If You Could Skip 1 Park...

[missourimomof3]

Going to WDW this fall with 4 kids (9, 7, 6, and 4). Planning on 3 days in MK and 1 day at DHS (for the Disney Jr characters). We have a 5th-day ticket, but obviously can't do both Epcot and AK in one day. Of the two, which would be best to skip this trip?

 

[pskelly]

I know you said you were going to DHS, but honestly for us, that is the one we would skip, cant imagine skipping Epcot or AK, and I know this doesn't help one bit, sorry.

 

[prudence64]

My daughter loves Epcot so I'd choose that.

My least favorite park is MK,but I understand why people do spend multiple days there.

 

[wintershawl]

I think it's hard to say. It would need to be based off of what your kids like. I personally would go with AK only because of all the animals. My DH and I love it there.

At the same time, I just couldn't imagine not going to Epcot.

You may find you won't need 3 days at MK. Just a thought.

 

[dprincessmom]

Typically we either skip AK or DHS when we can only do 3 parks.

That being said, with your kids ages perhaps, pass on Epcot this year and let them enjoy AK.

 

[missourimomof3]

My original plan was to skip DHS b/c I didn't think there would have been much for the kids to do, given their ages. But, I wasn't sure if there were any other park to see the Disney Jr characters.

 

[sethschroeder]

My original plan was to skip DHS b/c I didn't think there would have been much for the kids to do, given their ages. But, I wasn't sure if there were any other park to see the Disney Jr characters.

Not positive about Disney Jr at other places but you could check kenny the pirate possibly?

I just feel that Hollywood Studio is not "kiddish" at the other parks. I feel HWS is more for a teenager who is going to like the thrill rides although they do have Toy Story Mania.

MK - Must go
AK - Its really cool for kids to do the "Safari"/Rafiki Watch/Dinoland, heck were both late 20's and loved the Dinoland area
Epcot - Getting the cultural experience of World Showcase would be way to much for us to pass up if we had kids, they can see all these college age students from around the world are like them - also you have the sea area with Nemo and Crush and what not

 

[redrosesix]

Going to WDW this fall with 4 kids (9, 7, 6, and 4). Planning on 3 days in MK and 1 day at DHS (for the Disney Jr characters). We have a 5th-day ticket, but obviously can't do both Epcot and AK in one day. Of the two, which would be best to skip this trip?

With kids that age we would skip Epcot. Yes, Nemo and Crush are great but it's a very very big park with a lot of walking (are we there yet?) and the WS, although educational (they're on vacation, not in school) really appeals more to adults... until they're all old enough to do the PnF adventures... in a couple of years.

Seriously, my DD disliked this park very much, although she loved parts of it, until she was 11. I personally don't enjoy DHS but there is a lot for kids to do there, especially the shows which appeal to both boys and girls of all ages (at least the first time you're there)

 

[disneybliss2]

I personally would skip DHS. It's my kids (and mine too) least favorite park, but there are still things we enjoy doing there. It's my husband's favorite park. My oldest daughter loves Animal Kingdom. Many people claim it's not their favorite, but we really enjoy it. We all love Epcot too; there's a lot for kids to do here, even at young ages. My youngest loves Magic Kingdom the best. My favorite is Epcot--see how much we vary in our family? Everyone has different tastes so it's hard to recommend a park for another family. I would ditch DHS if you're skipping a park, unless you're set on seeing the Disney Jr. characters. I'd look into which characters are there and see if it's worth it for your family. I would also consider going to MK only two days in order to visit both Epcot and AK rather than skipping DHS.

 

[Disworldluv]

I know you said you were going to DHS, but honestly for us, that is the one we would skip, cant imagine skipping Epcot or AK, and I know this doesn't help one bit, sorry.

I have to agree. Epcot and AK are MUST see's. DHS is boring IMHO.

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

Animal Kingdom has the Safari, Dinosaur ride, a carnival themed area, Expedition Everest roller coaster, Kali River Rapids, the jungle trek. So if you think your kids would like all of that, and are interested in animals, I'd say chose that one. It also has Finding Nemo show and the very popular Festival of the lion king (closed right now).

Epcot has in terms of rides: Test Track, Sourin, finding Nemo ride, Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, Living with the Land, Gran Fiesta Tour (duck ride), Maelstrom. Im sure Im missing some rides but these are the main ones we go on. It has Club Cool (to try free sodas from other countries), and of course we love sampling the ethnic foods in World Showcase! Epcot also has a beautiful fireworks show at night over water, Illuminations.

