Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom in one day?

[aubeone]

Has anybody ever done a "highlight" tour of Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom in one day? I have one day alone before my group arrives and was thinking of trying to pull this off.

Thoughts?

 

[Robo]

Has anybody ever done a "highlight" tour of Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom in one day? I have one day alone before my group arrives and was thinking of trying to pull this off.

Thoughts?

Hundreds of guests have done this with these two (or other) parks.

It would make sense to plan very carefully exactly what order you want to visit the parks and what attractions you intend to see.
That is especially true of DAK, as the three big "shows"
(Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo the Musical and Flights of Wonder) run on precise schedules, posted in advance.

 

[EsmeraldaZingara]

Yes. It is very easy to pull off. I have done all four parks in one day, so two parks is very doable. Just plan accordingly and you'll have a great time.

 

[twinsmama]

Has anybody ever done a "highlight" tour of Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom in one day? I have one day alone before my group arrives and was thinking of trying to pull this off.

Thoughts?

We did this last December, and had we not been having major MM problems, it would've been great. The crowd levels were low for both parks that day and we did our FP+ for the afternoon in MK.

We got to AK shortly after it opened and had a list of our must-dos. My family was able to do Kilimanjaro, Tough to be a Bug, Festival of the Lion King, Meet Mickey & Minnie, and eat lunch. We were out by 12pm and did not rush anywhere. Unfortunately for me, I spent most of that time with the CMs working out our MM kinks. But my family did it!

Then we went to MK and used our afternoon FP+ and did standby for other rides. It was a great day!

We will be splitting HS and MK this time around.

 

[johde]

Depending on what your "highlights" are in each park entail it's very doable. Adding to what Robo said, the shows at AK and the parades at MK need to be scheduled around if those are on your "highlights".

I'm planning a 4 park highlights day in January with the MK last and the hopes of getting there in time for FoF parade. Right now, the schedule is has me making it just in time and I have an attraction in each park I'm willing to skip to stay on schedule.

 

[LBIJim]

Yep, did a one day AK/MK hopper in May. The attendance was relatively low that day and we had plenty of time to do much more than the highlights.

 

[monkeybug]

We are doing this in a few days. I plan on getting to AK at RD and leaving at around 3:00. All of our FPs are for in the evening at the MK.

 

[chelseabun76]

I have this planned as one of our days in January, we'll be at Tusker House at 8am, then do what we want for rides/shows, then head over to MK around 3pm for the rest of the evening.

 

[jar]

We did this on our last visit during a high period (mid-February), prior to FP+. Was in MK til lunch time then was able to do the highlights of AK in a few hours. Pretty easy.

 

[Mhahnster]

Has anybody ever done a "highlight" tour of Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom in one day? I have one day alone before my group arrives and was thinking of trying to pull this off. Thoughts?

Pretty easy. We went to an early MK open at 8am with early magic hours, spent 2 hours while all rides were practically walk ons (except 7dmt). Around 1030 we jumped a bus to AK and rode all of the major attractions, Everest multiple times. We went from there around 5 to Epcot, had dinner, rode test track and went to the world showcase.

It was a busy day, and we toted 3 kids along without issue.

 

[DakotaRose]

That would work for DH and I. If we do rope drop at MK, we're done by 2:00. AK is nice late in the day as the crowds leave en masse starting around 3:00.

 

[DisDreamsAshley]

We actually do this just about every time. We hit AK up first thing for just a couple hours, doing our favorites, head back for a short break, and then off to the MK (or another park). We use our FPs at AK to speed along the morning. We tend to go at low crowd times so we've never had any wait time issues at the afternoon park.

 

[aubeone]

Pretty easy. We went to an early MK open at 8am with early magic hours, spent 2 hours while all rides were practically walk ons (except 7dmt). Around 1030 we jumped a bus to AK and rode all of the major attractions, Everest multiple times. We went from there around 5 to Epcot, had dinner, rode test track and went to the world showcase.

It was a busy day, and we toted 3 kids along without issue.

How did you work Fastpass+ into this plan?

 

[Mhahnster]

How did you work Fastpass+ into this plan?

This was our "animal kingdom" day so we had fast passes for Kalahari, Kali, Everest, and Nemo. Since we had 5 in our party and 3 kiddos that kind of worked to our advantage via setting up different passes and trading magic bands around.

Early morning at Mk the lines were all walkons. We waited standby for test track which was about 30 minutes from start to exit.

Now that fp+ is here we are doing a lot more standby lines.

 

[discat73]

We generally do "favorites" day on our last day and visit at least three and sometimes all four parks. It does help to have a plan going in (and since it is your first day, it probably wouldn't hurt to familiarize yourself with the maps in advance.

I just looked at my trip diary from last December and we did the following on our last day (which explains the blisters I nursed on the flight home).

DHS: RD - TSM, RnR, Animation Academy, Starring Rolls Cupcakes
MK: HM, BTMRR, pirates, dole whips, PeopleMover, little mermaid, PeopleMover again
AK: It's thought to be a bug, EE
Epcot: living with the land, figment, walk around showcase, eat snacks

 

[Mousemommy1]

Absolutely!! Our AK days are never full. We usually get there for open and leave by 1. After a break at the resort, we go back to MK at night.