Both are at a 5 that day. I have to do one as a half day - it’s the only way to fit all of the parks into our trip. I have a 5 year old son, 3 year old son, and a 1 year old daughter going. They are very interested in characters (and I am too!). So which one would you do as the half day. We will be heading back to the resort (all star movies) no later than 12:30 on that day to get naps in before the party at MK that afternoon/night.
I would probably do AK. I’m not sure that I have a good logical reason for that though. It was just my first thought. 
I would do AK. Hit up a show or two, the safari, and the boneyard and rafikis. Then head back, grab some lunch. And nap.
I would take littles those ages to AK. Your entire crew can see live animals, enjoy KS, pop over to Rafiki’s, see at least one of the shows. Can see several characters (maybe DiVine?) in just a few hours. Great low-stress morning before party night.
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I also agree with AK; save EP for a full day. 3 or 4 hours at EP is hardly worth the time it would take to get there and back; certainly not enough time to walk WS and look for characters…
If you can go back another day too- definitely Epcot!! We always pick Epcot pre-party. We get there “around” opening (meaning if big sleep needed I don’t rush kids!), check out some of future world, then at 11 grab a big lunch and back towards hotel by 1230/1p for a rest.
With kids that age at Epcot, you could do nemo ride, turtle talk with crush, land ride, and figment, and meet chip n dale, mickey, minnie, and goofy, all on that one side of future world. (West?) You could also make it up to mexico at 11 for the three caballeros ride, meet Duffy and Donald up there, then call it a day. That’s how our epcot mornings with kids those ages go.
At AK, I would do safari, train to rafiki’s, lion king show, then over to dinoland for the playground. Meet mickey, minnie, goofy, pluto along the way…
I think either option would be fine. Depends on your taste, really.
another vote for animal kingdom. closer to all star and less walking. but i would not try a park day before a party. youre paying a lot for that party and will be disappointed if the kids fade early. lots of characters at party. rest up during day. do the fourth park another time.
Hmm… I disagree about the walking. The way I do a typical morning at epcot or AK with those ages, 9:00-11:30 AM, for Epcot I’d only be in future world west, then mexico, then leave. And for my style of touring, that is a lot less walking than AK, where we’d be starting in Africa, but then going all the way over to dinoland, and maybe doing trails… AK distances are deceptively long! But as always YMMV.
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We did AK on MVMCP day, and it worked really well for us. However, we are “power tourers”, and hit it at RD with an aggressive TP and left around 2:30 for a quick stop to freshen up at our WL room before going to the party.
Given the ages of your crew, there is so much for them to see and do at AK that I would not want to limit my time there to just a morning. Go with the EP plans that have been outlined above.
Are you going in November or December? If you are going when a EP has their storytellers, I would think it would be another reason you you want EP to be a full day. Or will it still be Food and Wine? It just seems as if WS would have a lot to offer.
Im also going to give a nod for Epcot half day. Kids that age love animals vs World fair all day!
Thank you everyone! I think we’re going to go with Epcot full day and AK half day - but I’ve decided to make AK our last day and that way we can go for however long we like (since we are driving - we can leave WDW whenever we please). We’re going 11/5-11/10. We’re doing EPCOT day 1 on the 6th. HS morning of day 2 on the 7th. MK w/ the MVMCP afternoon/night day 2 on the 7th. Then Day 3 (we have a character lunch) will be HS, Day 4 MK, and Day 5/leaving day AK.
Thank you all so much for your help!! I’m so very excited!
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Just planned this exact scenario myself. Animal Kingdom.