Many write off Animal Kingdom as a half-day park or a glorified zoo. This park is indeed a premier animal care facility, but the attractions are as good as any of the other parks in Walt Disney World.
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Many Disney fans say that Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a half-day park, and to a certain degree, I can understand that. Whether we spend half a day there or the entire day, I do four things every time I visit.
Objectively, the best days to visit Animal Kingdom are weekdays. Across the board, average daily wait times are lower Monday through Friday than they are Saturday or Sunday.
I strongly recommend you arrive at the park at opening time, or as soon afterwards as possible, to maximize your visit. So yes, the Animal Kingdom is definitely a morning-centric park.
While Disney has found ways to extend the fun into the afternoon and evening hours, most of the animals viewed here are far more active, and therefore visible, in the morning. I strongly recommend you arrive at the park at opening time, or as soon afterwards as possible, to maximize your visit.
In general the best days of the week to visit the Disney World parks are Tuesday and Wednesday. The reason being is many families find that you need an entire week for a Disney vacation and typically arrive on Saturday or Sunday. We find weekends and Monday to be the busiest days at Walt Disney World.
If you really just want to do theme parks every single day of your trip, then I'd suggest 2 full days at Magic Kingdom, 1 or 2 full days at Epcot, and then one day at each Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
Disney's Animal KingdomThis theme park is the second largest in terms of walking paths, so you'll also put a lot of miles on your feet here. The animal kingdom also has a typical Disney theme park layout.
The only 2 parks with full firework shows are Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Hollywood Studios has shows that incorporate a few firework elements, but because of the animals, Animal Kingdom has no fireworks.
you'll definitely want to start your day at Hollywood Studios. After spending the first part of your day in Hollywood Studios, hop over to EPCOT. These two parks are connected by the Disney Skyliner, so transportation between them is usually pretty quick and easy.
A Magic Kingdom itinerary is simply a must if your family only has one day at Disney World. The main reason being the Magic Kingdom Park is by far the most-visited theme park in the world.
During peak season, it's a different story as 5 of the Genie+ Lightning Lane attractions can have significant wait times throughout the day that are worth skipping. That's still not many attractions, but it can amount to time-savings of ~4-5 hours, which is pretty good for the $16 purchase.
Suffice to say, the 7:30 am Early Entry at Animal Kingdom is a game changer. Very few guests have the desire and determination to be out their hotel room door by 6:30 am, which is pretty much what's necessary to arrive at DAK in time for the start of Early Entry.
September and October are great months to visit, with weather that isn't nearly as stifling hot as July or August. November can also be a good time to visit, but you'll want to avoid Thanksgiving week. If you visit after Thanksgiving weekend, you may discover no lines at all.