Am I the only person only going to one park

[leahsmom0813]

We are taking DD for the 1st time next month, she will turn 3 while we are there. I'm only going to MK. I think a park a day is to much for that age. The rest of the time we will be pool hopping and going to Downtown Disney. My parents are DVM so she will be back soon.

 

[mom2travel]

We are taking DD for the 1st time next month, she will turn 3 while we are there. I'm only going to MK. I think a park a day is to much for that age. The rest of the time we will be pool hopping and going to Downtown Disney. My parents are DVM so she will be back soon.

The only time we have only done a single park is when we've done 1or 2-day trips when the kids were really little. Even at 3 our kids enjoyed something about every park; they much preferred the parks over DTD! But you know your own child and need to do what's best for your family.

Also, not sure what you mean by pool hopping - you are only allowed to use the pool at the resort where you are staying

 

[Vowelmommy]

For us, it would be totally ridiculous to go to only one park. There are 6 of us, and we live 1600 miles away, so when we get there, we are seeing everything. Our 2 year old and 4 year old will be going to a park every day for 7 days. If we lived close by and would be returning soon it would be a different story, but that is not our reality at all.

 

[WicketsMom]

Our first couple of trips were short ones, so we did one day at Magic Kingdom and one at Animal Kingdom. (DS was 15 months and 21 months for those) The next time we did four parks over four days (he had just turned three) and we wondered why we hadn't done Epcot sooner, it was his favorite park! There is little to nothing that interested him at Downtown Disney. He was too little for most everything at Disney Quest.

The next trip we are planning six park days over an 8 night trip, with a day at a water park and/or mini-golf on our off days.

 

[hannahdrewmom]

To be honest I can't imagine only doing one park unless we were only going for 1 day total. For us there are so many things that our kids enjoy in other parks. One of the perks of the parks is there are options for everyone. My 3 year old would choose Epcot as her favorite park. My 2 year old hands down in a MK fan. HS has disney jr and those characters are geared toward preschoolers and otherwise can't be seen. I personally think it's a bit much to go to disney for just the pools really most of them are about the same... one slide and one splash area at most. And DTD would not last long with my kids....and definately wouldn't be enjoyable!

 

[mom2princesss]

Both of our girls have taken their first trip just before turning 3 and we have hit all 4 parks each time. I couldn't take a trip and only do one park. There are things at each park that they enjoy. Even on our short 4 night trip we hit all 4 parks going to MK and EPCOT multiple times(we park hop).

But, you know your child best so if one park is enough, one park is enough.

 

[disny_luvr]

I, too, can't imagine doing only one park especially since I feel like we pay so much in transportation costs to get there. The first time we took our twin boys they were one-month-shy of turning three. We were there for ten nights, did all four parks, and most more than once. The boys did fine. On our one off day we went to Downtown Disney and they were pretty bored. They wanted rides, shows, things that would entertain them. They weren't interested in being strapped in the stroller while I shopped. My boys love the MK, but Epcot and DHS hold a close second for them.

As a pp stated, you know your daughter best and you should do what works best for her.

 

[DisneyOHFan]

The only time we have only done 1 park was when we were only going to be in the area for 1 day.

We went for my sons 3rd birthday (10 yrs ago) and did 2 parks a day for 4 days.

 

[leahsmom0813]

DD loves Disney Jr so I may add MGM. DH has never been to Disney before and is not a big fan of parks so I think 2 will be the max. You are allowed to visit other resorts so that's what I meant by pool hopping, I want to see AK and think DD will enjoy Boardwalk. If I was paying a ton of $ for this trip I would try to cram it all in too but it only cost me a flight so i'm not going to force to much in the extreme heat. I already booked a Disney cruise for next year so DD will be fine.

 

[Mississippianna]

We get much more enjoyment out of the parks than Downtown Disney. I would at least try going to Animal Kingdom in addition to MK. We don't even go to DTD anymore. To me, it's just shopping, and I can do that in the parks.

DD was 2.5 on our last trip and I'd say MK, Epcot, and AK were our favorites on that trip.

Ditto, PP... don't know what you mean by pool hopping but you can only use the pool at your resort.

 

[disykat]

DD loves Disney Jr so I may add MGM. DH has never been to Disney before and is not a big fan of parks so I think 2 will be the max. You are allowed to visit other resorts so that's what I meant by pool hopping, I want to see AK and think DD will enjoy Boardwalk. If I was paying a ton of $ for this trip I would try to cram it all in too but it only cost me a flight so i'm not going to force to much in the extreme heat. I already booked a Disney cruise for next year so DD will be fine.

