MSN Travel Tips: Avoid AK?

[MissM]

I think the article has a valid point. The issue isn't whether or not AK has merit, the problem is that it shouldn't be the same cost as MK for example. Most of the year it's only open until around 5-6pm and yet, it costs as much as a park open until 9-10pm. There's also not as much bang for your buck there. I would never do AK on a one-day or non-park hopping ticket. It's just not worth it for what it is. Does it have nice features? Sure. Is it worth visiting in general? Again, sure. But is it worth the same admission as MK? No, it's not. It's still an unfinished park with short hours which doesn't make it as much a value as the others.
-m

 

[Big-Bad-Dave]

I tend to agree with some of the negative points discussed. The only thing I really enjoy is EE. Dino is HORRIBLE! (when it even runs) I think they do have roome to grow and the will need it. I do AK and MGM before lunch and could probally do it quicker if the bus was faster. I love animals and I love the concept, but I am just not impressed with it.

 

[haveyoumetmark]

I am actually disappointed. I would have to say that Animal Kingdom is not a zoo. In zoos, animals are in exhibits, whilst AK is exhibit free. Reading this thread is annoying, with the amount of repetition and all. It's to get the point across at least. We know AK is not worth $67 a day...

yea-it closes at five -- but it's for the comfort of the beautiful animals that call it home.
yea-it has a few rides and shows -- it is still an invigorating experience despite that.
yea-everything is spread apart -- pay attention to detail, scenic routes are incredible.
yea-it can be scorching hot -- welcome to florida. :wave:

AK is incredibley worth it, and if not the $67, then the multi-day park hopper for sure. Not to mention that this is Joe Rohde's park and that he is an absolute genious. Plus, the resort to go along with it, The Animal Kingdom Lodge is perhaps the most spectacular lot on property.

Oh, and MissM, Mr. Walt Disney said himself, none of the parks will ever be finished as long as there is imagination left in the world. Obviously, there is imagination left in the world if people are imagining AK as a mere zoo.

 

[wannab@dis]

Obviously, there is imagination left in the world if people are imagining AK as a mere zoo.

<img src="http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/fwp/smileytoday/small_thumbs_up.gif">

Quote of the day! :wave:

 

[majortom1981]

actually

Actually Tigger1998 If you buy a pass to the theme park part of great adventure you get into wild safari for free.

You can even take a bus around the safari with a guide if you want.

 

[MissM]

Oh, and MissM, Mr. Walt Disney said himself, none of the parks will ever be finished as long as there is imagination left in the world.

And yet, AK isn't even being imagined actively enough at the moment. If you feel that it's complete enough to warrent the same admission as a more well-rounded and balanced park as MK, you're welcome to your opinion. As I am to mine. I feel it needs work yet. I'm not saying it's awful, but it is much more incomplete then other parks.
-m

 

[Dukeblue1016]

but it is much more incomplete then other parks.
-m

MK - 35 years
Epcot - 24 years
MGM - 17 Years
AK - 8 years


Would you compare an 8 year old's wealth to that of a 35 year old? 24 year old? 17 year old? No... but would you talk him down because he is only 8? No, you shouldn't... so AK should not be talked down as a Zoo... it's only 8 years old... So it shouldn't be called a zoo because its still young and still growing...

The best rides in Epcot didn't open until Test Track came around in 1999... 17 years after it opened did it finally get its first BIG attraction, followed by MS and Soarin... 17+ years after opening? MGM took 6 years to get ToT and 10 years to get RnRC... 8 years after opening... AK got the best ride Disney has to offer... it is NOT a zoo...

 

[mrtoad]

The best rides in Epcot didn't open until Test Track came around in 1999... 17 years after it opened did it finally get its first BIG attraction, followed by MS and Soarin... 17+ years after opening? MGM took 6 years to get ToT and 10 years to get RnRC... 8 years after opening... AK got the best ride Disney has to offer... it is NOT a zoo...

The best ride is a subjective thing. I feel SSE is the best attraction at Epcot. I think Test Track is just OK, and would not miss it if it were gone.

 

[CoffeeJedi]

The best rides in Epcot didn't open until Test Track came around in 1999... 17 years after it opened did it finally get its first BIG attraction, followed by MS and Soarin... 17+ years after opening?

ack!
/dives into fire-proof concrete bunker, locks door
Tell me when its over!

 

[Skippy]

Big Attraction ≠ Thrill Ride

 

[Dwarful]

Well I wonder how many families NOW buy the one day one park option because they don't want to splurge on the hopper option? If they use a one day ticket..even discounted your park day is over early compared to other parks in the Orlando area (including non disney parks). At our zoo many of the animals are now in more "natural" environments where you don't see the barriers...this of course means you can't get right up to lions like you can say at the Lincoln Park Zoo, but of course the beauty of the whole area makes that worth it. If I didn't have an ap/hopper option, I would probably go one day and that would be it.

As far as comparing the ages of the parks...MK was opened 35 years ago, how much different was it 8 years later? I don't think its fair to compare AK to MK because its two completely different venues. However, I think maybe they were premature in rushing to open AK (& MGM) and did so knowing they would have to continue to expand.

