New to the boards and have never been to WDW...

[cdvictorin]

I am doing the planning for a trip to WDW for my DH and me. He has been to WDW years ago and I have not been there. We want to go in January 2005. My questions are...

What parks would you say are the post popular? Sorry if it sounds like a "stupid" question, I just don't know.

What parks have the most/least things to do?

What is your favorite park and why?

If you could only go to two of the parks, which ones would they be?

Thanks in advance.

 

[gogiant]

All I have to say is that 3 months ago I knew nothing about WDW (having never been there) and after 3 months of reading this board and buying the Unofficial Book also, I know an awful lot. I am leaving Saturday morning and I am very excited. So I can't really answer your question, but based on what I have found out, it has to be Magic Kingdom and Epcot. At least those are the parks that I am looking forward to most. And ask anything. There are no stupid questions here. Believe me, I should know.!!

 

[goofy4tink]

Welcome to the Dis Boards. You're going to get a lot of terrific info here. And there are no stupid questions. So, I'll give you my opinions...Magic Kingdom is probably the most frequented of the parks. I would say it is by far the most popular, followed by Epcot, MGM and then AK.

But there is something for everybody at each park. MK has all the classics...Dumbo, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Space Mt. Plus much more.

Rather than give you a park by park rundown, I suggest you get one of the many guide books. The UnOfficial Guide to WDW is a good one, Birnbaum's is the official WDW book, PassPorter is a good choice. There are many others. And they make great reading!!!

My favorite park would be either MK or Epcot's World Showcase. Love them both. Animal Kingdom is my least favorite but I visit it each time I go. If I could only do two parks it would have to be MK and Epcot. Especially for adults, you have to do Epcot. Have fun planning and keep reading these boards.

 

[Tiziminchac]

Welcome to the Dis cdvictorin. Goodluck planning your trip. Your gonna have a blast! I tried to answer your questions, but these are just my opinions...

What parks would you say are the post popular? That's hard to say, I don't have the numbers. I would guess MK is the most popular. Followed by EPCOT, MGM and AK.
What parks have the most/least things to do? If your into rides, MK. Animals, AK. Shows and shopping, EPCOT. Some of everything, MGM. They all have rides and shows and attractions for all ages.
What is your favorite park and why?EPCOT is my fav. I like the World Showcase and the street performers there. Plus the great restaurants.
If you could only go to two of the parks, which ones would they be? EPCOT and MK.

 

[Serenity]

Welcome to the Dis!

If I could only go to 2 parks it would be MK and MGM. Nothing beats Fantasmic and Wishes in my opinion.

MK easily has the most attractions - with AK having the least.

My favorite park overall is definitely MK. I find the MAGIC much more alive in this park.

January is a great time to go. We have been the last 3 years in January and just love it. Very low crowds. But be prepared for very different weather. We have worn shorts and sweats on the same trip before - it changes very quickly.

Have a great time planning.

 

[Carrieberry]

Welcome to The Dis! You are smarter than me!! I didn't even find these boards until after I paid full rack rate for our first trip in 1998! I came home, found these boards and started to plan the next trip! Since then I have saved thousands of dollars! Our first trip we stayed 5 nights and our park passes did not even include Animal Kingdom. It cost us over $3500 not including food and souviners! Since then we usually go once a year and spend about half of that for 7 nights! And prices have gone up! So coming here was definitely the smartest move you could have made.

As the above poster said, there are no stupid questions here! Here are my opinions!

1. The busiest park (if that is what you meant by most popular) is by far Magic Kingdom. It is always crowded and in the summer, weekeds or holidays it is almost unbearable for us. Some people handle the crowds much better, but we always go to WDW in the off season and we still limit our visit to MK to once or twice during the week, never on the weekend.

2. The park with the most to do is still probably MK with Epcot coming in second. MK is all about rides, but Epcot is our fave because it has more interesting exhibits in World showcase and we just love to walk around and see everything. The park with the least to do is probably the Studios. I only say this because they have a lot of shows, but not a lot of rides. I don't know, I love all the parks!!! I could spend a whole day at each one and never get bored, but I have heard a lot of people say they could do AK or the studios in half a day.

