So overwhelmed!

[red419]

Am going to WDW for the first time with my 15 yo niece and 8 yo daughter in February for a week. There's just too much to do where do I begin? Any suggestions? We arrive at 12:30 the first day so figured we'd do Blizzard Beach and Hollywood Studios after and I booked dinner at the Sci Fi Restaurant but what parks require the most time? Day 2 we planned on devoting the whole day to Animal Kingdom is one day enough? Which park is the biggest? Are the lines superlongfor attractions atHollywoodStudios? AHHHHH! . Help!

Heather

 

[Peace Mickey Lovers]

Hi and welcome, you have come to the right place to get yourself prepared.
First when in February are you going? Personally I do not find the need for a full day in AK. To me MK is a full day experience as is EP. If you are going during Presidents week you will need more time due to crowds. If you are going in the beginning of February its pretty quiet.
Hope this helps a little,
Lisa

 

[delmar411]

well what are the park hours first off. Are you landing at 12:30 or planning to arrive at your resort at 12:30?

I wouldn't plan on doing HS in the afternoon. Most rides there have lines that just build up from the AM. HS can be done quickly for just headliners if you hit up rope drop.

 

[Cadyrose]

Am going to WDW for the first time with my 15 yo niece and 8 yo daughter in February for a week. There's just too much to do where do I begin? Any suggestions? We arrive at 12:30 the first day so figured we'd do Blizzard Beach and Hollywood Studios after and I booked dinner at the Sci Fi Restaurant but what parks require the most time? Day 2 we planned on devoting the whole day to Animal Kingdom is one day enough? Which park is the biggest? Are the lines superlongfor attractions atHollywoodStudios? AHHHHH! . Help!

Heather

Breather! It will be a great trip.

There is another thread on here from day about another DISer being overwhelmed too so there are some good tips on that thread.

The things to take into consideration are...
how long are you going?
You're going for a week? Great, you know that you will have a second day to repeat a park and don't have to fit a lot of stuff in. You may find things that you want to do twice or not repeat and have time to catch up on anything that you missed.

Do the girls know?
If they do, have them help plan. Last trip I asked each kid to name one thing they really wanted to do. My son wanted Jedi Training Camp. My daughter wanted to eat at the castle. I planned dining based on what park we would be in and looked for new dining that we hadn't yet done (1900 and 'Ohanas). Everything else that happened on the trip just happened and it was wonderful. We walked, explored and went by the seat of our pants!

Where are you staying?
On site- vs off site as this will let you know how long to plan for travel and if you have access to EMH. May make a difference or not. We are rope-droppers (there is a wonderful show at MK welcoming you) and we enjoy evening EMH. We like to take breaks mid-afternoon especially during the months where it may rain.

But if you are off site, then mid-day breaks may not work for you at your hotel so that may make a difference on how you plan your day for breaks.

I think one day is enough for AK. You can fast pass EE, KRR and the safari. But you may like it and want to do it a second day. Our first trip, we did AK twice. Our last trip, we didn't go at all as the kids wanted more time at MK and a more in-depth day at Epcot. The one day we would have done an early morning AK day, the kids wanted to do Jedi Training camp again.

That is the thing with Disney. You may find that you really love something and even change your plans while you are there because you never know what you will love to do!

 

[Chellymouse]

Am going to WDW for the first time with my 15 yo niece and 8 yo daughter in February for a week. There's just too much to do where do I begin? Any suggestions? We arrive at 12:30 the first day so figured we'd do Blizzard Beach and Hollywood Studios after and I booked dinner at the Sci Fi Restaurant but what parks require the most time? Day 2 we planned on devoting the whole day to Animal Kingdom is one day enough? Which park is the biggest? Are the lines superlongfor attractions atHollywoodStudios? AHHHHH! . Help!

Heather

Stop and breathe! Planning a WDW trip should be fun, not stressful. When you say arrive at 12:30 are you flying or driving? If this is the time your plane lands and you are staying on Disney property, you probably won't arrive to your hotel until around 1:30pm or so. I would suggest skipping BB on your arrival day (is BB even going to be open?) and just going to DHS. If it's not President's day weekend, the parks won't be too busy, but just because the parks aren't busy, doesn't guarantee walk on rides. Chances are TSM will have around an hour wait with no FP left, but the remainder of the attractions at DHS should be reasonable. AK is the largest park size wise however, it's a 1/2 day park for us because there really is not a ton of rides or attractions. What type of tickets will you have? Are you a one day, one park or will you have park hoppers and/or water parks and more option? I would suggest to plan at least 1 day in each of the theme parks then leave time to go back and do the things you didn't get to do the first time around. Figure out what is most important/can't miss in each park and then what you'd like to do if there is time after. You will NOT be able to see and do it all and if you know that going in, you won't be disappointed.

 

[ScrampShopper]

Check out the park recommendations on easywdw for Feb.

It might be too cold to do a waterpark in Feb so I wouldn't plan it unless I had an extra day with nothing to do.

 

[GoHerbie]

The most important thing is to have fun and pick your priorities. We did our 4th stay last week and we still haven't done everything. Then you'll have new things to look forward to on the next trip.

 

[laceemouse]

I am a travel agent and help people plan each day of their trip, book meals, etc. I always tell people to plan on 6 park days: 1 at Animal Kingdom, 1 at Hollywood Studios, and 2 each at Magic Kingdom and Epcot. People who don't do a full day at AK are people who think all shows are boring. If you do the shows and the parade, which I recommend, you can fill up a day easy. It does close earlier than the other parks, so if you have hoppers you can hop somewhere else that evening. If you don't have hoppers you can plan a great meal at a resort that night, go to Downtown Disney, or just hang out at your resort. I agree, you may be able to swim or may not be able too, even in Florida February is winter. The pools are all heated but the air temp will be cool!!
Use a crowd calendar to pick which park/which day and then book a meal for each "park of the day" and go from there

 

[ParrotBill]

How many days and what ticket arrangement will you have?

If you have park passes good for every day, then I agree no need to do a water park unless it's warm enough and you really feel like it.

Prioritize - decide with parks are most interesting to you, and which attractions are most important, and do those first. Then go back around to fill in with others.

We DO spend a full day in AK, but park hours are shortest there and we find it easy to do.

MK is best for young and young at heart.
AK is best for animal lovers.
MGM is best for Movie and TV show lovers.
EPCOT is best for tecnology and culture.

But each has highlights and lowlights.

Park hours will be short, so get there at opening time, take a short mid day break, and finish the day out.. usually eating dinner after the park if it closes by 7pm.