6 days....which parks?

[Beth06015]

We will be traveling in September with dd8 and ds3. Dd loves all thrill rides and at 4 her favorite ride was tower of terror! Ds will likely be more apprehensive. We will likely go to the parks earlyish but not rope drop as we aren't rush out of bed types. And with s preschooler don't want to push too much. He should nap in the stroller esp days we want to see fireworks!

How would you allocate time in parks? We don't come often so I want to focus on Disney parks but is there something you would recommend making room for in a week? My original plan was two days mk, two days Epcot, and one day each for Dhs and ak. Arrival day and departure day hotel days. Even considering now having the DHS day be half hotel/relax and not go to the park until later in the day, for a few rides and fantasmic. We will be staying at AKL. Appreciate the input! We will have 6 full days plus arrival and departure days (planning early in the day arrival and late 6pm flight back).

 

[mullysisters]

In 7 days I do MK 4x about four hours each, AK 2-3x four hours each, HS once or twice about four hours each, Epcot about three times for 3-4 hours each time. Your kids probably don't want to go to Epcot WS? (speaking as a childless aunty) Or maybe they do, lots of characters and fun things to look at. To visit parks this many times you need to park hop. I visit one in the morning, back to the resort for a siesta & pool time and a second park in the evening. I also spend one day away from the parks midweek and this year no DTD!Ugh the construction. I find four hours in a park is my limit.

 

[Doug M]

Wife and I are doing 7 days this dec and will allocate 3 to MK, 2 to epcot, and 1 each to AK and HS. We will be spending time at WS in epcot, if you wont you could add that time elsewhere as 2 days is excessive for future world only.

 

[Beth06015]

In 7 days I do MK 4x about four hours each, AK 2-3x four hours each, HS once or twice about four hours each, Epcot about three times for 3-4 hours each time. Your kids probably don't want to go to Epcot WS? (speaking as a childless aunty) Or maybe they do, lots of characters and fun things to look at. To visit parks this many times you need to park hop. I visit one in the morning, back to the resort for a siesta & pool time and a second park in the evening. I also spend one day away from the parks midweek and this year no DTD!Ugh the construction. I find four hours in a park is my limit.

Thanks! We don't do the park hopper usually, I would rather not move around with the kids and there is enough to do at each park! My kids love the world showcase (or....wait....their parents do so they will!). It's going to be my sons first visit but my daughter enjoyed it last time. Epcot is my favorite park.

 

[Beth06015]

Wife and I are doing 7 days this dec and will allocate 3 to MK, 2 to epcot, and 1 each to AK and HS. We will be spending time at WS in epcot, if you wont you could add that time elsewhere as 2 days is excessive for future world only.

Thanks! We love the world showcase. Maybe the second day we will have time to go later in the morning or have an earlier night. Can't push the three year old too much!

 

[Beth06015]

Thanks! We love the world showcase. Maybe the second day we will have time to go later in the morning or have an earlier night. Can't push the three year old too much!

We found last time the world showcase was a great way to meet characters too!

 

[Doug M]

We skipped WS almost entirely with our kids last june, but childless this trip so we will take our time this go and enjoy it.

 

[Networth]

2 MK 2 Epcot 1.5 HS 1 AK 0.5 whatever time.

 

[minnie mum]

If you think you won't need a full day at DHS, I'd still recommend that you hit the park in the morning. Remember that Sept. is still HOT! Mornings are cooler. And lines are shorter. Head back to your resort for nap and play time in the aftsrnoon. Then go back to the park for dinner and fantasmic

 

[pigletgirl]

What about the night time shows? How many times would you like to see Wishes/Illumations and Fantasmic? Are you planning on doing MNSSHP at all?

 

[SplashMo]

MK 3 days
EP 2 Days
DS 1 Day
AK 1 Day

 

[Planogirl]

Do your kids like mini-golf? What about waterparks? Do you plan to go to Downtown Disney or hotel hop? All considerations.

When DS was younger, we would do two days at Epcot and one each at DHS and AK. If you get hoppers you can make evening trips to MK and maybe combine that with a few full days.

 

[mshanson3121]

I would consider adding Sea World, there's some great rides there your older daughter would like, a nice kiddie zone for your toddler, and of course all the animals and shows. You can easily do a full day at Sea World, there's a lot to do, but you could also do maybe a morning at HS and then head over to SW early afternoon.

We have 8 park days in June, kids are 8 & 5:

2 days MK
1 day each for EP, HS and AK
1 day each at SW and Discovery Cove (I would highly recommend this as well, reviews are amazing, and it's a one of a kind experience)
Then we have a "free" day at the end, with which we're going to let the kid's choose where to go - so maybe we'll go back to another Disney park, we might do the beach, a Swamp Safari tour... who knows!

