Which Park for 2 days Animal Kingdom or Epcot??

[glocon]

Every child is different and you won’t know what your kids will enjoy best until they experience both. I vote for waiting and letting them choose.
My son would never have chosen ep as a child, I’m hoping he enjoys it now as an adult on our trip next month.... because I love it!

 

[Disneylovingmomof2]

I love Epcot but we had the same trip setup in Feb and we did two AK days. I really wanted to get FP for both Pandora rides and having two AK days made that possible!

 

[GillianP1301]

For me it would hands down be EP, it is also my 10 year old son's favourite as well.

If I were you though, I would leave that last day open and go back to whichever park you either enjoyed the most, or didn't get to see as much of as you wanted. You could "guess" beforehand if you want to try to get advance fastpasses, you can always change them if you change your mind on which park to attend.

 

[MomOTwins]

I would do Epcot and here's why.

I have kids the same age as you, and your 4-year old will probably be too small for the best rides, Flight of passage and Expedition Everest, both of which are 44 inches minimum. They are also to small for Primeaval Whirl (48 inches) but that is pretty unpopular. They are probably both tall enough for Dinosaur (40 inches) but it is terrifying for that age group, and Kali River (38 inches) but that is such a short ride (and you'll get soaked) so it is kind of a one and done thing in my opinion. That means really what you will be doing are Kilimanjaro Safaris, Navi River, maybe Kali River, and going to the shows/walking around the zoo trails. That is nice, but that is an easy one-day itinerary. Frankly, Animal Kingdom is always a half day for us (we don't really care for the evening show, and it is always so hot there).

In contrast, at Epcot there are three height-restricted rides, but they are only 40 inches so your kids would probably be tall enough (Mission Space, Test Track, and Soarin), and all of those rides are great fun. There is also the Seas pavilion with the Nemo ride and Turtle talk with crush and a big interactive playspace and aquarium, Spaceship Earth, Frozen Ever After, Gran Fiesta Tour, Living with the Land, and the Figment ride, none of which have any height restrictions. Also, you have the entire World Showcase to explore, which is both absolutely beautiful, but also educational. My 6-year olds LOVE exploring the different countries, finding a souvenir in the shops, and snacking on gelato or caramel corn or any of the other goodies there, and listening to an outdoor concert. You could easily spend one day in Future World and one day in World Showcase, or two days with a mix of both. Epcot also has our favorite restaurants of any park.

 

[BebopBaloo]

Once upon a time I would have said Epcot, but Animal Kingdom is my favorite place these days. There is more to ride at Epcot, but the overall ambiance of AK is far better. I can easily spend all day just viewing the animals and every trip on the safari is different. It really depends on your personal preferences though.

 

[rentayenta]

AK especially with kids. On our last trip, almost 6 years ago, we spent 2 days at AK and 1 at Epcot. Now with Pandora there is more to see and do. AK!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I would do Epcot and here's why.

I have kids the same age as you, and your 4-year old will probably be too small for the best rides, Flight of passage and Expedition Everest, both of which are 44 inches minimum. They are also to small for Primeaval Whirl (48 inches) but that is pretty unpopular. They are probably both tall enough for Dinosaur (40 inches) but it is terrifying for that age group, and Kali River (38 inches) but that is such a short ride (and you'll get soaked) so it is kind of a one and done thing in my opinion. That means really what you will be doing are Kilimanjaro Safaris, Navi River, maybe Kali River, and going to the shows/walking around the zoo trails. That is nice, but that is an easy one-day itinerary. Frankly, Animal Kingdom is always a half day for us (we don't really care for the evening show, and it is always so hot there).

In contrast, at Epcot there are three height-restricted rides, but they are only 40 inches so your kids would probably be tall enough (Mission Space, Test Track, and Soarin), and all of those rides are great fun. There is also the Seas pavilion with the Nemo ride and Turtle talk with crush and a big interactive playspace and aquarium, Spaceship Earth, Frozen Ever After, Gran Fiesta Tour, Living with the Land, and the Figment ride, none of which have any height restrictions. Also, you have the entire World Showcase to explore, which is both absolutely beautiful, but also educational. My 6-year olds LOVE exploring the different countries, finding a souvenir in the shops, and snacking on gelato or caramel corn or any of the other goodies there, and listening to an outdoor concert. You could easily spend one day in Future World and one day in World Showcase, or two days with a mix of both. Epcot also has our favorite restaurants of any park.

I'm bringing 5yos in February/March and this thread was starting to scare me that I chose wrong (we're doing one AK and two EP). Your post is exactly my thinking, in that my kids will be too short for EE, PW, and FoP, and too scared for Dinosaur or the Bug's Life show. I feel like that knocks AK down to a one-day park for us, even if hubby and I are going to try to ride swap FoP while they play in the boneyard.

Curious how others feel about AK as a two day park for kids under the requirements for EE and FoP.

