How many days should we plan at each park?

[mshanson3121]

I'm wondering as I'm trying to figure out which tickets to buy (basic only, no hoppers). Traveling in summer, so for starters RD to close is just not an option. We'll either do RD to 1 with an afternoon break coming back around 5 till 10 (or 9 I suppose at EP), or RD and push through till 3 or so. 6-8 hours average.

Now, I know we'll want 2 days for sure at MK. But I'm not sure on EP, AK and HS. I've made a list of what I think the kids would want to do, what do you recommend?

HS: Muppets 3D, Star Tours, SWLB, TSMM, JTA, Galaxy Far Far Away, Star Wars Fireworks, Path of the Jedi, Beauty & The Beast, Frozen Sing A Long, meet Kylo Ren, Chewbacca, Jawas, Olaf, watch March of the First Order (yeah huge SW fans here)

AK: My son is an animal fanatic, so all the trails will be explored and not rushed through, maybe It's Tough to be a Bug and Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, Safari, Primeval Whirl, Triceratops Spin, Everest (me only), FOTLK, Flights of Wonder, maybe Nemo, meet Baloo & Louie, Pocahontas, Tarzan, and let's just hope that ROL is up and running next summer (lol), so add that to the list

EP: Watch acrobats in China, meet Mulan and do an Agent P adventure, Stave Church and Frozen Ever After in Norway, plus meet A&E, Gran Fiesta in Mexico. Advanced Training Lab, Figment with Image Works, Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth with Project Tomorrow, Nemo, The Seas (I imagine we'll easily spend an hour there) and Turtle Talk, Soarin'. Meet Joy & Sadness.

Thougts? Can we do one day at HS, AK and EP (probably morning and evening), or will we need more than one at any of them? We'll have our 3 FP+, but also a DAS.

ETA: I think we'll buy 7 day basic passes, so how would you split those?

 

[tsme]

I think you'd be fine with one day for EP, AK, & HS. Touring MK for 2 days does make it a lot easier. Your plan sounds good.

 

[dmband]

For us, with kids, we usually do 3 days mk, 2 each hs and ak, 1/1.5 ep
That doesn't mean we do the same park all day, in fact we usually do half days and hop but in the end those are the totals added up
if we can/can't do that based on days available to us then prorate basically mk gets the most and ep gets the least

 

[Bete]

Based on your testimony about your son liking animals I would say 2 days for AK for a couple of reasons. First, AK is the largest park and will require more time to walk it. For some reason, it feels hotter in AK in summer than the other parks.
Second, AK has the least amount of hours that it's open.

Finally, for all the parks you may want an extra day in your plans in case of rain or sickness.

 

[Scalemaster34]

You could spend more time at AK, DHS and Epcot.... but generally those are parks that we don't spend more than 1/2 a day in, because we have done them and nothing has changed much. Someone that hasn't been in a while could spend a whole day with no problem. Someone that has never been, and wants to experience EVERYTHING... might take more than a day (or a FULL summer day with extended hours). But yes if you have one extra day... spend it at MK.

Next Summer might be a little busy for AK if/when Pandora opens... but a full day should still be enough to catch all that you want to do and that new land.

 

[Klayfish]

How long is your trip? How many days in each park is purely a personal decision based on what you want to see. So many people say that HS is a 1/2 day park. I don't agree with that, especially if you really like the things there and want to go on them more than once. It's all based on how much you like a park. We love all the parks, but AK is probably our least favorite (we still love it, just not as much as the others). I didn't count, but when we were there for 2+ weeks in the summer, I'd guess we did MK 10 times, Epcot 8, HS 8 and AK 6. We had hoppers, so we hit multiple parks in one day, but that's about the ratio.

From your description, I'd say 2 for each park and maybe you can get away with one at Epcot.

 

[dkrauss]

Very subjective question here.....but a valid one. MK is at least 2 days for us (50+ DH & DW). We also love Epcot so at least 1 day there.

AK and HS are peculiar in a way that there's day versus night activities (especially in the summer.........) that can make these parks more than 1/2 day events. We'll do a full day at each but we'll split it up, 1/2 morning to lunch in AK.......then evening/dinner at HS and then we flip it. In the summer of 2017 you'll contend with Pandora (opening summer 2017)........AK also should have RoL up and running which makes it a night time try. HS has the Star Wars stuff during the day and evening.........and Fantasmic at night. Now you can do each park in 1 full (even with a break) day. We prefer to mix it up and split them. Now that plan does require hoppers............so it becomes a personal decision.

