How many days for each park?

[cheryterese]

We will have 8.5 days in the parks for our upcoming trip. We are not getting the park hopper option, so will only do 1 park per day. We will also take a break each afternoon for nap/restime for the kids. Our kids are all young and will be almost 5, almost 3 and 18 months at the time of our trip. How many days would you do in each park? I was thinking MK - 3.5, EP - 2, AK - 2 and DS-1. We plan for our first full day and last half day to be MK days. Thoughts? Recommendations? Advice?
Thanks!

 

[Princess Janay]

Quick question , are you staying onsite or off ??

If your staying onsite (which i Highly recommend with little ones) you get Magic hours. Each day one of the Disney Theme Parks opens an hour early or stays open up to an extra three hours, so Guests of Disney Resorts have the opportunity to get extra time the parks. I recommend taking advantage of these hours. Just grab a map and guide sheet the night before.

If your not staying onsite the plan you already have is good except i'd take one day from animal kingdom with such little ones you'll be able to get alot done on your first day.Since Ak is such a HOT park you'll want to be in and out

 

[cheryterese]

Quick question , are you staying onsite or off ??

If your staying onsite (which i Highly recommend with little ones) you get Magic hours. Each day one of the Disney Theme Parks opens an hour early or stays open up to an extra three hours, so Guests of Disney Resorts have the opportunity to get extra time the parks. I recommend taking advantage of these hours. Just grab a map and guide sheet the night before.

If your not staying onsite the plan you already have is good except i'd take one day from animal kingdom with such little ones you'll be able to get alot done on your first day.Since Ak is such a HOT park you'll want to be in and out

We are staying offsite, about 15 minutes away, and renting a car, so no Magic Hours for us.
Do you think we can do AK in only 1 day? We were thinking of skipping the afternoon return for naps that day, if we only did 1 day there, and staying the entire day since it's such a short day anyway (in January).

 

[kpgriswold]

We usually do MK 2, Ep 2, DHS 1, AK 1 with a full day off to swim in the pool and visit DTD (we love the Lego and toy stores!)

Your plan sounds like a good one. If you are staying off property and have a car, also consider a day at Sea World. The animal shows are amazing!

 

[Macduffy]

I went with my 4 and almost 2 year old.

It took us 3 days to do MK!!! and we still didn't see everything I wanted to
We spent 1 in Epcot (simply b/c the kids were so young and I found epcot for a bit older crowd JMO)
1 day for DHS
and .75 days at AK

 

[shrymah]

I don't think you need more than one day at Animal Kingdom. We barely lasted half a day there because of the heat & crowd. With your kids ages, I would probably take the AK day & add another Magic Kingdom day.

 

[cheryterese]

We usually do MK 2, Ep 2, DHS 1, AK 1 with a full day off to swim in the pool and visit DTD (we love the Lego and toy stores!)

Your plan sounds like a good one. If you are staying off property and have a car, also consider a day at Sea World. The animal shows are amazing!

The Lego Store.....I've seen pictures of the big structures ouside....what can the kids do there?
And thanks for the tip on Sea World. I was considering that, but dh wants to just stick with Disney this trip. Gives us a reason to go back (as if we need a reason!!).

 

[cheryterese]

I went with my 4 and almost 2 year old.

It took us 3 days to do MK!!! and we still didn't see everything I wanted to
We spent 1 in Epcot (simply b/c the kids were so young and I found epcot for a bit older crowd JMO)
1 day for DHS
and .75 days at AK

Your kids are close in age to mine so I'm happy to see your response. (And I'm off to read your trip report after this! After we go I can title mine the same but add "and a baby" at the end! Are we crazy? )

I want to see a lot in MK, and have time for the kids to do things more than once because I know as soon as they get off they'll ask if they can ride it again! Maybe we'll add an extra day there and put AK down to 1. Do you really think we can see all of AK in one 9-5 day?

DH and I love Epcot, so that's why we currently have 2 days scheduled there. We could spend hours in the countries, but I know this trip will be different since we'll have kids with us for the first time. Hmmmmm.....

 

[princessmom29]

I would do 1 day in AK and 2 in HS. At AK we found very little outside of the safari, Nemo and FOLK, and looking at the animals there to interest our 5 year old who was too small for the big rides here. We only did one daqy in DHS last yer and are scheduling 2 this year b/c we didn't come close to getting finished. Toy Story mainia, Beauty and the beast, Little meremaid, Idniana Jones show,backolt tour, the stunt show, playhouse disney, the muppet theater are all good for little ones, and there is a lot more for achild who is 40" and brave enought for more thrilling rides. We underestimated the time we ewould need and didn't get to Indy, backlot, or the stunt show last year.

 

[2princesses2princes]

Ooooh your trip is going to be so fun. Our last trip was with our kids 7, 5, and 18mos. We were only there 5 full days and it was definitely not enough. This time we have 10, 7, 4 and 18mos and 8 days. The way we are doing it is 2 full days at M.K with midday break time. 2 Full days at Epcot with midday break, 1 full day at AK with no midday break, it's such a short day anyway. 1 full day at D.S with possibly a midday break, and we are leaving the last day open, i am figuring on maybe hitting MK for a few hours, but don't forget to save time for downtown disney. It is a blast, great things to see, shopping, good food, and fun stores for the little ones.

