1-Day Parks even with crowds?

mkm1998

Earning My Ears
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Jun 17, 2021
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Working on planning a trip for late '26, and trying to figure out exactly how many days I would need for the parks. I know crowds can vary, but I'm thinking the only park I would possibly need multiple days for would be Magic Kingdom. The others seem like 1-Day parks no matter what. At least based on our families specific situation:

1.) Animal Kingdom: I feel like there's only a handful of rides, with lightning lane, I feel like there's not enough that it would take multiple days. Maybe we miss a show? Or we don't see every animal exhibit? We live in SoCal, so with San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, we are okay if we miss seeing some animals.
2.) Hollywood Studios: Living in SoCal, we visit Disneyland at least once a year. So we're fine if we skip Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Midway Mania. If we remove those, I feel like the rest of the park should be doable no matter the crowds.
3.) Epcot: When I went just with my wife 10 years ago, we spent two days at the park. Drinking around the World accomplished! However, this time we're bringing our 7-year-old. So besides the rides, I don't think we're going to spending much time in the World Area. I can't see him wanting to explore that area much, and frankly we're okay with that. So then the focus will just be on the rides. We're also looking at possibly staying at Swan/Dolphin possibly to get the early entry perk to hit up Frozen/Remy's as efficiently as possible. We are find skipping Soarin' as well.
4.) Magic Kingdom: So many rides! I could see if the crowds were insane, that this could take 2 days as well.

I feel like it's cheaper to add an extra day to the park ticket rather than try to get an Lightning Lane Premier for that one park. Also, I think we can save on the hopper, as we'd rather relax and hit a park a day instead.

Does that logic sound good? 5-Days to get everything that's new or unique to the east coast? We're going to also have some rest days sprinkled in there. (And for Universal, I think with Express we could easily finish each park in a day.)
 
We're Epcot people (even with kids) so we usually try to carve out 2 days in Epcot if we can....honestly it's my 9 year old's favorite park. Her trip is not complete without a pretzel from Germany!
 

AK is a half day park at best, especially if you with pay for ILL and LMP to use there.

If you are doing hoppers, you can hit it until early afternoon or until you do everything you want to do, then hit up another park that night, maybe target a favorite attraction or three or use it to mainly watch the nighttime show at one of the other 3.
 
OP, make sure to see the Villains show at DHS. It's amazing and if your 7-year-old enjoys live entertainment, it's sure to be a hit.
 
It depends on what rides/shows you want to do at each park. If you have been to Disney before, you likely already know that. Lines can vary wildly and typically are longest for the most popular attractions. Standing a few of those 1 hr lines can easily eat up a lot of your park day. Having park hopper passes gives you flexibility and if you find one park too crowded you can always go elsewhere. We were at AK on a weekday a few years ago and it was so crowded you could barely move around. We left to go to Epcot and enjoyed that much more. Young children likely have no interest in shopping, so I would seek out the things they are most interested in doing.
 
Five days is enough if you buy LL and are okay not doing everything.

If you are staying at Swan/Dolphin, I would add park hopper. That will allow you to pop into Epcot for food or fireworks and to HS for a show or ride. It also gets you more value on LL days because you can repeat favorite non-headliner rides on different days. (Not sure how well that works in peak crowds. We go in August.)
 
Working on planning a trip for late '26, and trying to figure out exactly how many days I would need for the parks. I know crowds can vary, but I'm thinking the only park I would possibly need multiple days for would be Magic Kingdom. The others seem like 1-Day parks no matter what. At least based on our families specific situation:

1.) Animal Kingdom: I feel like there's only a handful of rides, with lightning lane, I feel like there's not enough that it would take multiple days. Maybe we miss a show? Or we don't see every animal exhibit? We live in SoCal, so with San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, we are okay if we miss seeing some animals.
2.) Hollywood Studios: Living in SoCal, we visit Disneyland at least once a year. So we're fine if we skip Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Midway Mania. If we remove those, I feel like the rest of the park should be doable no matter the crowds.
3.) Epcot: When I went just with my wife 10 years ago, we spent two days at the park. Drinking around the World accomplished! However, this time we're bringing our 7-year-old. So besides the rides, I don't think we're going to spending much time in the World Area. I can't see him wanting to explore that area much, and frankly we're okay with that. So then the focus will just be on the rides. We're also looking at possibly staying at Swan/Dolphin possibly to get the early entry perk to hit up Frozen/Remy's as efficiently as possible. We are find skipping Soarin' as well.
4.) Magic Kingdom: So many rides! I could see if the crowds were insane, that this could take 2 days as well.

