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Thread: Epcot & Animal kingdom in 1 day?

  1. #1

    Epcot & Animal kingdom in 1 day?

    Haay,
    We will visit orlando for the first time in august.
    And I was wondering if it is possible to visit Animal Kingdom and Epcot on the same day.

    We dont have that much time in orlando and i really want to see both parcs.


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  3. #2
    Ready for MA World Explorers! Drince88's Avatar
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    It really depends on what you're looking for out of the experience.

    If you're only interested in 'the big rides' then yes, you can, though I'm not sure how much more you could do in August with the heat and crowds. The cost to add on hopping to a single day ticket is quite expensive, and I think with Epcot in particular, you really sacrifice a lot to be able to see Animal Kingdom, too.

    Who all is in your group? (just adults, teens, tweens, little kids, etc) PERSONALLY, I really enjoy Epcot (so I'm a bit biased here) - but with a single rushed day, I'm not sure you have time to see past the 'big rides' and appreciate the park.

    I'd say if you just want to do the big stuff in those two parks: Start at Animal Kingdom - being IN LINE TO GET INTO THE PARK BEFORE OPENING, get a fast pass for the safari, get in standby line for Everest, ride/get a FP for Dinosaur (depending on how long it takes to do Everest, if your FP for the Safari is ready yet, and when the return time for Dinosaur is). In August, I'd probably consider doing Kali River Rapids, too.

    Then you have to decide where you draw your line on 'big stuff'. I like the shows (Nemo (puppet musical), Lion King (various performers/music - more variety with acrobats, dancer/aerialist, singers, etc), and Flights of Wonder (birds - doing bird things)) - and the Trails are a fun way to see a variety of animals (but you could probably skip if you have a good zoo in your area).

    After you're done at Animal Kingdom, go to Epcot (if you're driving, I'd drive over so your car is near where you are when Epcot closes - save your parking receipt, you won't have to pay again at Epcot) - see what you can get fastpasses for (Soarin, Test Track, Mission:Space). Test Track has a single rider, if you're willing to not sit next to each other (and wouldn't work if you have small kids) that can be faster. Soarin is the 'most popular' and will have the longest lines, but the Fast Passes also run out first of the three attractions. Those three rides are going to take a decent chunk of your time. I would try to see the American Adventure (and the Voices of Liberty before hand, if you can) - it's a BIG stage show of Audio Animatronics. Also, make a reservation (6 months out if you want a popular restaurant at 'normal' meal times) for a restaurant in World Showcase.

    You really need to watch your hydration/temperature in August - and the heat/humidity/crowds can REALLY play a number of moods. Figure out what attractions you might enjoy that are what I call 'nappable' - indoor, seated, and not high speed. You WILL need to take a break of some sort.

    If you're not used to the heat/humidity of The South in August, I really have a hard time recommending trying to see both these parks in one day. I live in New Orleans, and wouldn't attempt it as a 'once in a great while' trip. People ask me how I can live in New Orleans in the summer - it's not too hard - because I go from my AC'd house to my AC'd car to my AC'd office - into AC'd stores when necessary - and really minimize time outside. You really don't have that option when you're doing a theme park.

    Cathy

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Fenna View Post
    Haay,
    We will visit orlando for the first time in august.
    And I was wondering if it is possible to visit Animal Kingdom and Epcot on the same day.

    We dont have that much time in orlando and i really want to see both parcs.
    Are you traveling with kids? Are you planning to do rides? Is hitting all the thrill rides, important to you? Animal Kingdom can be done in less than a day, although there are some great shows, that can be time-consuming. There is so much to see and do in Epcot, most people find it takes more than a day, just to hit the high points, enjoy some of the great dining options, and enjoy the entertainment. If you really want to do rides, you will, probably, only get to do a few, and your best bet is to be at park opening at the park that has the rides you most want to do, immediately head for the ride you most want to do, and get a fast pass for another attraction. The short answer is yes, you can get a representative feel for each park, in less than a day, but you will be missing a great deal, especially at Epcot.

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    "Possible", yes. But recommended, no. Epcot on its own would take an entire day and you still wouldn't be able to do everything. But if you really want to do both parks in one day, I would suggest doing Animal Kingdom first since that closes earlier. Decide what you absolutely must do there, and get that all done and out of the way, then head to Epcot, and again, plan what you absolutely must do to get the most out of it.

    It would also be better if you had your own car to get from one park to the other so you don't waste time as Disney transportation takes longer.

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  6. #5

    Thanks for your advice!

    We will visit disney with 2 adults and 2 teens.
    And we are from the Netherlands.
    (I understand English better than I write it )
    The weather in the Netherlands is awful :P
    It's cold and rainy most of the days.
    So the weather in Orlando could be a problem for us.

    We are planning to do the highlights.
    And we will skip the kids attractions.
    Walk through the park and do dinosaur, Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids & Kilimanjaro Safaris.

