My first WDW trip

[sirvin12]

I am wanting to take my girls to WDW in 2015. They will be 6 and almost 10. How many days do you suggest for each park for kids my girls ages? I have been to Disneyland many times but am completely clueless about WDW. I know I need more time and am thinking 8-9 days total with a day at Universal as well. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Aliceacc]

We normally do 7 nights, 8 days in Disney. It's never "enough" but it does give us the opportunity to get in all our absolute Musts.

As to how to allocate those days... We get park hoppers, so we spend most nights at either Epcot or the Magic Kingdom. I would figure one day at AK, one at DHS, and the rest of the time split between the other two parks.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We too usually spend 7 to 9 days with Park Hoppers. AK usually 1/2 or 3/4 day with the night at MK. My older girls love HS so we usually are there 1 1/2 days. We all love EPCOT so we are at EPCOT a lot. We usually stay in the EPCOT area so we can go to EPCOT everyday to do a quick ride - or get something to eat or shopping in the countries. MK a minimum of 2 full days plus some partial days. We love going to MK at night during EMH and can go on rides several times in a row without waiting.

Ask any questions.

 

[Kristina4109]

Our last trip we spent 8 nights and seven full days, spending our arrival evening in the parks as well. This worked so well for us that we're doing the same for our upcoming trip.

It's so hard to know what your kids will find fascinating and want to do more of, so it's hard to say what park(s) you'll want to spend the most time in. We are also Disneyland regulars, so a lot of people think we'd spend less time in the Magic Kingdom, but we're actually planning on 2 full days and our arrival evening there!

 

[esquared221]

We always do at least 2 full days at MK. It's big and has A LOT to do. It's also our favorite We usually do AK one day and while that park is the largest acreage-wise it doesn't have as many rides so we head back to the hotel in the early afternoon for a break. We've been doing park hoppers so we'll usually hit either HS or Epcot around dinner time on our AK days. HS is about the same. We either plan to get there slightly later or leave in the early afternoon, hitting another park in the evening after a break. Our kids are younger (7 and almost 3) so there's not as much to do for our youngest there. Epcot is huge and we usually try to do 1 full day and a partial. You could easily do just the stuff at the front of the park in one day and the Countries part on another full day.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Just a rough suggestion, but 1 day each at AK, DHS, TL, and BB. 2 days each at MK and Ep.

We found one day at MK enough, but most don't. AK was our favorite, but EP was the one that needed the most time. Every family is different. Ideally, you'll leave a couple days "unplanned" and you can choose what parks to visit those days after you've been to all of them once.

 

[sirvin12]

Thanks for your advise everyone! I have another question. Any advise on a where to start with my trip planning? I have been looking around the disboards and it is making me feel even more overwhelmed. Any good place for WDW newbies?

 

[happymommy]

You can get some helpful information also on allears.net - especially for menus!

I'd say the length of time really should be dictated on how long you want your vacation to be, and what your budget it is. I've done as short as 5 days (first time I took the kids by myself when they were 4 and 6 but had already been a couple of times) to 15 nights (in 2012 when they were 13 and 15 and we had a great deal at condos so it was a super inexpensive and fun trip).

For me, ideally a trip would be 10 days or so. Realistically, I have to go by my kids' school schedules so it's usually a week to 11 days or so.

Our first trip with our kids was 11 days, and it was great to take our time and really enjoy the vacation! We swam, relaxed, saw shows, just took it all in.

Also you can check out mousesavers for any info on savings too!

Good luck planning!!

 

[ShayBells]

3 days at MK 2 days at Epcot broken up between future world and world showcase. One day at HS and one day at AK. One day in the middle to rest.

But it is preference. I can do HS and AK in a half day each. Other people need two days for AK. I would start out with one park a day than check your favorites and go back to them to get what you missed.

Either way have fun!!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[JeanfromBNA]

Thanks for your advise everyone! I have another question. Any advise on a where to start with my trip planning? I have been looking around the disboards and it is making me feel even more overwhelmed. Any good place for WDW newbies?

I'm a big fan of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World for trip planning. You'll still want to check the DIS for the latest schedules, ride closures, and the most recent news on FP+, which can change overnight.

Also, if you want Be Our Guest dinner reservations, get them the very first day that you are allowed. I was a week off that, and they were gone.

 

[MandiC]

We did 2 at Epcot, 2 at MK, 1 at HS and 1 at AK. I think that was pretty perfect but in the future I'd do a day in the middle with no parks. So we could swim or spend some time at Downtown Disney or look around the resorts.