 

[cheryterese]

Ooooh your trip is going to be so fun. Our last trip was with our kids 7, 5, and 18mos. We were only there 5 full days and it was definitely not enough. This time we have 10, 7, 4 and 18mos and 8 days. The way we are doing it is 2 full days at M.K with midday break time. 2 Full days at Epcot with midday break, 1 full day at AK with no midday break, it's such a short day anyway. 1 full day at D.S with possibly a midday break, and we are leaving the last day open, i am figuring on maybe hitting MK for a few hours, but don't forget to save time for downtown disney. It is a blast, great things to see, shopping, good food, and fun stores for the little ones.

Thanks! We're so excited! A little nervous about going with all three kids so young, but super excited and they are too (well, the 4 and 2 year old are excited - the 1 year old could care less but I think he will love it while we're there!).
How did your kids do with a full day at AK with no break? We're thinking of doing that too since the day is only 9-5. They'd have early bedtimes that night to make up for it. I have a front pack that my 1 year old likes to be carried in, so I figure he can fall asleep in there if necessary.
Do you have a trip report? I'd love to read more trip reports from people who went with young kids like you.

 

[disbyrd]

We are going in just a couple of weeks with a 4 1/2 yo, a 3 1/2 yo, an 18 month old and a 3 month old. So, if you think that you are nervous, don't feel alone, because we are getting a little (okay a lot) nervous ourselves. (Oh, and we are driving 1500 miles each way and staying in our popup camper, so it should be quite the adventure )
Anyway, we are planning on 2 days (with a nap break) at each park except AK, which we are only planning 1 full day for. We have 3 days off since there is tons to do at the campground, DD, and we are planning a day for the beach so that the kids can see the ocean.
GL and I will think about doing a trip report when we get back, if we all make it

 

[cheryterese]

We are going in just a couple of weeks with a 4 1/2 yo, a 3 1/2 yo, an 18 month old and a 3 month old. So, if you think that you are nervous, don't feel alone, because we are getting a little (okay a lot) nervous ourselves. (Oh, and we are driving 1500 miles each way and staying in our popup camper, so it should be quite the adventure )
Anyway, we are planning on 2 days (with a nap break) at each park except AK, which we are only planning 1 full day for. We have 3 days off since there is tons to do at the campground, DD, and we are planning a day for the beach so that the kids can see the ocean.
GL and I will think about doing a trip report when we get back, if we all make it

OMG!!!!!!!
I would LOVE to read your trip report (if you "all make it" ha, ha, ha, ha!!).
PLEASE, keep me posted!

 

[kpgriswold]

The Lego Store.....I've seen pictures of the big structures ouside....what can the kids do there?
And thanks for the tip on Sea World. I was considering that, but dh wants to just stick with Disney this trip. Gives us a reason to go back (as if we need a reason!!).

The giant lego stautes are worth a visit all by themselves. We love the life-sized family with the lego dog.

At the store, there are big bins of Legos to build with. You can build a lego car and race it against other people's creations ont the inclined tracks. There is also a playground area with slides and climbing structures and a playhouse.

Between that looking at all the stuff in the store, we are usually good for at least two hours there.

 

[cheryterese]

The giant lego stautes are worth a visit all by themselves. We love the life-sized family with the lego dog.

At the store, there are big bins of Legos to build with. You can build a lego car and race it against other people's creations ont the inclined tracks. There is also a playground area with slides and climbing structures and a playhouse.

Between that looking at all the stuff in the store, we are usually good for at least two hours there.

Oooooh, that sounds like great fun! Scheduling it in!

 

[Weezyreid]

first, i wanna say, that in truth, it is impossible to see everything in one trip. I think you would have to stay 2 or 3 weeks to do this, as time can slip away at disney. this winter will be our 4th trip to disney, and with them always revamping and changing there are new things to do...its also important to take advantage of fast passes....use them, seriously saves time..

we go for 8 days, knowing we want to relax while vacationing, this is important for stress...

so, MK 2 days, E 1.5(we dont do all countries(canada, US..ect.) AK 1.5 days and MGM 1.5 days....giving total of 6.5 days, leaving the others for resting, enjoyin our hotel and if we want to go back to a specific place, then we do.. we also plan our week, knowing which days have fireworks where.

i am sure your kids will have a blast, as mine do...have fun!!

 

[kohlby]

I agree that AK can be done in one day. Also, I'd plan one day with no parks. We do one day that's spent doing things like Downtown Disney and pools at the hotel. Kids love the water! Also, MGM didn't go over well when we did it. (My oldest was 3 the first time and 3.5 the next). We did do park hopper and MGM ended up just a half day! I'd say give it a day since you're not doing park hopper. Epcot was my 3/3.5 year olds favorite park! Not MK like I would have thought. We skipped the world showcase part though. So, with 8.5 days, knowing my kids - who are now 6, 3.5, and a baby, I'd do 1.5 days to do DTD and pools. Then 1 day AK, 1 day MGM, 2 days Epcot and 2days MK. That leaves one day to figure out later. I'd wait and see what goes over the best and go back to that park the last day.