1st Family Trip - How Many Days at Each Park???

[c2mh]

Please help me... We are taking our FIRST family vacation to Disney in a few months and we have started trying to figure out which parks to attend on which days, etc. How long would you 'suggest' we spend at MK, AK, HS, Epcot?? We will be taking a day or two to attend the water parks as well. Our girls are 4 and 7 yrs old.

Basically, would you allot more time at certain parks for this age range? Less time at another? I'm so confused in planning all this. We are luckily going for 10 days so luckily it's a somewhat long vacation. We know we won't be able to afford going for a while so we want to make the most of it by getting a few extra days in.

Thank you for any and all help!
Cris

 

[bellaprincess98]

My best advice to you is to buy or borrow the Unofficial Guide to WDW. It is a major help in planning. With that book you will also be able to go on thier website(www.touringplans.com) and see what kind of ratings you'll have on the days you'll be there. 1-10. 10 being the most crowded days. It will also tell you which park is best and worst for the days you'll be there. so that will give you an idea of what park to choose for which day.


Hope that helps

 

[Tinkertini]

Hi Cris!

With girls your age, definitely leave yourself the most amount of time for MK. It has the most things to do and is the most popular park, especially for kids. You'll need to allot yourself extra time to get everything done here. I would recommend visiting Fantasyland very early or later in the day - it's a must do for young kids, and it gets super crowded in the afternoon. Also, make sure you catch the parade & fireworks at night - very magical!

I would also think for the age range of your girls, that Animal Kingdom would be the second most popular park for you to go to. Animals are very popular with kids, and this park has a great safari, a whole kids conservation center, different treks for different continents w/lots of various animals on them, and some really great shows too.

I would rank Epcot 3rd for kids - because there's thrill rides like Test Track and Mission Space that can probably be skipped here. World Showcase I think is sometimes lost on very young children, and is something they appreciate as they get older. It is fun though, to visit all the Kidcot stations in each country, and teach kids a little something about each place they visit. You need not spend a ton of time doing this though. Innovations is a lot of fun for kids too, also Spaceship Earth, and Journey Into Imagination, just to name a few things. Not as much as MK though.

Hollywood Studios doesn't require that much time. It's mostly thrill rides, and in my opinion, is more of a park directed at tweens/teens & adults and less at young children. The new Toy Story ride & Block Party parade seems fun for kids, and are probably worth checking out. But you won't need as much time in this park as you will at MK and DAK.

These are just my opinions though - I'm sure everyone will have varying ones. Check out all the parks &attractions on disney.com and make a list of must-sees for you & your family. Have a wonderful time!

 

[SereneOne]

I like to have three for Magic Kingdom, two for Epcot, one for Disney Studios, one for Animal Kingdom, and then one to two days extra for a rest day and a day to return to whatever park we missed things at, or to repeat really fun rides at a particular park.

We are going for nine days this year, and we like to take our time and relax, not rush to get everything done. We do early because we have a preschooler, our teens are just about grown and gone, we have dinner around 6 or 7 pm and go back to the hotel to enjoy the hot tub, pool, bar, hotel room, downtown Disney, whatever we are in the mood for. It is like having two vacations in one...the theme parks during the day and then relaxing in the evenings. Riverside has a piano man on select nights and ASMu has had pool activities, and so on. It also refreshes us for the next day.

Hope you have a wonderful time!

 

[Tink888]

I agree with the other poster about buying a guidebook. The books give great descriptions of the attractions and allow you to get a good idea of which attractions at each park that you really want to see. Our family always tries to do two days at MK and Epcot, one day for AK and DS. I would suggest definately allowing at least two days for MK and adding extra days to the parks you really like and want to see more of once you get there.

If you stop at Guest Services at MK, you can get 1st Visit pins for your family. Your girls might get a kick out of that. Hope you have a wonderful vacation.

 

[SereneOne]

I agree with the Unofficial Guide, it is my personal favorite and I feel it is the most informative.

Our four year old loved Magic Kingdom the most, but her other favorites where Epcot-World Showcase, she loved making the mask and getting the different "charms" to hang on it from the different countries and getting the passport with stickers and taking it to the different countries to get stamped and a personal message written inside, it was one of her highlights of the trip, along with BBB, character meals, and getting autographs. She loved Animal Kingdom and she loved Disney/MGM, now FHS, because of all the autographs and character greets, Ariel show and we had to pull her out of the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground!

I hope you have a wonderful time!

 

[SusanDK]

Hollywood Studios doesn't require that much time. It's mostly thrill rides, and in my opinion, is more of a park directed at tweens/teens & adults and less at young children.