 

[BebopBaloo]

I'm bringing 5yos in February/March and this thread was starting to scare me that I chose wrong (we're doing one AK and two EP). Your post is exactly my thinking, in that my kids will be too short for EE, PW, and FoP, and too scared for Dinosaur or the Bug's Life show. I feel like that knocks AK down to a one-day park for us, even if hubby and I are going to try to ride swap FoP while they play in the boneyard.

Curious how others feel about AK as a two day park for kids under the requirements for EE and FoP.

Just a heads up that ride swapping FoP while having the kids play in the bone yard is probably not possible. The whole FoP experience is lengthy even if you have a FP. There are multiple parts to it. Have everyone in Pandora if you both want to ride during a FP+ slot. I'm realizing as I'm typing that the rider swap pass may give you more time, but I haven't used that recently.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Just a heads up that ride swapping FoP while having the kids play in the bone yard is probably not possible. The whole FoP experience is lengthy even if you have a FP. There are multiple parts to it. Have everyone in Pandora if you both want to ride during a FP+ slot. I'm realizing as I'm typing that the rider swap pass may give you more time, but I haven't used that recently.

I'm curious how this is all going to work if they're implementing a new swap system. My original plan was to book myself on FoP, hubby and kids on Navi at the same time. We go to FoP together, I get the ride switch for hubby, he does Navi with the girls while I do FoP, then the kids and I cross the park to boneyard and maybe triceratops spin while he does FoP. My problem is that some people have been reporting that all members of the party need a FP to get the ride swap. If I book hubby an FoP as well, then the kids have no one to ride Navi with and they're only 5, so they can't go it alone.

 

[Disneylovingmomof2]

I'm bringing 5yos in February/March and this thread was starting to scare me that I chose wrong (we're doing one AK and two EP). Your post is exactly my thinking, in that my kids will be too short for EE, PW, and FoP, and too scared for Dinosaur or the Bug's Life show. I feel like that knocks AK down to a one-day park for us, even if hubby and I are going to try to ride swap FoP while they play in the boneyard.

Curious how others feel about AK as a two day park for kids under the requirements for EE and FoP.

I agree with PP about just hanging around in Pandora while you do rider swap. Are your 5yos not tall enough to ride? My daughter had just turned six the last time we were there and she rode it. She likes Epcot - we did the passport last time which was fun for her. She enjoyed going around and seeing the countries and the shops. She likes Soarin, TT and Frozen but her fave ride is Everest and she loved FOP. She liked the Dinosaur ride as well. Like someone else said it’s really dependent on the kids personality on which park would work best. I think AK is cool cause we also have a toddler and we can all do the safari plus there’s a lot of places to walk around and see animals. It’s honestly hard for me to choose personally because I love them both!!!!

 

[BebopBaloo]

99.9% sure that all members who would be riding need to have the FP.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I agree with PP about just hanging around in Pandora while you do rider swap. Are your 5yos not tall enough to ride? My daughter had just turned six the last time we were there and she rode it. She likes Epcot - we did the passport last time which was fun for her. She enjoyed going around and seeing the countries and the shops. She likes Soarin, TT and Frozen but her fave ride is Everest and she loved FOP. She liked the Dinosaur ride as well. Like someone else said it’s really dependent on the kids personality on which park would work best. I think AK is cool cause we also have a toddler and we can all do the safari plus there’s a lot of places to walk around and see animals. It’s honestly hard for me to choose personally because I love them both!!!!

Mine will be young 5s in February. They're just breaking 42" in shoes now, after a significant growth spurt, so I doubt they'll add on another full 2" by then.

 

[AngieInOH]

AK I was planning a 3rd day at MK and both my girls wanted to go back to AK instead. 1 day isn't enough.

 

[bgirl29]

For our family no matter what age the children were Epcot was always their favorite park. So for us it would be Epcot hands down.

 

[KenHutch]

Considering the ages of your little one I would say Animal Kingdom with a caveat. If its your last day think about a 3rd day at Magic Kingdom. We added a 3rd day to Magic Kingdom this trip and it made things a lot less hectic as far as fast passes and planning was concerned.

 

[Surgie2]

Not a choice you asked about but I would do a third day at MK and one day at each of the other parks. We were just there in May with grandkids who are 4 and 5. MK was their favorite by a long shot, though they enjoyed every minute of EP and AK (HS was fine but not a stand-out for us).

We did 4 MK days, 2 Epcot, 1 HS (actually 1/2) and 1 AK and it worked out well for us. We were able to visit MK by "lands" and get different FPs for each day meaning we never waited over 10 minutes for any ride. It helped that we did the add-on EMM so we got unlimited 7DMT, PP and Pooh so didn't need to use up FP for those. With so many things at MK that don't have FP, such as many character meets, it's nice to take it leisurely. And if you do any character meals in the park, it eats into your park time unless you are doing one pre-park opening.

 

[gharter]

Another vote for AK. There is so much for them to do and see. They can even become a Wilderness Explorer. The kids enjoy that.

 

[soccermom54]

Animal Kingdom.