How many days would you set aside for each park?

[Cad0587]

We plan on going to all 4 parks... we have a 6 days pass. After really looking at things, I'm thinking we should maybe add a day! We've never been though. Those of you who've had the experiencs, how much time do you really need with each park?

 

[Elcheetah]

Two questions:
1. How many days are you staying?
2. How old are your kids?

Though every family is different, the general opinion is you can do AK & HS in one day/each. MK & Epcot need at least two days to be properly done... We would rather repeat HS or AK than MK, but that`s just me. If you have a whole 7th day, you can go back to your favorite or like we do, use that day to explore the different hotels, do a round of mini golf and DTD.

 

[luvMickey72]

I would go along with 1 day each at AK/HS and 2 days each at MK and Epcot. But, you may want to think of taking a day off in the middle to just relax at the pool, DD or whatever! It is nice to have that pool day, especially if your kids are younger, my son still talks about the slide at POFQ and the day we spent all day there!

 

[MolonLabe]

Our last trip we did 6 days in this order: MK, E, E, MK, AK, DHS.

My thought on that was MK was going to be a long day and then 2 shorter days at E followed by another long MK and then a shorter AK to rest up for DHS.

It was my 4 and 6 y/o's first trip to WDW and I felt we had to do MK on the first day there.

When we go back in December we will be there for 7 days. I'm not sure how we are going to break it down this time for our 7th day. I do plan on spending time in our resort this time, last time it was the parks from open to close each day. This time we are going to cut a few of our days in half to swim or nap at the resort before returning to a park.

Assuming moderate to low crowds, with kids of 6~ years old, you need a minimum of 2 days in both MK and Epcot. AK and DHS can definitely be done in one day each... however it depends on the crowds and events. We went to DHS during StarWars weekend and we missed a lot because my girls wanted to see many of the characters they missed at other parks and Princess Leia Minnie Mouse and r2d2 Mickey Ears. That ate up a lot of time.

When we go back, we will be skipping most of the meet and greets which should free up several a hours a day.

AK has some GREAT unique character meetings, if it wasn't for the characters, we could have done AK in about half a day. Characters took half the day at least. I think my girls got 30 new signatures that day.

 

[pepe of ohio]

AK and HS 1/2 day each (thought this requires a hopper or AP) if we don't have either we skip AK entirely (just doesn't interest us at all ) and spend the whole day at HS...

EPCOT we like to spend 2 days and the MK easily takes us 2+ days...

We go for 9-12 nights and can spend more time in the MK than any other parks, and our children are grown and gone.....we do like to spend a day or 2 lounging around the resort pool, visiting FW, renting a pontoon boat, shopping and visiting DTD.....so we break it down to a couple of park days, then a goof off day...more parks and another goof off day....but, we've been to WDW over 40 times and spending every waking hour in a park is not us anymore......but the MK holds our attention more than the other parks....EPCOT is our go to evening park.....so much nicer walking around after the sun goes down (hence we usually always have hoppers or AP so we can hop around.....

 

[BDL]

2 days EPCOT
2 days Magic Kingdom
1/2 day Animal Kingdom
1/2 day MGM
1 day Shopping/rest/leisurely pace (maybe check out resorts)

 

[TheHarlessFamily]

I am so glad you asked this question.
We have 7 days in the parks (last day half day only) Me , Hubby & 8yr old daughter We have park hopper and plan to possibly utilize it on open days or for magic hours

Right now we have

1Full day HS (during star wars weekend)
1 Day MK with late night hours
(we may sleep in and go later in day, because we have BBB appt at 2pm and CRT at 4:20
I full Day Epcot
I full day AK
I day open currently
(we have a Breakfast ADR at Akershus) & La Nouba in DTD at 6pm otherwise no plan ( might rest might park hop dunno)
1 Full Day in MK (with early morning hours)
1 Half Day Open (late breakfast at Ohana otherwise open)


I keep seeing everyone saying Epcot 2 days but looking online it doesnt really seem like there is alot that would interest my kid exp there seems like alot to see but not alot to "do"

 

[pepe of ohio]

I am so glad you asked this question.
We have 7 days in the parks (last day half day only) Me , Hubby & 8yr old daughter We have park hopper and plan to possibly utilize it on open days or for magic hours

Right now we have

1Full day HS (during star wars weekend)
1 Day MK with late night hours
(we may sleep in and go later in day, because we have BBB appt at 2pm and CRT at 4:20
I full Day Epcot
I full day AK
I day open currently
(we have a Breakfast ADR at Akershus) & La Nouba in DTD at 6pm otherwise no plan ( might rest might park hop dunno)
1 Full Day in MK (with early morning hours)
1 Half Day Open (late breakfast at Ohana otherwise open)


I keep seeing everyone saying Epcot 2 days but looking online it doesnt really seem like there is alot that would interest my kid exp there seems like alot to see but not alot to "do"

Even for us, 2 60 year olds find EPCOT alittle much....especially world showcase...nothing much there but it's a long walk all the way around for a few attractions that don't interest some children....why I say 2 days for us....one morning we do the front of the parks and leave and spend the rest of the day at the resort and some evening, we go back to see Illuminations, Canada and America Pavalion.....2 whole days in EPCOT...rather take one of them days and spend it again in the MK...more interest for us.....but that's when hoppers are great...1/2 day HS and 1/2 day EPCOT or AK.....

 

[disneydeal]

just curious but Epcot seemed boring to us.. we ran thru it in one day.. my 9 year old daughter had the most fun at test track and kim possible missions at this park and on our upcoming trip test track will be closed for refurb.. so i'm thinking one day there again..