    At Epcot i want to see test track, (I read about the single rider line! What is a great option! ) soarin', walk through the various pavilions And watch the firework.

    and the shows aren't that important to us.


    And if we decide to visit only one park? Which one could we visit the best?
    Epcot or Animal kingdom? My sister is 20 and I am 17 at that time.
    We all understand English really well. (if that makes a difference)

    I hope you have enough information to advice us!
    thanks in advance!


  7. #6
    Ready for MA World Explorers! Drince88's Avatar
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    Your written English is very good. MUCH better than my Flemish! (I don't think I even know how to say "Good Morning" or "Hello"!)

    Are you going to be in Orlando (or Florida) for a while, and just have other obligations/plans? If that's the case, you can kind of get a sense for what the weather is really like. Even if you look at just the temperature, it doesn't give the whole picture because of the humidity (You may have experienced your glasses fogging up when you walk inside at home? That can happen in the summer going OUTSIDE in Florida!)

    If you are able to get a feel for the weather, and think you can handle it, you are all old enough to be able to say "I need some water NOW" or "I need to get into some air conditioning and sit down NOW" - so I kind of lean towards saying to go ahead and attempt both in one day. Do make a dining reservation in Epcot - you can do it online now, 180 days from your visit.

    I don't think there are ways to get a discounted 1 day park hopper or 1 day 'non hopping' ticket, so you won't save any money by buying ahead of time - so wait until you 'feel' the Florida weather to decide if you're going to do the hopping.

    I think most people would agree that if you do decide to take it a little easier, to do Epcot. I don't know what countries you're familiar with 'in real life', but whichever they are, look around that pavillion in detail - and see if you can find items that might be something that only a local, or person who's visited would understand. For instance, in England, there are red phone booths around, that gives a little more feeling of the country that a tourist would relate to - There's also crests for the big educational institutions on the upper windows of a store - only a person VERY familiar with England would recognize them for what they are (or if you took a tour!)

    No matter what, plan on being in line to enter the park before it's scheduled to open. The first hour or two is a HUGE difference in crowds than later in the day.

    Cathy

  8. #7

    I think it is a very good idea to just wait and see if we "can handle" the weather. I visited the west coast a year ago and Aruba. (by the carribean sea)
    I think that is the closets I've been to the humidity weather.

    And we will visit orlando for only 6 full days. (First we will visit yellow stone and then fly to florida) and we were planning to visit island of adventure, Kennedy Space center, Seaworld or Universal (We still have doubts about if we should visit seaworld or Universal but thats not the question right now ) and animal kingom and/or Epcot. We want to spend 4 days at visiting things and the other days we just want to shop and relax!
    So we have not enough time to visit everything. And we decided to skip MK and Disney Hollywood studios. Because we visited Disney land in Paris last November. Which is quite comparable to mk.

    And about Epcot, We have see most of the countries in Europe. but on the other hand we visited South Africa 2 years ago and went on a safari.
    But Epcot and Animal kingdom are both unique in there own way. What makes it difficult to chose between those two!

    I think we just have to wait and see how we feel and how much energy we have left!


  9. #8
    Registered User wishiwasthere's Avatar
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    You know that Islands of Adventure is Universal? It is just the newer of the 2 parks. I think you can totally skip Universal Studios (the old park). If you really want to see both parks then you can do a 2 park/ 1 day pass. I only suggest doing that though if you get to Islands of Adventure no later than 8:30AM. And by that I mean at the gates by 8:30AM. (The walk from the parking lot to the main gate is a good 20 minutes, but there are ways around that!) If you do that and don't want to do every single ride then you can get a good majority of both parks.


    When are you going in August exactly? I can help you more with your Universal planning if I knew the exact dates.

    I haven't done Sea World in over 10 years so I can't help you there.

    Someone else can also chime in on Kennedy Space Center because I have never been there.

    If you have any questions on Universal you can ask over on those boards or you can private message me.

    Kristin

  10. #9

    i wanted to send you a personal message.
    But because i'm new here i'm not able yet.
    And I will post my questions about Universal in the Universal Topic.

    When are you going in August exactly
    We are in Orlando from the 14th until the 19th
    (We arrive 13th and leave the 20th)

    You know that Islands of Adventure is Universal? It is just the newer of the 2 parks. I think you can totally skip Universal Studios (the old park). If you really want to see both parks then you can do a 2 park/ 1 day pass. I only suggest doing that though if you get to Islands of Adventure no later than 8:30AM. And by that I mean at the gates by 8:30AM. (The walk from the parking lot to the main gate is a good 20 minutes, but there are ways around that!) If you do that and don't want to do every single ride then you can get a good majority of both parks.
    Yes I know!
    We want to visit IOA for Harry Potter! And we probably skip Universal Studios because the lack of time and we already have visited Universal Hollywood.
    And we are considering buying express passes.

    And if you must choose between Epcot and Animal kingdom. Which one do you guys prefer?

