DL trip planned late october...is there any point in WDW early october?

[lcp9]

So we usually plan trips to DL around CE courses my husband takes in palm springs. We have one planned late October around Halloween. We have 3 kids, 6, 3, 1. We've been to DL 5 (?) times with them, usually 4 days.

My husband now has another CE course he is taking in Orlando in early October, and will probably go whether we go or not. He is often a moderately reluctant DL visitor but asked if I wanted to take and kids and we could go to WDW for a couple of days prior to the Orlando course.

Because my kids are young, and just in general because of the extra planning involved, I am apprehensive about planning a WDW trip and if we're only going to be there for 1-2 days I already feel anxious about what we would even do. That said - I was thinking well, if we're going to be in DL later that month anyway, we could maybe skip all the duplicates and only ride things unique to WDW.

I guess I'm asking for advice, if 1. we should hold off until kids are older, 2. can we still have a good time for 1-2 days and 3. is skipping rides we'll be riding at DL anyway a good plan for how to have a good time? haha.

(*oldest daughter - 6 and oldest son - 3 are 46"/44" respectively. oldest daughter is princess crazed.)

 

[alldiz]

I guess it depends how your kids travel. For me a plane ride with 3 small children for a short time is a lot.

If traveling is not a concern then I say go for it. They don't have Epcot at DL and they have the food and wine festival then which is awesome!!
They would love Halloween party.
So much to see just walking around.
Strollers would be essential.
Kerri

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Agree that the stroller will be necessary. If your kids are good walkers, that will make a difference. Our oldest was very used to DL when we first visited MK. He refused to be in the stroller, howling the whole afternoon that he hated all the walking (totally opinionated 4 yo!) and wanted to go back to DL ASAP! And nothing was in the right place! Youngest kid did not have these issues. He was just happy to be there.

 

[figment_jii]

I've done both trips to DLR and WDW within a month of each other during the Halloween season. As other mentioned there is a lot of fun things happening in WDW during the October timeframe, but with only one or two days, you'll really have to focus on what specifically you want to do (I go to WDW for Halloween and F&W activities). F&W seems more like an adult focused activity to me and I'm not sure how much the 6 and under crowd would really enjoy it (the 6-year old and younger children that I know would like the food part, but would probably prefer to be on the attractions and seeing the shows opposed to eating and/or seeing demos).

Like DL, MK has a Halloween party (Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party). It has the same basic elements, but the actual parties are very different. MK has one of the best Halloween Parades I've seen (Boo-to-You), a fun fireworks show (HalloWishes), and lots of fun activities during the party (trick-or-treating, character meet and greets, dance parties, etc.). Last year I went to both MHP and MNSSHP and really enjoyed both. The tickets have already gone on sale, so you can see if any of the dates line up for you.

Aside from that, MK has some elements that feel very similar to DL and some that feel very different. There aren't all that many attractions that are direct copies between DLR and WDW. Even attractions with the same name can be different (e.g., Haunted Mansion, same name and same basic attraction, but MK's version is longer). With only one (or two) days, I would focus on a single park (park hopping is not that easy at WDW; you have to take transportation (bus, boat, monorails, etc.) between the parks, so allow at least an hour for hopping).

I think you can have a lot of fun checking out WDW for one or two days (there is certainly enough to do to keep you busy), but it won't be enough time to really do any of the parks thoroughly. I guess, the closest I can say is think of your trips to DLR: would you still go if you only had one or two days?

 

[bumbershoot]

I am apprehensive about planning a WDW trip and if we're only going to be there for 1-2 days

I would be apprehensive too. That's a short trip. Too short for me. If you go I wouldn't make it a resort trip and not hit the parks at all. (And yes we've done that. Apart from a dvc free event in February we haven't entered a wdw park since January's 2015, and we've used our dvc points as a family at wdw since then)

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Where do you live? If WDW is close I might consider it, but I recently went to WDW for the first time this past October. It was a short trip (two park days) with my almost 2 year old. It was tacked on to a family reunion... Disney wasn't the sole purpose of the trip.

Anyway, WDW is HUGE! We went to Magic Kingdom one day and Animal Kingdom one day (wishing I would have chosen Epcot). It took so long to get to and from the parks because we were offsite. It was free but took over and hour each way. Plus I was alone and had to unload everything out of my stroller so I could collapse it to place under the bus. Then I had to get all my stuff and toddler on and off the bus. There was an additional tram to MK.

