Disney World in 3 days?

[Gingersnapsk]

This will be our 6th week long trip, and we are doing new things and eating new places almost every day. 3 days is like eating one potato chip, your just going to want more. Good luck!

Oh one more thing. The shear size of the property will shock you. Until you've experienced it you can't really wrap your head around it!

LOL! I've been trying to imagine how big WDW is, but probably have NO IDEA!

 

[Gingersnapsk]

I'll keep it simple for you. If you can't do 4 days, which is highly recommend, then skip Epcot. Normally I'd say Skip DHS but since your kids are fans of Star Wars, go to DHS. Why skip Epcot? Because there isn't too much there your kids will enjoy. Park hopping is expensive and time consuming. To make the best use of your time:
- arrive at the park 30-45 mins before opening.
- make use of the fastpass system ahead of time and throughout the day.
- leave the park mid day for some rest and relaxation at your hotel, maybe even a nap. Then return in the evening and stay to close.

That's what I would do if I was in your shoes.

Thanks for the great tips!!

 

[8lovesmickey]

My advice is make good use of the mornings! If you go first thing, you can get more done in 2 hours than you can in 4 or 5 hours later in the day. For example in Epcot, we were on the first boat from the Beach Club. We walked on Living with the Land and The Seas with Nemo and Friends and only waited 15 minutes for Frozen, all before our FP's for Test Track and Soarin'. That was 5 adventures in less than 2 hours, leaving lots of time to see other things. Same can be true for late nights.

Plan on an hour to get from park to park, but I think the hopper is worth it (especially if you go early and stay late). Use the middle of the day for things you FP or shopping or eating or less popular attractions. There isn't much to do at DHS these days, so a half day is plenty in my opinion. ToT, Toy Story, and Star Tours and you're done. Rock-n-Roller Coaster is a good thrill but a little outdated.

Have fun!!

 

[8lovesmickey]

LOL! I've been trying to imagine how big WDW is, but probably have NO IDEA!

The entire Disneyland resort - both parks, 3 hotels, and all of Downtown Disney - can fit into just the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom at WDW.

 

[Maxie86]

WDW is 47 square miles, or 27000 acres...give or take depending on what source you read. The biggest mistake people make that are used to DL is underestimating the size of WDW. AK 403 acres, EP 300 acres, HS 135 acres, MK 105 acres, DL 85 acres, CA 72 acres. Just a comparison from googling , I can't vouch for its accuracy, but you get the idea. Also keep in mind that most of WDW property is not developed and it can take a half hour under ideal conditions to get from one park to another by driving, longer by bus or heavy traffic. Generally it is recommended to allow an hour travel time if you have an ADR and need to be somewhere at a certain time. To add my 2 cents I wouldn't try to do all four parks in three days, if you can't add more days consider leaving out at least one park. I know it is hard, there is so much to see and do in central Florida. Have fun whatever you decide to do.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Hi, hoping for advice from Disney World experts. My family’s going for the first time in March & we only want to spend 3 days in the parks so we can do other things around Orlando. I don’t know how much park hopping I’ll be able to get the family to do, but would like to see all 4 parks. I figure we will need a full day at MK & am trying to decide where to spend the other 2 days. . My boys are 8 & 10 & love Star Wars, do we devote a full day to HS? We want to see Pandora in Ak, does that take a whole day? Epcot doesn’t have very many rides we are interested in, but it looks huge & we want to check it out. I know we won’t be able to do everything. Should we get 3 day park hopper tix or 1 day MK tix & 2 day park hoppers? any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

