Disney World Questions

[traveler_t]

Visiting Orlando for the first time with kids (5yo, 7yo) for 4.5 days. They do not like scary rides so only slow/non-scary. Some questions:

1. The first day we'll arrive 3pm to the hotel. Is there a way to buy a half day ticket? If not should we pay for a full day ticket or do other activities outside like character dining etc.

2. We plan for 1.5 or 2 day Magic Kingdom, 1 day Animal Kingdom, 0.5 day Epcot and 1 day Universal Island of Adventure. We'll have early access in all of them except Epcot. We're ok with a bit rushed visit since we don't know when/if we'll be back. What would you change? Epcot will be a park hopper day and we'll focus on the small portion that is age appropriate.

3. Is it worth while to do the Caring for Giants activity or better focus on other activities in AK?

Thank you!

 

[loves to dive]

I'll try to answer some of your questions.

1. No, they do not have half day tickets, used to don't any more. Worth it to buy a full day ticket is subjective and there are a lot of variables. You say you arrive at 3, how are you arriving? Flying? How are you getting from the airport to your resort? Where are you staying? What time of year are you going? All of it makes a difference. For example: say you are flying but your plane is delayed and it takes longer to get to your resort. You could then arrive near to 4 or 5. By the time you get to your room and settled, no it's probably not worth a full day ticket. If you are staying in a Disney resort and you arrive at 3 and your room is ready, it might be, but again even that depends on what time of year and crowd levels. Personally, we always go to a park on arrival day but, we drive so arrive around 1 or 2, we always have PHs and we go often.

2. You say Epcot will be park hopper day. You can not get park hopper tickets for just one day, they have to be for the entire trip. What park were you planning on hopping to/from? Are your kids boys or girls? Makes a difference sometimes. Slow non-scaring rides are easy enough to find, MK has the most but every park has them. Epcot might actually be the second best for that.

3. Caring for giants. It might be one of the few things I have not done at WDW but I will say, if you only have one day at AK, I wouldn't waste it on an "experience" but instead just enjoy the park. If your kids don't like scary rides that is probably going to rule out EE, Dino and maybe even Flight of Passage. In that case, you are going to have Safari, Navi River, maybe Triceritop Spin. If you don't like shows (which would be a shame since two of the best on property are at AK) you are only going to be left with the trails, maybe Kali River Rapids if it's hot and you want a water ride and the train to the petting zoo other than what I've already mentioned. I love AK and spend a lot of time there but I'm an adult and really like to take the time and walk all the trails and explore all the little off shoots, but for littles who aren't into thrill rides and/or shows, it might actually be a half day park. Again, I love AK and can easily spend more than one day there but I really like to take it slow and look at the details.

What it boils down to is there really is no way to tell what is going to work for ya'll since there are so many variables and no two kids are going to enjoy the same thing. My son loved Epcot more than any of the parks when he was young but he loved to learn so loved to talk to the CM's in World Showcase. AK wasn't open yet until he was a teen so his options were MK or Epcot and he just preferred Epcot to AK. Even now that he has an almost 3 year old, they only spend 1/2 day in MK on a 6 day trip.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

FIrst, there are no 1/2-day tickets. However, it looks like you'll be purchasing at least a 5-day pass for everyone. I expect a 6th day on those passes wouldn't be too much more to pay if you think you'd like the extra time in the parks. Else, there are things you can enjoy around the resort or around Disney (like you said, if you can schedule a character dinner, although I believe Chef Mickey's and Story Book Dining are the only character dinner options not in a theme park.

With 2 young ones, 1.5 days at MK sounds good. For your day at AK, I would probably skip the time it takes for Caring for Giants, unless your kids are really, really into elephants! We've done it and loved it. But you're not guaranteed to get that close to them - you'll be able to see them almost as well (without the details and commentary from the tour guide) on the Safari. Since it's your first trip, perhaps spend your time elsewhere (maybe Rafiki's Conservation Station would be fun for the young ones.

Enjoy your trip! Kids are a great age!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Good info above although I read you only needing a 3 or 4 day ticket. I think you may wish you had a full day in Epcot.

Another big question for arrival day that has not been discussed is, what time will you be getting up in the morning? That can have an affect on endurance, especially for kids.

I’d be leaning against going day 1. Get a good nights sleep and be ready to rope drop day 1. Rope drop days are early to get the most out of that time.

I would not recommend Caring for Giants. While we’ve done it, I’m not sure it would capture the attention of your kids enough to justify time away from the park,

 

[traveler_t]

Thanks for the suggestions! Wanted to add that kids have already been to Disneyland CA in the past so this is not all new. So maybe cut IOA and cut one day at MK and instead do HS or SeaWorld? Is MK worth it for 2 days if they already been to Disneyland?

