Help me decide: can we make MK in one day or should I add one more?

[sherezada]

Family of 4: DH, DS5, DD2 and myself. First trip for the kiddos.
Currently have 4-day base tickets bought at military base

Check-in @ World of Animation on Apr 26

Current Plan:
Apr 27: Animal Kingdom (9-6, crowd level 3)
Apr 28: Hollywood Studios (9-11:30, crowd level 5)
Apr 29: Epcot (9-9, crowd level 3)
Apr 30: MK (8-11), crowd level 3)

We're starting Apr 30 with a 7:05 am breakfast at Chef Mickeys to celebrate DD's 3rd Bday. Then we're heading straight to MK to take advantage of Magic Hour.

Do you think one day at MK would be enough to "see everything" given the crowd level? Or will I be expecting too much with 2 toddlers in tow, and should I plan an additional day and add it once I get there?

Edit: See post #11 for updated itinerary

 

[DizDaD7]

Family of 4: DH, DS5, DD2 and myself. First trip for the kiddos.
Currently have 4-day base tickets bought at military base

Check-in @ World of Animation on Apr 26

Current Plan:
Apr 27: Animal Kingdom (9-6, crowd level 3)
Apr 28: Hollywood Studios (9-11:30, crowd level 5)
Apr 29: Epcot (9-9, crowd level 3)
Apr 30: MK (8-11), crowd level 3)

We're starting Apr 30 with a 7:05 am breakfast at Chef Mickeys to celebrate DD's 3rd Bday. Then we're heading straight to MK to take advantage of Magic Hour.

Do you think one day at MK would be enough to "see everything" given the crowd level? Or will I be expecting too much with 2 toddlers in tow, and should I plan an additional day and add it once I get there?

4 days 4 parks...Hmmmm. You'll be exhausted for sure.... To be honest, w/ your kids at that age, & the limited amount of time being there, Id' say skip HS, which is 1/2 day park. Especially for your lil ones. You might get away w/ AK at a lil more than 1/2 day too. I don't normally say this , because I love each park, and visit all of them multiple times during each visit. Either way that would leave you with 2 days for MK, which for sure I think you'll need. Or at least 1 1/2.

The other option I'd suggest is this, Get hoppers for You & DH & the elder son. DD doesn't need a ticket ( Obviously ) Then you could do HS, And jet over to MK & get some other stuff accomplished so that your 4th day won't be too crazy... Just my $.02

 

[sherezada]

What about going to the parks on check-in day Apr 26 (maybe make it a HS half day?), then upgrading our 4-day base to 5-day base and do MK Apr 28 & 30? How much would it be to upgrade?

 

[Ceryssa]

Definitely need 2 days at MK. No idea on the upgrade cost with military tickets, sorry :/ I'd say HS is skippable too. There's fun stuff there, but I wouldn't spend a whole day there over MK.

 

[dina7]

I agree with the others. Definitely need 2 days at MK, especially with the little ones. We've been going for years & I still wouldn't go to MK for only
1 day. Have fun!!!

 

[rcraw45425]

Family of 4: DH, DS5, DD2 and myself. First trip for the kiddos.
Currently have 4-day base tickets bought at military base

Check-in @ World of Animation on Apr 26

Current Plan:
Apr 27: Animal Kingdom (9-6, crowd level 3)
Apr 28: Hollywood Studios (9-11:30, crowd level 5)
Apr 29: Epcot (9-9, crowd level 3)
Apr 30: MK (8-11), crowd level 3)

We're starting Apr 30 with a 7:05 am breakfast at Chef Mickeys to celebrate DD's 3rd Bday. Then we're heading straight to MK to take advantage of Magic Hour.

Do you think one day at MK would be enough to "see everything" given the crowd level? Or will I be expecting too much with 2 toddlers in tow, and should I plan an additional day and add it once I get there?

