Planning help please

[Deb286]

This will be my first trip ever to WDW and I'm so excited. It will be me, my husband and our three children who will be 10, 8 and 6. We're travelling from London and staying for 2 weeks at the end of October 2017 at the GF. We have the free dining plan included and the 14 day ultimate ticket for the parks, which I understand includes MK, HS, AK, Epcot, BB and TL. My problem is I have no idea how much time we'll need at each of these parks. We won't want to rush and will want to fit in rest days at the hotel too.

What I'm actually trying to decide is whether it is worth buying tickets for the two US parks as well. It does add on quite a bit of extra expense - tickets for 5 of us, plus travel there and back, plus food/drinks. As much as I'd love to go to US, I don't want it to be at the expense not seeing the other parks properly.

Just wondered what others thought.

 

[GillianP1301]

With such a nice long time at WDW, you will have the luxury of being able to do everything that you want and not be rushed at all. You're staying at a beautiful resort, so you'll want to be sure to build in some pool/resort relaxation time into your plan as well. If it were me and I had 14 days, I would want hoppers to come and go as I pleased throughout the parks. That will give you flexibility on your dining too. I would probably do 10 park days with a breakdown something like 4 MK, 2.5 EK, 2 HS, 1.5 AK and then I would either do 2 days at US (if this is a once in a lifetime type trip, then I would definitely try to build that into your plan) or add those 2 days to whichever park you enjoyed the most or had things you missed. That would leave 2 days, which I would leave open for relaxation time or maybe a little shopping at Disney Springs.

 

[babyruth]

I think you have plenty of time, but the ages of your kids is what makes me wonder if it's worth it for you. In my opinion US is better for the older kids. My teenagers love thrill rides and Harry Potter. Your kids might be too young (missed the prime Harry Potter popularity?) We are going to Orlando for 10 days and doing US solely because my teen/adultish boys were ALL very into the Potter books as they became released and seeing the new movies was always a must do thing on opening night. If your kids would enjoy the Wizarding World by the time of your trip your kids want bigger thrill rides like in IOA I would do it.

 

[Accident]

I really enjoyed my first day trip to universal. I had no clue what was there except harry potter at the time so I went in with my 2 park, 1 day ticket and had a wonderful day. Basically we went to everything harry potter, spent a ton of time in that area of the parks and then started to wander out and just discover things as we went around.. Worked really well for us althogh we did ask a lot of "what is this ride/attraction" questions to know if we wanted to check it out.

 

[Alice777]

When we went in April this year, we went to US 2 days with park to park pass because that was the only way to ride the train and it was worth the extra. We did rope drop for both days and for us 4 adults, it was enough time to do almost everything. Be warned that Harry Potter land gets really crowded in the afternoon. We couldn't even move it was so crowded but luckily we were able to do all the rides in Potter land in the morning.

We also did 5 days (1 day EP, 1 day HS, 1 day AK, and 2 days at MK) without hopper. For us because we live close to Disneyland it was no big deal if we didn't get to ride everything but because we did rope drop for all the parks, we were able to do most of the rides with no breaks. Unfortunately my April trip was not fun vacation as I wanted to be because it was just too tiring.

Since you have plenty of time, highly recommend getting hopper tickets, take breaks, relax and enjoy parks. Since it's your first time, you'll want to spend more time at MK than any other parks. There is just too many things to ride and do in MK.

I'm getting second chance to go back in November so this time, I made sure I got hopper tickets, made reservations to all the restaurants I want to eat, and ready to relax and have fun!

 

[Lewandowski]

I'd do 3 days at Magic Kingdom, 3 days at Epcot, 2 days at Hollywood Studios, 2 days at Animal Kingdom, 1 day at Blizzard Beach, and 1 day at Typhoon Lagoon. Then the other 2 days choose whichever park you want to go back to. This will give you enough time to do the whole parks and will give you multiple rides on your favorites.

 

[Deb286]

With such a nice long time at WDW, you will have the luxury of being able to do everything that you want and not be rushed at all. You're staying at a beautiful resort, so you'll want to be sure to build in some pool/resort relaxation time into your plan as well. If it were me and I had 14 days, I would want hoppers to come and go as I pleased throughout the parks. That will give you flexibility on your dining too. I would probably do 10 park days with a breakdown something like 4 MK, 2.5 EK, 2 HS, 1.5 AK and then I would either do 2 days at US (if this is a once in a lifetime type trip, then I would definitely try to build that into your plan) or add those 2 days to whichever park you enjoyed the most or had things you missed. That would leave 2 days, which I would leave open for relaxation time or maybe a little shopping at Disney Springs.

