If you had to skip a park?

[tmclanton]

We are going to Disney for the first time next May. We will be there Sunday-Saturday, but plan on actually going to the Parks on 4 of those days with a couple days of rest.

We have a son, 5 years, and I am trying to make the most of our plans! With him being the main reason we are going, would it be best to spend 1 day at each of the main parks or should we skip one of the parks and go to 1 of the parks twice (MK)?

Any suggestions????
Thanks!

 

[ndgqccmiller]

Okay I would most likley skip Epcot. I hate to think of skipping any of them, but if I had a five yr old I would think he would prefer Lion King show, Everest, the Safari ride, all the animals, Kali rapids. But it usually closes around 5:00 so you could head to another park for fireworks.

 

[Honeymooner04]

I would spend one day in each of the parks. If you planned ahead I think you would be able to see most of what you would want to see in 1 day. I think you would be disappointed if you missed out on one of the parks.

 

[Princess Roo]

I would probably make 2 sets of plans...One where you hit each park once and one where either Epcot or MGM was scheduled for the last day and you could then decide after you've been to MK whether you need a 2nd day there. If you show up at opening at MK, though, I think you can see "enough" and then do the other parks the other days.

 

[hthrbells]

Mgm

 

[mom2aredhead]

We didn't even make it there until our son's 3rd trip - So much for the little ones in the other parks

 

[MinnieNurse]

I would spend 1 day in MK, MGM, and Epcot and then spend the other day 1/2 Animal Kingdom and 1/2 Magic Kingdom (or whichever park you liked best). I love Animal Kingdom especially for your sons age-but we usually never spend a whole day there. If you dont get to see everything its a good excuse to go back-I have been using that excuse for years.

 

[MartDM]

Given his age, I'd skip Epcot. It's a large park to do in one day and there isn't a ton that would appeal to a five year old.

 

[DisneyMagicMommy]

We are going in November and didn't want to skip any parks. Our sons are
16 months, 3 yrs, and 4 (almost 5) years. We are going to spend 1 day at each of the parks (except epcot)...and then park at the TTC and spend and extra 1/2 day at MK and then take the monorail over to epcot to do the few thing they wanted to do there (SSE, hopefully it will be opened...if not they still want to see "the big ball"...another was the nemo ride and turtle talk, and watch illuminations)...DH and I didn't think there would be enough for them to do at EPCOT that would use a whole day which is why were just doing the evening half there.

 

[oldbay]

I disagree with some of the PP's. My 5 yo son loved Epcot. His favorites were test track, Soarin, the kidcot stations, making his own take home robot for free, the soda taste testing, the maze in england. A lot for an energetic boy to do! We went twice with a 5 yo to Epcot in one week.

The only thing he liked at MGM was Star wars and the honey I shrunk the kids playground, so if you aren't into those I'd skip that one.

Have fun on your trip, it is a great age to go!

 

[The Disney Bunch]

I skip Animal Kingdom - we live near several zoos- Bronx Zoo is the biggest so there is no real attraction for me. Also I think there is more walking there than anywhere else.

 

[discookiemonsta]

I know this will never be the most popular answer, but I would say to skip MGM. I don't think we will ever return to MGM..we really did not like it there at all

On the other hand, I would never even consider NOT visiting Epcot...we loved Epcot and there was quite a lot there for our daughter to keep her happy.

Also, I think when you have small kids, try to plan for at least 2 days at MK.

 

[ndgqccmiller]

Agggggggggggggggh! The horrible decisions. I said skip Epcot, but my son said no way. I really would try to do it all. We are going next Oct and plan to go the 3-12th and I feel like that's not enough time. But my husband said that's it for a few years. He wants to take the kids to Chicago, NY, Maine. So I want to fit everything in. Good luck I know I wasn't much help.

PS might try to sneak a weekend in w/ just me and my husband in 2009 for anniversary, but he doesn't know yet!!

 

[DreaGirl]

We leave in 4 1/2 short days and we are skipping MGM. Of course, my DD is only 16 months old, so she really has no opinion yet.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We would never skip Epcot. Even when Ds was little he loved it there. If I had to skip a park it would be MGM. If you are going to have hoppers, i would play with the days and spend several evening at Epcot and Even the last part of the day you go to AK. Now this is what I would however suggest. The more days you have on park passes, the less each day is. We added day 8 for just a few dollars. We also have found that spending less time on any one day but spending more days in the parks works well for us. With only one day in each park you are going to feel rushed to see it all and be really tired. If you can go to the parks any day, you feel more comfortable with taking a pm break or cutting a day short if you are tired. Just something to think about.

 

[TruBlu]

Epcot is DS5's FAVORITE park by far! I wouldn't skip that. But, I would do MK 2 days. SO.... I think I'd skip either MGM or Animal Kingdom. It really depends on what you like. We probably spent the least amount of time in AK. There were only a few things that we really loved there. DS rode Everest 5 times, hated Dinosaur (scary), didn't really care that much for the safari, and loved Kali. At MGM he loved the Muppets, Star Tours, TOT, and the Little Mermaid show. But honestly he would have passed up either of them to spend another day at Epcot or MK.

Whatever you decide you are going to have a fantastic time, so don't stress about it too much!!!

 

[tadamom]

We always do 1/2 day MGM. I know a lot of people would never miss the shows but we don't do them. Maybe when the kids are older (they are 6 & 2) we will hit the shows but my kids would rather ride the rides than sit through a show. I also think Animal Kingdom can be done in 1/2 a day. We live in Atlanta with a zoo and aquarium so seeing the animals isn't that big of deal to us. When we do 1/2 days at a park, the other 1/2 is spent at Magic Kingdom. There is just soooo much to do there, that I think it takes more than 1 day to do it all, especially with a 5 year old!

 

[tmclanton]

Thank you so much for all the advice! I did not expect to get this many responses do quickly!

I think a good choice will be to do AK in the morning and do MK in the afternoon/evening on one of the days. I just read that they will be having the Pirates and Princess Party again next... hopefully when we are there!

So for now, I think I will plan on spending 1/2 a day at AK and then do the Princess and Pirate party that night. That will allow us to spend a day at each of the other parks (maybe have larger afternoon breaks for MGM) and still have a day to rest at the hotel. And that will give us 1 full day and 1 evening at MK. If we need more time at MK we can go after the Character Breakfast I am planning before we leave!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[hddanis]

My DS5 year old LOVED EPCOT! Test Track and Soarin were his favorite rides of the entire trip. He also had fun trying foods in the different countries.

When I take the girls in Jan, we're doing AK and MGM as 1/2 days. There's just not enough interest at either park to make full days. I'd be perfectly happy to skip MGM altogether, but we haven't seen Fantasmic yet and DD13 insists on doing TOT and they both want to do RnR.

 

[pigget74]

I disagree with some of the PP's. My 5 yo son loved Epcot. His favorites were test track, Soarin, the kidcot stations, making his own take home robot for free, the soda taste testing, the maze in england. A lot for an energetic boy to do! We went twice with a 5 yo to Epcot in one week.

The only thing he liked at MGM was Star wars and the honey I shrunk the kids playground, so if you aren't into those I'd skip that one.

Have fun on your trip, it is a great age to go!

I would say skip MGM as well. We only go for less than half the day there anyway and there is a lot more to do at EPCOT. Good luck.