How Long to Spend in the Parks?

[BigHugsForEeyore]

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[2Tiggies]

As you say, it does depend on various factors and you will find it varies from one day to the next as well.

I think 6 hours is reasonable. You should certainly be able to achieve a consdierable amount, particularly if you know what you want to do/where you want to go within the park during that timeframe.

I don't know what type of planner you are and how much structure you want so you would need to take those things into account. Personally I have been in parks on some days from park opening, gone back to the resort for a few hours to swim and sleep and returned in the late afternoon and stayed until the 3 am (EMH at the Magic Kingdom). Done this on several occasions, but it is not the kind of thing I would do every day. That said, I have done this with my 6/7 year old DD - so again, it just goes to show that you can't even apply the 'with kids' rule across the board.

If you have never been before what I can tell you is that you will anwser your own question within the first few days when you get a feel of it. Even the various parks require a different amount of stamina and distances between attractions in the parks can vary greatly from one park to the next.

What I do is have a plan for the day, but I do keep it loose and flexible. I use a touring plan for the parks as well, but again, it sometimes gets to a point in the day where we decide we have done enough for that day and either want to wing it, or perhaps do something totally different/leave the park, etc.

 

[Marks281172]

Ive only ever been in quiet winter months so it may be different for other times of the year, but for me it varies from park to park. I always get there for opening (takes longer than 2 weeks for my body clock to adjust so im up anyway) but generally id say..

MK - Full day from opening to Wishes at the end with a meal in the park
AK - Can be done by around 3-4pm
DS - Full day from opening to Fantasmic with a meal in the park
Ep - Full through to fireworks with meal in the park

USO - Can be done by mid afternoon
IoA - Same as Uso, doesnt need a full day imo

Busch Gardens - Needs a full day
Seaworld - Can comfortably done by mid afternoon

Having said that, this year im not going to rush round the parks and try and take my time and take it all in

 

[BigHugsForEeyore]

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[Pegasus928]

A holiday in WDW can be as full on or as relaxed as you want it to be.
If you have the stamina and keep on going for 12 hours a day then there is enough in most parks to keep you busy for all of that time.
But if you prefer a more leisurely approach then you will find that you can achieve that quite nicely too.
As an example we would do MK from rope drop to after the 3pm parade then go away either back to the villa or on somewhere for dinner, but would come back to MK another day and do from 4-5pm until parades and fireworks (that would largely depend on the type of tickets you have though)
There is so much to factor in it really is a personal thing.

 

[Samlovesthemouse]

Hi

I personally spend about 5 hours in a park a day typically 9-2 and then go back to the hotel and rest for a couple of hours before going out for our evening plans be that a park, DTD, nice dinner etc.

We however do not have kids and go in September when it is a bit slower and have on average 2 days in every park.

I understand what you mean about the relaxing bit, I have tried to factor that in this year just so we have more time to slow down, relax and enjoy the little things.

8 days to go!!! Very Excited!!!

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

If you do not go often and do not think you will go back soon, you will probably need / want to spend more tiem than someone who goes frequently and may just be hitting their "favorite attractions"....

with a 6 hour day, it would probably take 2 visits to see most of MK. Also, too see all of Epcot it would take more than 6 hrs. (If you are worried about little ones getting tired, arrive early! Do some things and collect some fast passes. Around lunch, head back to the resort and rest and nap. THen go back later in the day and use the FPs you collected and finish up the day.)

AK and HWS can be done in 6 hrs. The trick to make that happen is arriving when the park opens and using fast passes well.


but....if you go offten and just hit the "highlights" 6 hours is probably ok.

 

[torsie24]

When I read other peoples plans I always feel a bit like the odd one out, as we don't tend to work in hours.

We'll get to a park for opening, and then leave when we fancy, could be 10.30am, could be 3pm, just depends when we have done what we wanted to, or fancy heading back.

Then if we fancy, we'll head out again in the afternoon/evening.

If we have something planned for an evening I'll have in my head "oh, we need to leave for DHS at 6pm" so that'll be the plan for the day, then if we have ithcy feet earlier in the day we'll head to a park/waterpark/DTD.

I think if I got to a park and knew I'd have to be there until an ADR 6 hours later, as soon as I got hot or tired I'd start thinking "oh no, I have to stick this out for another 3 hours" and I don't want to ever feel like that in a Disney park.

We just print of Tour Guide Mikes good and bad day guide, then hit the good parks as and when we fancy. Worked great for us last trip, and we go to see and do everything we wanted as many times as we wanted.

 

[jen_uk]

We like to relax lots on holiday and so we get to the parks for opening and leave about 2pm after lunch, we then go back to the hotel for a nap and a laze by the pool. We then go back out in the evening either to DTD or to a park for fireworks. I could never spend all day in the parks as I know I would be sick of them within a few days.

 

[BigHugsForEeyore]

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[2Tiggies]

Hi Sarah, How long are you going for? Is your entire trip dedicated to WDW?

 

[BigHugsForEeyore]

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