We are also doing a mix of full days and half days, and no evenings except for the last night when we'll go watch MSEP and Wishes. So if we are spending a full day at a park, the next day we're just doing a half day, so that we have lots of down time.

 

[BudgieMama]

I would go:
2.5 MK
2 Epcot
1 DHS
1 AK
0.5 for anything else (DTD or a water park)

If I needed more rest time, I've probably do a late start at DHS (we struggled to keep entertained all day, and that was in August before they shut a number of attractions)... and maybe do 1 full day at MK and 2 half days (one early, one late probably).

 

[lauraleh]

We are doing 6 park days with our 4 and 1.5 year old in Sept. We ended up deciding to do 3 MK, 1 of all the others. We did think about 2 MK, 2 Epcot but decided that we accomplished all we wanted to in Epcot last year in one day. We will do Rope Drop every day but probably won't stay much for nighttime entertainment. Maybe one night at MK but we will just play that by ear. Last year they both feel asleep during fireworks and then it took us another hour and a half to get to the resort. Not worth it for us.

 

[Beth06015]

If you think you won't need a full day at DHS, I'd still recommend that you hit the park in the morning. Remember that Sept. is still HOT! Mornings are cooler. And lines are shorter. Head back to your resort for nap and play time in the aftsrnoon. Then go back to the park for dinner and fantasmic

That's a good idea! Thanks. I want to make fantasmic. There aren't really enticing meal options at the park so a partial day seemed appealing.

 

[Beth06015]

I would consider adding Sea World, there's some great rides there your older daughter would like, a nice kiddie zone for your toddler, and of course all the animals and shows. You can easily do a full day at Sea World, there's a lot to do, but you could also do maybe a morning at HS and then head over to SW early afternoon.

We have 8 park days in June, kids are 8 & 5:

2 days MK
1 day each for EP, HS and AK
1 day each at SW and Discovery Cove (I would highly recommend this as well, reviews are amazing, and it's a one of a kind experience)
Then we have a "free" day at the end, with which we're going to let the kid's choose where to go - so maybe we'll go back to another Disney park, we might do the beach, a Swamp Safari tour... who knows!

We are also doing a mix of full days and half days, and no evenings except for the last night when we'll go watch MSEP and Wishes. So if we are spending a full day at a park, the next day we're just doing a half day, so that we have lots of down time.

I was wondering if people would recommend fitting in any other parks! My daughter is OBSESSED with dolphins and Discovery Cove is something I was considering. However it is a pricey add-on and would have to take time away from a Disney park so I am weighing this. Have you ever been? My daughter writes all of her school reports on dolphins and it always includes "it is my dream to swim with dolphins someday". I think if we did that for her we would split up as I don't see it worth the cost for my son. That's why I was considering maybe going to DHS for the evening to catch the parade and get her on her favorite ride. I can't really fit in extra days to the trip with our schedule. I like your idea of a "free" day!

 

[Beth06015]

Do your kids like mini-golf? What about waterparks? Do you plan to go to Downtown Disney or hotel hop? All considerations.

When DS was younger, we would do two days at Epcot and one each at DHS and AK. If you get hoppers you can make evening trips to MK and maybe combine that with a few full days.

Mini golf isn't a huge success with my kids yet LOL! I would leave that as something we can do at home. On arrival day we plan to explore the hotel and visit another hotel for a character meal (1900 Park Fare dinner), ride the monorail, etc. Downtown Disney I'm not that impressed with so I don't feel a need to go back, I can shop online or at our local mall--would rather fit in the Disney Parks for the kids while we're there!

 

[Beth06015]

What about the night time shows? How many times would you like to see Wishes/Illumations and Fantasmic? Are you planning on doing MNSSHP at all?

I was planning to do illuminations, fantasmic, and wishes each once. Trying to plan a late night against a non-early morning/shorter day the following day. My thoughts on the Halloween party are not to go as there is enough else to do and we do enough Halloween parties at home. We don't go frequently enough to Disney to be looking for new things to do if that makes sense.

 

[Beth06015]

We are doing 6 park days with our 4 and 1.5 year old in Sept. We ended up deciding to do 3 MK, 1 of all the others. We did think about 2 MK, 2 Epcot but decided that we accomplished all we wanted to in Epcot last year in one day. We will do Rope Drop every day but probably won't stay much for nighttime entertainment. Maybe one night at MK but we will just play that by ear. Last year they both feel asleep during fireworks and then it took us another hour and a half to get to the resort. Not worth it for us.

Thanks! I just recounted days and we have 6 full days which is why I was a bit off, lol! Last time we did 2 at MK and 2 at Epcot and that seemed right, with AK and DHS 1 day each. DHS has less appeal to me but maybe I'm wrong. We made it through most of the World Showcase with my daughter and she loved the kid-cot activities and visiting the different countries. The variable will be if my son will nap in the stroller enough. We love the fireworks so its something I want to fit in some of the nights.