Have a great vacation no matter how you plan it...........but do "plan it"

Doug

 

[Ds4angels]

I know some people consider AK a 1/2day, but we loved it. We only had a 1/2day last time, sadly. We're planning a day and a 1/2 for AK this time.
As previous poster said, AK seems to be hotter, so in the summer I'd split the day for sure in AK.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Definitely two days at MK. Three would be perfect for us but we would have to cut out another park to be able to do that and since we don't go frequently we don't want to leave out any of the main four parks. One day at DHS and one day at Epcot. One day at AK, but I'd say probably two days once Pandora opens and ROL is running just because AK is huge, very spread out and can be a challenge to navigate. Have fun!

 

[Darcy03231]

How many days do you have? I like 3 days at MK, 3 days at EP, and 2 days each at HS and AK, but we typically go for 10-14 days and like to tour at a leisurely pace. If you only have 7 days I would do 2 at MK, 2 at EP and 1 each at HS and AK and decide on the last day which park to go back to for your final day.

 

[Shellyred8]

If your DS loves animals, I would recommend at least a full day at AK, but would lean more towards 2 days. There are two items there that are not on your list that I would definitely recommend: The Festival of the Lion King (lots of action to keep the kiddos attention) and taking the train to Rafiki's Planet watch (If you time it right, you can see an actual live animal examination by the vets. There is also a "petting zoo" type of area where you can interact with some goats and sheep). I love the expedition trails and can spend a lot of time on just those. One thing to caution you about though: if you make fast pass reservations for anything, make sure to pay attention to the times and how far apart they are from each other if they are close in time. I have been burned by this on more than one occasion.

You could probably get away with one day at EP. If you are huge Star Wars fans, you might want to plan for 2 days at HS, just to take it all in. Some of the stuff at HS you have to time out carefully, otherwise you will end up missing things.

Have a fantastic trip!!!!

 

[BlueFairy]

With a carefully curated plan and being selective - 2 days MK, 2 days Epcot, 1 day AK, 1 day HS.

But, for a we-may-not-be-back-anytime-soon trip, or we-want-to-do-it-all trip, 3 days MK, 2-3 at Epcot (due to size mostly), 1 day AK, 1 day HS and 1 day shared AK/HS. This seems like a lot but summer is brutal and it gives you time to take it slow and revisit some favorites. I think people underestimate the parks besides MK. Epcot is a shopper's and eater's paradise. And it has lots of sea animals. HS Star Wars fanatics can take up a day just being sure to see all of those details. Then add time for the other stuff. All the night shows are not-to-be-missed. And AK is going to be a whole new puzzle to unravel when Pandora debuts next summer. My animal loving kids need more than a day there now.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

On a 10 night trip we did 3 MK, 2.5 Epcot, 1.5 HS, 1 AK. We had two rest days. We park hop and do AM park, midday pool break and PM park with FP+. The summer is intense and this works for us.

 

[mshanson3121]

How long is your trip?

How many days do you have?

I'm not 100% sure, I'm guess we'll have 9 full days. That said, this is also our one and only vacation, and DH does not enjoy being on the go all the time. So, we'll want at least 2 full days that are solely rest/not in any park, so that gives us 7 days to work with.

If your DS loves animals, I would recommend at least a full day at AK, but would lean more towards 2 days. There are two items there that are not on your list that I would definitely recommend: The Festival of the Lion King (lots of action to keep the kiddos attention) and taking the train to Rafiki's Planet watch (If you time it right, you can see an actual live animal examination by the vets. There is also a "petting zoo" type of area where you can interact with some goats and sheep).
You could probably get away with one day at EP. If you are huge Star Wars fans, you might want to plan for 2 days at HS, just to take it all in. Some of the stuff at HS you have to time out carefully, otherwise you will end up missing things.

Have a fantastic trip!!!!

With a carefully curated plan and being selective - 2 days MK, 2 days Epcot, 1 day AK, 1 day HS.

