4 park days, WWYD?

[hkkatie]

We are planning our first trip summer 2018. (2 adults, 4 kids ages 15, 11, 5, 5 at time of trip). Originally we had planned 6 park days, but due to various reasons, we are probably going to have to shorten our trip by a few days, which leaves us with only 4 park days. So many people have told me that MK is a 2 day park, so I'm wondering if we should just spend one day at each park, or only go to three parks, hitting MK twice. WWYD? It's our first WDW trip, and we probably won't be back for several years.

And if we only go to 3 parks, which one do we skip?

Thanks.

 

[LovePug]

I wouldn't skip any park as a first timer! Are you arriving early enough that you can go to a park on arrival day and maybe make it 5 park days? If so, I'd do MK on arrival day and then a 2nd time later in the trip, then a day at each of the other parks.

 

[loves to dive]

Will you have park hoppers? I agree with previous poster, I wouldn't skip any of the parks but if you have hoppers, it would be possible to maybe do Epcot and HS in the same day then do a second day at MK or do a morning at Epcot or HS and move over to MK in the afternoon if you felt you had more to see.

 

[hkkatie]

Arrival day, flight will land around 5:30pm. Probably won't do a park on arrival day. Not planning to get park hoppers.

 

[srwarden1928]

4 park days--easy plan--one day each park. Now the fifth park day should be a second MK day IMO, but no way am I skipping ANY of the parks. There are unique and worthwhile experiences in each park.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

4 park days--easy plan--one day each park. Now the fifth park day should be a second MK day IMO, but no way am I skipping ANY of the parks. There are unique and worthwhile experiences in each park.

I agree with this! If you only had toddlers, I would lean towards skipping DHS and doing 2 days at MK. But DHS is still worth seeing especially if you have kids who like thrill rides and/or Star Wars.

 

[LovePug]

But DHS is still worth seeing especially if you have kids who like thrill rides and/or Star Wars.

Not to mention Toy Story Land should be open....

 

[TulipMom]

I think it really depends on your family and what you love to do. For me, one day at MK isn't enough. But, we also travel with young kids so a "full day" for us is Rope Drop until 5pm. If you're going in summer and you can make it a day when MK is open until 11pm, maybe you can get to everything on your MK to-do list in a day.

If I was absolutely forced to skip a park, then I'd skip AK. I love Expedition Everest and The Lion King show, and I'm sure that I'm soon to love FOP. But, I wouldn't cry if I missed the rest of what is there. Most people on here seem to cite DHS as their least favorite park. But, Tower of Terror and RnR are 2 of my favorite rides at WDW. Plus, our kids love TSMM and DS must do every last Star Wars attraction/show.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

Not to mention Toy Story Land should be open....

Ooh! Wasn't even thinking about that! So yes, definitely one day per park unless you get hoppers.

 

[SG131]

If I was absolutely forced to skip a park, then I'd skip AK. I love Expedition Everest and The Lion King show, and I'm sure that I'm soon to love FOP. But, I wouldn't cry if I missed the rest of what is there. Most people on here seem to cite DHS as their least favorite park. But, Tower of Terror and RnR are 2 of my favorite rides at WDW. Plus, our kids love TSMM and DS must do every last Star Wars attraction/show.

I agree. There are definitely things about animal kingdom I like (I'm even in the minority that enjoyed rivers of light), but it would be the first park I would drop. It's the least Disney park and while I like the safari, it I really want to see animals I can go to my local zoo. My DD 7 enjoyed the park, however, my DD 4 was rather bored. There were bits and pieces she liked but overall was exhausted (because the park is hot and pretty spread out) and frustrated that a few of their best rides, FOP and Everest, she was not tall enough to do.

 

[space_monkey]

I would probably plan for 1 day in each park but I would make Animal Kingdom your last day. That will give you the option to have visited each of the 3 other parks and determine if you'd like to go to Animal Kingdom or revisit one of the others depending on what you were not able to accomplish or want to experience again. Might make utilizing Extra Magic hours and fastpasses a bit awkward if having to change that animal kingdom day with FoP and Everest, and whatever other fastpass over to another park but hopefully you've hit the most popular ones on your first day at that park and can still get available passes for others.
We last went maybe 7 years ago and since my kids were toddlers at the time so we skipped Hollywood Studios in favor of 2 days at magic kingdom due to the volume of options targeted at their age group and our inability to see all of MK in a day since with young kids we couldn't put in a full day. We didn't want to skip AK since we don't live near a zoo that has these types of animals so seeing giraffes and gorillas and zebras is a new experience for my kids. When we last went they were too small for most of the big ticket rides and we still didn't finish all of Animal Kingdom due to poor planning on my part because we made the mistake of taking the train to the conservation station (Rafiki's planet watch) since there was a petting zoo and it ate up at least 90 mins or more of our day. In hindsight, we would skip that area of AK for sure.

We are going back this year and other than my son (who is not 48" yet and can't ride Primeval Whirl or RnR Coaster), my kids meet the height requirements for all the attractions (old and new since our last trip) so one thing I did was ask my kids: "What is the one ride you are looking forward to the most?" I got Everest as an answer from two of them and Flight of Passage from the third so I will make sure to fit in a day at Animal Kingdom.

 

[hkkatie]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your input!! I'll have to take a closer look at all the parks and see what I think the kids would like the most.

 

[LadyCerri]

I would do one park per day and get on TouringPlans.com and get the Dumbo in a Day for MK plan. My husband made me a believer after our 2011 trip and it made our tour through MK fairly painless. The other parks are not as challenging but MK is a bit of a pacer and for littles, it's the one they want to do the most.

 

[goofyintoronto]

If Toy Story land isn't open when you go, i'd skip HS to be honest. Its true that MK is a two day park....its my fave park, so much to do for all ages.

 

[Anmej85]

thanks for asking this I am going in june with 3 adults and 4 kids aged 14,11,9,5 was wondering the same thing about the parks we have 4 days 1 park per day