We had fun but I would never go back for less than 5 to 7 days, and I would definitely stay on site. We went on 4 rides at MK and just a handful at AK. The lines for CS restaurants were insane. Eating meals took forever (and the food wasn't that great). We also went to Disney Springs, which is enormous. (T-Rex cafe is awesome by the way!) The whole time I was just thinking how much better it would be if we came for an actual vacation rather than a quick trip. And keep in mind that this was part of a week-long stay in Florida. I would definitely not fly to FL from CA for just a few days. But if you live nearby I think it still might be fun for a few days if you only did two parks.

To compare, I would absolutely do it in reverse as DL is SO much easier to do. It's easy to park hop. It's easy to get reservations or just eat CS. The parks are smaller and everything is much more laid back at DL.

 

[ktlm]

We love both WDW and DL. I would almost never give up a trip to WDW, even a short one. You can get a taste of it and decide whether you might want to go back for a long trip sometime. We have been in October the last few years. When in early October are you going? If it is around Columbus weekend that will increase the crowds. What days of the week? If it is a Saturday, I would avoid F&W EPCOT. My DD has always been a Princess fanatic (still likes them at age 11 although she is past the dresses and toys), and she has loved EPCOT since she was 2 (and that was before the Frozen ride). However, during F&W, Saturdays at EPCOT are packed. As much as I would hate to miss EPCOT for 2 park days with 3 small kids, I would skip EPCOT if it was a F&W Saturday. As for MK, it will close at 7:00 p.m. for the Halloween party several nights a week. I don't know what kind of schedule you keep with the littles or what kind of time change they will be dealing with. That may work fine for you if you are not going to party. If we are there and not going to the party, we often hop to EPCOT around 6:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. to avoid the crowd leaving at closing and also because the park starts getting pretty crowded about then as the party goers are flooding in and the day crowd has not yet left).

For that short of a trip, I would not be overly worried about the planning. If you can not get a table service ADR you want, you can always get counter service and get by. Also, as far as FP+ as long as you book over 60 days out, if you are staying on property and over 30 days out if you are staying off-property, you can book FPs at the start of your window. Only a few book up about immediately like 7 Dwarfs Mine Train; Frozen; and I would guess the new Pandora. I would set your 3 FP each day and go with flexibility in mind. I would have the mindset that you are there to explore and do what you can, but that there is no way you are going to see everything. I would not stress about the FP+ and my attitude would be if the ones we booked work out which the young kids when we get there, great and if not we will see what we can change them too. At least in MK, you can usually find something. We have been pretty successful in October in getting more FP in that park after we have used our first 3 in October. We have not been very successful at all in the other parks, but if you have a good attitude going in and just expect to do what you can, I think you can have fun.

 

[lcp9]

Agree that the stroller will be necessary. If your kids are good walkers, that will make a difference. Our oldest was very used to DL when we first visited MK. He refused to be in the stroller, howling the whole afternoon that he hated all the walking (totally opinionated 4 yo!) and wanted to go back to DL ASAP! And nothing was in the right place! Youngest kid did not have these issues. He was just happy to be there.

Oh the double stroller is a necessity. Usually by 8pm all 3 of them are sleeping on top of each other in a pile in our Chariot. ha! I didn't consider what you mentioned but my daughter is a huge creature of habit...I wonder if she would get annoyed with the differences?

 

[lcp9]

I guess it depends how your kids travel. For me a plane ride with 3 small children for a short time is a lot.

If traveling is not a concern then I say go for it. They don't have Epcot at DL and they have the food and wine festival then which is awesome!!
They would love Halloween party.
So much to see just walking around.
Strollers would be essential.
Kerri

they travel pretty well, we do it frequently...I was considering going and maybe not even doing Disney, but my husband's conference is onsite so there would no point in NOT doing it if we go!

 

[lcp9]

I've done both trips to DLR and WDW within a month of each other during the Halloween season. As other mentioned there is a lot of fun things happening in WDW during the October timeframe, but with only one or two days, you'll really have to focus on what specifically you want to do (I go to WDW for Halloween and F&W activities). F&W seems more like an adult focused activity to me and I'm not sure how much the 6 and under crowd would really enjoy it (the 6-year old and younger children that I know would like the food part, but would probably prefer to be on the attractions and seeing the shows opposed to eating and/or seeing demos).