7:05 Chef Mickeys and then an 8AM Early entry....... IDK about that, Chef Mickey's is a madhouse and if you want to see the characters You'll be really pushed, not to mention the crowd that will be at MK for rope drop. The walk from CR to the entrance at MK is about 10-15 minutes at a brisk pace so you would have to leave Contemporary between 7:30 and 7:45 just to be at the turnstiles. Most character meals are around an hour or more and don't count on being seated at 7:05, we've usually had to wait at least 10 minutes or more. When our girls were that young we always built in a return to the resort after lunch to re charge our batteries/let the kids rest. Back then we always stayed on the monorail loop too and focused on MK and to a degree EPCOT. There's nothing worse than a miserable little one. With base tickets you can re enter the same park on the same day, so you could take a little break. Also echoing what others have said about the Studios. There are really just a handful of things that small ones can do there. I'd make that a second day at MK so they're not so exhausted (and the same for you). My advice is to take it slowly, enjoy watching their reactions to everything, those are magical ages, and your fun is just beginning. Our girls have grown up with WDW, and are pretty much grown now but I still remember those early visits fondly!

 

[sharonabe]

Are these the Salute tickets or the regular discounted military tickets? If they are the Salute tickets (around $180/adult), then you already have hopper with them and they CANNOT have days added to them. If they are the regular discounted military tickets, then you can add a day.

Are you planning breaks at all or do you expect the littles to nap in the stroller in the park? Those are some long days.

 

[sherezada]

7:05 Chef Mickeys and then an 8AM Early entry....... IDK about that, Chef Mickey's is a madhouse and if you want to see the characters You'll be really pushed, not to mention the crowd that will be at MK for rope drop. The walk from CR to the entrance at MK is about 10-15 minutes at a brisk pace so you would have to leave Contemporary between 7:30 and 7:45 just to be at the turnstiles. Most character meals are around an hour or more and don't count on being seated at 7:05, we've usually had to wait at least 10 minutes or more. When our girls were that young we always built in a return to the resort after lunch to re charge our batteries/let the kids rest. Back then we always stayed on the monorail loop too and focused on MK and to a degree EPCOT. There's nothing worse than a miserable little one. With base tickets you can re enter the same park on the same day, so you could take a little break. Also echoing what others have said about the Studios. There are really just a handful of things that small ones can do there. I'd make that a second day at MK so they're not so exhausted (and the same for you). My advice is to take it slowly, enjoy watching their reactions to everything, those are magical ages, and your fun is just beginning. Our girls have grown up with WDW, and are pretty much grown now but I still remember those early visits fondly!

I'm not real happy about the time for Chef Mickey, but it's the only time slot available and we really wanted to get her a character dining with Minnie on her Birthday. I think I might have to look at alternatives for that.

Are these the Salute tickets or the regular discounted military tickets? If they are the Salute tickets (around $180/adult), then you already have hopper with them and they CANNOT have days added to them. If they are the regular discounted military tickets, then you can add a day.

Are you planning breaks at all or do you expect the littles to nap in the stroller in the park? Those are some long days.

They are regular discounted military tickets.
I was thinking of leaving the park mid-day for a break in our room, but we'll have to see. They're used to napping in the stroller, and I have a feeling that trying to take them out of the park for a break might end up causing more tantrums than relaxation

 

[lauradis]

Current Plan:
Apr 27: Animal Kingdom (9-6, crowd level 3)
Apr 28: Hollywood Studios (9-11:30, crowd level 5)
Apr 29: Epcot (9-9, crowd level 3)
Apr 30: MK (8-11), crowd level 3)

the bolded is times?

First is with young children always follow their schedules,
Are they early raisers?
Do they nap at noon every day?
During naps can they crash anywhere or do they need a peaceful dark place?
When do they normally go to sleep at night?
Expect them to be on sensory over load!!!!!

Next, is this a one time only never to return to Disney ever trip? or will you be back later in next year or two?


finally is your hubby a Disney lover too???

These are all important questions to planning a easier trip for your family.

4 days of non stop parks is to much for little kids and some adults, unless they are Disney nut like me and my sisters.

 

[sherezada]

the bolded is times? Yes. We're not planing on opening/closing the parks every day.

First is with young children always follow their schedules,
Are they early raisers? Yes
Do they nap at noon every day? They don't have a specific nap time. They just nap whenever they're tired. Average is around 3 pm
During naps can they crash anywhere or do they need a peaceful dark place? They can nap anywhere, and with any level of light/noise (they actually fall asleep faster when there's noise)
When do they normally go to sleep at night? 9-10 pm
Expect them to be on sensory over load!!!!! Yup, I'm pretty sure DS5 will refuse to nap until his body shuts down.