We would always chose Epcot over AK just because we feel it has more to offer but of course that is just my opinion. My kids did love the animals at AK and we had a nice time but we feel Epcot holds a little more magic for us. we also have been when they do their flower and garden festival and the topiaries are so pretty!!

If you want your children's input, I would google YouTube videos of both parks and their rides and see what one interests them more.

Edited to add 1 more thing: HS is great for young kids that are into Star Wars for they have the Jedi Training Academy ( kids get up on stage to fight Darth Vader- So awesome!!) then there is Star Tours ride, Toy Story Mania, rock n roller coaster. The beauty and the beast live show, voyage of the little mermaid. Indiana stunt show, muppet 3d show. Fantasmic show at night. I am partial to that park because my son is an avid Star Wars fan!! Disney junior characters are there and so cute! I think they have the disney jr show too. It's a smaller park so not as much walking as the other parks.

 

[2009CAN]

We went with our three kids recently (4, 4 & 2). The Disney Jr characters were a MUST with our age group. They liked AK and Epcot, but I'd skip AK if I had to over Epcot.

 

[disneyfamilyfive]

My kids (11,9,7) absolutely love DHS...but they also like shows and characters. They boys are excited about Jedi training, they love the Indiana Jones show, the stunt show and the star wars ride. My daughter loves the little mermaid show and beauty and the beast. Then there are other fun rides as well. It's not for everyone, but if your kids like shows and characters, it is a great place.

Our park to skip is either AK (as we have a great zoo here where we are a member and go to often over the summer) while there are some other great things in Animal Kingdom, we just don't find that it holds our kids attention as well as other parks. While Epcot has some great things, a few awesome rides, it was not our kids favorite park...we tend to skip AK on one trip then skip Epcot on our next trip.

Really, in the end, it needs to be based on your children's interests. I also agree, you may not need 3 days at MK. You likely could get through most of it in two days...but again, that is just opinion.

 

[jade1]

If You Could Skip 1 Park...

Sorry it just looks odd to me. Like it's a lucky break.

I know what you meant though.

Maybe if I "had to" skip one park it would be EPCOT with those ages.

However-where are you staying? If its an EPCOT resort I would skip AK.

 

[beckysko]

I wouldn't skip any - I would do Animal Kingdom in the morning and for lunch(maybe on an EMH morning?) and then DHS in the afternoon/evening.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I think for your kids ages I would skip DHS. The only rides they might enjoy are TSMM, and star tours.....maaybeee TGMR. The rest are older rides or shows. I love DHS but if you're not going to get them to go on the bigger rides it might be a waste of a ticket.

 

[smitch425]

We skip AK. We could never skip DHS or EPCOT. Our kids have always loved both of those parks. DHS has always had much more to offer our family than AK. We started going to WDW when our kids were 2 and 4, and we go once a year. The kids are now 9 and 11. Last year we did 8 park days, and our breakdown was 2 1/2 days at EPCOT, 1 1/2 days at DHS, and 3 full days at MK + MNSSHP. We have 9 park days this year, so we will be returning to AK since we didn't get to ride Kali the last time we were at that park (it was cold that day).

I will say that my kids have never really been interested in animals, and we have a really great local zoo, so once you take the animals out of the equation, you are left with a few rides and shows (all of which have been the same for years). If Disney Junior characters are important to you, you made the right choice to go to DHS. There are a ton of thing our kids love there. EPCOT has so many wonderful rides and shows, and tons of character opportunities that it gets my vote for your 5th park day.

 

[smitch425]

I think for your kids ages I would skip DHS. The only rides they might enjoy are TSMM, and star tours.....maaybeee TGMR. The rest are older rides or shows. I love DHS but if you're not going to get them to go on the bigger rides it might be a waste of a ticket.

I respectfully disagree. We never ride thrill rides and find plenty to do at DHS. Did you miss the part where OP wants to see the Disney Jr. Characters? She cannot do that at any other park.

 

[ariel326]

We skpped AK because Disney Junior at DHS was a must.

With that said, next time around if DS is older and we don't have a second sibling yet, we would skip AK.

It kind of comes down to how old your kids are, what their interests are and what rides they are able to ride.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

For a repeat visit, I'd skip DHS.

For a first time visit, I'd reduce the MK days and see all the parks at least once. Matter of fact, I would not choose which park to visit for a second time until my family had had the chance to see all four and choose a favorite.