1/2 day at parks???

[CGEEKESS]

I need advice - We will be at Disney next week. We have the Ultimate Park Hopper pass for 7 days. We would like to see all the parks, including water parks, at least once. Are there any parks that you feel you could do in 1/2 a day so I could schedule something else in the late afternoon or evening. Kids are 10 and 12 and I want them to get as much out of this vacation as humanly possible. Thanks for the input!

 

[flynnmnstr]

It won't take you a full day to do MGM and AK. We normally go to one park in the morning and then another in the evening.

We will be there next week also. Here's our itinerary:

Sunday- AK in the morning; lunch at counter; hotel for a rest in the afternoon; evening at Epcot

Monday- MK in the morning; counter for lunch; hotel for a rest in the afternoon; MGM in the evening- dinner at 50s Prime Time

Tuesday- MK in the morning; counter for lunch; hotel for a rest in the afternoon; evening at Epcot- dinner at Garden Grill

Wednesday Thursday and Friday my DH will be working so DS and I will go back to AK, MGM, and MK and when DH gets home in the evening we will walk over to Epcot.

We like splitting up the parks between two half days; it gives us something to look forward too. But MGM and AK can be seen by 2-3pm if you get there early and follow a touring guide. I like the Unofficial Guide (the 2004 edition just came out). If you are doing Extra Magic Hour get there EARLY!!! and as soon as the park gets crowded GET OUT!! and go back to the hotel, water park or another park.

Also DH and I go to Disney at least once every other year (this year we happen to be going 3 times- he keeps having conferences in Orlando) so we do not need to see and go on every little attraction. We do not use extra magic either; to hard with 22month DS, so we do not go to those parks that have EMH.

Have fun

 

[timbud1]

We only spent about half a day at AK, and didn't miss much, I don't think. We opened the park, of course, and did all major attractions except the rapids ride. Make sure you check times of ITTBAB and the Lion King show so you can work around them!!
We spent most of a day at MGM and returned that evening for Fantasmic. It can be done in a half a day, but you'd miss some fun minor stuff. Of course, you're missing some stuff at AK too, it all depends on what your family is into!!! Have FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

 

[michelem]

We did Blizzard Beach from opening til about 2 with 3 kids under age 7. Then back to hotel for a nap and off to Magic Kingdom for dinner til closing. Try to get fast passes for everyone before you go to dinner at MK, by the time you get out, you can walk right up to your attraction.

 

[swilphil]

We were able to do what we wanted in just a few hours. Go early though. For some reason AK gets hotter than the other parks--not as much shade in most areas. To be perfectly honest, you could skip it all together but there may be some things that your kids want to do.

We actually spent two 1/2 days at MGM. One in the a.m. and one in the p.m. There are some shows that only are open during the day, but I really like MGM at night and Fantasmic is a must see. Your kids are the perfect age for it. The late afternoon parade is also fun.

 

[Shooby doo]

Have to agree with Swilphil Fantasmic is a must see! MGM is more a 3/4-whole day if you want to do everything,AK closes early anyway so we normally go back to Epcot-as it's really hard to do Epcot in one day without missing things out.If you're going to do a 1/2 at one of the waterparks then a park,I would suggest TL,only because BB is quite tiring-there's a lot of steps to the top of Mount Gushmore!!A lot of what you can achieve will be based on how busy the parks are at the time of your visit!
Just remember you're there for some R&R !!

 

[tjkraz]

My best piece of advise would be to plan your trip around half-day blocks instead of full days. Try to hit every park in the first 4-5 days of your trip, and then decide as a family which deserve a return trip.

It's tough to judge which park YOU may think is only worth a half day. MGM is a half-day park for many. But it has a TON of shows and you risk missing something if you aren't flexible in your itinerary. Others consider Epcot only worth a half-day, but your 10 and 12 year old children may not be too interested in anything beyond Test Track and Mission Space.

In your position, I'd do something like this:

Day 1: AM Typhoon Lagoon, PM Epcot
Day 2: Magic Kingdom
Day 3: AM + Early PM Animal Kingdom, Late PM DisneyQuest
Day 4: AM Blizzard Beach, PM Disney/MGM Studios

In Four days you've visited every park and had a chance to sample what is available. Spend the rest of your trip focusing on the items that you might have missed.

Make sure you get some "Hopper" from those Ultimate Park Hopper passes of yours.

 

[lentesta]

Hi Cgeekess,

You could hit the highlights of the AK and DS in a half-day each. As flynnmnstr notes, the touring plans in the Unofficial Guide are probably your best bet for an efficient tour (I work for the Guide).

You could split up the MK highlights into two mornings. Depending on your attraction selection, the right combination of lands would be important.

For Epcot, it's not possible to see World Showcase in the morning, as it opens at 11 a.m. But you could do each half of Future World in one morning per. World Showcase is better at night, anyway.

Hope this helps!

Len