there in the morning, maybe during a magic morning day, and we should be done by mid-day and will then head over to one of the other parks, maybe even MGM. There are a few things we want to do there, but not sure if there's enough stuff to keep us there for a full day, since there's some stuff we're definitely skipping. /cs
Originally Posted By DVC_dad cs you skipped it and plan on skipping more stuff there? How do you know you aren't interested if you don't TRY something? I have found MANY things I LOVE daerly at WDW from trying them myself...best example would be Spaceship Earth itself.
Originally Posted By cstephens DVC_dad wrote: > cs you skipped it and plan on skipping more stuff there? How do you know you aren't interested if you don't TRY something? This is like asking me how I know I don't like alligator meat if I've never had it. Well, I might like it, but I'm not interested in trying it. I have very specific preferences when it comes to animal parks, and I have access to a number of really good animal parks in the Southern California area, so I'm not that interested in a Disney version. Also, we have a limited number of days that we'll be in Orlando, so we're maximizing our time by deciding our priorities. That was part of the reason we skipped AK altogether last time and why we're only spending part of the day there this time. If we had two weeks at WDW, then yeah, I'd probably spend more time at AK. But with 7 full days and other non-Disney places in Orlando we want to visit, AK isn't interesting enough to us to take up that much of our time. /cs
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Animal Kingdom is a park to be savored... it really doesn't offer much for commando-style visits. You need to have time to really get in to the feel and themeing of the place to enjoy it. It is a park to walk around leisurely; not one where you run from one attraction to the next. I think the Animal Kingdom is Disney's most fully realized park as far as themeing and landscaping goes. Visually it is absolutely breathtaking. It is probably my second favorite park after Epcot. I do agree that if you are short on time the best thing to do is what you have planned. Do a ‘greatest hits’ tour while realizing that you aren’t really experiencing what the park has to offer.
Originally Posted By jazzfan4 AK is a park that can be done quick but many of the exhibits are walk through like a zoo and the time can add up. I recommend that you do the safari, everest, maybe dinosaur and some shows, with proper planning you could be out by 1:00. Keep in mind that this park closes early so you will usually want to hop somewhere else even if you stay till closing. Heck bag Dinosaur and do everest twice. Tusker house is great for lunch before you hop.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Couldn't agree with Trippy more. To say the park is just animals is very simplistic. It's Disney design at its most immersive best. I'd tell people if they were going to WDW to skip Disney-MGM Studios and the MK completely if it were a choice of that or visiting DAK.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I totally agree Spirit. We can take or leave the Mk (if we can get to DL or DLP in a reasonable timeframe), and I used to feel the same way about the Studios - though my son loves Playhouse Disney, Star Wars and Muppets, so this has changed. But I could spend 10 days at DAK and Epcot and not get bored I reckon.
Originally Posted By sun-n-fun AK is my boys' (ages 7 and 10) favorite park. We get to it 3 times on any given visit. We wouldn't dream of skipping anything. But, if it didn't close earlier, we'd probably only go once or twice. Disney/MGM usually takles us 2 days to visit, but not full days. The way the timing of some of the shows are, we seem to be forced to choose between 2 and go another day to see the other.
Originally Posted By rhodisney My family knows the AK is not going to be a fast day at a park, We always take our time walking-- the energy level there is so laid back in comparison to the other parks. We were able to do everything we wanted (thanks to Fast Passes) plus eat an hour and a half lunch at Rainforest Cafe last time we went and be out of there by 3 p.m. We did however miss the entire Asia side of the park.(Except for Kali). This time we go we'll Asia and Everest and Rafiki's and Conservation Station (which we had done before but thought wouldn't be interesting again). Now that I've been home for a year and have given it more thought, I want to explore that area in depth. With the additions of Everest and the Finding Nemo-the musical which will be going strong when I get there Late Dec. and the Jingle Jammin Parade, I'm sure we'll be at this park from opening till closing this year.
Originally Posted By melissa_m While planning our first trip last year, I had planned on leaving AK before it closed and heading over to MGM to see Fantasia. Based on most of what I had read, AK could been seen in just a few hours. That definitely wasn't the case for us! We arrived at AK just after opening, and stayed until closing. And we didn't even see Asia!! EE wasn't up and running yet (this was the weekend before Thanksgiving). Crowds were light. We just took our time and enjoyed ourselves! We missed the parade too. This year, we're starting with Asia and heading to EE first. Oh yes, we have to see the Nemo musical too.
Originally Posted By melissa_m MGM was a tricky one for us too. We visited Thanksgiving Day, and arrived at the park later than we had anticipated, but it still was late morning. We had a terrible time trying to catch the shows. We had to split the group up so some of us could see Beauty and the Beast, and the others could see Indiana Jones. We missed the extreme stunt show all together. My parents took my son to see the Little Mermaid while the rest of us rode RnRC. I blame part of this on myself for arriving late and not having a good enough plan to catch the shows. But, it was our very last day in the parks and we were EXHAUSTED. After Fantasmic, we wanted to see the Osborne Lights, but were just too tired. We'll save that for this year though! Oh, in my previous post, I meant to say Fantasmic, not Fantasia.
Originally Posted By sherrytodd We love AK because it is the park that forces us to quit the commando style touring and slow down. If you're only in it for the rides then you can finish AK in half a day. If you're a person who likes to savor the atmosphere you will love the nice break you get in AK. Yes it's another zoo, but the Disney details are amazing. MGM Studios I can take it or leave it. It's probably my least favorite park. We usually head over to hit ToT, Rockin and TGMR but skip much of the rest of the park. For a first timer, you'll probably spend more time there and would probably enjoy the backstage tour, but I feel it offers little for the repeat visitor. Last trip we only headed there in the morning to ride ToT and Rockin and then left and headed to Typhon Lagoon for the rest of the day.