As for arrival day, we arrive from Miami via train and stay walking distance from MK. Will be there in a very busy week.

 

[loves to dive]

When you say within walking distance of MK, I'm assuming you mean in one of the WDW monorail resorts. I, personally would cut out IOA but only because it's not our thing. We've tried it twice and just didn't feel it.

SeaWorld is fun but it really depends on what your kids are in to. There are a few coasters there but you said your kids weren't into that. The underwater parts are fun but I'm not sure it's worth taking a whole day from a short trip for. Again, love SeaWorld and have been a number of times but given how short your trip is going to be, I'd say stay in the bubble.

As far as having been to CA and is MK the same? No. I haven't been to CA but from what I understand if you are doing a comparison you are going to see FL in MK and DL are sort of a like and there are some things in CA which are sort of like GE at HS. MK and DL are two different creatures but do have a few rides that are a like. I would find it hard to skip any of the parks at WDW so with that short of a trip I'd do at least one day at each of the 4 parks and if you have hoppers, maybe do AK in the morning then hop over to Epcot or HS in the afternoon. Then you could also do Epcot/HS in the morning the next day and decide from there if you need to hop back to any of the other parks. We have found with shorter trips, hoppers are actually your friends since if it's too crowded or you feel like you didn't do what you wanted to at another park earlier, you can hop back. If you are staying at a monorail resort, you are going to have to either take the monorail to Epcot or walk to MK and catch a bus from there. You will have to bus to both AK and HS. No matter what you decide, know WDW is huge and you aren't going to even come close to seeing and doing all there is in one short trip. Make your one or two top priorities in each park and if you get those done, consider it a good trip and any thing else is extra.

 

[CarolynFH]

If you are staying at a monorail resort, you are going to have to either take the monorail to Epcot or walk to MK and catch a bus from there.

I don’t think there are buses from MK to Epcot (or from monorail resorts to Epcot), I think it’s monorail only. Hopefully someone will correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We did Caring For Giants a few years ago. It will take up way too much valuable vacation time IMO and you don't know how the elephants will respond as they just do what elephants do. I'd go to AK and head back to Kilimanjaro Safaris where you can see ALL the animals!

First day, I would hop in the pool, relax and get in vacation mode then have a good meal and get the gang to bed. Character meals are a bit overstimulating IMO after a day of travel when nerves are frayed. Have all their clothes staged for the first day (pre-pack in zip bags and put a treat inside) so you can be out the door EARLY. Most resorts (in and out of park) are a one hour *commute* to a park gate so plan on that! Make sure you pack snacks/juice boxes or water for everyone and satisfy the initial *I'm hungry/I'm thirsty* which will happen within five minutes of getting in the gates LOL! Having a small cooler with more drinks/snacks for when you get back to the car is helpful.

Have a couple QS restaurants in different areas in mind so you are not swimming against the tide to get somewhere for lunch. It may be more economical to order a couple adult meals to share than individual kid's meals. Eating around 11 am will get you in before the noon crowd and perhaps hold off melt downs and you may be able to scout out a quiet corner.

EPCOT is fantastic for kids. We took our son for the first time when he was three (he is 35 now) and he was enthralled with the different countries. He was already a big geography fan and could name many countries from maps. It certainly started him on a journey of world travel. Let your kids take time to enjoy the small details in every country don't rush! Maybe have some art paper and crayons for the resort so they can draw pictures of what they saw (might be fun to frame when you get home).

Most of this info is not what you asked for, however it may be helpful from a 50 year WDW veteran. Enjoy!

 

[scrappinginontario]

I don’t think there are buses from MK to Epcot (or from monorail resorts to Epcot), I think it’s monorail only. Hopefully someone will correct me if I’m wrong.

You are correct. Buses do not run between MK and Epcot. OP would need to take monorail or ferry to TTC and then monorail to Epcot.

 

[CynBeth]

With such a short trip I would just concentrate on Disney and not do IOA or SW. I would recommend a full day at Epcot.

 

[loves to dive]

Sorry, I usually take one to an Epcot resort and go in the back way since I hate the monorail. Could have sworn I remember one from MK to Epcot, I knew you couldn't go from the resorts to Epcot. Oh, well either do the monorail or bus it to YC and or BW and walk in the IG at Epcot.

I don’t think there are buses from MK to Epcot (or from monorail resorts to Epcot), I think it’s monorail only. Hopefully someone will correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Sorry, I usually take one to an Epcot resort and go in the back way since I hate the monorail. Could have sworn I remember one from MK to Epcot, I knew you couldn't go from the resorts to Epcot. Oh, well either do the monorail or bus it to YC and or BW and walk in the IG at Epcot.

It could be when you visited. For a long time after things re-opened the monorail did not run to Epcot so during those times yes, you would have taken a bus.