I disagree with this statement. With girls the ages of the OP, I think they would love the Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast and the Muppet 3d show, among other things. The Indiana Jones show is fun for everyone. And absolutely do not miss Fantasmic!

If you don't want to spend a full long day here, I would suggest coming mid-day to catch the shows and staying through closing time for Fantasmic. Maybe do this park the day after you've had a late night the previous night (eg. if you've done Wishes and/or Spectro at the MK), so you could sleep in and relax at the resort and then head over to DHS after lunch.

Susan

 

[Neesy228]

I would give yourself three days at MK. Animal Kingdom is usually only one day for us, but my kids aren't big "zoo" type kids. Two days at Epcot, and probably one at HS....Even though many people say that Epcot is more "adult" my kids love it. There is really a lot to keep them busy! If you get Park Hoppers it gives you the freedom to figure it out as you go...let your kiddos decide what they want to do again.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[cboudre1]

I have found that over the years something unexpected is what my DS would want to see over and over again. When he was 4 he loved Figment and wanted to go to Epcot everyday to see him. Then at age 7 the Ninja turtles were appearing at MGM in a 10 minute show. I think we saw it 5 times that trip. We plan our trip and always leave room for some change.

 

[pepe of ohio]

A good guide book for before hand leaving to give you an idea of the lay of the land. We used Birbaums, offical book , and it gives the real facts, then I'd check out Allears web site, costs and prices with easy navigating.

The above posts will work but to split a park in a day, see two different parks, you'll need a hopper or AP to do so. When we still have young ones, Mk was tops on their list. DHS does have some attractions for small ones but not a whole days worth, again a hopper would be needed to do 1/2 day DHS and 1/2 day AK. Your call, buy hopper passes or spend the day in one park.

As for water parks, depending when you're going, the heat will get to you if you're there a whole day. Your children are young and might not appreciate the big slides and again, depending where you're staying, resort pools can entertain just fine, you're close to your room and its free. Paying good money for a water park for 3 hours is a tough call, our children were satisfied with the resort pool.

Prime to me is location, what resort. We're MK people and like to stay close, cheapest of the MK resorts is Wilderness Lodge, pleasant boat ride to and fro, boat ride to FW and again a boat to CR to catch the monorail to EPCOT, transfer at the TTC. It's a deluxe but the values can consume time in bus travel, pools are better themed, slides, decor. Get the planning video, it's free, check out the resorts and do the math. One thing you have going for you is your length of stay, more days means easier planning. Hope you enjoy WDW as much as we do.

 

[P&B's Mom]

I have been planning our upcoming trip (leaving in two weeks) since last August. My favorite planning tools: Unofficial Guide, PassPorters, Disboards, Allears.net, and Tour Guide Mike (see sponsor banner at top of forum). I also stressed over this--DD(9) and DS(5). This is our plan:

Arrival Day--DTD with BBB/Resort pool/HDDR
Day 1-MK/DHS w/F!
Day 2-Seaworld/World Showcase (staying at BCV so we are close)
Day 3-AK/once again can pop over to EP if family wants in evening
Day 4-MK
Day 5-DHS
Day 6-EP
Day 7-MK/EP (if kids want or only MK)
Day 8-AK for DS/DHS for DD (Star Wars)/afternoon wherever they want because plane leaves @ 9 pm

I think Epcot is getting short-changed with this trip, but that only means we will have to go back! I think DD will like Epcot more than DS. I know no matter where we are, they will both have a great time.

As for DHS, it looks on paper that there isn't a lot to do, but timing the shows and parades has been a real killer for me. DD wants thrillers, Beauty, VoLM, HSM parade, Star Tours; DS wants TSM, Jedi, Star Tours, Block Party, meet Power Rangers/Incredibles/Toy Story/Kim Possible. Look at Steve Soares' site (sorry don't know how to link--just Google) and you will see what I am talking about with this park.

Good luck!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Please help me... We are taking our FIRST family vacation to Disney in a few months and we have started trying to figure out which parks to attend on which days, etc. How long would you 'suggest' we spend at MK, AK, HS, Epcot?? We will be taking a day or two to attend the water parks as well. Our girls are 4 and 7 yrs old.

Basically, would you allot more time at certain parks for this age range? Less time at another? I'm so confused in planning all this. We are luckily going for 10 days so luckily it's a somewhat long vacation. We know we won't be able to afford going for a while so we want to make the most of it by getting a few extra days in.

