First time in 13 years & can only visit one park. Help, please!

[TXMNie]

If you only had one weekend day for a park for the first time in 13 years, which park would you do? My sister (26), mother, and myself (30 ish) will be heading down the weekend of Friday, September 24 - Monday, September 27th to celebrate my birthday and have a girls weekend. I could use help figuring out what to do and which park to visit and a general good things to do.

My mom and sister have not been to WDW in 13 in years and I haven't been in 5 years. I live in SoCal and we all went to DL recently (December 2019). Neither my sister or mom are big thrill ride folks and we have a lot of dietary restrictions amongst us (milk and gluten allergies). We only have the budget for one theme park day and I am trying to figure out where to go. We originally thought Epcot, but from what I can see the construction and lack of international cast members might make it be a disappointment from what they remember? MK is another option but both enjoy an adult beverage and its similarity to DL may make it less exciting. Not big Star Wars fans either so I am not sure HS has enough to offer? Any advice or thoughts very welcome! We will be staying in a villa at SSR if that makes any difference!


Thank you in advance!

 

[CynBeth]

I would say Epcot. There are some non thrill rides in both FW and WS and not sure what all is open in WS but some of the countries have movies or slow rides or we enjoy just seeing the architecture and looking in the shops. I have family members with food allergies so usually have to have all meals at TS and the restaurants we have been to at Epcot they did a great job at accommodating. At AK the restaurants there do not work for us because one person can’t have certain spices along with the dairy allergy so we usually have lunch at Rainforest Cafe and most of the rides are thrill rides and you have the animal walking paths so I think you would have more to do at Epcot.

 

[Marthasor]

I would do MK. Other than AK, you are going to find DL similarities in all of the parks. There are so many more rides at MK (including non-thrill rides) and you also have the option to jump on the monorail and explore the MK resorts if that holds any interest. That would certainly check off the "adult beverage" box as there are some lovely lounges and restaurants at those resorts.

 

[Akck]

I would suggest that if you can find it in your budget, get park hopper tickets. That way you could visit Epcot and/or other parks that afternoon/evening. Also, start thinking where you might want to eat. Many popular restaurants will be booked solid at the 60 day mark.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Agree with the hopper. If you think your mom and sister would like Pandora, start at AK then hop to MK. If not, start at HS then hop to MK.

 

[luv2cheer92]

AK is my favorite park, so that's always the one I recommend. So much to do and something for everyone. Not really any thrill rides there (maybe some would consider Everest a thrill ride? I don't though)
But also MK does have beer and wine available at sit down restaurants. Or as mentioned above, you can hop on the monorail and hit up any of the resorts for any mixed drinks if you wish.

My ideal suggestion would be to start at AK and hop to MK.

 

[pcollins48]

It would be MK for me and my family, if only to walk down Main Street with all of its charms. Our niece lives in LA and goes to DL fairly often, but every time she joined us at WDW, she couldn't wait to see that castle and marvel at its size.

 

[snoopboop]

As others have suggested - if you can swing it, get hoppers. Start at MK and end the day at Epcot.

 

[CynBeth]

With only one day would just stick with one park. It could take all day to get in everything you want and you can’t hop until 2 so depending on the park hours you might not get much done at a second and it takes time to travel between parks the time you have is better spent sticking with one.