But, for a we-may-not-be-back-anytime-soon trip, or we-want-to-do-it-all trip, 3 days MK, 2-3 at Epcot (due to size mostly), 1 day AK, 1 day HS and 1 day shared AK/HS. This seems like a lot but summer is brutal and it gives you time to take it slow and revisit some favorites. I think people underestimate the parks besides MK. Epcot is a shopper's and eater's paradise. And it has lots of sea animals. HS Star Wars fanatics can take up a day just being sure to see all of those details. Then add time for the other stuff. All the night shows are not-to-be-missed. And AK is going to be a whole new puzzle to unravel when Pandora debuts next summer. My animal loving kids need more than a day there now.

Yes, we definitely want to do Lion King (I actually listed it, but abbreviated it, lol). We missed that last time and regretted it. We did Conservation Station last time, got to see an animal (I forget which) having a colonoscopy, LOL. We did really enjoy the place, and I'm willing to do it again, but it is a time-sucker for sure, so I'm kind of leaving that as a: "If there's enough time". And yes, we all love Star Wars here, especially DH. We easily could have gone back for another day at HS and that was before Star Wars was there! The only things that have closed that impact us is the playground (my kids absolutely LOVED that place and will be very disappointed it's gone). I know that we will definitely be doing every single Star Wars thing there is to do - all the M&Gs, Jedi Training Academy, Star Tours, the fireworks, the Clone Troopers march, Launch Bay, the two smaller shows... all of it So on a side note: how long realistically can we expect all the SW stuff to take? Would we need an entire day just for Star Wars? TSMM is also a big thing for the kids and I know they'll want to get at least two rides in on that, and definitely will need to do Frozen Sing A Long and meet Olaf.

We won't be eating and shopping at EP - this will be a very budget-concious trip! We missed IllumiNations last time, so we're really hoping to see those, and definitely hoping for ROL. I would *love* it if Pandora was open and we could see that. The boat ride I think we would all enjoy (what are the other rides supposed to be?)

 

[5kidsmommy]

We are doing 3 days at MK, 2 days EP, and 1 day each at HS and AK. I think it really depends on the family. My family loves EP and it will tough to only have 2 days there.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We spent 1.5 days at HS and one of those nights was a PM EMH and the other day an AM EMH. My kids love riding RnRC, TSM and ToT multiple times. We don't do anything SW other than the Star Tours ride. We aren't fans. If I was adding in the SW's stuff I would do 2 days at HS. My kids could easily spend 2-3 days in HS.

 

[caroline1851]

I would do:
MK 2 or 2.5 days, DHS 1 day, AK 1.5 or 2 days, EPC 1.5 or 2 days.

More specifically:
MK: 3 mornings, 2 evenings
AK: 2 mornings, 1 evening
DHS: 1 day as long as you can tolerate staying
EPC: 1 day as long as you can stay, then 1 evening.

 

[BlueFairy]

We did JTA, build your own light saber, photos with props, ST, SW fireworks, launch bay twice - Jawas and props once and came back late for Chewie and KR and Storm Troopers. Had time for a swim at the Dolphin. Did not have time for a TS meal or Fantasmic. Did not see the SW stage show b/c it wasn't open yet. In addition we saw Frozen sing a long and Mermaid. I think that was it. With JTA needing the party together at ropedrop, you could FP TSMM for later in the day, but no time to do it twice unless you want to wait in line (can't RD and also get signed up for JTA). So Maybe 1 1/2 days?

With 7 days and short time in Epcot you could do 3 MK (1 Wishes); 1 Epcot (illuminations); 1 HS (SW) and 1 AK (RoL); 1 AK (morning) + 1 HS (evening -Fantasmic). Problem is that my kids can't do RD and nighttime shows every night, even with breaks. We have to prioritize and get some slow nights in somewhere, even with built in rest days.

 

[squirrel]

I like to go for 14 nights and get a 10 day park pass. I went with my nieces (one each trip) and we were open til close most days. We would do 2-3 park days then have a day at the resort, then 2-3 more park days then another day off. There favorite park after MK was AK so for us we always did 3 MK, 2 DHS, 2 EPCOT and 3 AK.

With all the greenery it does make AK feel hotter than the other parks.

 

[SaintsManiac]

7 day base tickets = 3 days MK, 2 days Epcot, 1 day HS 1 day AK