Skip AK?

[luvlumpy]

We always visit MK twice, no matter the length of stay. We never skip Epcot, but last time we skipped Animal Kingdom because of time constraints. I think with you being there for such a short time you don't really need a down day. DTD doesn't have a lot to offer for small children compared to the parks. You really need to weigh what each park has to offer and make a decision from that. Good luck!

 

[luvlumpy]

With kids as young as yours, I would spend 1/2 of a day at AK. 1/2 of a day at EPCOT. 1 1/2 days at the MK and 1/2 of a day at DHS.

This is a good idea!

 

[ppony]

With kids as young as yours, I would spend 1/2 of a day at AK. 1/2 of a day at EPCOT. 1 1/2 days at the MK and 1/2 of a day at DHS.

I'd do this. I'd even skip WS at Epcot for them. Even thought it's a lot of hopping, I really think you could get what you wanted out of the 3 other parks in half days for your kids and really soak up more of MK.

This will be extremely unusual coming form me, because we LOVE DTD, if you're having to choose a park to skip as opposed to DTD and downtime, skip DTD. Pains me to say it, but if you're in for the shopping, which is most of what that is, you'll find a good share of what you find there, in the parks.

 

[MedicGoofy]

DisMom,

It's so hard eh? While I don't have kids, I am taking my SIL on her FIRST EVER trip to Disney, and not only Disney, Florida. And not only Florida, but second trip ever out of Canada.

We are coming down in Sept for Night of Joy. It was suppose to be a quick 3 nt get away, and straight back. Then it turned into 4 nts. Going to the ocean, which she's NEVER been to. THEN it turned into, '' we're at Disney, how can we not DO Disney''.

Our little trip has now turned into, a 4 nt stay at the Port Orleans Royal Guest rooms, with a 2 day park hopper, with water parks. Dismissed the ocean idea, as we are gonna do a beach trip sometime in the winter months. So many ADRs (she has lots of food allergies, so she can eat 'normal' at Disney now!!!).

Good luck with your planning!!! What ever you decide, your kids will love it. If you skip a park, they are young and won't know the difference. Only you will. And Im sure in the future, you'll get the itch to come back and do it again. Enjoy your time, no matter what you do, it will be magical

Jenn

 

[nesser1981]

My kids were bored at epcot, they were 6& 4 when we went, but they enjoyed ak. We actually did both parks in the same day. Giving MK & DHS a whole day.

 

[DisMom1981]

Thanks all. Not married to the shopping....just thought the day after the drive my kids might need some recovery time before hitting up the parks. I've never stayed in a Disney resort before either so time to enjoy the pools and grounds would be nice over paying for an extra park day when that are too small to enjoy a lot of what the parks have to offer.

 

[jamala]

My kids LOVE epcot, it is their favorite park and they will always ask to spend more time there. They do not like HS and the only thing that are MUST do's on our AK list are : Lion king show, Its tuff to be a bug, nemo show so we only do 1/2 day there. But my kids love hands on interactive stuff so that is the big reason they love epcot. They love the invention centers in epcot as well as the rides.

 

[TandLMommy28]

It's a tough choice. It depends on what your kids are more interested in, really.

My kids (7 and 4) could spend the whole week at Epcot. They are really into geography and world cultures, though, thanks to several missionaries in the family. We don't have an aquarium within three hours of us so they loved The Seas, too. Innoventions held their attention for a solid two hours.

On the other hand, AK didn't hold their attention. They slept through Festival of the Lion King and didn't really ride anything since they were too short (they are tall enough for everything this time so maybe we will like AK better!). We only stayed three hours. But we have a nationally recognized award winning zoo 10 minutes from our home so for us the animals are something we can do at home. if you are too short for the rides and aren't there to look at animals, that doesn't leave much to do at AK.

 

[wdwfan22]

I would ditch the DTD day...you can find most everything in the shops in the parks. I would rather be in the parks than shopping at DTD I would get a 4 day hopper and spend 2 days at MK (with a rest/swim time at the resort in the middle of the day) and then divide the other 2 days between Epcot, DHS and AK. Its such a short trip I would think the kids would be okay. Have a double stroller for them to rest/sleep in

I agree with the above poster completely. That would be my plan.

Thanks all. Not married to the shopping....just thought the day after the drive my kids might need some recovery time before hitting up the parks. I've never stayed in a Disney resort before either so time to enjoy the pools and grounds would be nice over paying for an extra park day when that are too small to enjoy a lot of what the parks have to offer.

I really don't know why Downtown Disney would be recovery time. There is nothing really there for kids, and they will get bored. If they need recovery, let them sleep in as late as they want, then hit a park. You can take it at their pace. Of course, you will need to do this in all parks with little ones.

Not sure how long the parks hours are while you are there, but a break at the hotel in the middle of the day is good, or some kids do great taking a break and sleeping in their strollers. When mine was that little, we did better at getting there for rope drop, sometimes they would take a snooze during the day at the park. We were never stroller people, we would just sit on bench and they would sleep while we held them (or in Hall of Presidents, or Carousel of Progress, both great napping places for little ones). Not what most people do, just our preference with ours. They didn't use strollers much, so were more comfortable with us holding them. They when they were done for the day (we could tell, they would start getting tired, or fussy, then we would call it an early night and be in bed early.

I would not skip any parks, there is way more there for them to have fun doing than walking around DD.

 

[tanyaandallie]

My kids love Epcot now but at 4 and 2, we didn't spend much time there. There is just not a ton to do for that age group. Your 4 year old may or may not be big enough for Soarin' and Test Track. Probably a no go for mission space. Really the biggest attraction for that age group is Nemo and Turtle Talk With Crush. There is so much more for your kids age group at AK (imo).

