how long should i plan for each park?

[jessboo]

ooh, my first proper thread

i'm trying to get my trip in some kind of order, but need to know how long i should leave for each park? i have been before but it was all a bit of a whirl and i dont really remember much!

we'd like to do busch (sp?) gardens, WDW, universal, seaworld, space centre etc. i'm not too bothered about AK because i wasnt too impressed by it before and lots of people told me that BG was better. we'll have some kind of park hopper thing so we might do AK if we get time.

how many days do i leave for each of them? help!

 

[Baloo]

WELCOME to the DIS jessboo!!

Oh my what a question! For me and my family we like a whole day for most of the parks excepting AK which is a half day for us.I don't know how long you're planning on staying in Florida but you have a whole heck of alot of stuff listed there! It also depends on what time of year you'll be there on what the crowds and lines might be.You have to acount "drive time" when going to Busch Gardens (around a 2 hr drive one way) and the Space Center (about 90min. one way) so each of those places will take an entire day to drive to and explore.Both Universal parks are definitely all day times. IMO so are the MK,MGM and Epcot.

My family goes to WDW several times a year so sometimes we might just spend a couple hours in one Disney park then hop to another,but I'm not sure exactly what's on your "to do" list in each park.If it's everything you need to have a day for each...and if it was me planning at least one day in the middle of it all just to relax around the pool or at DTD to do some shopping!

I hope this helps ya out a bit!!!

 

[PCFriar80]

Update: Baloo by a length!!! Missed it by 4 minutes!!

A few questions: How long are you staying in Orlando? Where are you staying?
Just off the top of my head, Sea World and Kennedy Space Center are both
day trips. Busch Gardens can be done in a day as well, but if you're staying in
the Orlando area you'll have to allow for travel time to Tampa (1 hour +). WDW
can be multiple days and depending on your accommodations you can break
them up in half days AM and PM with a pool/lunch break in between. I can't answer for Universal as I've never been. We'll be in touch.

 

[TXTink]

Hi jessboo! Welcome to the DIS!

I don't know how many days you have set aside for WDW, but here goes my recommendations for a 5 or 6 day visit.

I would recommend:
2 days at MK
2 days at Epcot
1 day at MGM
1/2 day at AK
and a 1/2 day to revisit your favorites

If you didn't want to go to AK at all then:
2 days at MK
1 & 1/2 days at Epcot
1 day at MGM
1/2 day to revisit your favorites

Have fun! It sounds like you have a big vacation planned!

 

[ricktib]

If you don't have little ones, we've found it comfortable to spend one full day each at MK & Epcot, and 1/2 day each at MGM & AK.

 

[anditoo72]

For us I plan for a whole day (no naps unless I plan to return later that night)in the parks except for MGM and AK they are 1/2 day parks for us.

 

[JennaTX]

we will be going in June with two little ones, 5 and 2 1/2, how long should we plan for Epcot? I know there is not a whole lot there for them to do, and DH and I only are interested in riding Mission Space.


Thanks!!

 

[TXTink]

we will be going in June with two little ones, 5 and 2 1/2, how long should we plan for Epcot? I know there is not a whole lot there for them to do, and DH and I only are interested in riding Mission Space.


Thanks!!

I would still plan at least a half day there. You may be surprised how much your little ones like there.

In the Imagination Pavilion there is Journey into Imagination with Figment, and at the end there is a wonderful "explore" area that the kiddos love called Imageworks (I like it too!).

Also, there is The Living Seas, they have a new attraction, Talk Time with Crush (or something like that!), it sounds really cute. I have read many raving reviews on it here on the DIS.

In the World Showcase there are many live acts that you can check out, as well as a cute boat ride in Mexico that is allot like It's a Small World.

You are correct though, I don't think it will be their favorite park, but it does have something to offer the younger ones.

Have fun!!

 

[newholidayx2]

This Aug Im planning:
(3) 1/2 days for MK
(3) 1/2 days for AK
(3) 1/2 days for MGM
(5) 1/2 days for EpCot

the other 1/2 of ea of those days will be at the pools - we're going this time for 14nights
the only hopping we'll do is a few days we're going to EpCot just for lunch before we go to a park at nighttime

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

We usually allow for the most time at MK, and Epcot. Those are our favorites. I would say we spend about 2 days each, at those parks. 1 day at MGM, and about the same at AK. We park hop alot so it's hard to break down the hours exactly.

I just don't plan that aggressively. We have 8 days total, with 1/2 day with no where planned so we can catch what we miss. This trip, we have a non park, non waterpark day. I've never made to DD, and am determined to this trip.

 

[jessboo]

thanks for such a great welcome

i dont think we're going to do EPCOT (shocking i know ) because i didnt really like it last time. in fact i found it a bit boring. so that's some extra time saved!

we're not sure where we're staying yet- the plan is to book a hotel for the first couple of nights and then just find them as we go, as we're going to be driving round. we're aiming for 14 days, more if i can get time off work!

so it looks like about a day for each, maybe 2 for MK. i think we're going to start at tampa so we wont have to worry about adding driving time on for BG, and i think we're going to drive to the coast and stay there a couple of days so there's no driving time there either.

thanks for the help