Thank you for any and all help!
Cris

time is the key here. how much can you take? my plan is 1 day at a water park(more then enough) AK 1 1/2 days too much to try to see in one day(its that big) 1 1/2 at Epcot. if you just do all of future world it would take 1 day it self. 2 days at MGM(it will always be to us) split the park in 2 so that you do have to rush rush rush. then there is the most magical place of them all MK. 2-3 days again to see it all and enjoy. this way you get to enjoy each part of MK. now all of this is based on have been to WDW 4 times now and 1 time without the kids dont forget to take time and get as many free photopass pics then have then put on a photopass cd($125 is the cost) but if you get at least 100 pics at the parks it really drops the cost per pic HEHEHEHEHE and remember this one fact.....some kind of magic will happen. dont know where or when but it will happen. last year magic happened to use daily. plan for a day off to go eat "the kitchen sink"

YUMMY
This is just what i would do to get the most "bang" for my dollar.

 

[Darcy03231]

I'm going in the fall for 5 days with a 4 y.o.. We get in on a Saturday evening and are staying at an airport hotel that night. We'll get a good night sleep and then are off to WDW in the morning. I've planned 2 days at MK and then one day at each of the rest of the parks. We're doing:

Sun - AK
Mon - MK
Tue - MK
Wed - DHS
Thu - Epcot
Fri (am) - Whatever DN wants to go back and do. Our flight doesn't leave until 3 pm so we can get a couple of things in somewhere.

I think the big thing to recognize is that there's no way you can do/see everything in one trip. I've made a list of the must do/see things in each park. Anything else we get in after that is just an extra. I've also planned for plenty of down/pool/play time.

 

[Karnak]

My best advice to you is to buy or borrow the Unofficial Guide to WDW. It is a major help in planning. With that book you will also be able to go on thier website(www.touringplans.com) and see what kind of ratings you'll have on the days you'll be there. 1-10. 10 being the most crowded days. It will also tell you which park is best and worst for the days you'll be there. so that will give you an idea of what park to choose for which day.

Excellent advice above. It's well worth the $20.00 cost, and has over 800 pages of well written, useful advice.

I hope y'all have a great time.

Karnak

 

[mrzrich]

I would rank Epcot 3rd for kids - because there's thrill rides like Test Track and Mission Space that can probably be skipped here. World Showcase I think is sometimes lost on very young children, and is something they appreciate as they get older. It is fun though, to visit all the Kidcot stations in each country, and teach kids a little something about each place they visit. You need not spend a ton of time doing this though. Innovations is a lot of fun for kids too, also Spaceship Earth, and Journey Into Imagination, just to name a few things. Not as much as MK though.

Hollywood Studios doesn't require that much time. It's mostly thrill rides, and in my opinion, is more of a park directed at tweens/teens & adults and less at young children. The new Toy Story ride & Block Party parade seems fun for kids, and are probably worth checking out. But you won't need as much time in this park as you will at MK and DAK.

I disagree with these statements. Test track is my 4 yo favorite ride. Its not really a "thrill ride" The ride vehicle goes slower than your family car.

DHS is my Dneice's (5) favorite! Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, the muppets 3D and with addtition of the ToyStory Ride, it will be a day well spent.

 

[bigbabyblues]

It's really going to depend on what your family likes. Epcot is our favorite park (my boys are 7 & 4), and we always have at least 2 days there, and usually at least another 1/2 day (we get parkhoppers). MK is a close second, and it gets 2 days as well, and sometimes more depening on how long the trip is. AK is a day, day and a half for us, depending on if we want to see the parade or not. Studios we can do in a day, but the boys don't do the thrill rides.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I disagree with these statements. Test track is my 4 yo favorite ride. Its not really a "thrill ride" The ride vehicle goes slower than your family car.

DHS is my Dneice's (5) favorite! Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, the muppets 3D and with addtition of the ToyStory Ride, it will be a day well spent.

I agree. You can't count out Epcot or DHS for kids this age. My kids have been riding Test Track, Soarin', Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Dinosaur and Tower of Terror (our personal family favorite) since the age of 4. We like to have, as a minimum, 2 days in MK, 2 days in Epcot, 1 day in AK and 1 day in DHS. Last September we went for 8 days and we still would have liked to stay longer!

 

[Freyja]

My kids are 3, 6, 11 and 13 and last time we spent 2 days at each park. We believe to do the same next time (although we might add a half day at the MK the day we leave).

 

[justplaingoofy]

I saw in your post you are going in a couple of months...

Was wondering what month? If you are going in July & August you may need more time in the parks because the lines will be ALOT longer than they would in Sept.

Personally we do:
2 days M.K.
2 days Epcot
2 days H.S.
1 day A.K

We do not do full days though.. since we travel in sept. when its hot & crowds are low we get to the park just prior to opening, and leave around noon for a swim/rest then return between 3:30-4:00p..