Two days at MK or 1 at MK, 1 at EPCOT?

[Mommydar]

We have 6, 4, and 3 year old daughters that we will be bringing down to Disney for a second time next May. We plan to do three days of park, and I was wondering if it would be better to plan one day each at HS, MK, and EPCOT, or one at HS and two at MK. We've been before and did six days of parks and were burned out. With a week stay, we only want to do three days of parks and use the rest of the time for leisure character meals and pool time. Given our daughters ages, what is the better option for us?

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

MK has more options for little ones...But I wouldn't want to deprive your little ones of The Seas at Epcot...which I think they will truly love...PLUS to me Epcot is SO educational...and That is what I love about it...it might spark their interest in something they want to learn more about...

So since you seem like folks who are going to bring them fairly often...I vote for "One Park Per Day".

MK: I could see you spending the morning in Fantasyland and Toon Town...and Afternoon picking out a few other "younger" attractions at MK...and getting it done in a day. You didn't mention if the 3 Mountains were an option (roller coasters)...So I'm assuming they are not?

At Epcot...you could head straight to Soarin' (40 inches height requirement) and do Circle of Life, living with the land....then work your way back to Nemo...then do Spaceship Earth...Test Track also has a 40 inch requirement...and is not a Coaster...

Just IMHO..
Have a magical Visit!
Mary

 

[SGMCO]

What about 1 day at AK? instead of Epcot
Epcot takes a good 2 to 3 days to complete.
Epcot is very large and my DS didn't really appreciate it until he was in
his early teens. You can get most everything at AK done in one day.
AK has 2 very good Shows the whole family will love.
It also has the most unique Parade of all the parks.
Whatever you decide, have a fun trip!!

 

[ktlm]

My 3 year old DD's favorite park other than MK is Epcot. She really loves all the Princesses with short lines back in World Showcase. I'd probably spend a day at each park if I were you.

 

[redrosesix]

With little girls that age, I'd say you could skip Epcot for this trip (unless it's YOUR all-time favourite must-do park). My DD didn't start to appreciate Epcot until she was 9 and even then it's only a 1/2 day park for her now -- I've heard the same from other parents of girls.

Whatever you do, do MK last -- otherwise when you're in the other parks they'll be asking to go there instead.

 

[cbg1027]

We have 6, 4, and 3 year old daughters that we will be bringing down to Disney for a second time next May. We plan to do three days of park, and I was wondering if it would be better to plan one day each at HS, MK, and EPCOT, or one at HS and two at MK. We've been before and did six days of parks and were burned out. With a week stay, we only want to do three days of parks and use the rest of the time for leisure character meals and pool time. Given our daughters ages, what is the better option for us?

Given the ages, I would stick with more MK time and save Epcot for when they're old enough to appreciate more of it.

Not to further complicate things, but have you considered one day each at MK, HS, and AK? I love AK

 

[AJA]

My daughter had just turned 4 on our first visit and Epcot was her favorite park.

Do you really want to go to HS? For the little ones who "just want to ride" there really isn't much to do, if they will sit for a few shows then HS is wonderful, also if they love meeting the characters HS is the place to go....but if not, I would do 2 days at MK and 1 and Epcot.

 

[MareSINY]

My nieces are 8, 6 and 2 and we spend most of our time at MK. They have one or two rides they like at the other parks, but they are most attracted to MK (I don't blame them... I'm the same way LOL). On our last trip we skipped the park hoppers so we only did one park per day, we didn't even go near Epcot, figured with F&W we didn't want to deal with the crowds, and there isn't much there that they like, so we did:

1st day: MK (MNSSHP)
2nd day: Pool / DTD
3rd day: HS
4th day: MK
5th day: AK
6th day: MK

The days we didn't do MK they kept asking when we were going back there.

 

[itchin2go]

With little girls that age, I'd say you could skip Epcot for this trip (unless it's YOUR all-time favourite must-do park). My DD didn't start to appreciate Epcot until she was 9 and even then it's only a 1/2 day park for her now -- I've heard the same from other parents of girls.

Whatever you do, do MK last -- otherwise when you're in the other parks they'll be asking to go there instead.

Epcot has been my daughter's favorite park since she was 5. She's 8 now. She ranks them: EP, MK, DHS, then AK. She loves Soarin, the Seas (esp. Turtle Talk with Crush), Club Cool, Journey Into Imagination, the foutains in the Imagination Pavilion, the character spot in Epcot (great place to get pics and autographs from the biggies), Maelstrom & the giant troll in the Norway Store, Akershus, pastries in Norway and France, crepes in France, mimes, Miyuki the candy lady, World Showcase Players, the beautiful Mexican pavilion, just to name a few. Oh, and I forgot the Kidcot fun stops. I don't know why, but she continues to love coloring those masks when we go. She really looks forward to it.

Last trip, we did the Kim Possible adventures and they were SO much fun.

Every kid is different. If I were you, I would take a look at the attractions in the other parks and see what you think will appeal to your kids. And don't forget to think about what will appeal to you. I think your kids will have fun in whatever park you visit, and it's your vacation too.

As far as doing in MK last, I totally agree with that. MK is kind of ride-ride-ride. In the other parks there are more shows and different kinds of attractions. So once they've done ride-ride-ride, they may not want to slow down and experience the attractions in the other parks.

Just my 2 cents. Have a great trip. You're going to have SO much fun!

 

[Mommydar]

We were planning on doing just that - MK for the last day. We did AK last year, and while it was fun, it's personally my least favorite. Don't get me wrong, I like/love all things Disney, but it's just not a park preference. The shows are cool (i.e. Nemo and Lion King), but as far as animals go, I'd prefer a local zoo or Sea World.
HS is a must do since I have a fanatic Toy Story fan out of my three girls. She's aleady going on and on about eating at Pizza Planet and riding Toy Story Mania, so it comes down to HS, and two MK or one MK, one EPCOT. I am leaning towards EPCOT though because Festival of Flowers will be going on, and my mom will be with us and will love that. Plus, I like the food options there, and since we are Disney Visa card holders, we'll take advantage of the character meet and greet. My kids love characters, so that's always the emphasis. They also like the playground attractions (i.e. Pooh's Playful Spot and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids). Does EPCOT have anything like that?
I just hope one day at MK will be enough. It takes a "while" to get there if you are staying off-site, so I just want to make sure we can get enough to make our travels worth it.

 

[Debbie-TN]

Don't skip Epcot. It's a great park with a lot to do. It's also a much more relaxed park. You can take your time and not be rushed like at MK. If you can only do three parks, I would do; MK, Epcot, and HS. You girls would probably enjoy the music and shows at HS.

 

[ktlm]

They also like the playground attractions (i.e. Pooh's Playful Spot and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids). Does EPCOT have anything like that?

We were there during the Flower and Garden Festival last year and they had 2 playground areas and a butterfly garden set up for that. I asked DD (3) this weekend if she could only go to one park at WDW which one it would be and after the panicked "But I want to go to all the parks" and my finally convincing her it was just a rhetorical question and we weren't cutting any of them out, she said "Epcot". I said "Not Magic Kingdom", and she struggled a bit and said "I want to do both, but I might pick Epcot. Then I asked her if she could go to all but one, which she would pick and she said "Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Studios".