Animal Kingdom or Sea World?

[minnie-mouse]

If you had to choose to do one or other on a given day, which one would you choose? We have 2 little girls (6 and 9), and are trying to plan which we should do with our limited time.

[DizneyRox]

I spend most of my time at Animal Kingdom, so that would be my vote. One of these days we'll make it over to the other parks. Actually, it'll probably be my next trip to Orlando. It's been too long...

[Ms. Mode]

Animal Kingdom!

[CzepielCrew]

Definitely Animal Kingdom. The Disney Magic wins over every time.

[cuteduck223]

i vote animal kingdom. I love sea world, but its a lot of extra money (instead of adding a day to do AK) AND the staff, well, the last time i was there they were talking about getting high at 3 different things we were waiting for. We joked about it, thinking maybe it was a staff party

[Carol]

Animal Kingdom all the way solely because I do not believe in harboring whales or dolphins in captivity.

[Disney Doll]

Another vote for AK. I think it's likely to be a unanimous decision on this forum.

[CosmicRay]

Animal Kingdom

[faline]

Let's see...you're asking this question on a Disney discussion board so I think the responses might be a bit skewed....

In any case, we've been to Sea World several times and I am truly in no rush to go back. I enjoy Animal Kingdom much more than Sea World so I woudl pick Animal Kingdom.

[BrerSchultzy]

We were faced with the same decision last summer, and we chose Sea World because I had never been, and my wife hadn't been since she was 10. We had a nice time, but to me, it didn't compare to AK. First of all, AK has MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better food. The food at Sea World is terrible and way overpriced.
Now, I am glad we mad the decision we made, because my wife got to feed a dolphin, and I left the park with a whole new respect for Sea World. But, I would probably choose AK.

[PETE FROM NYC]

DW and I have visited Sea World many times since our 1st Fla trip in 75. We now refuse to go back. The trainers no longer go in the water at the Shamu shows, they stopped the water ski show a few yrs ago. The show schedules have you criss crossing the parks every 5 mins it seems.
AK is my least favorite Disney park, but we still do it once each trip, while we do the other 3 parks at least 2x each.

[mom2morgan]

I love them both, but if I could only do one or the other, it would be Seaworld all the way. More animals, more opportunity to interact with the animals, animal shows (aside from the Flights of Wonder show, there aren't any shows at AK which actually have the animals performing). I love the variety of Seaworld- everything from rescue dogs and cats, to seals, to sting rays, to the dolphins and Orcas. It has some nice rides, too. As for food and service - I've always found both to be just fine, and there were a few staff members who spent a LOT of time talking to my 12 year old daughter when she said she was interested in animal training as a career. In my opinion it is a must do - truly unique and well worth every penny. As much as a like Animal Kingdom, it does have a bit of an identity crisis in trying to decide whether it is about the animals or about the rides. (Not that Seaword doesn't have a few good rides, too)

[steamboat willy]

What GOES to Disney....Stays at Disney! Animal Kingdom is one of our favorite Parks. So much for your little girls to do and don't miss Festival Of The Lion King show.
We never leave DIISNY property until time to head back to the Carolinas.

[Dopey's Girl]

AK. We have been to Sea World a few times and have not been overly impresses. The food is horrible, the park feels poorly laid out ( lots of backtracking), it's crazy hot (the park is 100% blacktop) and I'm just not crazy about the shamu shows. I always just end up feeling really badly for the whales.

[AllDisney]

Another vote for Animal Kingdom. We never leave Disney property once we get there.

We want the "magic" to last as long as possible

[Dawneeeey]

Another vote for AK. During our last trip, we went to Sea World. It was a half day park that was like $80. Our local aquarium in Boston has much better interaction with the same mammals and if that's what you want, it's not worth the price, IMO.

[wildernesslady]

I would pick AK. There is so much to see there. Take the time to do the shows. We have always enjoyed it there.

[DonaldDuckUSA]

I must say, I could spend the whole day petting the Manta Rays.

Sea World's thrill rides made me ill. I didn't get sick, but it wasn't a great feeling. I won't ever do them again. Also, I hate the loading style of other theme parks. Who wants to figure out how to keep their party together and file in themselves. Disney makes it all so easy.

I think you should consider if your children are more interested in land animals or sea animals. Also, I want to echo what everyone else is saying about tickets. Adding an extra day at AK is going to be cheaper than trecking over to SW and buying $80 tickets.

I had a great time at Sea World. DBF and I went when it wasn't busy, and we had a very low key and romantic day. That being said, I probably won't be going as often as I go to Disney.

[mickeys_princess_mom]

No question about it--Animal Kingdom. Have done Sea World and there is no comparison IMO.

[kohlby]

I'm going to go against the grain - Sea World! We did AK the last four with-kids trips and my kids are not into AK at all. We did just a half day this last time at AK and they were so bored. However, they absolutely love SW. Our next trip will be in Nov and I'm really excited about all the Christmas type programs they have then. We haven't been to those at SW before.

My kids will be 3, 6, and 9 on our next trip, well, plus half a year for all of them. The last trip was a year before. Many kids love AK but mine really aren't that into it. We kept trying it over and over because we figured they would love it at some point, but it didn't happen yet. It is cheaper in most cases to do AK over SW, so consider that as well. We get hoppers and always have to hop out of AK since it's been a flop. This time, we have free SW tickets with our credit card points so it's actually cheaper for us to do SW anyway.