Post-Cruise One Day in Animal Kingdom, Worth It?

ChicosWife

The Caribbean DCL Life For Us!
Joined
Jun 29, 2015
We are debarking that Saturday morning and want to head straight to Animal Kingdom for the rest of the day. When I looked at the app, it didn't appear to have a lot of rides (especially for the cost), plus one of the rides had a 3-hour wait. Is it worth the cost and the extra day in Florida?
 
One day tickets are very poor value in my opinion. Unless this is a must see/do activity I would not do it due to the cost. Having said that, If you choose to go, once you purchase tickets you can use My Disney Experience to secure fast passes. You should be able to ride just about everything in the park with the exception of Flight of Passage in my experience.

Magic Kingdom would be more cost effective for me...
 
As the above poster said I would look hard at the Magic Kingdom (a lot more to do) but as to cost remember one day at WDW is worth a lot more than just waiting to go home.
 
I would skip the park and stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge overnight instead. Depending on number of family you might come out ahead financially. You would still be able to see the animals with the benefit of all the artifacts from Africa and have meal at Bomas or Jinko. I have not explored Kidani Village but there is that side to explore as well. The gift shop at Jambo side of the resort is better than what you see in the parks too. The resort offers a lot of family activities and pool time as well. There is even a night tour to see the animals with night vision googles. It still affords the ability to better plan your airline and the option to transport your luggage to the airport before noon to avoid that hassle as well.
 


Agree with all of the above - unless you have your heart set on one ride, one day tickets are too expensive to justify the cost. Spending the night in Animal Kingdom Lodge is a great idea - its a destination in and of itself, seems like a great stopover for one night on your way back to the airport.
 
We are debarking that Saturday morning and want to head straight to Animal Kingdom for the rest of the day. When I looked at the app, it didn't appear to have a lot of rides (especially for the cost), plus one of the rides had a 3-hour wait. Is it worth the cost and the extra day in Florida?
One day tickets are very poor value in my opinion. Unless this is a must see/do activity I would not do it due to the cost. Having said that, If you choose to go, once you purchase tickets you can use My Disney Experience to secure fast passes. You should be able to ride just about everything in the park with the exception of Flight of Passage in my experience.

Magic Kingdom would be more cost effective for me...
As the above poster said I would look hard at the Magic Kingdom (a lot more to do) but as to cost remember one day at WDW is worth a lot more than just waiting to go home.
Agree with all of the above - unless you have your heart set on one ride, one day tickets are too expensive to justify the cost. Spending the night in Animal Kingdom Lodge is a great idea - its a destination in and of itself, seems like a great stopover for one night on your way back to the airport.

We live in California and have semi-easy access to Disneyland, so MK isn't a big draw for us. We are only delaying our flight one day, so that we can get our kids back in school the following Monday. Unfortunately, that Saturday will be our only day to go.
 


AK doesn't have a lot of rides, however, it has some great shows, animal trails and a safari. It is kind of like a zoo and theme park combined into one. It is quite unique compared to what you are used to at DL and if this is your only chance to see it, I would consider it. If you go, I would recommend pre-purchasing your tickets, linking them to your My Disney Experience account and pre-reserving 3 FP+ prior to your park day.
 
I wouldn't pay for a full day ticket and only be able to be there 1/2 a day. That becomes a very expensive ticket.
I would agree with the other posts. Get a room at a park resort that you enjoy.
Enjoy Disney Springs, the pools and what the resort offers.
 
Well, I’m going to go against the crowd and say I would absolutely do one day at AK! No, it’s not the most cost-effective, but you’re already there so you might as well go for it! AK is the most different from the California parks! There aren’t a ton of rides, but Flight of Passage is probably one of the best Disney rides anywhere. Try to get a fastpass - it will be difficult, but not impossible. Expedition Everest is my favorite roller coaster anywhere. Also, a lot of the attraction of AK is just atmosphere. With all the animal trails you won’t have a shortage of things to do. The Safari is really cool too. If you have younger kids in the group, Rafiki’s Planet Watch is reopening soon, and Wilderness Explorers is really fun. Festival of the Lion King is a great show too. Whatever you decide, have a great trip! For me personally, there’s no way I could be that close to the parks and just go to DS or a resort! That’s just me tho! ;)
 
I wouldn't find it worth it, but then again I don't really care about "shows". I'm a ride type person. The safari is fun. To this day I've never been willing to wait for hours in a lineup, so I haven't done the FoP ride either (since we stay off site I have never been able to get a fastpass for this one 30 days in advance).
 
Go! We did exactly the same thing 3 years ago. We took the Disney transport back to WDW, did the online check in at AKL, dropped our bags in our rooms, and headed directly to the park....and that was prePandora. I thought it helped all of us with our post-cruise sadness. We had a full day at the park followed by a dinner at Tusker House as the park was closing. It was an awesome experience leaving the empty park after dinner, and it provided lots of amazing backdrops for family photo without crowds. The next day we had a leisurely breakfast at Bombay before transport to MCO.

I know you asked opinions and many of us disagree. Only you know what would make your family happy!
 
We live in California and have semi-easy access to Disneyland, so MK isn't a big draw for us. We are only delaying our flight one day, so that we can get our kids back in school the following Monday. Unfortunately, that Saturday will be our only day to go.
Go to AK! We are from California too and AK was the highlight of the trip. Just there last week. Hit the FOP line near park closing. Posted wait time said 130, but it actually was 50. Well worth it and an awesome way to end the day for us.

For us so many of the rides are better at Disneyland compared with MK (pirates, space, Indy and Matterhorn) that AK and Epcot are our favorites in WDW.
 
We did this but we went to MK for the ride availability. We also rented a car when getting off the cruise so we could be at the park at almost rope drop. It went very well until DH came down with Norovirus around dinner time. If it wasn't for that, I would have felt we got our money out of the ticket.
 
We are debarking that Saturday morning and want to head straight to Animal Kingdom for the rest of the day. When I looked at the app, it didn't appear to have a lot of rides (especially for the cost), plus one of the rides had a 3-hour wait. Is it worth the cost and the extra day in Florida?

To us? No!
 
AK doesn't have a lot of rides, however, it has some great shows, animal trails and a safari. It is kind of like a zoo and theme park combined into one. It is quite unique compared to what you are used to at DL and if this is your only chance to see it, I would consider it. If you go, I would recommend pre-purchasing your tickets, linking them to your My Disney Experience account and pre-reserving 3 FP+ prior to your park day.

That sounds good! Do you think we could get an FP to the FOP ride?
 
That sounds good! Do you think we could get an FP to the FOP ride?

If you purchase tickets in advance and stay at a Disney hotel that night you might find something on your 60 day window. Less likely if you're off-site and only have the 30 day window, but def not unheard of. I got them for a party of 3 somewhere around 32ish days out in December.

I've also had good luck getting day of FP's for FoP, as a solo traveler and as a party of 3. You just need to dedicate some effort to refreshing in the app. And, as others have said, you can also get in line just a few minutes before park closing. The posted wait time should be fairly exaggerated and you won't be wasting park time while standing in line.
 
AK is my favorite park. True, they don't have a ton of rides but the rides they DO have are awesome! The walking trails and animals are also awesome. If you are delaying your flight home, I'd absolutely do it.
 

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