3.Our fave is Epcot. When we go in the off season (Dec) all of the other parks close early (same in January) and Epcot World Showcase is open until 9:30. So we do other stuff during the day and go to Epcot every night. We love all the dinner choices and watching illuminations. Test Track and Living Seas are two of our faves and we can't wait to try Mission Space this year!

4.If we could only do 2 parks we would do Epcot, because it is our fave, and Animal Kingdom because we just love it there. We always go right when they open, do the safari and walk the trails in Asia and Africa in the early morning. We have lunch and then we do some of the rides. The studios would not be what I would pick (unless you LOVE shows!) though I would be sad missing Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster. I would not pick Magic Kingdom because of the crowds, and well, to be honest I grew up 20 minutes from Disneyland and to me it is the same thing.

Of course these are just my opinions and I know most people would never think of going to WDW and not going to MK and for someone who didn't grow up going to DL 5 times a year it is not to be missed! Have a great trip!

 

[Micca]

Welcome to the Dis I'll echo what gogiant said: Get a book(I recommend the Unofficial Guide) and spend some time surfing here on the Dis. You have some time to learn more about what WDW offers and how to maximize your vacation.

One thing you may wish to address first is the issue of where you are going to stay. Even though you have six months, some of the most popular WDW resorts book up far in advance. That should be a priority. The guide books will help with this too(the UG has a very thorough section of hotels).

Have fun planning. For many of us it's one of the most enjoyable aspects of going to WDW

 

[debkorb1]

Welcome to the Boards!

I won't answer all your questions becuase I agree with pretty much everything that has been said!

My favourite park is the Animal Kingdom - I just enjoyed savouring the incredible atmosphere and of course I love animals! If I could only go to two (and I never would only do two ) I would obviously go for AK and also Epcot. The reason for the latter is that although I didn't really enjoy Future World that much, the World Showcase is one of my favourite things in all of WDW!

As everyone else says, buy the Unofficial Guide and come here every day until January!

 

[jennymouse]

Welcome to the DISboards! As you can see, it's all a matter of opinion on which parks for you to chose. But, you really don't have to choose at all. With Park Hopper Passes you could go to all four parks in one day if you want to. For your first trip you really should sample them all.

Here's a couple more sites that have awsome information.
http://allearsnet.com/

And www.mousesavers.com

Like someone said above, the first thing you need to do is decide where you're going to stay. Don't get a package. Read these boards and the two sites above. Plus, I recommend the Unoffical Guide as well.

It's really smart of you to do your research before you go!

 

[lentesta]

Hi cdvictorin,

Congratulations on your trip. I see that you're in Yorba Linda. If you've been to Disneyland, I think you'll find many of the attractions in the Magic Kingdom similar to that park. The Magic Kingdom is larger, and feels much bigger, IMHO, but if there's one park that "is like" Disneyland, it's the Magic Kingdom.

I'd say that Epcot and the Animal Kingdom are much different than other theme parks, however. Epcot is roughly twice the size of the Magic Kingdom, I believe, and therefore something like four times the size of Disneyland. The park is adult-oriented and diverse, and its general theme is something like "the promise of the future." Even when some of its presentations are slightly outdated (e.g., parts of Spaceship Earth), it's interesting to be able to step back and see how far technology has progressed. Today's cheap cell phones would have been wonderous things 30 years ago, for example, and we can always consider how the heck we can use new technologies to improve people's lives.

Also, Epcot's rides are designed for huge crowds. As you can see from the opinions already expressed, many folks (including me) consider it the best of Disney's theme parks. World Showcase is not to be missed.

The Animal Kingdom, while having fewer attractions than any other park, also invites contemplation. While most theme park guests are conditioned to run from attraction to attraction, the animals are the real stars here. If you have the time to visit, mixing in a few headliner attractions with the animal exhibits will greatly increase your satisfaction with the park.

If you've been to Disneyland, therefore, my two recommendations would be Epcot and the Animal Kingdom. If you've not been to Disneyland, I'd say the Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

Thanks to everyone who recommended the Unofficial Guide.

Sincerely,

Len