How many days for each park?

[michelles1987]

We are only getting the military 4 day park hopper passes. We will be there for about 5 whole days so I figure one day we can spend at the resort and DTD. How many days do you usually plan for each park? We have a 9, 7, and 2 year old. I was thinking 1 for Epcot, 1 for HS, 1/2 for AK and then 1 1/2 for MK. Does this sound good or should I change it? We aren't worried about hitting everything, I am going to let each kid pick 1 or 1 must dos and go from there.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Probably not a bad plan, but I'd try to be flexible with it. For us, on a 4-day plan, AK is a full-day park, MK 1 VERY full day, Epcot 1 1/2 days, DHS 1/2 day. Every family is different though.


So, I would start each day planning to spend the full day wherever you start, but having a plan for where to end up should you decide to hop.

 

[Anchored]

I usually book a week at a condo with the AFVC then add the water park fun & more option
We do exactly what you described, 1 for epcot and HS and MK, and start a day at AK and then hop over to MK when we are done as they typically have the latest hours. After my husband and youngest go back to the room, my oldest and I like to go back to MK alone and ride some tomorrowland rides and watch the fireworks
I like to break up the park days with water park days, DTD/DisneyQuest, laying by the pool. The 1st time we went we did 4 days straight and my feet were ready to fall clear off. We paid $369 for the 2 bedroom condo so our total for the week is only $1161

 

[5stljayhawks]

M1987 -

I ask what kind of zoos have you been to and did the kids like them? For us AK is 1/2 day tops. In at rope drop or extra magic hour, knock out safari, everst and gone. Also 9/7 boys or girls? and when are you going? star wars weekends late may through mid june. If you are going to jedi training, which my 10 DD wants to do, go early for sign ups. Ask a CM about where you need to go and don't dilly dally. the rest of the party can get fast passes for toy story.

Also is this a once in a lifetime trip? the 7 YO is prime time if they have not hit the I don't believe in....

If you are staying on prop. check out extra magic hours. If you can get the scedule an off day on the 3/4 day it will help recharge batteries and temps...

 

[MickeyChix]

If you start the parks when they open you should be fine. We don't usually spend a whole day at our resort. We do the parks when they first open and wrap up by 2-3 for pool break back at resort. We usually allocate 2 days at MK, 1 day Epcot and HS and 1/2 day at AK.

 

[michelles1987]

M1987 -

I ask what kind of zoos have you been to and did the kids like them? For us AK is 1/2 day tops. In at rope drop or extra magic hour, knock out safari, everst and gone. Also 9/7 boys or girls? and when are you going? star wars weekends late may through mid june. If you are going to jedi training, which my 10 DD wants to do, go early for sign ups. Ask a CM about where you need to go and don't dilly dally. the rest of the party can get fast passes for toy story.

Also is this a once in a lifetime trip? the 7 YO is prime time if they have not hit the I don't believe in....

If you are staying on prop. check out extra magic hours. If you can get the scedule an off day on the 3/4 day it will help recharge batteries and temps...

We have been to the Fort Worth Zoo, Nashville Zoo, Dallas Zoo, Cameron Park zoo etc. They enjoy them but we can do all the zoo stuff here. We are stayimg at CBR. The two older are both girls and the youngest is a boy. Both girls actually still believe in alot and the 7 year old is actually more mature than the 9 year old.

 

[squirrel]

For us AK is a full day. We love the shows-Nemo and FotLK. DHS is our least favorite park. I would schedule AK after a busier park day (MK or Epcot) because it seems to us a more relaxing park. It also closes earlier than the other parks.

I think you should do okay with a day at each park. That's how much I had on my first trip in 1999. It was quite slow back then at the beginning of September and there was a hurricane so I think a lot of people cancelled. We did almost everything in each park except Epcot-we also only had until 2pm that day since they evacuated the parks.

 

[michelles1987]

For us AK is a full day. We love the shows-Nemo and FotLK. DHS is our least favorite park. I would schedule AK after a busier park day (MK or Epcot) because it seems to us a more relaxing park. It also closes earlier than the other parks.

I think you should do okay with a day at each park. That's how much I had on my first trip in 1999. It was quite slow back then at the beginning of September and there was a hurricane so I think a lot of people cancelled. We did almost everything in each park except Epcot-we also only had until 2pm that day since they evacuated the parks.

I am thinking that there won't be much pur kids will "Have to do" at HS. The oldest isn't really into roller coasters. The 7 year old is but will probably be too short. I know of a few things we want to hit but I forgot about the shows at AK

 

[MandiC]

AK is so much more than a zoo. There are shows, Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur ride and of course everything has a little Disney magic. That said, we did everything we wanted to do and more there by 3pm. We're thinking in the future we'll probably try to combine AK and HS into one day. HS just didn't impress me much.
MK would definitely be a very full day and Epcot you likely will not finish in a day but if you choose the things that are most important and plan for that. Epcot took us a day and a half.

 

[amym2]

We also spend less time at DHS than AK. EP is our favorite (always has been and our kids are now 12 and 10), so we typically spend 2 days there. I think your plan is fine, and you might just leave it open whether you do the 1/2 day at AK or DHS. Of course if you are planning to make ADRs that is more difficult.

 

[wvasweetness]

For us AK is a full day. We love the shows-Nemo and FotLK. DHS is our least favorite park. I would schedule AK after a busier park day (MK or Epcot) because it seems to us a more relaxing park. It also closes earlier than the other parks.

I agree with this!

 

[monorailsilver]

We are only getting the military 4 day park hopper passes. We will be there for about 5 whole days so I figure one day we can spend at the resort and DTD. How many days do you usually plan for each park? We have a 9, 7, and 2 year old. I was thinking 1 for Epcot, 1 for HS, 1/2 for AK and then 1 1/2 for MK. Does this sound good or should I change it? We aren't worried about hitting everything, I am going to let each kid pick 1 or 1 must dos and go from there.

I think that sounds pretty good.

We usually do 5 full park days with rest days after every 2 park days and we take a mid day break, aka nap time! My non napping kids nap too, they were 12, almost 10 & 7 our last trip and if they didn't nap the trip would not of been fun.

We only do AK for a half day as well. I know many love it for the shows but the shows just don't thrill me. I think we spend more time trekking from place to place there.

We also only do a 1/2 day at DHS and spend the rest of the time at MK and Epcot.

 

[ElenaRN]

Your break down sounds pretty good to me.

We usually do DHS and AK in 1/2 days and MK and Epcot in 1 1/2. Since MK and Epcot are open later, we usually go back to one of those parks in the eve of one of our 1/2 days.

We go every year, so while we try to see everything each trip, if a line is really long, we usually don't wait. We don't go at busy times and our wait limit for most rides is 20-30m. Except for new rides or TSM- we'll wait longer for them.

 

[texasroni75]

We do at least a full day in Epcot, MK and DHS. AK we usually do 1/2 day, but even if you do a full day there, they close early and you could fit in a few hours after they close at another park. I like your original plan!