Sure - visit other resorts. However, the pools are for guests of those resorts only.

I'd play it by ear and visit as many parks as you feel like visiting at the time. You haven't said how many days you'll be there, but I'm guessing you'll want to spend most of your days in a park and maybe one or two days doing other stuff. Extra park days don't cost as much as the first day and are well worth it, even if you only spend part of a day in the park and do other things as well.

Park days don't have to be an all day sprint. Personally I find going into a park and wandering around MUCH more relaxing than riding a bus around (or even getting in and out of a car) to visit the other locations.

 

[cvjw]

I think the OP is trying to say that her parents are DVC, and if staying on points thru DVC, you are allowed to pool hop at certain resorts. I have to agree with PP, there is no way that we would only go to one park if we were at Disney for longer than one day.

 

[hannahdrewmom]

The key thing here too, OP is to remember that you can and most likely will want to add days to your ticket. So buy what you are planning and if it doesn't work the way you are planning then you can always add to those tickets. I think once you get there and see that the parks aren't really like the local parks you might be suprised by all that your dd can do even at that age! Have fun!

 

[Allison]

I would never make the trip and only go to one park.

 

[crisi]

Nope. We are too far away to consider only going for a fast trip and if we are going to go, we are in the parks for multiple days. For us, its usually around $1500 in airfare.

As for pool hopping - we are DVC members and have done it - and have found it to be a huge pain in the back end. Other members enjoy it though. It would be down near number 596 on "things I want to do while I'm at Disney." You do need to have the member with you to hop legally, it isn't merely "staying on points" - its "members staying on points."

 

[kimmylaj]

we have been quite a few times and are heading to georgia next week to visit family. we are going out of our way to florida to surprise the kids with a quick seaworld trip. of course i cant be in florida without seeing my favorite mouse, so we will do 1 day in magic kingdom. we've been before....we will be back, so i will take 1 day with mickey over nothing

 

[maciec]

DD loves Disney Jr so I may add MGM. DH has never been to Disney before and is not a big fan of parks so I think 2 will be the max. You are allowed to visit other resorts so that's what I meant by pool hopping, I want to see AK and think DD will enjoy Boardwalk. If I was paying a ton of $ for this trip I would try to cram it all in too but it only cost me a flight so i'm not going to force to much in the extreme heat. I already booked a Disney cruise for next year so DD will be fine.

Just so you know you CANNOT pool hop at Animal Kingdom Lodge DVC or not

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I understand where the OP is coming from as we have gone back and forth about worrying if doing all four WDW parks would be too overwhelming and exhausting for our 2 and 4 year olds. However, it wouldn't make financial sense for us to just do one park as we are flying in from PA. Roundtrip airfare for the six of us was a very hefty expense and because of that we don't plan on flying anytime again in the near future; and driving to WDW is out of the picture as DH refuses to be on the road for 17 hours with our kids . I always tell people that if we lived within a reasonable driving distance to WDW (7 hours or less) that we would probably do frequent, short trips of only one or two parks/park days because we would know that we would be able to return soon. Another issue is that we have two 9 year olds and we want to be mindful of their interests as well and just one day at the MK wouldn't cut it for them at this point. So that things don't get too overwhelming for everyone, we are planning one "no park" day in the middle of our trip where we sleep in, do a late character breakfast/brunch at a resort, and spend the afternoon at DTD and by the pool of our resort. We are also planning one day where we spend the morning/afternoon relaxing at the resort and pool and don't head to a park until after 3 or 4. We are hoping this plan will balance things out for us. Also, another person posted that you don't have to be in the parks all day or tour the parks at a commando pace. There is truly something for everyone, including toddlers, in each park; but if you know that you will be back to WDW soon and will be making frequent trips, then I certainly understand wanting to do just one park for now. Have fun!

 

[crisi]

Just so you know you CANNOT pool hop at Animal Kingdom Lodge DVC or not

Nor SAB at the BCV or the Bay Lake Towers.

BWV has a horrible pool for small children. Its a great resort to resort hop to and visit - particularly in the evenings when the Boardwalk entertainment is happening. But it has no zero entry, no pool slide, its deep and its toddler pool is dull.

The pool at SSR is really fairly nice for little kids to hop to (IF you are DVC members staying on points, of course , and especially if you have a car so you can park). Kid pool slides, zero entry. Great pool.

 

[tlbwriter]

I wouldn't worry about it. If you know you'll be back soon, just do what you enjoy on this trip (other than actually using pools that you aren't allowed to use, of course).