Thanks so much for your reply - it's really helpful. I think the tickets we have are hopper tickets - we can re-enter all the parks as many times as we would like during our stay. Your breakdown of days it pretty much what I'd guessed at, the only difference being I was thinking more time at AK and less at EK. I'd only based this on looking at maps and AK looked pretty big. This is supposed to be a once in a lifetime trip, but I have to say I'm already thinking maybe just one more trip!!!!

 

[Deb286]

I think you have plenty of time, but the ages of your kids is what makes me wonder if it's worth it for you. In my opinion US is better for the older kids. My teenagers love thrill rides and Harry Potter. Your kids might be too young (missed the prime Harry Potter popularity?) We are going to Orlando for 10 days and doing US solely because my teen/adultish boys were ALL very into the Potter books as they became released and seeing the new movies was always a must do thing on opening night. If your kids would enjoy the Wizarding World by the time of your trip your kids want bigger thrill rides like in IOA I would do it.

My eldest daughter is into Harry Potter, has read some of the books and watched the films, middle daughter has seen a couple of films and the youngest wouldn't have a clue who Harry is! But I love Harry Potter and it is the real pull to going to US for me.

 

[MichiganScott]

...2 days at Hollywood Studios...

I can't think of what I'd do in there for two entire days, such that it is.

 

[Deb286]

When we went in April this year, we went to US 2 days with park to park pass because that was the only way to ride the train and it was worth the extra. We did rope drop for both days and for us 4 adults, it was enough time to do almost everything. Be warned that Harry Potter land gets really crowded in the afternoon. We couldn't even move it was so crowded but luckily we were able to do all the rides in Potter land in the morning.

We also did 5 days (1 day EP, 1 day HS, 1 day AK, and 2 days at MK) without hopper. For us because we live close to Disneyland it was no big deal if we didn't get to ride everything but because we did rope drop for all the parks, we were able to do most of the rides with no breaks. Unfortunately my April trip was not fun vacation as I wanted to be because it was just too tiring.

Since you have plenty of time, highly recommend getting hopper tickets, take breaks, relax and enjoy parks. Since it's your first time, you'll want to spend more time at MK than any other parks. There is just too many things to ride and do in MK.

I'm getting second chance to go back in November so this time, I made sure I got hopper tickets, made reservations to all the restaurants I want to eat, and ready to relax and have fun!

When we went in April this year, we went to US 2 days with park to park pass because that was the only way to ride the train and it was worth the extra. We did rope drop for both days and for us 4 adults, it was enough time to do almost everything. Be warned that Harry Potter land gets really crowded in the afternoon. We couldn't even move it was so crowded but luckily we were able to do all the rides in Potter land in the morning.

We also did 5 days (1 day EP, 1 day HS, 1 day AK, and 2 days at MK) without hopper. For us because we live close to Disneyland it was no big deal if we didn't get to ride everything but because we did rope drop for all the parks, we were able to do most of the rides with no breaks. Unfortunately my April trip was not fun vacation as I wanted to be because it was just too tiring.

Since you have plenty of time, highly recommend getting hopper tickets, take breaks, relax and enjoy parks. Since it's your first time, you'll want to spend more time at MK than any other parks. There is just too many things to ride and do in MK.

I'm getting second chance to go back in November so this time, I made sure I got hopper tickets, made reservations to all the restaurants I want to eat, and ready to relax and have fun!

I've seen a few pictures of Harry Potter land and it did look really crowded, that does worry me a bit with 3 young children in tow.

Enjoy every moment of your November trip - sounds like you have it well planned out.

 

[Alice777]

My eldest daughter is into Harry Potter, has read some of the books and watched the films, middle daughter has seen a couple of films and the youngest wouldn't have a clue who Harry is! But I love Harry Potter and it is the real pull to going to US for me.

If you like Harry Potter, you should definitely add at minimum 2 days of US to your plan. Rides at HP is different experience and it's really great.

EDIT: I guess we were posting at the same time. Like I said, if you go as soon as they open it's not bad at all.

 

[Lewandowski]

I can't think of what I'd do in there for two entire days, such that it is.

Well keep in mind that Hollywood Studios has a lot of shows that are popular, and to get good seats its important to be there up to 30 min prior to showtime. A lot of them are on a time schedule also and don't perform just continuously. There are also a number of rides there that would probably be fun to do multiple times: Rock N Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, and Star Tours, while a lot of those have long lines. If you really make an effort to see all the shows at DHS, and ride all the rides and some probably multiple times, you will find plenty to do in 2 days. Maybe the second day could be from rope drop until 5 or 6pm.