How many days at MK??

[momoftwinboys09]

Hello fellow Disney friends!

We are booked for June 11 - June 17th in a family suite at All Star Music Resort. There are 5 of us mom, dad, teenage daughter (17), and twin boys (7).

Originally, I had planned to do Epcot on the day that we arrive after settling in. We should arrive about 11 AM and I planned to be in the park by 3pm. Total of 6 park days and getting Epcot out of the way would leave us 3 whole days for Magic Kingdom.

I'm not thinking that instead of being rushed, that we should check in, check out the resort, spend the day at the pool and getting comfortable and doing full Epcot day and only 2 MK days.

Being our 1st family vacation to Disney, I wanted to see what others thought of this and their experiences with park on arrival day or not.

Thank you for all of your help!

 

[hakepb]

I'd think the boys would go stir crazy staying away from a park that long

The extra park ticket day is fairly cheap, EPCOT has a lot of great dinner options, and you can be guaranteed 3 FP+

I'd do EPCOT and save a late MK day as a "families choice"

Or... Start in MK and do dinner
Have a full EPCOT day so you get 2.5 MK days and a full EPCOT day.

 

[dreiwhit]

Our first vacation to Disney as a family was back in late February-early March. My wife and I had each been there when we were kids, so it was past time for us to take our kids (13 and 8.)

I have arthritis-related back problems where I can't normally sit for more than a couple of hours. So we broke up our 7+ hour travel day into two days. Fortunately, the new cushion I bought worked wonders and I had not pain!! We had planned for a half day to check in, get groceries, go to the outlets, etc. I'm not sure that we could have driven to Orlando and then gone straight to one of the parks. When we go again, we're going to drive straight through, and then take a day to visit other attractions in the Orlando area, as well as get groceries, etc. Also, we don't buy the park hoppers, so we want to make sure we get the full use out of our ticket for that day.

All of us really liked Epcot, and we spent a very full day there - from 8:45am to 7:30pm. We had only planned one day for Epcot, but when we go again, we're looking at two days so that we don't have to hurry and can spend more time walking through the World Showcase.

We spent two full days in the MK when we went. We arrived shortly after rope drop and left after the fireworks. And, that was hurrying, and we didn't get to see everything we wanted. When we do it again, we'll do three days at MK so that we don't have to hurry.

The last day will be spent at HS. Everything that we want to do will easily fit in one day without hurrying. For us, the 2 or 3 things we want to do at AK really doesn't justify spending the money to go there, so we're going to leave it off.

BTW, my 8 year old daughter really loved meeting the characters. As much as she enjoyed it, meeting the characters really slowed us down. Fortunately, when we go again she wants to concentrate on the characters she didn't see last time, which isn't that many.

My best advise is to play it by ear. If y'all feel like going to a park when you get there, go. If you want to take an extra day at one park, do it.

 

[tink9702]

I'd plan 2.5 days at MK, going there on arrival day and a full day at Epcot.

 

[redsbe]

We hit MK on our arrive day, even though it will only be from 3p-closing, as MK is how to start the Disney experience feeling and immersion. Use FP+ for our 3 fav and then whatever is available and not long lines. We sort of treat this day as a bonus as with 4-5 other full days we still get full days at every other park including full one at MK. We also close our WDW trip with 1/2 visit to MK before bus to airport from resort at 3p (that tends to be our fav 3 FP+ and shopping day).

 

[Anal Annie]

We never spend a whole day in just one park. That would drive me absolutely batty. We always park hop and do at least 2 parks per day. Park hopping makes a varied and fun trip. We generally leave our morning park after a late lunch. Often we go back to the resort for awhile to nap or enjoy the pool. Then we shower and go to our 2nd park of the day for the late afternoon / evening. This way we do each park multiple times over the course of the trip. We went on a trip last fall when DH had a conference - the other guy from his work didn't buy a hopper but we had our AP's. Since the other guy couldn't hop we had our arrival day at AK since it's more of a half day park then we spent ALL day 9-9:00 the next day at Epcot for F&W. After our 3rd time going around the World Showcase I was pretty over it. I was so glad we aren't normally tied to this kind of non-stop touring. We will normally hit MK at least about 6 times in a week but for half days.