If you are going in March 2018 you need to get online and buy your tickets so you can try to make some fast passes. The adult ticket price is 305 for a basic three day, 370 if it's a hopper. But a 4 day base ticket (380) is only 10 bucks more than a three day hopper. So you might as well get a four day base ticket instead. Since you are already days or weeks past your original fast pass window, you're going to need the very early morning strategy to get a lot done without the best fast passes. This is especially true if you want to ride Flight of Passage in Pandora. You need to arrive at Animal Kingdom about an hour and 15 minutes before scheduled park opening. They will let you in the park 45 minutes early, and on Flight of Passage about 30 minutes before opening. You can be walking off that ride at the time the park was supposed to open. It is the very best use of your time, saving the rest of the day to see and do everything else. Flight of Passage is worth getting up early. Enjoy your trip.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Thanks everyone for your advice! We are from California & have been to Disneyland multiple times. The 2 parks are right next to each other so hopping takes no time at all. mK sounds very much the same. We aren’t staying on property in Orlando, I’m worried about the time needed to get to the parks & to hop. Our trip is 7 days, but with traveling we only really have 5 over spring break. UC Tourist has 4 day MYW + an extra day for $399 for adults. I know, more than 3 days. 1 Park per day, probably all my family can handle tho. Maybe we won’t do full days & try to do something else after a partial day. We also want to go to Kennedy Space Center & the Atlantic coast. My kids want nothing to do with princesses, only Star Wars, Indiana Jones & Mickey, lol. I’ve got to get tickets so I can start booking fast passes! Thanks for your help!

But the Gulf beaches are sooooo much nicer!!!

 

[GPC0321]

LOL! I've been trying to imagine how big WDW is, but probably have NO IDEA!

It's 43 square miles or roughly the size of San Francisco. Twice the size of Manhattan. It's a (large) city in and of itself.

 

[lvdis]

Epcot will be beautiful in March with the Flower and Garden festival going on. That would be worth it for me!

 

[bluejasmine]

If it was me I would do 1 full day MK and 1 full day Ep and a split day between AK and HS or if you not getting park hopper then choose which one you think you would enjoy more and be able to spend the entire day at

 

[mshanson3121]

Hi, hoping for advice from Disney World experts. My family’s going for the first time in March & we only want to spend 3 days in the parks so we can do other things around Orlando. I don’t know how much park hopping I’ll be able to get the family to do, but would like to see all 4 parks. I figure we will need a full day at MK & am trying to decide where to spend the other 2 days. . My boys are 8 & 10 & love Star Wars, do we devote a full day to HS? We want to see Pandora in Ak, does that take a whole day? Epcot doesn’t have very many rides we are interested in, but it looks huge & we want to check it out. I know we won’t be able to do everything. Should we get 3 day park hopper tix or 1 day MK tix & 2 day park hoppers? any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

With those ages, and loving Star Wars, I would plan a full day at MK, a full day at HS, and then a split day between AK and EP. Lots of people will tell you HS is a half day park, but we still find it a full day park, easily.

 

[richmo]

I'd just reinforce what some of the others have said:
- If at all possible, go for 4 days instead of 3. That way you you wouldn't have to get the park hopper, if you didn't think you needed it. And if you're looking at cost, if I looked it up right, the 4 day base ticket (no park hop) is only about $10 more than the 3 day that includes park hopping, per ticket.
- Whatever you do, don't buy a 1 day hopper and a 2 day base. That costs a little more than a 3 day hopper would and you only get hopping for one day.

 

[KenHutch]

Another vote for adding a day and doing 1 day at each park. And I sadly must be strange because many of my fellow posters call Hollywood a half day park and I manage to do 2 full days there every vacation. Now I must admit it is my favorite park but you can easily do one day there.

 

[RocketCityMama]

I would recommend 3 day hopper, 1 full day at MK, split day between HS/EP and one day at AK

At HS for the Star Wars fans, you will want to do Star Tours, Launch Bay (they have a meet & Greet for Chewbacca- must do! & I think also BB8) and see the stormtrooper March

Tower of terror in HS is my DD&DS(11) new favorite ride so I would also recommend that as a must do!

In EP- test track is probably your top must do, followed by Soarin

Have fun & come back if you have more questions!

I agree with this doing 3 day hopper with 1 day at MK, 1/2 at AK and HS and 1 day at AK. Get there at rope drop make the most out of the early morning as you can so if you can't get fp for headliners you can still get some of them in. The plus side to the hopper, you get there and do rope drop at a park and decide you're done, head on to the next park or repeat a park you done because you want to repeat a ride or two. Have a great trip!

 

[nesser1981]

If you're a DL family and you're doing a park hopper, I'd start with the parks you haven't been able to visit and then hop to the MK in the evenings.