Next, is this a one time only never to return to Disney ever trip? or will you be back later in next year or two? We are not anticipating coming back within the next 2 years.


finally is your hubby a Disney lover too??? Not so much, but we've been to many other theme parks and cruises where he has experienced my OCD "we must do everything" modus operandi, is fully aware and willing to go with it

These are all important questions to planning a easier trip for your family.

4 days of non stop parks is to much for little kids and some adults, unless they are Disney nut like me and my sisters.
I agree. I know we won't get to see everything, and that I'll have to adjust and compromise. I'm just trying to plan the best case scenario.

 

[sherezada]

FYI, I have changed our plans as follows (again, the numbers are park hours, not the time we will spend on each park):

Apr 27: Animal Kingdom (9-6, crowd level 3)
Apr 28: MK ( (9-11, crowd level 4)
Apr 29: Pre-Bday breakfast at Cape May, 8:05 am

Epcot (9-9, crowd level 3)​

Apr 30: MK (8-11), crowd level 3) (no Chef Mickey breakfast)
May 1: HS (9-8, crowd level 3)

 

[lauradis]

I wouldn't do a marathon 4 day 12 hr days with kids.

I would pick highlights that husband and you want to do. couple things the kids would enjoy and do 2 days at MK with little kids.


If the little ones are more morning people then night I would do rope drop aka park openings leave that park no later then noon (except animal kingdom) go back to resort eat lunch, nap, pool then go back to low crowd park have a snack, play for couple of hours in park, have little later then normal dinner. back to resort for bed time or movie time at pool before park closing.

I would make my last day the late night to see wishes.

The key will be to find out what you must do at each park.

Your not going to make MK at 8 doing breakfast at 7 more like 8.30.

always plan 30-45 for transportation to and from parks and 1.5hr for table service dinning. yes sometimes its less, but it less stressful to be early then late.

 

[lauradis]

FYI, I have changed our plans as follows (again, the numbers are park hours, not the time we will spend on each park):

Apr 27: Animal Kingdom (9-6, crowd level 3) perfect
Apr 28: MK ( (9-11, crowd level 4) rope drop afternoon pool late afternoon park dinner, pool movie, normal bed times
Apr 29: Pre-Bday breakfast at Cape May, 8:05 am

Epcot (9-9, crowd level 3)​

Apr 30: MK (8-11), crowd level 3) (no Chef Mickey breakfast) full crazy day, wishes.
May 1: HS (9-8, crowd level 3)

april 28 should be a short day at MK,normal kids bed times night at the pool with movie??? you want to be rested to get up at 6/6.30 to get to ADR next morning
May 1 pool/ lazy morning, you want to skip rope drop and do late fp+
so you can do wishes MK night before.

 

[SplashMo]

I would add a day to MK. Regardless of kids age we always Rope Drop and close out the parks and sit down for lunch with no other breaks. Kids up to 6 or 7 get a stroller and some naps that way...

If you do not have park hopper then AK will be one of your light days. Many shows and also a short day...

 

[goofy4tink]

A few thoughts. A Cape May breakfast is a good choice....I prefer it over Chef Mickeys by a long shot. Good choice. The rest of your plan looks good. Be sure the kiddos get some down time, back at AoA is the best idea. I know that it stinks to take a few hours out of each day in order to relax and rest up, but it's sooooo much better later in the day with the kids!
Here's the thing....there is no, absolutely no way, you are going to be able to see everything, do everything in one trip....well, unless it's a trip of 3 weeks!! You say you are going back in 2 yrs possible. With that in mind, you can focus on the things your youngsters will enjoy now, and miss some of the more grown up stuff until the next trip. I know my almost 6 y/o dd didn't appreciate a lot of the things we did on our first trip. She turned 6 there, so it was a very young 6! There were things that she really enjoyed much more as the years went by.
So, try to relax that OCD!! Take time to smell the roses, so to speak. Adding that second day at MK is a good call. The crowd levels look to be good, but they can change!! Many have gone to WDW thinking that they would be fine due to the crowd level being stated at a 4, when it should have been a 6!! Stuff happens!
Have a great time!!! Enjoy the time with the kids. I miss having a little one in WDW...it's just not the same when they're 21!!

 

[sherezada]

Thank you all for your advice! Lauradis, I really like your recommendations. AK is a short day by default, since the park closes early. I am planning of making both MK days no more than 2/3 park days (leave in afternoon or long break mid-day) to make them more manageable. I'm not expecting Epcot to be a full day for us either. Hubby and I were there when I was pregnant and we went through the World Showcase (which I'm pretty sure my toddlers will find boring), so we don't have to do it this time around. And I like the idea of making HS a late arrival day.