Like DL, MK has a Halloween party (Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party). It has the same basic elements, but the actual parties are very different. MK has one of the best Halloween Parades I've seen (Boo-to-You), a fun fireworks show (HalloWishes), and lots of fun activities during the party (trick-or-treating, character meet and greets, dance parties, etc.). Last year I went to both MHP and MNSSHP and really enjoyed both. The tickets have already gone on sale, so you can see if any of the dates line up for you.

Aside from that, MK has some elements that feel very similar to DL and some that feel very different. There aren't all that many attractions that are direct copies between DLR and WDW. Even attractions with the same name can be different (e.g., Haunted Mansion, same name and same basic attraction, but MK's version is longer). With only one (or two) days, I would focus on a single park (park hopping is not that easy at WDW; you have to take transportation (bus, boat, monorails, etc.) between the parks, so allow at least an hour for hopping).

I think you can have a lot of fun checking out WDW for one or two days (there is certainly enough to do to keep you busy), but it won't be enough time to really do any of the parks thoroughly. I guess, the closest I can say is think of your trips to DLR: would you still go if you only had one or two days?

Thanks for the tips! I agree about park hopping - I figured at best we would do one day at MK and one day somewhere else...not sure about whether we'd do HS due to tower of terror or Epcot because of the Frozen ride. To be honest, the fastpass plus scares me. It's not worth it to stand in line for an hour with little kids, but does that mean we basically get to ride 3 good rides and then we're done? I probably just don't know enough about it. That's a lot of my hesitation though!

 

[lcp9]

Where do you live? If WDW is close I might consider it, but I recently went to WDW for the first time this past October. It was a short trip (two park days) with my almost 2 year old. It was tacked on to a family reunion... Disney wasn't the sole purpose of the trip.

Anyway, WDW is HUGE! We went to Magic Kingdom one day and Animal Kingdom one day (wishing I would have chosen Epcot). It took so long to get to and from the parks because we were offsite. It was free but took over and hour each way. Plus I was alone and had to unload everything out of my stroller so I could collapse it to place under the bus. Then I had to get all my stuff and toddler on and off the bus. There was an additional tram to MK.

We had fun but I would never go back for less than 5 to 7 days, and I would definitely stay on site. We went on 4 rides at MK and just a handful at AK. The lines for CS restaurants were insane. Eating meals took forever (and the food wasn't that great). We also went to Disney Springs, which is enormous. (T-Rex cafe is awesome by the way!) The whole time I was just thinking how much better it would be if we came for an actual vacation rather than a quick trip. And keep in mind that this was part of a week-long stay in Florida. I would definitely not fly to FL from CA for just a few days. But if you live nearby I think it still might be fun for a few days if you only did two parks.

To compare, I would absolutely do it in reverse as DL is SO much easier to do. It's easy to park hop. It's easy to get reservations or just eat CS. The parks are smaller and everything is much more laid back at DL.

Idaho...so it's a long trip! DL is much closer. and we know it so well it's an easy trip now. AND we're Marriott associates so we almost always stay at a Marriott which is possible at DL. Not so much at WDW.

 

[lcp9]

We love both WDW and DL. I would almost never give up a trip to WDW, even a short one. You can get a taste of it and decide whether you might want to go back for a long trip sometime. We have been in October the last few years. When in early October are you going? If it is around Columbus weekend that will increase the crowds. What days of the week? If it is a Saturday, I would avoid F&W EPCOT. My DD has always been a Princess fanatic (still likes them at age 11 although she is past the dresses and toys), and she has loved EPCOT since she was 2 (and that was before the Frozen ride). However, during F&W, Saturdays at EPCOT are packed. As much as I would hate to miss EPCOT for 2 park days with 3 small kids, I would skip EPCOT if it was a F&W Saturday. As for MK, it will close at 7:00 p.m. for the Halloween party several nights a week. I don't know what kind of schedule you keep with the littles or what kind of time change they will be dealing with. That may work fine for you if you are not going to party. If we are there and not going to the party, we often hop to EPCOT around 6:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. to avoid the crowd leaving at closing and also because the park starts getting pretty crowded about then as the party goers are flooding in and the day crowd has not yet left).