I feel like it's cheaper to add an extra day to the park ticket rather than try to get an Lightning Lane Premier for that one park. Also, I think we can save on the hopper, as we'd rather relax and hit a park a day instead.

Does that logic sound good? 5-Days to get everything that's new or unique to the east coast? We're going to also have some rest days sprinkled in there. (And for Universal, I think with Express we could easily finish each park in a day.)
Yeah definitely don’t get the Lightning Lane in this case. If you aren’t hopping parks and are sticking to just 1 park per day, this will save you some moolah for more snacks or merch! If you and your party both have the stamina to rope drop each park, do that too.

I also like how you are prioritizing the Florida exclusive attractions too. Really adds the stakes to your visit.

I do want to warn you of the Swolphin hotel’s buses for Magic Kingdom. You will NOT be dropped up front as Disney Transport doesn’t run buses from Swolphin. If you use Swolphin buses, which are MEARS buses, you will have a slight disadvantage to Early Entry as you’ll have to hop on the monorail in addition to a bus from the TTC. If you want to reduce travel time and that’s your goal here, always consider a Disney Resorts Collection hotel.

These actually a bunch of strategies I’m already factoring as I set up my return to the House of Mouse in 2026.
 
Working on planning a trip for late '26, and trying to figure out exactly how many days I would need for the parks. I know crowds can vary, but I'm thinking the only park I would possibly need multiple days for would be Magic Kingdom. The others seem like 1-Day parks no matter what. At least based on our families specific situation:

1.) Animal Kingdom: I feel like there's only a handful of rides, with lightning lane, I feel like there's not enough that it would take multiple days. Maybe we miss a show? Or we don't see every animal exhibit? We live in SoCal, so with San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, we are okay if we miss seeing some animals.
2.) Hollywood Studios: Living in SoCal, we visit Disneyland at least once a year. So we're fine if we skip Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Midway Mania. If we remove those, I feel like the rest of the park should be doable no matter the crowds.
3.) Epcot: When I went just with my wife 10 years ago, we spent two days at the park. Drinking around the World accomplished! However, this time we're bringing our 7-year-old. So besides the rides, I don't think we're going to spending much time in the World Area. I can't see him wanting to explore that area much, and frankly we're okay with that. So then the focus will just be on the rides. We're also looking at possibly staying at Swan/Dolphin possibly to get the early entry perk to hit up Frozen/Remy's as efficiently as possible. We are find skipping Soarin' as well.
4.) Magic Kingdom: So many rides! I could see if the crowds were insane, that this could take 2 days as well.

I feel like it's cheaper to add an extra day to the park ticket rather than try to get an Lightning Lane Premier for that one park. Also, I think we can save on the hopper, as we'd rather relax and hit a park a day instead.

Does that logic sound good? 5-Days to get everything that's new or unique to the east coast? We're going to also have some rest days sprinkled in there. (And for Universal, I think with Express we could easily finish each park in a day.)

Your plan seems solid. Considering all the personal details you included I suggest…

1) Buy LLSP for FoP; LLMP is skippable.
Don’t miss the Lion King Show; Nemo is skippable.
Don’t miss Winged Encounters; Feathered Friends in Flight is skippable.
Don’t miss Kilimanjaro Safari.

2) LLMP is a big help here.

3) Cosmic Rewind is the best ride ever! Imho - don’t miss. Also keep an eye out for Starlord character appearance over there. It’s fun to watch him dancing with kids, adults and even babies.
EEH- Keep in mind Frozen and Ratatouille are far apart, about a 15 minute walk.

4) With a 7yo MK seems the best use of 2 days. It’s so wonderful at that age and 2 days will give your family room to breathe.
If you buy LLMP, I find the first day works best. Then you’ll know exactly what it helped you accomplish so you can prioritize whatever was missed on the 2nd visit. Less headache than saving it for Day 2, because then you spend Day 1 wondering what should or shouldn’t be ‘saved’ for LL use.

Have an awesome trip!
 






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