Skip AK EMH?

[septembergirl]

We will be flying into the Orlando airport around 2p, taking DME to Pop, checking in and heading to AK for evening EMH? My questions are:
1) What time can we expect to get there after all that?
2) Would it be a better use of one day's pass to head to MK since it will be open until 10p that night and AK EMH is only until 8p?
3) Is that trying to do too much on our first day?

Thanks for all your expert opinions!

[Goes4FastPass]

Figure about 4pm to Pop and about a hour to check in (it will take longer than you expect it to) and take your carry-ons to your room and make your way back to the bus stop. So you should be ready to AK by about 5pm. If you allow time to wait for a bus, ride to AK, go through security, queue up for an EMH wristband then walk into the park I estimate you will queue up for your first WDW attraction at about 6PM. Others may give you a more optimistic estimate but I'd bet money on mine.

On the other hand, people (wrongly, I think) assume they shouldn't use a park day for a few hours on their arrival day but when you look at what one more day adds to the cost your MYW tickets it a tiny amount like $4 per person. The question is, after spending thousands of dollars (Air, room tickets, food)on a WDW vacation, does it make sense to add $4 to each person's MYW ticket just to go to a park for a few hours? I think so.

Get enough days to include your arrival day then close the MK. Whee! We're at Disney World!

[Jenemmy]

Let me just throw out our experience doing EMH at AK.

Now, grant it we did Animal Kingdom EMH on a night that the MNSSHP was going on at the MK, but we felt like we were pretty much alone at AK! There was a 5 minute wait for Everest, all other things were walk ons. There were stretches where we were on a path and we could see NO other people. We passed by an area where you could greet Stitch and poor stitchy was so bored that he literally pounced on us and played and played. He even messed around with our baby girl, who was sound asleep at the time. LOL.

We had a great experience. Couple the lack of crowds with the cooler evening temps and it was WONDERFUL!

[SBETigg]

It's definitely not trying to do too much. You're going to be excited when you arrive and ready to go have fun. We like to have passes for every day we're there so that we don't have to worry about it, and we like to park hop. If you have the passes and you're hopping, no problem. But if I was trying to conserve days and not hopping, I would hit the park with longer hours to maximize my time. So it all depends on your situation.

[DizneyRox]

The above time frame for arrival etc., is about right. I allow an hour for transport to and from the airport. My experiences with POP checkin were disasterous, so I would allow an hour for that as well. Then you need to get to your room, freshen up, pack for the day, etc. Allow about 30 minutes for the trip to AK and then entry, etc.

6pm sounds about right. You may get lucky, but I wouldn't plan anything (ADRs, meeting people, etc) before that point.

I have yet to hit an AK night time extra magic hour event. I'm so looking forward to it, I'm betting the park is beautiful at night!

[PeterPan]

Go for it - go to AK your first night. It is so beautiful at night, and truly there is plenty to do, especially with Everest in place now. Dinosaur, an extra Lion King thrown in for good measure...you have plenty to do and you will love it.