Is AK backpedaling into the 50th?

[Chami]

We spent 2 days at AK, and we skipped everything on that list except Expedition Everest. It's my favorite park. On the other hand, we spent a day and a half at MK, and that was enough for us. I think it depends on who is in your party, and what you are looking for. We are older, take things slower, and don't run from ride to ride. We enjoy stopping to have a drink and appreciating the scenery.

Everyone approaches the parks differently. Your quarter day park is the place where I will spend the most time. You may spend all day at HS, we may only be there half a day. It's one of the things I love about WDW.

 

[bsmcneil]

While there’s no doubt that Pandora remains arguably the best themed land in Disney Parks history and AK’s zoo is world class, there is a rapidly shrinking amount of overall experiences at the park.

Whirl and Rivers: gone forever. Nemo: gone indefinitely. And the best thrill ride in the park going into long-term refurbishment.

Is there a such thing as a quarter-day park?

And yet DAK is the second most popular park. Personally, I wish the hours were longer (not necessarily to "do" more but to see the park at night, especially with the new BoL/Tree of Life - that said, I have a tattoo about fireflies and anything firefly related gets my attention.

 

[bsmcneil]

I think AK definitely needs more rides/attractions, but we have come to like it a lot more now that we have a young toddler. I spent 4 hours there yesterday and did very "little" yet had a blast. We rode just the safari (walk-on) and ate quick service.

Pre-kids, we hit the highlights and moved to another park.

Yep. I've only been once with a kiddo (then just under 3) but I explored a ton more of the park than normal and enjoyed it very differently than I usually did (also, FWIW, I hate Dinosaur and loved H&C and Primeval Whirl in particular ... )

 

[loves to dive]

Each park has it's ups and downs and is what you make of it. For us, MK is a half day park for others, it's a two day park. We go to Epcot every single day of a trip, others hate it. We like rides but they aren't the focus of our trip. We enjoy the details of all the parks and take our time to enjoy those.

As far as AK, first it's not "a zoo" or "just a zoo", nor is Sea World or Busch Gardens. Second, if one takes the time and goes slow there is a lot to see in those little nooks and crannies. Heck, we have taken a hour or two just to walk the trail around Tree of Life and find animals we wouldn't normally see. I'm not a fan of FoP or EE and have on ridden Kali once but still love the park and it's a must do for us. Do we spend all day there? Nope, but we don't spend all day in any of the parks, that's just how we do Disney. We always have PHs and always do at least two parks a day. If rides are your thing, there are plenty there but that's not really the focus of the park.

 

[VandVsmama]

I think that AK is a half day park.

 

[tony67]

I think that AK is a half day park.

I'd agree - for me anyway. Until they sort out the whole park hopping thing (2PM is ridiculous) Ill probably give it a miss most of the time. I had wanted to pop over and do a couple of things - but open to 2 is a waste of time for me and since it closes pretty early and can be time consuming to get to Ill just skip it.

2PM park hoping just does not work for me at all

 

[Leight19]

I think AK definitely needs more rides/attractions, but we have come to like it a lot more now that we have a young toddler. I spent 4 hours there yesterday and did very "little" yet had a blast. We rode just the safari (walk-on) and ate quick service.

Pre-kids, we hit the highlights and moved to another park.

This really highlights my last trip. We did 10 days in January and I had planned 2 days in ak. Leading up to the trip I was debating dropping ak to 1 day because there didn’t seem to be much to do. The only reason I didn’t was because park hopping rules made it make sense to do ak as reservation and hop to other park (normally epcot) in afternoon.

When we actually went we were shocked how much time we could spend in ak with kids (first time with our 1 and 3 yr old). My oldest loved doing all the animals and even just running rafiki train back and forth. We did the full wilderness explorer and he kept the book looking through it almost every day for3 months after. He loved it so much we actually switched 1 more day to ak and park hopper there another evening.

We ended up doing 4 half days there and was by far his favorite park.

 

[Sandiz08]

Are there any special tours or extras you can do at AK right now?

 

[luv2cheer92]

Are there any special tours or extras you can do at AK right now?

There aren't any tours anywhere, except for the private VIP tours.

 

[DL1WDW2]

…don’t forget you Can take a free tour with DVC …unless you sign on the dotted line

 

[Ikaikalani]

We love animal kingdom and seeing all the animals, but apparently not all of the animals liked seeing us!!! Lol

 

[gharter]

I think that AK is a half day park.

If you do the rides, the 2 shows now and walk and enjoy the trails (our highlight), its easily a day plus.
If you are just looking at the big rides, I can see where it is a 1/2 day or less.

 

[snowwhite84]

I love AK, but agree it has become a half day park for us. I think this happens to each of the parks. They get to a point where an overhaul is needed, and then it happens. This was true for DHS for years, and now look at it. And as DHS started to get better, I began to notice how Epcot could use some TLC, which is what they’re tending to now. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an AK refresh five years from now.

 

[MamaMermaid]

I think AK definitely needs more rides/attractions, but we have come to like it a lot more now that we have a young toddler. I spent 4 hours there yesterday and did very "little" yet had a blast. We rode just the safari (walk-on) and ate quick service.

Pre-kids, we hit the highlights and moved to another park.

Yep, my 3.5 year old loves running around the trails and Dinosaur!

 

[Boopuff]

We take AK at a snails pace. We like the rides, but we aren't rope-drop people, nor are we the people that ride certain things over and over. We love all the small, interesting things around the park, neat places to stop and snack. I guess 'ride' people may not ever realize all the other cool stuff there is to do!

 

[jrsharp21]

I think that AK is a half day park.

Same for us. We had four day hoppers last week when we were there. We visited each of the parks multiple times except for AK. We rope dropped AK on Saturday morning. Got on FOP, River Journey, Safari, EE x 2, Dinosaur. Then we just walked around looking for food and hanging out until 2pm so we could park hop.

 

[Dakota731]

We do everything in each park, and being that AK has shorter hours it works out to a full day for us. Plus eating a sit down dinner eats time, then we go back to the resort at close and swim.

 

[olwyngdh]

I am very grateful to the people that see DAK as a half day park. This ensures that there is more space and less rush on all the trails. I am happy to move to the side and allow people to pass, but I love the slow relaxing and educational aspects of DAK. I always schedule that day a few days into the trip so we can do a lot but still feel relaxed instead of rushing from one thing to another.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I enjoy piddling away a half-day or day once in a while at AK. On our trips over the years I have discovered and embraced its charms and the slower pace one can indulge in while there. It's not worth a whole day ticket for us at the moment, so it is skippable for us. After I plunk down the $$$$ for APs I'll go back to AK

 

[snikki]

We easily spend two days in AK but we break it up into half days. We do two mornings and two evenings. Evenings in AK are my favorite. It’s a whole different vibe. It’s such a beautiful park especially at night. We ride rides, watch shows, stop and watch the little shows and “concerts,” we eat, we snack, etc. We don’t have to only ride rides to enjoy a park.