AK or EPCOT?

danno561

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 4, 2005
Staying at Yacht Club Villas on Saturday with my grandson. Our flight touches down at 10:00. I am deliberating on whether to go to Animal Kingdom or EPCOT, balancing the convenience andl late park hours of EPCOT against the ride appeal of AK. He loves FOP and EE! Assuming we can get to the park around noon, do we have a chance to get on Kilimanjaro Safari, EE, Dinosaur, FOP, KRR and Navi before park close at 6:00 On a Saturday?
 
That’s a tough call-
I would personally pick EPCOT due to proximity. We are headed to EPCOT today, hopefully it will be manageable. Enjoy your trip!!
 
That’s a tough call-
I would personally pick EPCOT due to proximity. We are headed to EPCOT today, hopefully it will be manageable. Enjoy your trip!!
The proximity was a huge consideration but we opted for AK. While he enjoys Test Track, he just loves FOP and EE. Hopefully, our flight will touch down on time and we can manage to hit all his favorites. If you don’t mind, let me know how EPCOT worked out for you and enjoy your day there today!
 
I will definitely let you know. We are at Pop for this trip. The line to AK this morning was long at 6:45. I am not sure about your resort, just wanted to inform you, if you are rope drop people. 😊
I got up early, just to see the lines .
 


I will definitely let you know. We are at Pop for this trip. The line to AK this morning was long at 6:45. I am not sure about your resort, just wanted to inform you, if you are rope drop people. 😊
I got up early, just to see the lines .
No rope drop since we will be arriving at MCO around 10:00. The other days will be spent at Universal/IOA. Have fun!
 
I found AK better on the weekend than Epcot. Epcot was crazy on a Sunday but AK on a Saturday felt fine.
 


It looks like your decision has been made but I'll offer my thoughts anyway...we usually don't plan to arrive to a park two hours after our flight if we are using Magical Express and have found it's often times closer to three hours by the time we get to the resort, drop off our carry-on's, etc. so my assumption is if you land on time, you won't be in Animal Kingdom until 12:30/1:00.

Unless you are planning on brining food on to the plane and arriving at 10am, you're going to need lunch so I'll just assume you'll opt for any quick service which will take say 30-45 minutes.

So I think ay best you're looking at 5 hours to get Kilimanjaro Safari, EE, Dinosaur, FOP, KRR and Navi done which is possible but I would save FoP for last and just make sure you have extra clothes to change into after Kali. You need things to go smooth (maybe perfect) but I guess it's possible. Personally, I would opt for Epcot, reduce my margin of error, eliminate additional busses, spend more time unpacking and getting settled and after spending a morning going through hectic travel, relax and enjoy a good meal somewhere.
 
It looks like your decision has been made but I'll offer my thoughts anyway...we usually don't plan to arrive to a park two hours after our flight if we are using Magical Express and have found it's often times closer to three hours by the time we get to the resort, drop off our carry-on's, etc. so my assumption is if you land on time, you won't be in Animal Kingdom until 12:30/1:00.

Unless you are planning on brining food on to the plane and arriving at 10am, you're going to need lunch so I'll just assume you'll opt for any quick service which will take say 30-45 minutes.

So I think ay best you're looking at 5 hours to get Kilimanjaro Safari, EE, Dinosaur, FOP, KRR and Navi done which is possible but I would save FoP for last and just make sure you have extra clothes to change into after Kali. You need things to go smooth (maybe perfect) but I guess it's possible. Personally, I would opt for Epcot, reduce my margin of error, eliminate additional busses, spend more time unpacking and getting settled and after spending a morning going through hectic travel, relax and enjoy a good meal somewhere.
We were seated at Rainforest Cafe around 11:45, using my Landry’s Select card for priority seating. After enjoying a nice lunch, we made our way to Dinosaur where the wait was a mere 20 minutes (despite being posted as 40). Next we made our way to Kali RR where a posted wait time of 35 minutes took closer to 50. My grandson was quick to point out how dry we were after exiting the ride. We definitely prefer Popeye and Bluto’s Bikge Rat Barge. Next we made it through Expedition Everest and Kilimajaro Safari each with wait times near an hour. We arrived in Pandora for FOP with the CM suggesting 100 min wait but my grandson opted to exit the park around 4:30 and head to the pool at the Beach Club.

After using our early park admission, unlimited express passes and convenient location to the parks from Royal Pacific over the next days, I came to realize how much we prefer Universal. We were able to ride 19 rides/attractions (including in new favorite ride, Hagrids) on our first day there and enjoyed a two hour break at the Royal Pacific pool.

I will be taking another grandson next Thursday and visiting the parks in the opposite order, staying the first two days at Hard Rock and the final day at Boardwalk, where we plan to walk over to Hollywood Studios. Looking forward to ROTR on Sunday but dreading the way Disney manages the crowds.
 
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If it were me I would go to Epcot. I agree with the other person who said to allow 3 hours for magic express, check in, and eating.
If this will be your only day for a Disney park and AK is his favorite then I would go ahead and go to AK.
 
Staying at Yacht Club Villas on Saturday with my grandson. Our flight touches down at 10:00. I am deliberating on whether to go to Animal Kingdom or EPCOT, balancing the convenience andl late park hours of EPCOT against the ride appeal of AK. He loves FOP and EE! Assuming we can get to the park around noon, do we have a chance to get on Kilimanjaro Safari, EE, Dinosaur, FOP, KRR and Navi before park close at 6:00 On a Saturday?
Where did you stay since there is no Yacht Club Villas?
 

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