If I only had 3 days, I'd do 2 full days at MK and then either DHS or AK. I personally can never knock out any park in only 1/2 a day so for me it would be one or the other. With only 3 days I wouldn't want to waste time going from park to park. There is tons to do at DHS for young kids. Disney Jr., Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story Mania,LOTS of character meet and greet opportunities. If you decide you are done and want to hit another park, then head out!

Disney will always be there so I would try to feel pressured to cram it all in when you only have 3 days. I know that is easy to say, but harder to do, though! We go for long trips and are in the parks 7+ days and I'm still trying to cram it all in!

 

[meggiebeth]

We found AK by far the worst of the Disney parks.

I would NOT miss Hollywood Studios, it is great fun! And of course MK is unmissable. Epcot does have some enjoyable rides and IMHO is a lot better than AK.

I second a previous poster who said half a day at Epcot, DHS and AK and then a day and a half and MK. You can't really miss Epcot, DHS or MK. Soarin' is a spectacular ride at Epcot which we would never want to miss.

 

[DisMom1981]

I'm a teacher , so if I could only wait until summer we could take an extended trip. But school is starting again and I need something a little sooner to look forward to. Maybe we'll start watching flight prices to literally BUY us more time lol, but for now we are fitting the magic in in 3 days.

When you are there if you have a three day hopper can you upgrade it to a four day hopper? Will it cost more than if you jut start out with a four day hopper?

I was planning on rope drop, afternoon rest/nap at the resort- that is how my parents always planned it so we could do nights in the parks.

 

[DisMom1981]

We found AK by far the worst of the Disney parks.

I would NOT miss Hollywood Studios, it is great fun! And of course MK is unmissable. Epcot does have some enjoyable rides and IMHO is a lot better than AK.

I second a previous poster who said half a day at Epcot, DHS and AK and then a day and a half and MK. You can't really miss Epcot, DHS or MK. Soarin' is a spectacular ride at Epcot which we would never want to miss.

I am so selfish in this.....I LOVE Ep and have never been on Soarin!!!! I heart Illuminations. We also want to eat in Germany. My DH and DS LoVE cars so Im hoping they can do TT (DS tall for his age) I don't think we will skip it, maybe just do the half day.

 

[cboudre1]

The first 2 days I would do a half day at each and then decide based on your children's interests. When my DS was in K we went to Epcot first (so he wouldn't be disappointed in it after the MK). He fell in love with the oldFigment and Dreamfinder. All he talked about for the rest do the vacation was Figment. We had to adjust our plans. I am so glad I did when I Look back at the pictures of him with Dreamfinder and Figment i always plan everyday on a vacation but I don't hesitate to ditch the plans. That vacation we went to Epcot for part of almost every day.

 

[DisMom1981]

Our little trip has now turned into, a 4 nt stay at the Port Orleans Royal Guest rooms, with a 2 day park hopper, with water parks.

I hear you! After our DCL trip this summer, this April trip was supposed to be 'cheap.' Ha!!! So far, more expensive hotel option has been chosen, I'm thinking about looking at airfares which will get us another night in said hotel and another day for the park hopper. So much for cheap!!! Oh well, imo you can always earn more money right????

 

[ktlm]

I'm surprised at all the people who are saying to skip Epcot for that age group. It has been DD's favorite park other than MK since she was 2. When she was 2, we spent one day there open to close and it was not long enough. We have spent 2 days there on every trip since- DD is 6 now and we have been every year, and twice one year. She has never cared for AK and is always begging to leave by about noon. If you don't have a good zoo at home, it might be different for you, but DD had absolutely no interest in seeing animals that she could see at our zoo at home. I would ditch the DTD day- all the merchandise there can be found in the parks. I would do 2 days MK, 1 day EPCOT, and 1 day DHS.

 

[meggiebeth]

I'm surprised at all the people who are saying to skip Epcot for that age group. It has been DD's favorite park other than MK since she was 2. When she was 2, we spent one day there open to close and it was not long enough. We have spent 2 days there on every trip since- DD is 6 now and we have been every year, and twice one year. She has never cared for AK and is always begging to leave by about noon. If you don't have a good zoo at home, it might be different for you, but DD had absolutely no interest in seeing animals that she could see at our zoo at home. I would ditch the DTD day- all the merchandise there can be found in the parks. I would do 2 days MK, 1 day EPCOT, and 1 day DHS.

I second this! MK needs two days, and Epcot and DHS also really need at least one. I would skip AK. We are returning next October for a second 'once in a lifetime trip' () and none of us are keen to go back to AK. we'd rather spend the day in MK, DHS or Epcot. Personally I just think the other parks have more to offer- AK has a few good attractions but some will be too big for your kids I am guessing... Dinosaur... EE... and I just think the rides and attractions at the other three Disney parks are so much more family friendly- and more 'Disney'

 

[Planogirl]

I've never been a big fan of AK but at AK there are the Nemo and Lion King shows, the safari, lots of meet and greets, a good parade, Kali, the bird show, heavily themed nature walks and a great play area in Dinoland. I'm a big zoo freak and AK is way more than a zoo even if that's my personal favorite part of it.

I'm also a huge fan of Epcot and have been for many years but don't see as much to do there as I once did. It's really a matter of personal taste though and what one person finds worthwhile another might not.

 

[DisMom1981]

Maybe we will have to return in the summer to "finish" our trip!!! #moneygrowsontreesatmyhouse lol

 

[DisMom1981]

i always plan everyday on a vacation but I don't hesitate to ditch the plans.

Yes! I am definitely open to following the kids' leads and ditching the plans or altering them when we are there. No problem with that. But I will be a plan addict until then!!!

I like your idea to start with EP