 

[MissM]

I'm not on the "it's just a zoo" bandwagon, so please refrain from putting words in my mouth. I also realize that it is the youngest park, but the fact remains that it is still sorely incomplete. And it does not have the value that the other parks have.

This is a rough cut, but a quick search gives MK's open attractions within the first 8 years as follows:

1971

* Disney’s Magic Kingdom first opens its doors on October 1 for approximately 10,000 visitors with the following attractions: Cinderella’s Golden Carousel, Country Bear Jamboree, Diamond Horseshoe Revue, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Frontier Shooting Gallery, Hall of Presidents, Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, Jungle Cruise, Mad Tea Party, Mickey Mouse Revue, Mike Fink Keel Boats, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Skyway, Snow White’s Adventures, Swiss Family Treehouse, Tiki Room, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway and Walt Disney World Railroad.

* The Liberty Square Riverboat opens along the Rivers of America on October 2, the day after the grand opening of Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

* Several new attractions open at Disney’s Magic Kingdom before the end of the year such as Flight to the Moon and Circle-Vision 360.

1972

* If You Had Wings opens in Tomorrowland at Disney’s Magic Kingdom and features state-of-the-art OmniMover vehicles.

* The Walt Disney Story makes its debut in Town Square at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

1973

* Tom Sawyer Island makes its debut in Adventureland at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

* Pirates of the Caribbean opens in Adventureland’s Caribbean Plaza at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

* The Swan Boat ride opens in the Plaza at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

1974

* Star Jets (later known as Astro Orbiter) opens in Tomorrowland at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

1975

* The Carousel of Progress opens in Tomorrowland at Disney’s Magic Kingdom with the new theme song, “The Best Time of Your Life.”

* Astronauts Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper and Jim Irwin take the first ride during the grand opening of RCA’s Space Mountain.

* Flight to the Moon evolves into Mission to Mars in Tomorrowland.

* The WEDway People Mover makes its debut in Tomorrowland.


1977

* The Main Street Electrical Light Parade makes its debut at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
​

Big Thunder also opened in 1980. So within MK's first years, quite a bit of the park's foundation was in place. And while others may disagree, I have fond memories of Epcot in it's early years. The original Imagination, Horizons, etc.

I will grant you that when MGM opened, it was quite barren. I was there about six months after it's formal opening and there was very little to be had. It was a rush opening.

Again I say that AK is not a bad park and it has a lot of potential. At the moment though in my personal opinion, there's just not enough to define and seperate it as a full-day, standalone experience. Your mileage may varry.
-m

 

[Lanipie]

The whole argument is moot.

Whether or not the park is "worth" the cost of one day admission is completely based on people's individual opinions. Opinions can be argued and "facts" thrown about until people are blue int he face and it wouldn't do anyone any good.

The point is that the writer didn't even suggest the option of tacking on AK as park of a multi-day pass. The writer just assumed that someone would come bumbling into WDW with one day to spend and would go to AK. Who would do that? Most likely no one, unless they are already a fan of that park. Most new guests if they only had one day, would go to the MK. So why take the time to put down a beautiful park that is still a baby? It's still growing. Why not add that into your description of the park?

If the point was to suggest that AK should lower their price on one day admission, then the writer should have done so. But he didn't. He just completely wrote it off as a waste of time. Which many people feel it is not. Much as many people don't find, the Sears Tower, Times Square, etc etc to be a waste of time.

If he wanted it to be an argument about admission fees then he should have done that. Instead he just bad mouthed the park in a very ignorant way, by calling it a glorified zoo.

 

[PSU_Princess]

I don't understand saying that you should charge less for AK than MK....how can you charge different amounts for all 4 parks. Can you imagine the headache of making a multi-day park pass? You would have to determine how many days you were spending at each park before you could order tickets....otherwise you might be paying to much or to little for what you actually do.
I also don't think you can compare the rate at which attractions were added to the MK. At the time all those attractions listed were added MK was the only park. When there is only 1 or even 2 parks and a small amount of resorts to invest money in more things can happen in each area. When there are 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, Downtown Disney, and many more resorts they have to allocate where the money goes. They could have dumped all the money into AK but then we would be missing a lot of other things that have opened or been upgraded since then.

 

[DigitalDisney]

The article just sucks. Any "top 10 list" article from just about any source is bound to be a load of garbage. What determines the individual item's ranking? Why aren't there more things on the list? Obviously the people that make this list are uninformed or biased.

Their reasons for voting attractions down are inconsistant too. AK is bad because it costs too much (relatively). The changing of the guard and leaning tower of pisa are free but not recommended. The Navy Pier in Chicago is free but not recommended, but they recommend you take the cruise, which is $25/person!

If there's a Disney park to pick on, it's either WDSP of HKDL (this list is world-wide). AK may not have the biggest collection of attractions, but the safari and Everest are EPIC attractions, and nothing in the park was cookie-cutter when it opened. WDSP is largely unthemed, has a lot of cookie-cutter attractions, and costs the same as DLP. HKDL is well themed, but there aren't many attractions and many things that are there aren't exactly unique to HKDL.

