To visit Animal Kingdom or not to?

I personally love AK, i do agree that park shuts a bit earlier, but Dinosaur, Mount Everest, Kali River rapids, Finding Nemo, Lion King, Safari, its a bugs life, all of those attractions are enough reason for me to go there I would personally give up a MK day to go there.

But then I wouldnt want to force everyone else in my party to go there, if they really didnt want to - it will only make them not want to go even more and hate it even more which would be sad

I agree with RobynPrincess! I recently went with a group of people who hadn't ever been to AK and had heard it was boring and what-not but we went and they loved it! We got there around noon since we knew it closed early and we knew we would probably run out of things to do had we got there super early and stayed till close but arriving around noon turned out to be fine. And mind you- we didn't even do a lot of the attractions! Only really did EE, Dinosaur, Safari, and maybe one or two others so that's about it. There are tons of animals to see and that takes up a long time if you enjoy animals

I love AK, but understand that it is a 'slow' park compared to MK. It is also much more exciting now than when it first opened-because there are more things going on.

RobynPrincess has it right -

Meals there are great at Yak & Yeti, and frosty beverages at Harambe are a must for us, too. You could pair it with an evening at Downtown Disney or a monorail crawl and that would be a good day, IMHO.

AK is also one of my favorite parks. However, I do agree with the others;it is a slow-paced park. Really, the park is about the animals, and taking it in 1st or 2nd gear is the best way to enjoy all the offerings. That being said, we love animals and can sit and watch for quite awhile. We take the time to visit the conservation station and ultimately I end up feeling like we are getting "kicked out of the park".

Our last vacation, we visited AK the first full day of our trip, and had a table service dinner at Sanaa. We were tired from traveling the previous day, so it worked out great.

You mention your first day being a resort/downtown Disney day. What about making that AK day, and having a day off later in the week to shop and enjoy your resort; or have a second day at a park you want to return to?

Ultimately you have to take into consideration the personalities and likes of your party. I'm sure you'll have fun, no matter what you decide.

I'm going to be the odd man out and say that if you have been there before (which it sounds like you have) and your family didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't waste a whole day on it again. If you had a park hopper, that would be a different story. Then I'd tell you to give it another chance and if you get bored then you can switch back over to MK. But personally I wouldn't want to waste an entire day in Disney on a park that none of my family liked when you only have four days there.

I love Animal Kingdom, but honestly I don't really need to do it, or Hollywood Studios. They're both fun and have lots to do, see, eat & experience but for my family it's more about Epcot and Magic Kingdom. I agree with Robyn that you don't want to force anyone to go there if they're not looking forward to it. You don't have to go to all of the parks, it's perfectly fine to take another day and revisit one that you enjoy more.

I love Animal Kingdom, but honestly I don't really need to do it, or Hollywood Studios. They're both fun and have lots to do, see, eat & experience but for my family it's more about Epcot and Magic Kingdom. I agree with Robyn that you don't want to force anyone to go there if they're not looking forward to it. You don't have to go to all of the parks, it's perfectly fine to take another day and revisit one that you enjoy more.

ITA! We usually trade off if we get the 3-Day FL Resident ticket, one yr HS and the other AK. I do LOVE Killamajario Safari Ride, though. My kids LOVE DinoLand and my husband's fave ride is Expedition Everest. For us, our "MUST DO" parks are Magic Kingdom & Epcot. Just cannot skip those.

Sometimes we do AK, sometimes we don't. Of all the parks, it's the one I don't mind missing if I want an extra day at MK or Epcot. I'd say if you've only got four park days, no park hoppers, and little kids in your party, spend the two days in MK and skip AK.

I agree. Animal Kingdom is my favorite park. I think you should give it one more shot. You may have not enjoyed it partially because of the rain and because the biggest ride was closed. All of the attractions that RobynPrincess listed are must do's for me. But you know your family more than I do and everybody's taste is different. Good luck! lol I hope you have a great trip

i always go there at least once to have breakfast at tusker house then ride ee, dinosaur, safari and kali river ride, then we take a walk through the animal trek hit bugs life on the way out then head to another park, most of the time we don't go back again

We never spend the whole day at AK. I say if you already know or think its not worth going, and you don't have park hoppers, don't go.

I would definitely go! Especially with a very small child. We took my 3 year old cousin once and my then 13 year old brother and they both had fun. There really is so much to do. Plus, even though you don't have park hopper doesn't mean you have to stay there all day. You can always go back to your hotel and swim and then you could resort hop for dinner.