In reality we only have a few must-do's on each park. As long as we get those done anything else is a bonus. Thrill rides and scary rides(Tower of terror, haunted house, DINOSAUR, roller coasters with exception of 7DMT, etc) are at the bottom of our list. We'll only do them if there's time after we've hit the toddler-geared highlights and/or we can do something quick like single rider, or tackle them when the kiddos are napping using RS.

In terms of dining , I initially wanted to do Chef Mickey over Cape May because I thought the character costumes at Cape May were so far off from their usual costumes, while at Chef Mickey at least Minnie has her red polka-dot dress. But that's such a minimal thing for such a big price difference... I guess that was another case of my OCD kicking in. I'm sure DS2 will be happy to see Minnie and the gang in any outfit. LOL! So I've changed my mind and we're going to Cape May. Cheaper, better menu options, and more relaxing in terms of itinerary. We'll just pretend Apr 29 is Apr 30 and sing her Happy Birthday then BTW, can anyone fill me in on how to have some sort of Bday cake for her? I've seen some Minnie-shaped ones on pictures, but I'm not sure how to get them.

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

If they are the four-day military salute tickets then you can't add days. Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are usually 1/2 to 2/3 day parks for us, and so you could do those parks, finish early afternoon, take a break, and then head to MK in the evening. That's what we usually do. I think your kids would really enjoy the Festival of the Lion King show at AK -- it's such a visual experience. The Finding Nemo show is great but it might be a bit long for them.

 

[DizDaD7]

Thank you all for your advice! Lauradis, I really like your recommendations. AK is a short day by default, since the park closes early. I am planning of making both MK days no more than 2/3 park days (leave in afternoon or long break mid-day) to make them more manageable. I'm not expecting Epcot to be a full day for us either. Hubby and I were there when I was pregnant and we went through the World Showcase (which I'm pretty sure my toddlers will find boring), so we don't have to do it this time around. And I like the idea of making HS a late arrival day.

In reality we only have a few must-do's on each park. As long as we get those done anything else is a bonus. Thrill rides and scary rides(Tower of terror, haunted house, DINOSAUR, roller coasters with exception of 7DMT, etc) are at the bottom of our list. We'll only do them if there's time after we've hit the toddler-geared highlights and/or we can do something quick like single rider, or tackle them when the kiddos are napping using RS.

In terms of dining , I initially wanted to do Chef Mickey over Cape May because I thought the character costumes at Cape May were so far off from their usual costumes, while at Chef Mickey at least Minnie has her red polka-dot dress. But that's such a minimal thing for such a big price difference... I guess that was another case of my OCD kicking in. I'm sure DS2 will be happy to see Minnie and the gang in any outfit. LOL! So I've changed my mind and we're going to Cape May. Cheaper, better menu options, and more relaxing in terms of itinerary. We'll just pretend Apr 29 is Apr 30 and sing her Happy Birthday then BTW, can anyone fill me in on how to have some sort of Bday cake for her? I've seen some Minnie-shaped ones on pictures, but I'm not sure how to get them.

Why not try for a CM dinner? The night of the B-day... I'm assuming you going to need a place to eat anyway...Give it a shot...If no ressies are available, then just wait till the day b4 and try again. Typically this is where some times open up, becaue people have to cancel 24 hrs. in advance.

I like that you've added the extra day..It'll surely help you out tremendously.... Have a great trip!

 

[sherezada]

If they are the four-day military salute tickets then you can't add days. Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are usually 1/2 to 2/3 day parks for us, and so you could do those parks, finish early afternoon, take a break, and then head to MK in the evening. That's what we usually do. I think your kids would really enjoy the Festival of the Lion King show at AK -- it's such a visual experience. The Finding Nemo show is great but it might be a bit long for them.

They are not salute tickets (although I wish I was elegible! It would've saved me so much money). They are just discounted 4-day base tickets, so I can upgrade and/or convert to hopper. But converting to hopper would be more expensive than adding a day, so we're not planning on hopping.
I do agree they will love both Lion King and Nemo shows. It's in our plans at AK.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

I would drop HS and do a second day at MK even without kids but especially with them. So much more to do in 2 days at MK than in one day at HS.