Need help on deciding what park to do half a day on arrival day?

[maryj11]

I cannot decide which park to do on our arrival day. It will just be my 13 year old granddaughter and myself.
We will not be able to go to the park we choose again during our stay but only on this day. We are trying to decide between HS and Epcot. She said either one is fine with her.

It will be in August during all the Frozen Summer Fun at HS and we would like to enjoy most of that but I know we will not be able to see the procession at 11:00.
We will not be riding all rides and seeing all shows but just doing our favorites.

At Epcot we would like to do the Behind The Seeds Tour which we would book the last tour that starts at 4:30. We also will just pick a few of our favorite things to do here, instead of trying cram everything in.

Should we leave a whole day for HS to enjoy all the Frozen activities or will half a day be enough? Or Should we do Epcot on our arrival day ? I like Epcot a little more than HS but didn't know if the Frozen Summer Fun activities will make it more exciting than Epcot or not ?

 

[maryandtyson]

I would choose DHS, unless she is a huge Frozen fan. That park offers the least for my DDs, 10 and 13. We ride ToT, TSMM, Star Tours, Muppets 3D, and we like the drawing class. Other than that, there just isn't much in that park. We have done Fantasmic once in 10 trips. That was fun but not repeatable for us. Alternatively, my DDs love World Showcase and can't get enough. Everyone is different, of course. You might want to ask your granddaughter what she prefers. Have a magical trip!

 

[misse320]

I cannot imagine only spending half a day at EPCOT. It would be nearly impossible to see everything. For our family, DHS is only a half day park. I haven't read about all the Frozen stuff, but it still doesn't seem like that would take all day.

 

[starsweeper]

For our arrival day, we're going to DHS because there isn't much there for little ones (8, 8, 4 & 3). We're eating lunch at T-Rex Cafe for my dino-obsessed 4yo, then going to DHS with FP+ for the Frozen Sing-a-long, Star Tours and the Toy Story ride. We'll hit a few shops and check out a few less crowded things like the Muppets show and leave before the Fantastmic crowds.

 

[maryj11]

For our arrival day, we're going to DHS because there isn't much there for little ones (8, 8, 4 & 3). We're eating lunch at T-Rex Cafe for my dino-obsessed 4yo, then going to DHS with FP+ for the Frozen Sing-a-long, Star Tours and the Toy Story ride. We'll hit a few shops and check out a few less crowded things like the Muppets show and leave before the Fantastmic crowds.

That sounds like a plan.

 

[maryj11]

I guess I should post what we would like to get done so maybe someone can help us make a decision on which park for arrival day.

At HS
Eating at Sci Fi already have a reservation for 5:35pm
Rockin Roller Coaster - with FP
Great Movie Ride- with FP
Muppets Show
One Man's Dream- we have never done this ?
The Magic of Animation - if we get time. We have never done this either ?
Frozen sing a long
Beauty and the Beast show if we get time
Fireworks of course- does that have fastpass ?
I will probably remove one of these off the list- One Mans Dream, Beauty and the Beast or Magic of Animation because I don't think we will have that much time.

At Epcot
Test Track- with FP
Ellen's Energy
Spaceship Earth - with FP
The Seas with Nemo- with FP
Check out the aquarium
Behind the Seeds Tour which takes an hour
The Circle of Life if we get time-another attraction my GD has not done
Eat at Chef's

 

[itchin2go]

I think you'd be missing out on a lot of what World Showcase has to offer if you condense Epcot to a half day.

On our last trip, we did DHS only at night, ate at Hollywood Brown Derby and did 2 rides (FP+). It was enough. There's just not much to do in that park. As far as Frozen activities, everyone is different, but my 13 y.o. daughter was not interested. However, she adored the French Bakery and the shops in Japan!

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

DHS is generally open later in the summer if you want to maximize your time.

 

[maryj11]

I think you'd be missing out on a lot of what World Showcase has to offer if you condense Epcot to one day.

On our last trip, we did DHS only at night, ate at Hollywood Brown Derby and did 2 rides (FP+). It was enough. There's just not much to do in that park. As far as Frozen activities, everyone is different, but my 13 y.o. daughter was not interested. However, she adored the French Bakery and the shops in Japan!

Yeah I was looking at the two different parks on the Disney site and HS did not have that much to do. I thought if the Frozen Summer Fun was extra fun we would make it a whole day. We have never been to the Frozen Summer Fun, but we both like Frozen. So we are not sure what to do.

 

[maryj11]

DHS is generally open later in the summer if you want to maximize your time.

Thanks for the info. I did go check out the crowd calendar from last year on touring plans and it was open until 9:30

 

[maryj11]

I would choose DHS, unless she is a huge Frozen fan. That park offers the least for my DDs, 10 and 13. We ride ToT, TSMM, Star Tours, Muppets 3D, and we like the drawing class. Other than that, there just isn't much in that park. We have done Fantasmic once in 10 trips. That was fun but not repeatable for us. Alternatively, my DDs love World Showcase and can't get enough. Everyone is different, of course. You might want to ask your granddaughter what she prefers. Have a magical trip!

Yes I feel the same about HS, we did Fantasmic a couple years ago and neither of us was that thrilled about it. There is more to do at Epcot that I like. I did ask her and she said either one is fine with her. Her favorite park is MK.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Animal Kingdom

 

[maryj11]

Animal Kingdom

I would do Animal Kingdom if it was open later

 

[CarolynFH]

One Man's Dream is a walk-through museum about Walt Disney's life, and as a Baby Boomer who grew up watching the Disneyland show and its later iterations, I don think you should miss it! You can go through quickly if need be, but don't miss the film at the end!

 

[maryj11]

One Man's Dream is a walk-through museum about Walt Disney's life, and as a Baby Boomer who grew up watching the Disneyland show and its later iterations, I don think you should miss it! You can go through quickly if need be, but don't miss the film at the end!

Ok good, I would really like to see it. I think it will be very interesting.

 

[IslandAdventure4]

Why don't you choose what ever park has EMH? That way you can get the most of your half day in the park....

 

[maryj11]

Why don't you choose what ever park has EMH? That way you can get the most of your half day in the park....

The only one who has EMH is Animal Kingdom that day and it is morning EMH. They close at 6:00.

 

[IslandAdventure4]

The only one who has EMH is Animal Kingdom that day and it is morning EMH. They close at 6:00.

That stinks... Sorry.....

 

[mrzrich]

I guess I should post what we would like to get done so maybe someone can help us make a decision on which park for arrival day.

At HS
Eating at Sci Fi already have a reservation for 5:35pm
Rockin Roller Coaster - with FP
Great Movie Ride- with FP
Muppets Show
One Man's Dream- we have never done this ?
The Magic of Animation - if we get time. We have never done this either ?
Frozen sing a long
Beauty and the Beast show if we get time
Fireworks of course- does that have fastpass ?
I will probably remove one of these off the list- One Mans Dream, Beauty and the Beast or Magic of Animation because I don't think we will have that much time.

FYI...You cant FP+ The Great Movie Ride and Rocking Roller Coaster. Both are Tier 1. So is Fantasmic BTW.

 

[LoveToTravel2001]

I would do HS. Epcot really is a full day, you would miss a lot if you skip World Showcase. Is there a particular reason you wouldn't do it?
HS is something we've done in half a day but being there at rope drop to do main rides without FPs and then using FPs for other things. We've done Fantasmic once with the dinner package and as DD said 'It was ok. No need to do it again.' The rides/attractions you are looking at for HS we've not experienced huge waits for other than RRC.
We've never been for Frozen stuff so I'm not sure how that will effect you.