For that short of a trip, I would not be overly worried about the planning. If you can not get a table service ADR you want, you can always get counter service and get by. Also, as far as FP+ as long as you book over 60 days out, if you are staying on property and over 30 days out if you are staying off-property, you can book FPs at the start of your window. Only a few book up about immediately like 7 Dwarfs Mine Train; Frozen; and I would guess the new Pandora. I would set your 3 FP each day and go with flexibility in mind. I would have the mindset that you are there to explore and do what you can, but that there is no way you are going to see everything. I would not stress about the FP+ and my attitude would be if the ones we booked work out which the young kids when we get there, great and if not we will see what we can change them too. At least in MK, you can usually find something. We have been pretty successful in October in getting more FP in that park after we have used our first 3 in October. We have not been very successful at all in the other parks, but if you have a good attitude going in and just expect to do what you can, I think you can have fun.

It would be the week of Oct 6th...so I think my husband's course is fri/sat, we'd probably go tues night and go to the parks wed/thurs if we went. Good point about the Halloween parties. My kids are pretty good troopers so I wouldn't necessarily be worried about timing problems with FP+, but my thoughts on it, which are probably totally incorrect, are that we basically get to go on 3 good rides, and then after that all FP are gone and you're stuck waiting in an hour long+ line which is not reasonable with little kids. It makes me nervous! We would probably only go to Epcot for the Frozen ride, which seems silly too...a whole day at a park for one ride.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Oh the double stroller is a necessity. Usually by 8pm all 3 of them are sleeping on top of each other in a pile in our Chariot. ha! I didn't consider what you mentioned but my daughter is a huge creature of habit...I wonder if she would get annoyed with the differences?

I was really surprised that oldest was so bothered by the differences. After all, everything was Disney! The characters were all there! And the castle was so much bigger! But it really caught him off guard. Looking back, I should have prepared him with photos and stories. Youngest just took everything in his stride, which was funny because he was not a great traveler.

 

[ktlm]

It would be the week of Oct 6th...so I think my husband's course is fri/sat, we'd probably go tues night and go to the parks wed/thurs if we went. Good point about the Halloween parties. My kids are pretty good troopers so I wouldn't necessarily be worried about timing problems with FP+, but my thoughts on it, which are probably totally incorrect, are that we basically get to go on 3 good rides, and then after that all FP are gone and you're stuck waiting in an hour long+ line which is not reasonable with little kids. It makes me nervous! We would probably only go to Epcot for the Frozen ride, which seems silly too...a whole day at a park for one ride.

I think Wednesday and Thursday would be good park days. The Halloween party is usually on Tuesday and Thursday so Wednesday should be full hours on MK. Actually, in our experience, the party days are less crowded at MK, so if you don't mind it closing at 7, that would be a good day to be there if it is a party day. FP+ isn't that bad- I don't like it, but you aren't going to be only going on 3 rides. If you get the kids up and moving in the morning, the lines won't be that bad for a lot of things- it is the afternoons were the lines can be long. We usually do our MK FPs in the morning, and we have never had trouble picking up additional FPs for other things after. It might not be your first choice or the big rides, but there should be several to choose from and it is always nice to skip the line. It's not silly to go to EPCOT just for Frozen when you have a Princess Crazy child! You can get hoppers if you like, but I will say when we go to DLR, the only thing we miss is EPCOT. There is a boat ride inside the Mexico Pavillion that is Donald Duck themed (3 cabelleros) which rarely has a long line and when DD was little she wanted to ride that over and over-- we instituted a 5 time in a row cut off. There are Princesses all through World Showcase to meet and greet. There is a ride in Future World called Living with the Land that goes through Greenhouses etc., and DD really loved it when she was little. There is Nemo ride, Spaceship Earth in what my family likes to refer to as "the big golf ball"; Turtle Talk with Crush, Journey Into Imagination Ride; Kidcot stations (places in each country where kids can get a stamp on either a Perry or Duffy (at last those were the character last time) on a stick that they also can color or you can buy a passport to get stamped. There are bands, jugglers, acrobats, drummers in the countries that put on shows. Your 6 year old might really like the Agent P missions throughout EPCOT, but the littles might get bored with those. There really is a ton to do in EPCOT. You will find plenty to do to justify that Frozen ride!