How to split up our time, overall

[Leeba]

Please help a newbie out! We're going to WDW for the first time in late August with our sons, ages 8 and 4. We're arriving on a Saturday, and staying through the following Saturday. We'll have base tickets only, plus one extra ticket for one of the water parks. We're huge fans of pools and splash pad places, so I anticipate really using the resort. Oh, we're staying at Wilderness lodge.

Some days at the parks will be full days, and some may be half days with time at the resort pool.

How many days should I plan at each theme park? I need to start thinking about ADRs, and since we're not park hopping, well really need to plan out where we'll be each day. I'm not sure how to allocate the days ... Two days at each MK and AK. ... ?

Thanks!!

 

[Itinkso]

You may want to check out this site:http://**************.net/

It will have crowd calendars and useful suggestions.

Kennythepirate.com also had crowd calendars and comprehensive info.

 

[finny1981]

So how many days of tickets will you have? The way we do it is we take four days, one per park, then we take the remaining days and start doubling up...first MK, then Epcot the AK. Then if there are more than that usually MK again. This year we are adding hoppers and water park to our ticket so we only picked the parks we will be at in the evening for our ADR's.

 

[Leeba]

Yes, I've seen the crowd calendars, so that will help us figure out which days to choose which parks. I guess my question was, more succinctly, if I'm there seven days, how many of those do I want at MK, AK, Hollywood studios, and Epcot? I'm guessing MK is at least two days ...

 

[nkereina]

It depends on what you're into. We're two adults and spend one day at MK, one day at DHS, half day at AK, and two days at Epcot. MK has a lot of the classic, tame, geared toward children type rides. Are you kids adventurous? If so, they may enjoy the rides at Hollywood Studios more. Do your kids need to be going on attractions to be happy or would they get a kick out of the World Showcase at Epcot? Epcot doesn't have a lot of rides, but so much to look at in World Showcase. Some people spend a lot of time at Animal Kingdom since the trails are go at your own pace and there's a lot to take in. Some people spend a half day there because there's not many attractions. If you want to catch all the shows, you may spend more time at AK or DHS as well.

 

[Itinkso]

I would agree with at least 2 or more days at MK. On our first trip, pre-AK, we spent the most time in MK and DHS.

We like the shows in AK. If your family has visited a lot of zoos, you may not want to spend an abundance of time in AK.

If your 4 year-old can't ride the height restricted rides, utilize Rider Swap to gain more rides for your older child. http://www.disboards.com/threads/does-this-make-sense.3380778/#post-53086169

 

[Mikie]

With 7 park days, it's definitely one of each plus one more MK to start. After that it depends on your family's interests. If your days were all full days, I'd say add a second Epcot and still pick one more. . . If you want to do something like 2 trips to AK, but it's a half day each time totaling 1 "full" day, that changes it a bit.

Since you're at Wilderness Lodge close to MK and Epcot, I personally would recommend 1 "full" day each at DHS and AK. Then 3 full or partial days at MK and two full or partial days at Epcot. Unless I mis-counted - do you need 7 main parks plus a water park day, or 7 total, made up of 6park+a water? If I gave you too many main park days, I'd remove either the third MK or the second Epcot, depending on your family,s interests.

 

[abouley]

Not sure if you'll have full days your arrival and departure days or not but I would probably do something like this:

Mk 3 days (with breaks to swim since it'll be easy to get back to your resort)
AK 1 day plan opening until 3 or 4ish if your kids like shows (this could be your departure day if you have at least until 3 in the parks).
HS 1 day (plan a full day if your kids like shows otherwise this day can be short. My kids also like fantasmic so this tends to be an opening to close park for us)
Epcot 1 day plus maybe the evening of your water park day to tour the world showcase (prob want an evening to do this since it will be hot in Aug)
Water Park + Epcot evening
You'll probably also want to schedule in an evening at DT Disney.

 

[ZoZo]

Yes, I've seen the crowd calendars, so that will help us figure out which days to choose which parks. I guess my question was, more succinctly, if I'm there seven days, how many of those do I want at MK, AK, Hollywood studios, and Epcot? I'm guessing MK is at least two days ...

You'll get lots of differing (sometimes conflicting!) advice here. It will all be dependent on what your family is interested in. Some people aren't interested in animals, so AK doesn't hold an appeal for them. But if your kids like animals, it would take at least a full day to see and do everything there!

I would say to allocate at least one full day per park, minimum. Don't skip any of the parks if it's your first time, even if other posters advise you to! You'll never know what your family will like the best! And please don't listen when someone says, "XXXX is only a half-day park." What they really mean is that it's a half-day park for their own family! They've already been to that park before, and aren't interested in repeating many of the rides and attractions there, so it doesn't take them as long to do everything they want to do. But if you've never been there before, it's all new to you, and it will take you at least a full day (sometimes more!) to see and do everything at any given park.

Here are my recommendations for newbies:

• Given the age of your kids, I'd recommend two days at MK. It's the most "ride heavy" park.