I love, love Animal Kingdom, but the thing about it is that you can't think of it as a park like the rest. It's not a theme park, it's really cool zoo with theme park elements. It's like if Bronx Zoo had a couple of roller coasters thrown into it. So if you go with the mindset of "Hey, I'm going to this awesome zoo!" it's probably much more enjoyable.

That said, it is hard to spend a whole day there. Sometimes the animals aren't out, sometimes it smells, and sometimes the plants make your allergies a nightmare. The times I've gone I've had park hoppers, so we would go there in the morning and head over somewhere else in the late afternoon, and then maybe we'd stop by for a few more hours on another day again. Also, it's not like the other parks in the sense that if the weather gets wonky (too hot, too cold, too rainy), the main attraction will just walk away and go hang out in a cave until it gets nicer. You can't blame them of course, but Tower of Terror won't do that to you. And if you don't have the hopping option, that's a big (expensive) risk to take.

Yes, I think the rain probably spoiled your first experience quite a bit....there are so many sights to take in in Animal Kingdom...I would give it another shot!! Explain to your sisters and brother that it's like the coolest zoo you've ever seen, so that they're not expecting non-stop thrills and rides when they enter.

And Kali River Rapids is the BEST!! I'm sure your sisters and you will enjoy Dinosaur and Mt. Everest! The Safari is SO neat for the whole family, and they're working on expanding it a bit...plus there are new baby animals to see there....and okapi, I think??

Do it, do it, do it! You're driving all the way from Kansas and it's RIGHT THERE!!

AK is one where half a day is more than enough for me. Ill ride the jungle thing, and Everest. Thats it for me. My son and wife will go on the jungle thing and primeval whirl. So once those are done... were outie

I have to say AK is my most favorite park. We spent about 6 hours there and had a blast. I think you should give it another shot!

I was just gonna be a smartass and say I'd go to AK just to ride EE 5 times and then go home. But now I've read all of you guys' responses, and I feel like my fiancee and I seriously missed stuff there.

We spent from RD (9am'ish), to around 1pm. We just did EE twice, Kilimanjaro, MJT, Dinosaur, and PW. Ate lunch at Flame Tree..and left. Kinda regretted not doing FotLK, but oh well!

Frosty beverages at Harambe? Yak & Yeti? I really feel like I made the WRONG decision doing Flame Tree over Y&Y. lol UGH!

Anyways...what Robyn said, pretty much sums up how I feel about AK too.

It's okay. It just means you need to take another vacation!

The Festival of the Lion King!! Just awesome!!!!

YESSS!!!!

I love the AK! I love the zoo mixed with the rides. I love the shows. Its such a nice relaxing park.

I had someone refer to AK as an over priced zoo,.. I don't think he's ever actually been in the park. I usually try to spend a day at Animal Kingdom. The family, and I enjoy the Kilamanjaro Safari trip, and heading out to Rafiki's Planet watch. Last year we finally saw the Festival of the Lion King, which was entertaining. We also did the AK backstage tour ( I forget the name of it) which was fun, and informational, the only bad thing was the cost at $72 pp ( that and the fact you still need park admission). But I would consider doing it again,.... maybe.

As far as food goes, We had some great meals at the Yak, and Yeti, as well as the Tusker House. Of course younger kids may enjoy the Rain Forest cafe, with all the fish, and animitronics. In either case, we normally find plenty to do, and see.

Ummm... okay, seriously from your post, did you see all the animals?!?! Giraffes. Lions. Antelope. Cheetah. Zebra. Did you find and watch DeVine? Did you see the Festival of the Lion King? Did you watch Finding Nemo, the Musical? The Jammin' Jungle Parade?

It sounds like the only thing you are focused on is actual rides. That is not what AK is about. We spend three out of seven days at AK. We LOVE it.

The setting. The atmosphere. The animals. The entertainment. The overall feel.

It's a wonderful park.

If all you want is rides... skip it. But you are missing sooooooooo much.

Hope this helps,
Dreams

Well dreams, truthfully rides are about all 15 year olds are worried about usually!

I obviously had weird 15 year olds. LOL!!! When we went in February my 18 year old made us go to AK just so we could see the parade. We sat at Dawa Bar to watch it and had a blast!

Never seen the AK parade! Every time I've gone it's gotten too bad for my allergies by 1pm. Hopefully the winter trip will change that!