Animal Kingdom or a 2nd day at Hollywood Studios?

[Graycie25]

A LOT of time can be enjoyed on the animal trails many focussed on rides dont even visit them. There is world class viewing, gorillas, meerkats, tigers, giant bats...I can spend 2 full days at AK easily ..and do!

Yes, definitely. We spent a ton of time on the trail on the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail and the Maharajah Jungle Trek back in 2010. We both really enjoyed it, but my DH LOVED it!! Now that we have added a 5th day to our tickets, we definitely plan to enjoy these trails.

 

[Graycie25]

I would definitely add another park day. As another poster said, DAK can be a half-day park with some pool time in the evening (or sleep in and hit it later in the morning.) That way, they don't miss it, but still get some elements of a "rest day." It tends to close earlier as well so at least you're not out too late.

We did end up adding another park day! I know that AK can be a shorter park day for me or when it was just my DH and me. Now that we have kids, though, I just never know what will work and what won't. Since our first trip with them earlier this year, we've learned that they can HANG with me and DH and get up early and stay all day! They are hardcore I do like that AK will be on Tuesday and our full rest day will be on Wednesday, so we could get an extra half day with AK being on Tuesday if we don't stay as late as we would at some of the other parks. So kind of like a 1.5 day of rest

 

[Graycie25]

A LOT of time can be enjoyed on the animal trails many focussed on rides dont even visit them. There is world class viewing, gorillas, meerkats, tigers, giant bats...I can spend 2 full days at AK easily ..and do!

Yes, DH and I spent a lot of time on the animal trails when we last went in 2010 and we enjoy our local zoo quite often, so I know the kids will like the exploration trails, too. We have decided to add a 5th day to our park tickets so we can experience AK this time around and not take away from the time we want to spend at the other parks. We know we want 2 days at MK for sure (we rushed through it in 1 day last time and missed so much!) and we definitely want 2 days at HS to do the things we missed last time (Cars show, exploring the marketplace at GE, Fantasmic (IT'S BACK, BABY!!!) and generally not just rush from place to place to try and get it all done. We are skipping EPCOT this visit, even though it breaks our hearts (DH and I really love EPCOT), but it's just not for them at this point.

 

[Graycie25]

Go to Animal Kingdom. It is more of a relaxing park than the others.

Also, for what it’s worth, Avatar 2 is coming out this December. Your kids weren’t born when Avatar came out. This may turn into an interest for them. (Or not! Media is weird.)

Yes, I am realizing that we should probably take the time to do the Pandora/Avatar stuff because they will like it, whether they've seen the movies or not. We will most likely purchase ILL for FoP and then hit up the safari first thing in the morning.

 

[Shellyred8]

I vote for an AK day. While you may not have seen Avatar, Pandora land is pretty cool. And Flight of Passage is an AWESOME ride! If your kiddos can handle Soarin, they should be ok with FoP. Satuli is also a pretty good place to grab a bite to eat.

I also enjoy the Navi boat ride. I know some people think it's lame, but my family enjoys it. It's just a slow moving boat ride, but your surroundings are unlike anything else at WDW.

 

[Chuck96]

AK is more than Pandora (which, admittedly, is my favorite thing at WDW much less AK). The opportunities to see an amazing variety of animals and enjoy unique food is outstanding. It also had the best coaster through 2021 in WDW. I agree that it isn't a full-day park, though. We usually use it as a split day (park/resort or AK+EP).

Whether you have seen the film or not, FoP is mesmerizing. Easily the best ride in all 4 parks. It's basically the exact opposite of Smuggler's Run...SR puts you 8 feet away from a 10 foot screen using the coolest spaceship in the world on a silly heist - FoP puts you 5 feet away from a massive multi-level screen in all directions and tries to make you feel alive in every sense of the word.

If you have to pick between visiting either DHS and AK at all, I'd recommend DHS based on your preferences. But since you can do both, I think AK offers enough great experiences, that it is worth doing both, even if you prefer DHS.