• I'd recommend at least one day at Epcot.

• DHS doesn't have a lot of rides, and is more "show heavy." If your kids would be into the shows, I'd recommend a full day there.

• AK is a two-day park for me! But most folks can do everything there in just one day.

• You already have a waterpark day, so you're all set there.

• If you have any extra days, you could take a day at the pool, or go back to the park you like best. I always schedule a "non-park" day but end up going to a park because I don't like to sit around too much. I'm a "go go go" person!

One final piece of advice: If you're going during a hot time of year, you can get to the parks early, then take an afternoon break (either at the pool or relaxing in the air conditioning in your room). Then go back to the parks later in the afternoon, and stay through the evening. It's a good strategy to avoid the heat of the afternoon, and take advantage of those low-crowd times first thing in the morning. Lots of folks don't like to get up early on vacation, and while others are sleeping in, you can get tons of stuff done the first couple of hours!

 

[tlmadden73]

Your first time?

My recommendation .. ENJOY it ... don't over plan ... especially since it is your first time and you really won't know what to expect until you get there.
Know the maps of each park and know that getting from place to place takes time ... enjoy those walks from one area to the next. ADRs and Fast Passes can sometimes make your trip a rush from reservation to reservation.

So ...
If there is clown act performing near Dumbo .. stop .. and watch it ..
If you see a character you want a photo with .. stop and wait and get it ..
If you see a shop that looks interested (or you need a break from the heat) .. go in and spend some time there.
Take time to see a parade.

Plan 2 days for MK ... and 1 in each of the other parks .. and then maybe just wing it from there and return to another park that you enjoyed the most.
See at least one of the many nights shows.

Don't try and do it all (you can't) .. slow down ... look up .. and enjoy the ambience. You'll have fun memories and want to come back for more.

 

[Leeba]

All such great advice, thank you!! I wish we could just "wing it" a bit more, but the (seeming) requirement to make ADRs (lest we be stuck with eating off snack carts, lol) make me want to figure out now where we'll be each day at minimum. Not that I plan on ADRs for all - or even most - of our meals, but I could see 1 per day. Some of these places seem like such cool experiences, that I want to make sure we get to them - like the Sci Fi dine in theater and the Coral Reef. And if I make that reservation, for that day, then we're sort of stuck with that park for the day. So I know, for example, that I can't plan 3 ADRs at Animal Kingdom, because we won't want 3 days there.

And now I"m thinking of a related question. I know ADRs can sort of be in flux, as people drop and add new ones. Will the system allow me to have two reservations at different parks for the same general timeframe? (That way I could drop the one later, that we decide we didn't need.) I'm not sure how "smart" the MDE reservation system is.

Thanks again, everyone, this is so, so helpful.

 

[nkereina]

Will the system allow me to have two reservations at different parks for the same general timeframe? (That way I could drop the one later, that we decide we didn't need.) I'm not sure how "smart" the MDE reservation system is.

Not for the same time. But if you had an ADR at 12pm in AK and an ADR at 1pm in MK because you weren't sure what you wanted to do, the system will warn you but I believe will allow it to be made. Do keep in mind that ADRs need to be cancelled by midnight the night before or else you'll be subject to a $10pp no show fee.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

I think you will get a huge array of opinions on this one. I would do 1 AK, 2MK, 1 1/2 Epcot, 1 DHS. Then I would have a complete no park day, maybe do the water park that day or the other half of your 1/2 Epcot day? This will only work if you plan on touring your check in or check out day, some people only use those as travel days.

 

[Lovetherodent]

Surprisingly, my kids loved Epcot from very young ages. I like the idea of one day in each park and then going back to the ones you liked best. Without hoppers, picking which park which day would be the tricky part. We LOVE EMHs. You can get a lot done, but strategy is always to go and get the heck out for the morning ones or hop over late for the evenings. For us, a waterpark day is a whole day an we've always preferred Typhoon Lagoon to Blizzard Beach.

 

[canadiandisneynut]

Our family spends the most time at Magic with that being the park we hit up right after arrival. Every year we leave our second to last day open for our "pick which park we want to go to day"
We go to Magic Kingdom on the last day and take in Main Street and the Electrical Light Parade that night, it is a magical way to end a trip.
Two years ago we spent 2.5 days at Magic (includes arrival day), 2 days at Epcot, 1 at Hollywood and 1 day at Animal
Last year we spent 2 days at Hollywood instead of Epcot
We are the type of family that spends the morning in the park, swims our afternoon away and then returns for or after dinner to the park again. We always have more than enough time for fun!

 

[finny1981]

Yes you will definitely get a lot of opinions on here, we personally have 8 park days right now and even if we were not hopping we would be doing 3 days at Magic Kingdom, 2 at Epcot and 2 at Animal Kingdom and 1 at Hollywood Studios. If we add another day like we think we are then we will be adding another Epcot day. However my kids LOVE Epcot so we spend nearly as much time there as Magic Kingdom.