For WDW and DL Visitors - which WDW Park would you skip, and why?

[DizneyLizzy]

Being a WDW local but also visiting DL several times (most recently early August) I'd say skip Hollywood Studios if you must. That's because the most interesting parts of DHS can be found on the west coast in either DL or DCA.

Ditto. We're WDW regulars and did our first big trip to DLR last summer. We had a fantastic trip but especially fell in love with DCA. My entire family has mentioned on more than one occasion that it'll be hard going back to DHS after spending time in DCA. I think MK is worth visiting because everything is SO much bigger than in DLP. It has a totally different vibe even though the insides of the attractions are similar. Also, it has the PeopleMover whic is worth the price of admission alone ;-)

 

[Princess2R]

Hi, This question was just asked on a WDW FB forum and it's exactly what I want to know. I've been planning our first WDW holiday. Background: My adult daughter, her friend, and I are the 'Disneyland Princesses'. We do a sort-of annual (not every year but close) trip to DL. LOVE IT! Husband has come a couple of times, pre-girly/princess group, but he's had his fill of Disney.

SO, I'm treating this upcoming 6-night DW trip as a land-based "cruise" - i.e. we can enjoy multiple "stops/resorts", just chill at our home resort (we're splitting stay between POFQ and AKL),we can take in shows/music at DS/Epcot/Resort and I can sneak in some Disney for my daughter and myself with our 5-day Park tickets. I keep changing my mind about what to skip, if anything. I'm leaning towards not doing MK - heresy I know! - because I'm pretty sure I'll just keep comparing to DL and will come up disappointed. Plan to do Epcot once, maybe twice - because I feel DH will enjoy it and happy hubby happy Disney trip. Also planning to do AK once, maybe twice - again, because completely different to DL and DH will enjoy. Going to HS Jollywood Nights - which will give me my 'Caliifornia Adventure' and Galaxy's Edge fix.

I'd really appreciate feedback from those to go to both WDW and DL. If you were going to World but planned on skipping a Park, which one would you drop? And, if you were going to visit one park multiple times, which one would you choose?

Reminder - this is an adult trip. YMMV in choice if you were doing a trip with children. I know mine would.

I often skip AK when going on wdw trips.

No experience with Disneyland but I think comparing DL to MK could be fun.
Epcot is too unique to skip. I realized a few days ago that everything at Hollywood studios has a Disneyland equivalent but Hollywood studios is my favorite park. I just love it too much.

 

[mdmost]

We don't skip any parks but we do a half day at Animal Kingdom. We did a full day the first time we went and found there wasn't enough to warrant a whole day. We did a half day last time and got in all the rides we wanted while skipping the safari since we had done it before. I think if Expedition Everest wasn't in that park, we'd skip it completely as Pandora was cool but I don't have a lot of desire to go through all of it again.

I love HS for the theming and it's still great to ride Tower of Terror, which is my youngest's favorite ride. We really focus on the portions we can't get at DLR like ToT, R&R Rollercoaster, Toy Story Land, MuppetVision, and cool places to eat like 50's Prime Time Cafe.

What we really need to do is spend a full day and a half at Epcot next time as that always gets shortchanged. We usually do 2 days at MK, 1-2 at HS, 1 at Epcot, 1/2 day at AK. I really want to spend a full day riding all the rides in Epcot and a half day doing just World Showcase.

 

[1lilspark]

As a WDW passholder who recently visited DL I would say skip a full DHS day and plan to enter the park at the start of mix in hours for Jollywood if you wanted to do rock and roller coaster, original recipe tower of terror, slinky dog, or alien (though that is pretty much the same ride as junkyard jamboree)

MK is worth at least a half day so you can get onto tron

 

[Karin1984]

My least favourite park is DHS. The main reason to go for me is Fantasmic, but as Fantasmic in California is superior... It also helps that I am not into Star Wars or Toy Story. I am saying skip this one if you are set on skipping a park.

I wouldn't be able to skip MK, as that is the most Disney to me.
Can't skip Epcot as me and my Disney buddy love characters and we love going round World Showcase meeting all the characters. And World Showcase has just a unique feel.
Animal Kingdom is great to stroll around, like Epcot, to take it a little slower.

 

[starkweatherink]

I agree with the sentiment of skipping MK that some people have said. AK is not popular with a lot of the people that go there regularly but since you're traveling its a good idea. Just make sure to get LL or ILL for flight of passage and definitely hit up the safari. There is also character dining at the Tusker House for Breakfast and it's uniquely themed to the Safari

 

[chezcurrie]

I wouldn't miss any park.

MK = um, Country Bear Jamboree is still alive and playing!

this right here. How can you skip country bear jamboree!?!

In all seriousness my sis and I do an adults only WDW trip every year-2 (I am DL local/MKey
holder) and while we don’t skip a park we do half days for AK (late arrival) and HS (also late arrival) as we prefer pandora and Toy Story land at night. With G+ it is so doable because you can book your LL at 7am without entering a park. It is so nice to roll in after being well rested or having an awesome brunch at boma or Ohana and then have all your headliner LLs, so I would consider rethinking G+, esp for HS where Slinky Dog can see LINES. We don’t do park hoppers at WDW because we experience too much FOMO and push ourselves too hard.

For our upcoming Jan 5-day tix we are doing every park and Epcot twice because Guardians is our fave ride EVERRRRRRRR and we want to ride it as much as possible. We also want to take our time to really explore world showcase (esp at night). So our plan is to use the extended hours (also staying AKL) one day so we have 3 shots at it (1 VQ, 1 paid LL and 1 extra hours) plus 2 on our second day - yes, we love it that much! I also love Frozen and Ratatoille and all the unique restaurants at Epcot (future world, meh except try and snag a Space 220 resercation!). AK and HS are the parks we don’t spend repeat days in as they are half day parks for us (I live in San Diego so have great access to zoos.)

My suggestion would be as first time visitors to do 1 day in each park and leave that last day as a “re-do” of whatever you liked the best. You can book a harder to get reservation that day if need be And switch it.

My list of WDW uniqueness:

MK: Country Bear Nostalgia!!!!, also MK at Christmastime, at night . New fantasyland area Is delightful, and the beauty and the beast “Attraction” I love. Try and get a Be Our guest reservation. Sit in the West Wing. It’s awesome. Mine Train also is fun but very tight if any of your party are really tall. And um…. why has there been little mention of Tron - we don’t have TRon! Food wise get a nutella waffle at Sleepy Hollow and a Citrus Swirl to compare to Dole whip. Skip the churros, ours are infinitely better.

EPCOT: did I mention Guardians????? Space restaurant, Ratatouille and Frozen, and San Angel Inn has great fun ambiance.

HS: Slinky Dog at night is adorable, and the setting for MMRR is stellar. For food: Sci-Fi or 50’s prime time for ambiance.

AK: Pandora. All about pandora. We skip the safari (again: San Diego) and focus on pandora and everest and the tree of life at night, especially at Christmas. Don’t miss it.

Have a fantastic trip!!!