This is what I'd do if I'd been to DL a bunch. I mean with a three day park hopper, you can break it up and go to the Magic Kingdom each day for a little bit if you really want to make sure you don't have to spend a lot of time there and should be able to see a lot of stuff.
Day One- HS (With all the construction, I don't think HS is a full day park)
Day Two-AK/MK (finish your day there for fireworks)
Day Three MK/Epcot

 

[jodifla]

When I first went to Disneyland after a decade of going WDW, I was amazed how small and crowded Disneyland felt in comparison. Disney World is HUGE. Just physically getting around takes a long time. And the various properties aren't next door to each other. You need a car, boat or bus to get there.

 

[PirateFish989]

We are from California & have been to Disneyland multiple times. The 2 parks are right next to each other so hopping takes no time at all. mK sounds very much the same.

We, too, are from California and have been to Disneyland dozens of times. Don't underestimate the size of WDW - it's overwhelmingly large compared to Disneyland and park hopping is not easy. While we've only been to WDW once (in 2014, where we got park hoppers and only used them once over 6 days), for our upcoming trip in June we decided not to get park hoppers because it just takes up too much time and there is so much to see and do in each park as it is. If you can swing it, I would recommend a 4-day base ticket.

 

[cassie58]

With Star Wars fans, I would definitely plan a full day at HS. They might want to do Jedi Training (need to be there before RD to sign up first thing), see the March of the 1st Order and Galaxy show, check out Launch Bay memorabilia, do the three meet & greets, Star Tours ride, and evening SW fireworks show. Check out wdwent.com under Studios for showtimes to get an idea of plans for your day - it will give times for this week, but they don't change much, and you can check again when your week comes, or on the MDE app for your phone that you will want to set up. Plus I know you mentioned doing the IJ show, and they might want to do Rock N Roll Coaster since I don't think you have that out there if they are into that. Sci-Fi is a fun place to eat if you want to try for an ADR there. Agree with PP to try and get tickets soon, and link to make FP.

Agree that 4 days are ideal, but if doing 3 would skip Epcot since I am guessing you have done Soarin, and boys aren't into Frozen, so TT is the only other big ride there, and they may not be that interested in touring the countries. AK can be a full day depending on interests - since it will be almost impossible to get FoP FP for Pandora, you could go an hour early and try to get on first thing, or get in line at end of night for shortest lines. Safari ride is cool, Lion King show is Broadway quality performances with acrobats, and Everest and Dino if they like coasters. Also animal trails if they are into that, and Kali River Rapids if it's hot. MK definitely deserves a day, even though there will be some repeats for you, still lots to see and do.

 

[mom2rtk]

Thanks everyone for your advice! We are from California & have been to Disneyland multiple times. The 2 parks are right next to each other so hopping takes no time at all. mK sounds very much the same. We aren’t staying on property in Orlando, I’m worried about the time needed to get to the parks & to hop. Our trip is 7 days, but with traveling we only really have 5 over spring break. UC Tourist has 4 day MYW + an extra day for $399 for adults. I know, more than 3 days. 1 Park per day, probably all my family can handle tho. Maybe we won’t do full days & try to do something else after a partial day. We also want to go to Kennedy Space Center & the Atlantic coast. My kids want nothing to do with princesses, only Star Wars, Indiana Jones & Mickey, lol. I’ve got to get tickets so I can start booking fast passes! Thanks for your help!

You are wise to be considering the difference between DLR and WDW when it comes to hopping. It's not even remotely close to the same. We have done DLR and WDW each multiple times. We never buy hoppers at WDW but always do at DLR. With only 3 park days, it just makes no sense to me to spend any time traveling between parks. The distance is not small, the lines are not small, and the time loss can add up. I would pick 3 parks and do them well. MK would be a slam dunk, in spite of it being similar to DL. It's the heart and soul of WDW and should not be missed. Besides, it has much more to offer than the other 3 parks. So I would pick MK plus 2 of the other 3 parks.

If you hop between parks one day, you risk feeling like you only got to see and sample the parks instead of actually doing them well. Better to do 3 parks well than to do all 4 parks partially.

 

[mom2rtk]

We, too, are from California and have been to Disneyland dozens of times. Don't underestimate the size of WDW - it's overwhelmingly large compared to Disneyland and park hopping is not easy. While we've only been to WDW once (in 2014, where we got park hoppers and only used them once over 6 days), for our upcoming trip in June we decided not to get park hoppers because it just takes up too much time and there is so much to see and do in each park as it is. If you can swing it, I would recommend a 4-day base ticket.

Exactly that.