  11. #10

    Epcot. One advantage of Epcot in August is that you don't really spend all that much time outside in the heat. Pretty much everything is inside in air conditioning. There is so much to do there and experience. I really like Animal Kingdom, but if I had to choose, I'd go with Epcot.


  12. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fenna View Post
    And if you must choose between Epcot and Animal kingdom. Which one do you guys prefer?
    I would personally choose Epcot, but that's cause it's my favorite of the 4 parks. It really depends on the interests of you and your family. If you're really animal people, then I'd go with Animal Kingdom. If you like more rides and like the idea of meandering around representations of different countries in the world, then Epcot would work better for you. However, even if you chose Animal Kingdom, that park closes early enough that you would still be able to make it to Epcot for IllumiNations. I absolutely love that show.
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  13. #12

    I was just at Kennedy Space Center in November. We enjoyed it very much, but I'm not sure it's a must see for everyone. If you haven't seen all of disneyworld yet (and it is very different from disneyland and disneyland Paris) I'd spend another day there first.

    That's just my opinion. If you have any specific questions about KSC, I'd be glad to answer them.



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  14. #13
    Registered User wishiwasthere's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fenna View Post
    And if you must choose between Epcot and Animal kingdom. Which one do you guys prefer?
    Epcot!!

    Like mom22gls, everything is indoors. For someone who is not used to the heat and humidity it makes a huge difference.

    Animal Kingdom is hard for my family to do in August and we go every year in August. Everything is a far walk from each other and everything is outdoors (even the queue lines).

    In Epcot the only things that are outdoors is walking from one attraction to another and the World Showcase. We save the World Showcase for around 5PM. It gives us 4 hours of walking around and the sun is starting to set which really helps.

    With the Kennedy Space Center what are you hoping to see? I am sure jengold can help you with whether or not it is worth your time.
    Kristin

  15. #14

    TOTALLY Do-able. Me and my buddy visited WDW for the first time yesterday and stayed open to close, 9am-10pm and we got to Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom and I feel we got a pretty good feel for all 3 and honestly we probably couldve got to Hollywood Studios for a couple hours too..we were hurting at the end of the day, but we did it


  16. #15
    Ready for MA World Explorers! Drince88's Avatar
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    Weather in January, vs weather in August, as well as crowds are HUGE differences in what you experienced and what the OP will be able to experience.

    What attractions were you able to experience?

    Cathy

  17. #16

    the weather was actually really nice like 70's, but yes August will be more busy but longer hours too..
    In Animal Kingdom we got on Expedition Everest like 3 or 4 times, Dinosaur, Kiliminjaro Safari, and the zoo trail thing with the gorillas
    Epcot we walked around all the countries and checked those out, got on the Norway boat ride, Nemo, the ride with Figment, Test Track, Mission Space
    Magic Kingdom we did Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Stitch Great Escape, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, PhilarMagic, Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear, watched Electrical Parade and Fireworks

    Obviously we didnt get to everything, but I think we got a pretty good taste of those three parks...at least to hold us over until next time we can come


  18. #17

    the weather was actually really nice like 70's, but yes August will be more busy but longer hours too..
    In Animal Kingdom we got on Expedition Everest like 3 or 4 times, Dinosaur, Kiliminjaro Safari, and the zoo trail thing with the gorillas
    Epcot we walked around all the countries and checked those out, got on the Norway boat ride, Nemo, the ride with Figment, Test Track, Mission Space
    Magic Kingdom we did Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Stitch Great Escape, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, PhilarMagic, Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear, watched Electrical Parade and Fireworks

    Obviously we didnt get to everything, but I think we got a pretty good taste of those three parks...at least to hold us over until next time we can come


  19. #18
    Ready for MA World Explorers! Drince88's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tan Da Man View Post
    the weather was actually really nice like 70's, but yes August will be more busy but longer hours too..
    And a LOT hotter/more humid. Sounds like you hit a nice temp day, though!

    Had you been on Stitch's Great Escape before? Your assortment of attractions does sound like you got a nice flavor of the parks.
    Cathy

  20. #19

    No, that was the first time I had ever been to WDW at all, so my first time on Stitch...its nto really what I was expecting, and I dont think the crying children next to me helped any, but it was cool to check out but Im not sure I need to do it next time I go.


  21. #20
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    Normally to do Epcot reasonably well takes two full days. And AK really does take a full day.

    Disneyland Trips: 13 trips for 49 nights.
    But I live less than 20 miles from Walt Disney World! And work there part-time.

    For more information about Disabled Access to Disney World and nearby areas, check this out. Or for tickets, check out my Everything About WDW Tickets post.

  22. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Tan Da Man View Post
    ...Stitch...its nto really what I was expecting, and I dont think the crying children next to me helped any...
    That's really a big problem with this attraction - it's seriously scary for the little ones! It's hard for me to enjoy an attraction when the tot next to me is seriously freaked out!!!
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