Disney in one day, which park would you do?
 

We have been to DisneyWorld/Universal in Orlando before (about 7 years ago). We have one day this summer to do one park. We are leaning towards doing the Magic Kingdom, simply because our family tends to get motion sick in the newer animation rides and attractions, roller coasters are fine but the ones with the 3-D video animation like Tower of Terror don't do us much good!

Any suggestions? Are the newer parks worth it? Since there have been a couple open since we were there last.

I think you are right one with Magic Kingdom-- it's a classic.

What ages are the kids approximately? Magic Kingdom might be boring and uncool if you have teens or pre-teens.

I agree that it depends on the ages of your kids, but I like Animal Kingdom. It is beautifully landscaped and the Safari ride is fun! Definitely easier to do Animal Kingdom in one day than Magic Kingdom. Have fun!

I was there is 2000 when my kids were in 1st and 4th grade. Based on this here is my recommendation. I would do Magic Kingdom. There is a lot more to do. I thought Animal Kingdom was okay. We enjoyed the safari ride and the Lion King show was excellent, but that was it. We did not do the tree so I cannot comment on it. I just feel if you are going to spend all that money and based on your comments you would get more out of MK.

Thanks for the replies...... it gives us some fodder to discuss when we get there. The kids are 18 and 16 now, so not young things, but still like the rides as we all do:)

For 4 essentially adults what about EPCOT? for me this is worth 10 of the magic kingdon unless you have little ones.

OK, I am going to do something that I normally don't do, and that's suggest doing something different than what you asked about. Considering the kids' ages, you might at least think about doing Universal Islands of Adventure instead. We did both Disney and Universal with three teens a couple of years ago and Universal was the hands down favorite.

Islands of Adventure has alot of rides and if you easily get sick, I wouldn't recommend it. It has a Spiderman 3D show that is excellent, and the Hulk rollercoaster, but again if you easily get queasy, I wouldn't do it. ANimal KIngdom is fun. There is a great show in the tree called It's a Bug's Life . It is 3 D, but you stay put in your sit. Alot of great special effects. Great Lion King show, safari ride , and a dinosaur ride. Animal KIngdom is easily done in 3/4 day. Otherwise I would go with magic Kingdom, depending on the ages of your kids. Ever thought about Sea World?

I agree with the above poster about Islands of Adventure. I would recommend doing either MGM or Universal Studios with kids that age. My son is 18 and would still be bored at Epcot.

I remember going to the Magic Kingdom as a preteen and finding it much more hokey and cheesy than I had as a kid (and I LOVED it as a kid) - and a bit of a disappointment, not very "magic". Epcot was much more interesting, although I love to travel...

Why don't you print info on all the park areas and let your family vote? Then if there's any dissention, you can remind them that it wasn't completely your choice.

Ah, tough call. While the magic kingdom IS disney, there's lots of magic to be found at Disney-MGM Studios. Of all the parks, including disneyLAND and california adventure, its by far our favorite -- and has been since our kids were in their early teens (now in late teens).

Among the attractions - Aerosmith's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones' Epic Stunt Spectacular, Beauty and the Beast live on stage (and very similar to the broadway show, i might add.) And of course, Fantasmic RULES.

Of course it depends on your individual interests, but i would definitely give MGM a chance. Take a vote!

It depends on what you and your 16 and 18 yr olds like. I have an 11 and 13 yr old and I told them we could do one Disney park this trip in April (we've been to them all before) and they chose Epcot. They love the "round the world" trip and the spontaneous surprises in the regional areas (dancers, musicians, etc), and loved Test Track and the few other rides and shows kept them interested (no motion rides there- we get sick on those also.) And we loved the internatl coices for food (sushi or being surrounded by a huge fish tank at Corla Reef for lunch, French for dinner, where else in Disney can you do that?) But then they are kids who love learning about other cultures, eg. my son's dream trip is to go to Japan (and my daughter wants to go to Korea, a whole other story.) SO it depends on you and your kids, and you know all of that best. One man's ceiling...

In fact this just happened to my daughter and myself. In the end of January my daughter, aged 16, and I found ourselves outside of Orlando with a day to spend doing as she wished. Since she hadn't been to Disney since she was about 8 years old, thats where she chose. She wanted to see the Animal Kingdom and so off we went. She totally enjoyed it. She loves animals and anything Disney in her book is OK. I would also second a visit to Epcot. There is something for every age. Just be prepared to part with big bucks, Disney is expensive. My husband worked for Disney years ago and their whole focus is parting you from your money.

Have fun!

It has been years since we visited, I confess, but Magic Kingdom did not thrill me in the least. I enjoyed Epcot, MGM and Universal much more. Culture was interesting in Epcot but esp. liked the Movie themed shows in Universal and MGM. I just think Magic Kingdom is more for primary school aged children not four adults.

Do they still have Honey I shrunk the audience at the Epcot. I was there about 1994 and it was my highlight. By now probably been surpassed by something even better.

I enjoyed Epcot and was with 4 adults and three kids and we all had fun. The Lion King show was real big about that time also but now probably different.

The ride where you go to the top of a haunted house type of building then the doors fly open before plubging several stories was Epcot also? Not sure.

But my recommendation is Epcot though very dated opinion.

4khansen - I would suggest posting your question at disboards.com. There you'll get responses from people who have actually been to Disney recently. I would suggest Epcot but avoid the Mission Mars ride. Test Track would probably be enjoyed as it has the most roller coaster feel of all the rides at Epcot. Maelstrom in Norway is another ride that's pretty tame. The movies in China and Canada are great. Live entertainment is also really good.

On the other hand MGM's RocknRoller Coaster is awesome - really fast start and several loops all inside with an Aerosmith soundtrack blasting. And Tower of Terror does not have much in the way of 3D effects - just a very short part of the ride. Scary drops are the gist of the ride. After RR adn TOT, there's the Great Movie Ride, not scary, not 3D, there's several shows including Indian Jones, there's Fantastmic - a nighttime fireworks/light show with stadium style seating. There's the Muppet movie that has 3d effects but is not a ride so its not hard to take. You can play Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

Either one and you won't go wrong.

If it were me - my sons enjoyed MGM the best. Or we also liked Universal Studios. Have fun!