First Trip to WDW

[TK-4]

Hi all

New to the forum and taking wife and daughter (4.5 yr old) to Disney for the very first time and will be there for a week. Any suggestions how many days I should target for the theme parks. Was thinking of getting base tickets and doing 2 days at MK, 1 day at AK and another day at either HS or Epcot. Any preference btw HS or Epcot. Any must dos for 1st timers?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[m3owbox]

EPCOT is a must do! With the expansions coming to HS there are a lot of things there that are closed.

 

[subtchr]

If you are staying a week, why are you limiting yourself to four park days? What will you do the other days? Adding a park day or two to your tickets is inexpensive.

I'd say at least 5 park days, with two MK and one each for the other parks

 

[jtwibih]

If you are there a week I would get a week's worth of tickets. The difference between a 7 day ticket and a 4 day ticket is like $30 I believe. If that works in your budget and you don't have other things like Universal or Sea World planned, that's the route I'd go. My first trip was a 4 day ticket and we felt like we rushed big time. That way you can ease your way around the parks and then hit what you might have missed on your last day(s).

 

[sharonabe]

Agree with all the others that 5 days will be much better than 4, and all parks. There are things in each of them that will delight your 4.5 yr old DD.

Since you are in the beginning stages of planning, I suggest a planning DVD from Disney (they're free!) and getting one of the planning books. The Unofficial Guide is huge and has all the information you can think of and a lot that you would never think of. If you're a reader and like the nitty, gritty details, that's the book for you. If you just want more general information in small bites, I really like Birnbaum's Disney for Kids. It tells you what everything is, but it's written for kids, so it doesn't take as long. That might be a good start.

Once you have a little more information under your belt, you'll know what kind of questions pertain to you and you'll get better advice from here. Knowing when you're going will also help us help you.

Enjoy the process!

 

[Alesia]

I recommend getting a copy of The Easy Guide to Planning your First Walt Disney World Visit. It's straightforward and easy to read and will make planning your trip much simpler. There's also the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (which used to be my favorite.) It's great on content, but it's more cumbersome than it needs to be and makes the actual planning process more overwhelming. The Birnbaum's Guide to Walt Disney World is the official guide book. It has a lot of pretty pictures, but it's lacking in every other area.

I'm with everyone else - don't limit yourself to just 4 park days. We go to a park every single day we're there (usually 9 or 10 days) and still don't get to everything we'd like to do. 4 days is not enough.

 

[Delirium]

EPCOT is a must do! With the expansions coming to HS there are a lot of things there that are closed.

There are actually more things closed at Epcot than HS.

 

[magicaldisney]

I would suggest seeing the evening night time shows that are offered at all of the parks. Parades and fireworks are always a big hit for young and old. Personally I would take 2 days at MK, possibly 2 days at Epcot (if you would be doing any of the Kidcot, I believe that's what it's still called, in the lands), 1 day at HS and 1 day at AK.

 

[RustManFan]

We are getting 5 day tickets for our 2016 trip and will probably do MK 2, Epcot 1, AK 1 and DHS 1. Would skip DHS if it was just me but my adult DS hasn't been to WDW since 2000 and will probably want to go there. Would do 2 at Epcot otherwise.

 

[Lori Bolen]

My daughter was that age when we took her for her first Disney trip a few years ago. We planned two days each at MK and Epcot, and one at HS and AK. The best advice I can give is to plan lots of rest breaks, and lots of time at the pool. It worked for us to tour and have an early lunch at the park, then leave for the afternoon, nap, play at the pool or playground, and maybe go to Downtown Disney or see the movie at the hotel. We didn't try to do any nighttime parades or fireworks. She did really well with this schedule. I also recommend a stroller. Some of the attractions she loved best were Mickey's Philharmagic, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Splash Mountain (if tall enough), Buzz Lightyear, walking through the castle, Club Cool at Epcot, Soarin, Character Connection, watching the Epcot fountain, the Boneyard at AK (she would have stayed here for hours), Finding Nemo, the midways games in Dinoland, and the Honey I Shrunk the kids playground at HS. She was terrified of Bugs Life at AK and the Little Mermaid show at HS. SHe also really loved the little rides at Downtown Disney.

I agree with previous responders that if you can purchase more park days, do it. If nothing else, it will allow you more freedom with your time, to not feel like you have to cram it all in. When your child starts to get cranky, leave. It's much better to know you can go back tomorrow than to force it to finish up today. I always incorporate a day off in the middle of the week, too. Sleep in, play in the pool, tour some resorts, but having that day out of the parks is relaxing.

 

[caroline1851]

I would plan more than 4 days for sure but not try to do too much each day. When my kids were younger, we didn't do any nighttime things (other than 1 trip we had tickets to MNSSHP). We'd get to the parks prior to rope drop to help with avoiding crowds and we'd have a TS lunch most of the time and then maybe do 1 or 2 more things after lunch then head back to resort by 3 or so. They enjoyed swimming in the pool etc. They were tired each day, so early bedtime so we could be up early again the next day. If you're going for a week, I would do 6 days in the parks but again, just shorter days...2 or 3 MK, 1 AK, 1 HS and 1 or 2 EPC.
For that age, you must do imo:
MK: Peter Pan, Pooh, It's a SMall world, Dumbo (thought my kids never did it), 7 dwarves, splash mountain, train, Aladdin, jungle cruise, pirates, haunted mansion, thunder mountain and space mountain if she likes roller coasters
EPC: Test track, Soarin, Turtle Talk, Nemo, Kid cot stations in the countries
HS: beauty and the beast show, star tours, Muppets, Little Mermaid, Toy Story Mania, the honey I shrunk the kids playground, frozen sing along
AK: Safari, Tough to be a bug, Kali Rapids, animal trails, Boneyard, Lion King and Nemo shows (though I've never managed to go to either, supposed to be awesome)

 

[sharonabe]

I forgot about The Easy Guide! That would be a great book. However, from some of your other posts, I see this trip is for this year, so you don't have a lot of time for planning. You may just want to devour the information online at **************.net and easywdw.com