6 days....which parks?

[Beth06015]

We skipped WS almost entirely with our kids last june

I love the world showcase!! That will just not happen for us lol. We mixed in vising the characters and meals into the showcase and my DD who was 4 at the time loved it.

 

[Beth06015]

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).

Thanks! I realized I miscounted and actually have 6 days plus arrival and departure....want to make sure I'm not pushing my family too far and that we have time to enjoy the resort.

 

[mshanson3121]

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!

It is definitely does seem expensive, though when you consider that your ticket includes two meals, plus unlimited snacks and drinks, plus a 14-day pass to Sea World and Aquatica, it's actually one heck of a deal! But, if you're just doing Discovery Cove and not Sea World, yes, that does make it pricier. IMO, I would still do it if you could afford it, based on everything I've been told about it, and it's just such a neat experience. Plus, it can be a nice break from the parks. But, you could always just do Sea World - they have a dolphin experience where she can touch the dolphin and have her picture taken with one, she can feed one, plus there's the dolphin show etc....

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!

 

[GWhitten98]

If you arriving early and leaving late, I might consider making those days to go do something in a park as well. We loved going to Epcot on our arrive days for dinner and illuminations. Nothing overly ambitious but you gotta eat regardless). Also we find planning all the shows/activities at HS into one day to be a challenge so we like to break it into two shorter visits. We left late so we went our last day and re-rode TSM and RnR and took in one last show...again not a super busy morning, but enough to make it worth wild for us. If you did park time on arrival and departure day you could shorten park days mid week and relax at the resort then.

 

[LISAMWDW]

Personally, it seems like alot of park time. We like to have more free days. We enjoy lots of pool time, resort hopping, downtown disney, mini golf, shopping, outdoor movies and campfires etc. Did I mention, shopping? hehe We'll go the the beach, gator land, etc. Oh and shopping.

We are going 8 days and spending half in parks and half enjoying other fun stuff.

 

[Beth06015]

It is definitely does seem expensive, though when you consider that your ticket includes two meals, plus unlimited snacks and drinks, plus a 14-day pass to Sea World and Aquatica, it's actually one heck of a deal! But, if you're just doing Discovery Cove and not Sea World, yes, that does make it pricier. IMO, I would still do it if you could afford it, based on everything I've been told about it, and it's just such a neat experience. Plus, it can be a nice break from the parks. But, you could always just do Sea World - they have a dolphin experience where she can touch the dolphin and have her picture taken with one, she can feed one, plus there's the dolphin show etc....

It does seem like they throw in sea world to get you to spend time out of Disney.....I am going back and forth! I just want to make sure we have enough time to relax and enjoy the Disney parks and resort as well. We will have the meal plan so the food is not worth it, and we won't have a car so we'd have to take cabs there. Sigh..... I guess this is a good problem too have, too many fun options!

 

[Beth06015]

If you arriving early and leaving late, I might consider making those days to go do something in a park as well. We loved going to Epcot on our arrive days for dinner and illuminations. Nothing overly ambitious but you gotta eat regardless). Also we find planning all the shows/activities at HS into one day to be a challenge so we like to break it into two shorter visits. We left late so we went our last day and re-rode TSM and RnR and took in one last show...again not a super busy morning, but enough to make it worth wild for us. If you did park time on arrival and departure day you could shorten park days mid week and relax at the resort then.

We went to Epcot on our arrival day last time.....this time I wanted to enjoy the hotel and swim and then explore the monorail on our way to dinner at Park Fare. I was thinking potentially fitting in animal kingdom in the morning we leave. I could leave it up there as a "free" day for us to pick want we want more of after the week! If we do magical express and check our bags at the hotel, could we then leave for the airport from a park? And how much time would we need to leave to be on a plane at 6?

 

[Beth06015]

Personally, it seems like alot of park time. We like to have more free days. We enjoy lots of pool time, resort hopping, downtown disney, mini golf, shopping, outdoor movies and campfires etc. Did I mention, shopping? hehe We'll go the the beach, gator land, etc. Oh and shopping.

We are going 8 days and spending half in parks and half enjoying other fun stuff.

I have done DTD a couple times in the past few years and am just not impressed...I can buy overpriced things I don't need at my own mall for less money, lol! Mini golf doesn't go well with my kids I think they're too young still! The movies and campfire sound nice--maybe my daughter will stay up this time, last time she was wiped and asleep waiting for the bus each night! I think I want to plan less full days at the parks in order to have room for pool and other resort activities -- this is why I wanted to get more input! It will be a challenge with my son because at 3 he still needs a lot of sleep.

 

[mshanson3121]

It does seem like they throw in sea world to get you to spend time out of Disney.....I am going back and forth! I just want to make sure we have enough time to relax and enjoy the Disney parks and resort as well. We will have the meal plan so the food is not worth it, and we won't have a car so we'd have to take cabs there. Sigh..... I guess this is a good problem too have, too many fun options!

It could be that. Though, Discovery Cove, Sea World and Aquatica (as well as Busch) are all owned by the same company, so.... it's really nothing to them to throw it in. Though you could definitely make a non-Disney Florida trip for sure, just on all the other things there are to do between DC, SW, Aquatica, Busch, and other attractions. I hear you on the decisions. Our problem is we're driving 30 hours to get to Florida... so we have a car which really opens up our options. Also, this is kind of a once in a lifetime trip for us. I highly doubt we will ever be back, and if we are, it will be many years, so there's that feeling of wanting to see as much as we can. I love Disney, but I also enjoy non-park stuff, and would love to see other things too. We have all the time in the world (I'm a SAHM and my husband is a teacher) so we could add on days, but there is only so much money

 

[Beth06015]

It could be that. Though, Discovery Cove, Sea World and Aquatica (as well as Busch) are all owned by the same company, so.... it's really nothing to them to throw it in. Though you could definitely make a non-Disney Florida trip for sure, just on all the other things there are to do between DC, SW, Aquatica, Busch, and other attractions. I hear you on the decisions. Our problem is we're driving 30 hours to get to Florida... so we have a car which really opens up our options. Also, this is kind of a once in a lifetime trip for us. I highly doubt we will ever be back, and if we are, it will be many years, so there's that feeling of wanting to see as much as we can. I love Disney, but I also enjoy non-park stuff, and would love to see other things too. We have all the time in the world (I'm a SAHM and my husband is a teacher) so we could add on days, but there is only so much money

We drove to Disney as kids! We had a sedan and I was squished between my brothers but my parents made it work for us and got us there! It was in think less than 24 hrs drive, I don't know how they did it lol! But I loved it and have such Memories. I will be pulling my daughter from the second week of school to go so I have to really keep it to the sat-sat schedule. While we do not go every year, our last big trip was four years ago, I can see us going back sometime or even like you said doing a non-Disney trip. I'd like to not split up if possible. Plus if I end up going to the discovery cove you know I'm going to have to buy the video and then the cost just keeps going up from their! Lol!