How should I spend 6 park days?

[RoseGold]

You didn't say where you were staying. If you're staying deluxe, this schedule needs to prioritize the late night hours. They are THE BEST.

If HS is on a weekend, I would move it. Go on a Tuesday or something. HS is the smallest park and it is absolutely slammed with local-ish people coming for the weekend to see the shiny, new Star Wars stuff. Go to AK or Epcot on the weekend. If Guardians just opened around then, I would maybe not do Epcot on the weekend either. Epcot is much, much larger, so it can handle a larger crowd, though.

HS doesn't have much for a five year old, though mine loved ToT! ToT is broken, Slinky is too long for me to wait, and my kid doesn't care about Star Wars. That leaves Aliens and MMRR with waits. Frozen Singalong, Disney Junior dance party, Muppets, photo with Minnie, all of that is easy to get in. You could really cover it in a morning if you rope drop MMRR. My kid loved the Belle musical, we had hoppers, so we went back to see it a few times.

 

[Nixali]

You didn't say where you were staying. If you're staying deluxe, this schedule needs to prioritize the late night hours. They are THE BEST.

If HS is on a weekend, I would move it. Go on a Tuesday or something. HS is the smallest park and it is absolutely slammed with local-ish people coming for the weekend to see the shiny, new Star Wars stuff. Go to AK or Epcot on the weekend. If Guardians just opened around then, I would maybe not do Epcot on the weekend either. Epcot is much, much larger, so it can handle a larger crowd, though.

HS doesn't have much for a five year old, though mine loved ToT! ToT is broken, Slinky is too long for me to wait, and my kid doesn't care about Star Wars. That leaves Aliens and MMRR with waits. Frozen Singalong, Disney Junior dance party, Muppets, photo with Minnie, all of that is easy to get in. You could really cover it in a morning if you rope drop MMRR. My kid loved the Belle musical, we had hoppers, so we went back to see it a few times.

We're staying at All-Star Movies! No extra hours at night but my daughter wouldn't make it that late anyways!

I have HS booked for a Monday! Hopefully that will at least help with the weekenders.

My plan, since HS only has limited things, is to make HS a halfday and spend the afternnon/evening at the resort by the pool.

I'm still unsure about TOT for us. She might like it or might have nightmates haha

 

[RoseGold]

I'm still unsure about TOT for us. She might like it or might have nightmates haha

Well, half of it is down, and seems like it will be for a long time. So, that might solve that dilemma for you.

 

[Nixali]

Well, half of it is down, and seems like it will be for a long time. So, that might solve that dilemma for you.

I had to look it up... Half is closed for refurbishment. Who knows. I wouldn't be disappointed if we missed it

 

[Jabroniville]

Hmmmmmmmm, as first-timers, I would suggest at least two days at EPCOT, depending on what your kid was into. That's a major walking park, though.

I've never actually done MK on my first day before- that seems interesting. I was always worried it would paint the rest of my trip, though- like set me up for disappointment because it's so much more outstanding than the rest. I'm not sure how a kid would react, though- Animal Kingdom or Star Wars might be even cooler, so who knows?

Typically I would alternate parks- instead of doing two MK days right away, I'd go AK/MK/EPCOT/HS/MK/EPCOT or something like that. I'd always done this before, and on my last trip I broke that by doing two EPCOT days... now I regret doing that, haha- nothing worse than anticipating the rest of the parks, and then being "stuck" in the ones you picked for ages once you've done everything and are ready to move on! But this was a fairly wall-filled EPCOT and finding the World Showcase a bit subpar this time around.

I don't see any mention of Park Hopping- were you planning on doing that? Then it doesn't matter as much if you're worried about which parks you'd like to try again, as you can just go later. You might be able to switch which days you booked, too.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Hi All!

Needing advice for our first trip to Disney World!

It will be myself and my almost 5 yr old. (No relaxing here...!) . I'm trying to figure out the best amount of time for each park. Is Epcot or Hollywood studios worth a second go, or should I stick with MK for the 3 days? Our dates are June 15-23.

Here is what I currently have for each day. Any advice is much appreciate!

Day 1 - Fly in, arrive @ 11 ish, pool day
Day 2 - MK
Day 3 - MK
Day 4 - Pool/rest day
Day 5 - AK
Day 6 - EC
Day 7 - HS
Day 8 - MK 3rd round
Day 9 - Fly home

Where are you staying? We like walking into Epcot on day 1, eating, and doing a couple of easy rides (soarin, figment, maybe 1-2 more). If you arrive at 11 you won’t be into your room until after dinner anyway so that may be a long time to be stuck in the resort. At 5 my kids loved figment, and the stuff at the exit is open now.

