Park Hopping between Epcot and Disney’s Animal Kingdom #DisneyVacayCA

My family just returned from a great trip to Orlando and Walt Disney World.

For our first day at Walt Disney World, we decided to park hop between Epcot and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Here’s our day in a nutshell.

Our Morning at Epcot

We took an Uber to Epcot and were at the park for the 9am opening.

Our day began with a photo with Baymax and then a few rides – The Seas with Nemo and Friends and Living with the Land. 

After these two rides, we used our first Fast Pass for the Test Track. The kids LOVED this ride. You begin by designing your own car followed by racing it on a super fast track.

We had Fast Passes for Mission: Space after the Test Track but we all chickened out and did not go on this ride.

We continued our morning at Epcot by visiting many countries in the World Showcase. We had lunch at the Liberty Inn in the American Adventure section.

After lunch, we spotted Belle in France and hopped on a boat back to the Showcase Plaza.

We made our way through the entrance and hopped on a shuttle bus to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

An Afternoon at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Once at Animal Kingdom, we took it easy and headed for the Kilimanjaro Safari. This was a great experience! We saw so many fascinating animals and really liked our safari driver. I was impressed that we got on this ride rather quickly and without a Fast Pass!

The afternoon was super warm and my kids were fading fast. We continued to walk around a bit, enjoyed some more cold treats and I headed for the single line up on Expedition Everest. This fast roller coaster was great! The single line up moved quickly and I was with my family in no time.

We then made our way to Dinoland USA and rode the TriceraTop Spin. 

I had big plans to watch the Rivers of Light show in the evening but my kids were done. Sadly, we headed back to our resort for an early night.

I could have stayed at Disney’s Animal Kingdom for so much longer and feel that we missed out on a lot of great rides and experiences. I’m still happy that we went and hope to visit again one day.

Park Hopping Tips

Park hopping at the Walt Disney World Resort is a great option for many families. We only had two days to enjoy the parks and wanted to see as much as we could.

It was very easy to get from Epcot to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The complimentary shuttle buses are very easy to find and bring you directly to your desired destination.

I highly recommend you plan your day well in advance but give yourself a little wiggle room. If you’re having an amazing time at the first park don’t cut your visit short.

The only drawback to park hopping is that you have limited time in the parks you choose to visit. I found that both Epcot and Disney’s Animal Kingdom had a lot to offer and that we really just skimmed the surface. If we had more time in Orlando I would have absolutely spent one full day at both of these parks.

Park hopper tickets are slightly more expensive than single park tickets. If you think you’ll be able to take advantage of visiting more than one park this is the option for you!

To learn more about the Disney World Resort in Orlando check out:

• The Walt Disney World website
• Follow Walt Disney World on Facebook
• Follow Walt Disney World on Twitter

I’d love to know, have you used the Park Hopper option when visiting the Walt Disney World Resort? What did you like about this option?

Disclosure: Disney Canada offered me special perks to facilitate this review. I’m a big Disney fan and all thoughts and opinions are my own.