 

[dxwwf3]

Am I the only one who doesn't really think of animals when I think of the AK? The attractions and the great themeing are the reasons to go to the AK, IMO. The animals are just gravy.

 

[joelleharbert]

Wow.. exactly!!!!

Most people don't "get" Disney like us. Similarly, many more people don't "get" AK and write it off.

It's a very young park in the grand scheme of things. It has a lot more to come. Disney isn't going to build a park with 35+ attractions. It's not about being "thrilled" by animals.

To me, the park is about... beauty. Beauty in bugs. Beauty in dinosaurs (as a species, and an exinct species), beauty in helping and aiding animals, beauty in protecting animals, beauty in song, dance and architechture (sp?), beauty in foreign culture and customs, beauty of flight. It's a very pretty park. It just hasn't fully revealed itself to everyone yet.

I don't post all that often, but when something interests me or "sets me off" so to speak, I feel compelled to say something. First off, I "get" Disney. Please don't act superior over others and claim others don't "get" Disney just because we happen to believe the MSN article could be right on. I'm not a big fan of AK. I happen to think it's just OK. We have four zoos within 2-3 hours of where I live that do a better job on the animal aspect of things. As far as recreating an African safari, AK does do an excellent job. It's just that when you have small children who are expecting to see lions and tigers and bears (OH MY! I couldn't help myself-sorry!) and it's impossible for them to find them on the safari ride, I don't feel it's worth my $70 to go there. There isn't many rides at AK that interest small children or even that they're allowed to ride on due to height restrictions. I'm sure if you're a complete, pure Disneyholic, you would go to AK because it's part of the whole experience. However, if you are limited on time at WDW, AK is one of those places, IMO, that could be skipped. Again, please don't say that we don't "get" Disney. It makes me angry that you and others belittle those of us who can see that Disney has made some mistakes, but love going there regardless. I'm giving up vacations for the next three years to go there for one week next month, so yes, while I agree with MSN, I will continue to love Disney for all its faults.

 

[PSU_Princess]

I don't post all that often, but when something interests me or "sets me off" so to speak, I feel compelled to say something. First off, I "get" Disney. Please don't act superior over others and claim others don't "get" Disney just because we happen to believe the MSN article could be right on. I'm not a big fan of AK. I happen to think it's just OK. We have four zoos within 2-3 hours of where I live that do a better job on the animal aspect of things. As far as recreating an African safari, AK does do an excellent job. It's just that when you have small children who are expecting to see lions and tigers and bears (OH MY! I couldn't help myself-sorry!) and it's impossible for them to find them on the safari ride, I don't feel it's worth my $70 to go there. There isn't many rides at AK that interest small children or even that they're allowed to ride on due to height restrictions. I'm sure if you're a complete, pure Disneyholic, you would go to AK because it's part of the whole experience. However, if you are limited on time at WDW, AK is one of those places, IMO, that could be skipped. Again, please don't say that we don't "get" Disney. It makes me angry that you and others belittle those of us who can see that Disney has made some mistakes, but love going there regardless. I'm giving up vacations for the next three years to go there for one week next month, so yes, while I agree with MSN, I will continue to love Disney for all its faults.

Why does AK have to be a mistake just because you don't like it???

 

[majortom1981]

I agree

I agree with joelleharbert. Just because we see that Disney makes mistakes doesnt mean we don't get disney.

There were many people back in the begining when Walt disney was alive that had his imagination. People around ehre seem to think that The people who work at disney are the only ones. On this board if you mention anything bad about disney you get flammed and everyone is nasty to you. Also that kind of attitude is not DISNEY like at all .

Why did they have to create Animal Kingdom? Why not have spent that money on the three parks that you already have?

ITs obvious they borrowed Ideas from other parks and zoos when they created Animal Kingdom. In the specials the engineers who helped build the park even mentioned this fact. So why berate people who think this park was a mistake. There were a lot better uses for that money.

 

[Dukeblue1016]

Big Attraction ≠ Thrill Ride

ack!
/dives into fire-proof concrete bunker, locks door
Tell me when its over!

You guys are yanking my chain right??? Really... Test Track wasn't Epcot's biggest attraction? No??? It wasn't the only ride in Disney history to have its own preview center??? Because before Test Track there actually was a ride there that posted 90+ minute wait times??? Yeah???


I DO NOT like Test Track... but it would be a JOKE if I came out and said it wasn't the biggest attraction in Epcot when it opened in 1999... I can remember going 8 months after it opened... being there at 11:00 a.m. and it having 240 MINUTE WAITS!!!!! 4 HOUR WAIT TIMES!!!!!!!!!! And Fast passes at 11:00 a.m.... SOLD OUT FOR THE DAY...

but yeah, the ride wasn't big at all... they should probably just scrap the ride... it was bad...



I'm not talking opinions... because someone responded "personally i think SSE is the best ride there" I respect that... I do... but Test Track up until Soarin posted the biggest wait times in all of WDW... so how isn't it the biggest attraction there??? That is a FACT... a fact I don't understand cuz I'd never wait more than 20 minutes for the ride... but its a FACT...