 

[CJN]

I like Hakepb's plan. There's no way we could get EPCOT "out of the way" in one partial day. Neither would we spend three days out of six in MK. But since that's obviously your favorite park, why not start there on arrival day to see what you can get done and soak in some magic. It's a lovely way to start a trip! Then leave a full day (at least) for EPCOT, and then back to MK for a day or two later on.

 

[redsbe]

We find park hopping, or jumping between parks and resorts, during the day to use up too much time and energy traveling between destinations, adding stress and a "rushed" feeling all day. So we avoid the extra cost and time by not park hopping, and we find with rides, shopping, shows and meals - and some in part relaxing - we can get a full day and busy park day in all of the parks, sort of relaxing and focusing on the one park all that can be seen and done. Also many of the attractions at 2nd and 3rd park have long lines later in the day and no or limited FP+ options. Currently HS may be the exception to our approach, but we use as a "lighter" park day as a break, not there at RD, use morning mid day 3 FP+, and leaving park mid day to go back to resort for rest/swim, return in evening for Fantasmic.

 

[Dis703]

If we get in early enough we prefer to hit a park that day. We also don't normally plan down time so I'd go ahead and hit Epcot that day or make it a 1/2 day at MK and do a full day at Epcot on another day. We generally plan for at least 3-4 MK days 2 Epcot days and 1 day each at AK and HS. A half day at Epcot wouldn't be enough for me personally if we had time to do more.

 

[AllieBoo]

I would do half day MK on your arrival day and use a full day for Epcot. We normally do two full days at Epcot and at least 2.5 at MK.

 

[redsbe]

Our typical five night WDW visit (including one planned for early June 2016 looks like this: 1/2 day MK, MK, HS, AK, Epcot, 1/2 day MK. No ADRs, no park hopping, mid day FP+, RD and close MK and Epcot full days.

 

[momoftwinboys09]

We hit MK on our arrive day, even though it will only be from 3p-closing, as MK is how to start the Disney experience feeling and immersion. Use FP+ for our 3 fav and then whatever is available and not long lines. We sort of treat this day as a bonus as with 4-5 other full days we still get full days at every other park including full one at MK. We also close our WDW trip with 1/2 visit to MK before bus to airport from resort at 3p (that tends to be our fav 3 FP+ and shopping day).

Love this! I initially read a lot of people want to do MK last as they claim kids won't have as much fun/ magic in the other parks afterwards. I think this is exactly what we'll do!

 

[momoftwinboys09]

Our typical five night WDW visit (including one planned for early June 2016 looks like this: 1/2 day MK, MK, HS, AK, Epcot, 1/2 day MK. No ADRs, no park hopping, mid day FP+, RD and close MK and Epcot full days.

Great schedule! We are choosing not to park hop as I really believe we will have plenty to do in each park. We plan to go early, leave 1-5 ish for lunch and pool in the heat. Then head back to the park we were already at.

 

[momoftwinboys09]

I would do half day MK on your arrival day and use a full day for Epcot. We normally do two full days at Epcot and at least 2.5 at MK.

I think the replies from this post have me doing just that. Well at least 1 full day at EP and arrival 1/2 day at MK!

Thank you for your help!

 

[momoftwinboys09]

Our first vacation to Disney as a family was back in late February-early March. My wife and I had each been there when we were kids, so it was past time for us to take our kids (13 and 8.)

I have arthritis-related back problems where I can't normally sit for more than a couple of hours. So we broke up our 7+ hour travel day into two days. Fortunately, the new cushion I bought worked wonders and I had not pain!! We had planned for a half day to check in, get groceries, go to the outlets, etc. I'm not sure that we could have driven to Orlando and then gone straight to one of the parks. When we go again, we're going to drive straight through, and then take a day to visit other attractions in the Orlando area, as well as get groceries, etc. Also, we don't buy the park hoppers, so we want to make sure we get the full use out of our ticket for that day.

