More time at Epcot or HS with teenagers?

[ericasatx]

We used to go to Disney every few years but have not been since 2014 and are still struggling with planning due to all the major changes. Also we are going during Texas Spring Break so crowds will be high. I used to just go pay my fee to touring plans, get the crowd calendar and plan accordingly and it never failed me. Our kids were younger so we did lots of character based activities and meals. That is not working this time. Our kiddos will be 13, 17, & 19 so a completely different ballgame. They will want a few character interactions but I know the big rides will be the focus. We are staying at the Yacht Club, Friday to Friday, March 10-17 and I am trying to make a park reservations. My thought is 2 days in MK due to size, 1 day in AK which leaves me 3 days. I can't decide whether to give Epcot or HS the extra day. I looked and I've been a member here since 2008 and while I thought I had kept up with changes, I realized I was sorely mistaken and feel like a newbie. I will gladly take any advice anyone has to offer.

 

[RoseGold]

Epcot unless your kids are really into Star Wars. You'd need to make light sabers and do the Star Wars app stuff and such to make it a two-day park, IMO.

Risk here is that the HS headliners are temperamental, and you could completely miss one if it's down all afternoon. You have to decide whether that risk is worth it to you.

 

[gorkt]

Are you getting park hoppers?

Since you are at Yacht Club I would probably have two of those days at Epcot and one at HS, and if you have hoppers, hop over in the evening if you decide you need more HS time. You can easily shuttle back between HS and Epcot on the Skyliner.

 

[katied]

Another vote for Epcot. DS (15) was very disappointed last year I didn’t allow enough time at Epcot, including letting him just walk around and sample food, so I have promised to “do better” and allocate more time.

 

[holden]

My two prefer DHS, but they do love EP. DHS has more "thrill" rides.

 

[Husker Mike]

So much has changed at HS, I would ask them which rides they are more interested in. I would lean towards HS for the "average" teen, but every kid is different.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We used to go to Disney every few years but have not been since 2014 and are still struggling with planning due to all the major changes. Also we are going during Texas Spring Break so crowds will be high. I used to just go pay my fee to touring plans, get the crowd calendar and plan accordingly and it never failed me. Our kids were younger so we did lots of character based activities and meals. That is not working this time. Our kiddos will be 13, 17, & 19 so a completely different ballgame. They will want a few character interactions but I know the big rides will be the focus. We are staying at the Yacht Club, Friday to Friday, March 10-17 and I am trying to make a park reservations. My thought is 2 days in MK due to size, 1 day in AK which leaves me 3 days. I can't decide whether to give Epcot or HS the extra day. I looked and I've been a member here since 2008 and while I thought I had kept up with changes, I realized I was sorely mistaken and feel like a newbie. I will gladly take any advice anyone has to offer.

So we have teens and I think this answer depends on how you all will tour, what your kids are into and if you all plan to do rides together/split up, etc. My kids are not really into SW but we still like to spend a little bit of time in Galaxy's Edge however, even spending this time in GE and riding all headliners, DHS is nowhere near a two day park for us. Of the two parks, Epcot definitely takes more time for our family to explore. I do have girls and they like to shop/browse so that could play into that too. They love world showcase and find something new every time we go. Even if we dedicated two days to Epcot which we've done, it would be two days of very leisurely strolling with a lot of breaks. The last time we did two days in Epcot, we said that we felt it wasn't really needed. Which leads us to hopping as opposed to full days since we can pick and choose what we want to do and provides a little more flexiblity.

For us, DHS has a great deal more shows and entertainment that our kids are not as into as when they were younger. We went this last spring break and accomplished all we wanted to at DHS with G+, had we gone the week prior there was a major glitch with the genie and rides were up and down all day at the park, so ymmv. BTW, I still use touring plans for the lines app since this is almost always more accurate than MDE/posted times. Also, we didn't even spend a full park day at DHS, we arrived around lunch time, stacked what we could for the afternoon/evening, left to go back to the dolphin and came back to close down the park. Same for Epcot, we felt we could have spent more time in Epcot if we could have but just didn't have it.

Do you have a rest/resort day in your plans? May be worth it to back off on the extra park day and just do MK twice and the other parks once. Totally a personal call but your trip sounds like a blast.

 

[JodyK]

With park reservations being what they are I'd probably book 2 HS Days and 1 Epcot day since studios tends to sell out first you could probably do a last minute switch to Epcot if that is what they prefer. Also gives you flexibility with having the park booked (studios) that tends to have more rides go down so you may need to make an unexpected 2nd visit.

 

[snikki]

I would give the extra day to DHS. My two prefer DHS. They can ride RnRC and ToT all day long. And they enjoy Star Wars but aren’t obsessed with it. My son also grew up on toy story and loves TSM.

Next trip we are doing 9 days. We have a bit more than 2.5 days at DHS (broken up in half days plus a full departure day) and about 2 days in Epcot. 1-1.5 days at Epcot is spent leisurely strolling Epcot. We all enjoy this but the kids prefer the thrill rides at DHS if made to make a choice.

 

[Skywalker3]

Do the kids like coasters/thrill rides? DS is 15, and would pick HS over Epcot, however, we did get an extra/paid ILL for Guardians, on our HS day, after he rode/loved it on our Epcot day. It just had to be scheduled for after 2PM. Otherwise, if not paying for ILL, would likely need the Epcot day to book the virtual queue at 7AM, or in Epcot at 1:00. The only other rides my son really wanted at Epcot were Mission Space and Test Track. He enjoys Soarin, aquarium, spaceship earth, but overall, prefers HS rides. LOVES ToT, Smuggler's run (rode 6 times in a row as single rider this trip,) and RnRC. But, we've also been several times in the past few years, so he knows what he can skip.
PP is very right that HS reservations will go a LOT sooner, and likely run out, before Epcot. can also park hop after 2, and always try to get in rides at end of night. or park hop and enjoy Epcot later in the evening/night
DS used to enjoy wandering the world showcase, shopping in Mitsukoshi, (Perry missions when they had them, ) etc. but now just wants rides w/ as little waiting in line as possible....

 

[sponica]

With park reservations being what they are I'd probably book 2 HS Days and 1 Epcot day since studios tends to sell out first you could probably do a last minute switch to Epcot if that is what they prefer. Also gives you flexibility with having the park booked (studios) that tends to have more rides go down so you may need to make an unexpected 2nd visit.

This is what I have planned. We also have hoppers, so if I don't need that second morning in DHS, I'll switch it to something like Epcot.