Specifically, we are wondering about Animal Kingdom. 2 adults, 2 preteen kids. We had gone to AK the 1st year it was opened and were completely underwhelmed with the whole thing. Anyone been recently? Is it any better?

Also, will the parks be crowded this weekend and next week as it is pre spring break?

Many thanks to all who respond.

I will say that you're probably going to receive many different opinions on this board as to what Disney park is the best. In my opinion, they're all wonderful. Also, there might be down times for the parks but they will still have a lot of people there. I'm sure you will have a great time.

Hi guys!

Can anyone help regarding the worthwhileness(is that even a word?) of going to Animal Kingdom?

Thanks!

we went to animal kingdom for the second time this year this time we went early in the morning,there were less crowds and the animals were much more active also the private safari you can bookas an extra(sorry can't remember what it was called) was worth a ride
saying that we still prefered busch gardens.

Epcot was the best for us.

Animal Kingdom has had some new rides - one apparently mimicks the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland in Orange County.

Magic Kingdom (the castle, etc) is disappointing if you've been to Disneyland already on the west coast.

epcot has the fast track that the kids like but not to much for preteens Mgm would be a better bet for them My children had a better time there because of the new rock and rollacoster and the free fall. They also like the mupputs and drew carey show They also have shows on how they put on makeup and also how they do the sound affects. try there its a better bet.
My kids are 18 &20

Actually, with adults and preteens, I would head down the road a bit to Islands of Adventure. You'll all love it there.

We are only going to Disney Parks as we will be buying the play 4 days pass and will not probably return again before it's expiration. Thanks for the islands of adventure idea though, we have been and enjoy it very much. This time we are doing Disney only but not Magic Kingdom.

The Animal Kingdom is on my kids list but we were unhappy with the whole set up of the thing the one time we went. Wanted a more recent viewpoint since we went shortly after it opened and haven't returned since.

When we went to the Animal Kingdom last April, we were completely done with everything that we wanted to see by about 2 in the afternoon. I think that if anyone had bought a single day pass, they wasted a ton of money.

On the other hand, since you're going to have a 4 day hopper (I'm assuming)you'll be able to visit the Animal Kingdom for as long (or little) as you want and then move on to something else.

We, too, were completely underwhelmed by Animal Kingdom. It has a couple of very worthwhile attractions but is definitely not enough to fill up an entire day.

Our family (2 adults, 4 children ages 14, 12, 10 and 8) prefer Epcot hands down.

By the way, the first "wave" of spring breaks has already begun, at least here in Michigan. Colleges don't follow the Easter time-frame like most primary schools.

Hands down for a disney park our family (2 teen boys)would choose MGM. The show at night "Fantasmic" is not to be missed. There are enough new awesome attractions that the kids will be so into and plenty for the adults to enjoy. I think it does the best at being varied to capture everyone.

Try checking out wdwinfo.com or wdwig.com. Both sites post very up to date info about the parks. Wdwinfo.com has boards to ask questions and you'll get responses from people who were there very recently (sometimes you'll see responses like I was there this morning and it wasn't busy at all ....).

Personally I thought Animal Kingdom was better my second time through. The first visit was okay but not great. Second visit we saw the place differently. There is a lot there but you have to seek it out more which isn't always easy with kids. Small pleasures like the Tree of Life carvings, the small animals found along the paths under the Tree. The bird show was great (missed that the first time through). I would go later in the day when the crowds thin out, take my time and stroll.

i'm not much of a "shows" person....i like the rides. so AKingdom doesn't have much to offer. theres the "countdown to extinction" ride and the raft ride which are good. the safari ride and bugs life 3-d show are OK. then its time for the next park...

i vote for MGM.

Thanks Guys!

I never thought of doing part of the day in Animal Kingdom and then continue on to another park...That's definitely the way to go. Will start early morning at AK and then on to one of the others.

thanks for the great input...i guess it doesn't matter how great or terrible it may be because with our hoppers we can move on when we have seen what we want to see.

Thanks for pointing out a very obvious solution that we completely overlooked!

I thought that the animal kingdom was a complete waste of time, hot sticky and not that much to look at, even the safari only lasts about 15 minutes. However, one of my favourite things is "Bugs Life", 3D show which is great, the last time we were over from the UK we went along to AK for a couple of hours to see if anything had improved and to visit Bugs Life, if you want to see animals Busch Gardens is far superior. Also agree that MGM is probably the best Disney park, but Universal Islands of Adventures beats them all

Mouse -
Try the reverse of your plans - MGM in the morning and AK after lunch. We went to AK after 2 p.m. and had no waits at all. Saw a lot in just a few hours. I highly recommend it.

patg

I had heard that it is best to go to AK in the morning because the animals are more active and out in the open. Not true?

I was just talking with someone who said Universal Studios is better than DW hands down. They spent their last day there (adults, and two kids, one 7 one 11.) and wished they'd had more time. The 11 year old LOVED it. The 7 year old was scared of most of the rides. Might think about Universal as well...

We loved AK!!!! Our children are 8, 10 and 12 and they thought it was, if not their favorite park, their second favorite. My husband and I also thought it was A BALL!!!!To be honest, they really didn't enjoy Epcot as much as I would have thought. I think Disney is all about fun...Epcot's more an adult park in my opinion.