All of us really liked Epcot, and we spent a very full day there - from 8:45am to 7:30pm. We had only planned one day for Epcot, but when we go again, we're looking at two days so that we don't have to hurry and can spend more time walking through the World Showcase.

We spent two full days in the MK when we went. We arrived shortly after rope drop and left after the fireworks. And, that was hurrying, and we didn't get to see everything we wanted. When we do it again, we'll do three days at MK so that we don't have to hurry.

The last day will be spent at HS. Everything that we want to do will easily fit in one day without hurrying. For us, the 2 or 3 things we want to do at AK really doesn't justify spending the money to go there, so we're going to leave it off.

BTW, my 8 year old daughter really loved meeting the characters. As much as she enjoyed it, meeting the characters really slowed us down. Fortunately, when we go again she wants to concentrate on the characters she didn't see last time, which isn't that many.

My best advise is to play it by ear. If y'all feel like going to a park when you get there, go. If you want to take an extra day at one park, do it.

We're actually taking the train overnight from Charlotte, NC. I had a $500 credit that I had to use or lose so I figured would be perfect for this trip!

 

[momoftwinboys09]

I like Hakepb's plan. There's no way we could get EPCOT "out of the way" in one partial day. Neither would we spend three days out of six in MK. But since that's obviously your favorite park, why not start there on arrival day to see what you can get done and soak in some magic. It's a lovely way to start a trip! Then leave a full day (at least) for EPCOT, and then back to MK for a day or two later on.

I should say it's not that it's my favorite, I have always gotten the feeling that my younger ones would find more to do there. Thank you for the input as we will now use the 1/2 day arrival day for MK then whole day at EP!

 

[redsbe]

Great schedule! We are choosing not to park hop as I really believe we will have plenty to do in each park. We plan to go early, leave 1-5 ish for lunch and pool in the heat. Then head back to the park we were already at.

In addition to rides/attractions/meals/parades/fireworks, if you include time to shop, eat, and attend the various shows, time can really fly by and fill the day. We also like to spend some time jsut walking through and enjoying the park, instead of all day rushing from one thing to the next or off to another park.

 

[redsbe]

Do what works best for your family, and with kids what they will enjoy, keeping in mind their attention and energy levels. I am surprised how many families visiting WDW, including those with experience, underestimate the time just to get around a park throughout the day, restroom breaks. meals, rest stops, snacks, time even in shorter lines and for the attraction, etc...., plus time to walk out and travel to another park and walk in - especially with kids in tow. Long days, heat/humidity, late nights followed by early morning, can also drag down the entire crew after a few days. Results in the infamous "Mickey Meltdowns" we all observe, or have experienced, all too often.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

My ideal schedule has me starting and ending at MK (and with that statement, I just realized I need to change my Disneyland itinerary), so I would probably go to MK that first night - maybe for dinner and Wishes - then two full days. We don't plan much downtime though - we go-go-go when on vacation!

 

[Wes1stTrip2016]

Hello fellow Disney friends!

We are booked for June 11 - June 17th in a family suite at All Star Music Resort. There are 5 of us mom, dad, teenage daughter (17), and twin boys (7).

Originally, I had planned to do Epcot on the day that we arrive after settling in. We should arrive about 11 AM and I planned to be in the park by 3pm. Total of 6 park days and getting Epcot out of the way would leave us 3 whole days for Magic Kingdom.

I'm not thinking that instead of being rushed, that we should check in, check out the resort, spend the day at the pool and getting comfortable and doing full Epcot day and only 2 MK days.

Being our 1st family vacation to Disney, I wanted to see what others thought of this and their experiences with park on arrival day or not.

Thank you for all of your help!

We did 2 MK days and could have used a 3rd (a not so rushed day to just shop around and check things out instead of ride,ride,ride!!)