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

You can add days once you get there if you think you need them. What parks and how many days depends upon your family and the kids ages. If they are under 10 plan on MK being your #1 park. When the kids were 8 - 12 range they really enjoyed HS and EP and wanted to do everything there including the countries. AK has only recently been a draw to my kids. We saw them building Expedition everest and until that ride we usually only spent 6 hours at most there doing everything including bird shows and train. Now that the ride is done DD would spend all day there doing that as it is her fave over everything in DWD. HS is mostly shows. You need to find out what time the shows start. We went in Feb last year we usually go aug, sept or oct. Alot of the shows did not even start til 1030 or 11 so we were walking around doing alot of nothing. I was with DD and DM 71. So for that trip the two big rides were out. If your not doing the two main rides at HS then even that park wont take all day. I would check the all ears web site or undercover tourist to find out what the rehabs and closures are as that plays a huge role in the time spent at the park. Our last trip a significant portion of MK was closed or being fixed. Certainly a larger amount than I expected so the crowds move to other parts making it less enjoyable. What ever you do just slow down enjoy and if it is crowded get your fast passes

 

[Art 1]

One.

 

[TheHarlessFamily]

just curious but Epcot seemed boring to us.. we ran thru it in one day.. my 9 year old daughter had the most fun at test track and kim possible missions at this park and on our upcoming trip test track will be closed for refurb.. so i'm thinking one day there again..

This is my First Trip to Disney but I think Epcot too seems like it would bore my daughter to death. (we are going 2nd week in June and I was dissapointed to see Test Track was gonna be closed as well)

 

[AshleeH]

Do all four parks and then decide which ones you would like to see again on your last two days. That way you won't think you've missed out on anything.

 

[missymouse]

This coming trip we will do a day at Epcot and a day at Animal Kingdom, then a half day at MK and at HS in the afternoon/night with water parks the other half of those days. And one day at Universal. What we usually do is arrive at the water park as soon as it opens, stay until we can't bear the crowds anymore, then go back and head to either MK or HS. But my kids are 20,17, and 13 so they prefer the wilder rides that HS and AK have to offer. Epcot is whole day due to the food and it is my husband's favorite park.

 

[jana616]

Our last trip (first family trip), my kids were almost 5 and 26 months. We spent 2 1/2 days at MK, one full day at Epcot, plus my DH, 5 year old, and myself went back for 3-4 hours another day (used the other half of the day for rest and DTD), and one full day each at AK and DHS. This trip, which is only 5 days instead of 6, my kids will be 7, almost 5, and 20 months, and I am planning two days at MK, a short day at Epcot, and two full days at DHS and AK. We are big animal people, so we love AK, and DHS has lots of great stuff for boys. Without TT this time, I am thinking we will be at EP at rope drop and stay through early/mid-afternoon, maybe coming back for Illuminations. My kids liked Nemo and Turtle Talk, and I want to do Figment and Spaceship Earth since we didn't last time, and hopefully Soarin, but I don't really care if we have time for the World Showcase this time. While I love it in there, my kids seemed pretty bored, and I know they'd rather have some pool time instead.

 

[Missish]

Do all four parks and then decide which ones you would like to see again on your last two days. That way you won't think you've missed out on anything.

This is a great plan.

Also, if you have a park hopper ticket, you can do a couple of the parks each day in the last 2 days if you need to. We often spend a day in one park, then hop to another park for the evening (so, spend the day in AK then hop to MK for Wishes, for example).

 

[buckirj1]

I do two days each at MK and Epcot. I happily give Studios a miss, and can cover AK in about a half-day if it isn't hot. It can get awfully humid at AK, so sometimes I just take the bus over to AKL, and watch the savannah from inside.

I like to take a full day to resort hop, and another day to do the Boardwalk and DTD.

 

[jessp1021]

We do 2 days at MK and Epcot as these are our favorites! Epcot is a nice break especially if you take the time to enjoy the world showcase which has some rides nestled in the different countries, the Kidcot Stops, numerous character sightings and meetings, funny side shows, and delicious foods to try! As parents we look forward to one of these days bc it is very relaxing for us! HS is definitely done within a day with the biggest thing for us being Fantasmic. We haven't ever planned a specific day to stay at the resort so I am not sure about that one and AK is hit or miss with us..not a big deal if we don't go there

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

I am always surprised that people don't want to spend more time at HS! It is one of our favorites! We like to take longer trips, so our breakdown usually works like this: 2-3 days MK, 2-3 days EPCOT, 2-3 days HS, 1 day AK (and usually my mom and I want to kill each other before long at AK b/c it is too hot, so we have never made it a whole day! My son's favorite ride is R'N'R, and we love HS, so it really is shocking to me that people don't spend more time there. I actually didn't care for MK that much the first time we went. Granted, we didn't spend much time there, so that's probably why. Ever since EMH at Mk, I am in love with it, so it replaced HS as my favorite.

 

[AshleeH]

I am always surprised that people don't want to spend more time at HS! It is one of our favorites! We like to take longer trips, so our breakdown usually works like this: 2-3 days MK, 2-3 days EPCOT, 2-3 days HS, 1 day AK (and usually my mom and I want to kill each other before long at AK b/c it is too hot, so we have never made it a whole day! My son's favorite ride is R'N'R, and we love HS, so it really is shocking to me that people don't spend more time there. I actually didn't care for MK that much the first time we went. Granted, we didn't spend much time there, so that's probably why. Ever since EMH at Mk, I am in love with it, so it replaced HS as my favorite.

That always surprises me too since HS is our second favorite park (after MK) and we always spend two days there. It's the smallest, so it's easy to do and the rides are well worth more than one wait in line.

I agree about AK, I've never had an enjoyable experience there - we're going to try it again this year and see how it goes, but I remember being so drained on our first trip there that I didn't enjoy it very much. Didn't attribute it to the heat at that tim, but that's probably what it was.