Aniaml Kingdom or Epcot at Disney Florida?

[rosealbie]

Anyone who has been to both, if you had the choice of these two which would you go for with dc aged 6 and 3?

I personally prefer Epcot and think there is more to do. We did enjoy Animal Kingdom, but it was much busier and it was difficult to watch the parade, there aren't very many rides for the younger children and the safari bit was far too staged for me. The walk round animal bit (Asia?) is better than the safari. However the Lion King show at AK is very good.

To be Epcot just has more there.

Do you not have ennough time to do them both?

I am sure we will have time but have been offered tickets for 3 out of the 4 theme parks and so have decided to go for Magic Kingdom, MGM and just need to choose one other.

Can I ask you what time of year you visited?

Ah right I see. It really depends on what types of things your children, and you, like to do and see.

Sorry - time of year. We have been in June and August.

Animal Kingdom is my favourite park!

When I went it was March and dc were 2 and 4.

Loved the Boneyard playground, dc adored the Safari (it was staged but they loved it all the same), Lion King show (there is a Nemo one too now) and the express train.

We are going in November so shouldn't be as busy I guess.

My ds would love some of the things at Epcot and i'd really like to see the evening show. Out of the two, I liked the sound of Epcot more but probably mine.

We will try and get to see both anyway but I need to make a decision about the passes tonight.

Thanks.

The Epcot evening show is great.

Clayhead crossed posts! I'm feeling quite indecisive now!

A friend of mine took her dd's age 18 months and 3 yrs and she preferred Animal Kingdom too.

so would both of you recommend Magic Kingdom (this looks great) and MGM over the others?

You definitely need Magic Kingdom - pure magic for little ones.

MGM - the Beauty and the Beast show is lovely, DD was mesmorised! Not as many rides here, but easy to see the parade generally. Not as busy as the other parks we find - maybe as most of the rides/tours tend to take longer. Not as much for younger children here on the whole although DD did really enjoy it. The Areosmith rollercoaster for grown ups is fab though

Yes!

MK just wonderful.

I agree with Hula. MGM's Beauty and the Beast was fab, as was the Little Mermaid. We enjoyed Fantasmic in the evening and dc met Woody, Buzz, Jess etc. Parade was great. dc enjoyed the Backlot Tour.

If you like travel books, I would recommend The Unofficial Guide to Walk Disney World
It's very detailed (read anal!!) but has so much useful information.

Definitely AK everytime. Each to their own but we really didn't enjoy Epcot at all.

Have a fab time which ever you choose

This is a good site - the news sections for each park give you lots of up to date info.

Thanks everyone and CLayhead I do already have the book you mention, the detail is quite mindblowing!

The Dibb forums can be useful if you can manage to read them past the smilies, signatures, jumping mice...

Yes, it is!

Very useful though. DH laughed at me for reading it then had to be impressed by my level of knowledge! We also did the afternoon sleep/by the pool thing they recommed and it really worked for us.

DH also laughed at me for making a list of the rides we could go on as a family (didn't want to promise dc something we couldn't do or split up too often) then constantly referred to it whilst we were there!

Yes, we checked all the height restrictions in advance - and kept measuring DD beforehand, lol The Disneyworld website has all the height restrictions on there.

If your 6yo loves High School Musical (5yo DD is obsessed!) then at MGM there is a new moving stage show. There is also a Playhouse Disney tent there now too???

How funny, I was just reading about the midday sleep/rest thing. We aren't staying on Disney itself but in Kissimee so no hotel to go back to when tired. I think we will just have to put them both in buggies!

BTW - are the buggies you can hire the kind that children can nap in? I'm thinking about my dd not the 6 year old.

Hulababy, my ds has measured himself and is tall enough for mot things he is interested in.

High School Musical has not registered in our house yet!

The buggies you are hire - single or double - are hard plastic. You can lay back in them but they are not the height of comfort. We took DD's Volo buggy both times (DD was 2 and 4 at Florida). She never used a buggy at home at age 4, but it Florida is was very hot and very long days, hence taking it that time. Was somewhere to hang bags too

We didn't do the whole sleep in afternoon thing, either time. We rarely left the parks TBH. We had a villa not too far away which we used as a base for eating breakfast, a morning swim and then for sleeping - that was it pretty much, lol! Both times DD just wanted to be in the parks and she could keep going the whole time. Both times she did nap in her buggy - up to about an hour in the day (less when 4), and then would fall asleep at night on the way home, often very late after the fireworks. DD couldn't get enough of it, lol!

BTW, I saw children older than 6yo in those buggies at times.

I did wonder about taking dd's buggy although haven't used it for months now.

Is a Volo the really lightweight one?

Yes Volo is very light. Doesn't lie back or anything but DD had no problem napping in it. And the mesh material meant she didn't sweat too much in the humid heat.

I would definitely take a buggy to Dinsey for a 3yo. You might even find your 6yo tries to catch a ride too if they get the chance, lol!

We took our Volo too, it was invaluable.

There are good places to rest in the parks too, like the Boneyard or Tom Sawyers Island.

A really minor ride which we found restful was the Tomorrowland Transit Authority in the Magic Kingdom. The kids loved it and there was never a queue.