I agree that that’s a lot of MK time. Have you thought about a water park? In June you may appreciate it.

Are you planning on hitting every day hard or are you going to take it easy? Do you need to do everything or are you going to go with the flow? That will go a long way in determining how much you all enjoy the parks. Remember it will likely be HOT so plan accordingly.

 

[Shellyred8]

****UPDATE!****

After some careful consideration for park crowds on particular days, our interests, and park availability, I've decided on the below schedule. I'm choosing to visit EPCOT second, because it's the one park besides MK that I think we may want a second day. (Aquarium, All the princesses, the food!, checking out the gardens, the rides and more) Epcot is almost always available, even 1 day out! So, if I decide we need more time after our Epcot day, I will change the second to last MK day to be EP. I highly doubt there won't be availability, and if not, I know we won't be disappointed have our last 2 days in MK!

Again, it is very frustrating that we have to plan park days so far in advance having never been before!

15th - Day 1 - Weds - Fly in, arrive @ 11 ish, pool

16th - Day 2 Thurs - MK

17th- Day 3 Fri - EP

18th- Day 4 Sat - AK

19th - Day 5 Sun - Pool/rest day + MK evening

20th - Day 6 Mon - HS

21st - Day 7 Tues - MK

22nd - Day 8 Weds - MK

23rd- Day 9 - Fly home

If your kiddo like's zoos, I would recommend keeping some flexibility to do a second day at AK. If she likes to climb on things, she could spend hours in the Bone Yard. It's a great place for kids to run around in and burn off some energy.

When I went with my cousin and her twin toddler girls, they LOVED the aquarium at EP. The walked around and looked for a while. Then sat on one of the benches and had a snack while watching the fishes and stuff. They the walked around and looked for awhile longer (they love sharks, so they were super excited to see those!). At AK, they loved the Bone Yard. We just about had to drag them out of there! LOL!!!

Have a great trip!

 

[JoyfulHeart]

We went in '17 with a 3 & 5 year old. We skipped Epcot due to many ppl telling we should. Tried to leave early or mid day for naps (this never happened, they were too amped up to sleep) and did MK 3 time, HS1 AK1. This worked for us. Since then obviously Epcot has gone under many changes. in 21' with a 7 dd & 9DD we did MK 3 days and 1 at other parks. both DD wanted to trade our 3MK day for HS. They loved Minnie & mickey ( went on 3 times) and star wars, plus toy story mania. This was without any shows. We are doing 6 days again this time and doing two at MK and HS with 1 day at AK & epcot. It depends on you and your kids. my kids LOVED HS second only to MK. It has a lot of rides that they enjoyed ( my kids are not thrill ride seekers), Epcot was really big with a lot of walking YDD got overheated and we left early. It it wasn't for frozen I don't think she would even want to go back. ODD enjoyed it and wants to go back, but I am not sure she would ever want to do two days. But that's my kids. I am not sure we could fill two full days of stuff to do there, maybe two half days?

 

[Anna131517]

Have you considered a water park day? I think a second day at AK could also be nice with a five year old.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

As a family with littles, we do usually take breaks in the afternoon.... but we don't take full rest days (even on 10+ day stays) because littles don't really REST. So we just take daily afternoon breaks instead. It doesn't necessarily mean a nap, it might just be swimming or whatever, bc we found last time with our then-2 year old, she just wasn't going to sleep on command. It was pass out in the stroller or bust. Which also meant bedtime was a non-thing in Disney. She flat out would not just "go to bed." It worked out really well for us actually, because we could push our kid around Epcot or Disney Springs, eating and drinking and shopping, until she passed out. Then we'd just get her back to the hotel and transfer her into bed no problem. Since her sleep schedule was so crazy and off-schedule, those stimulation breaks were really important in the afternoon. We found that if we went to a park, then hit the pool, she would finally fall asleep while husband and I showered and got ready for the evening. Granted, we have another kiddo on this trip and who's to say what will work for him? My point being, it's going to be trial and error so don't feel like you need to keep a "normal" schedule.

Beyond that, I think you've got more time at MK than you're actually going to need. I would drop the third MK day and sub it with another Epcot day or another Animal Kingdom day depending on your interests, or maybe a water park.