Please Just Decide For Me

[Yentley]

This is my first post. I am trying to plan my first family vacation to Disney World for this fall. You guys are all absolutely wonderful. I've read through so many useful threads and really value all of the input which has helped me evaluate different resort hotels and parks. For our first family vacation to WDW I have it down to two choices of which I can not make up my mind. Both choices would have an equivalent net cost:

1. Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kilimanjaro Club Level Standard Room for 4 nights, 3 days at the parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot), with the Sunrise Safari on Animal Kingdom day.

2. Animal Kingdom Lodge, Pool View Standard Room for 6 nights, 6 days at the parks (2 at MK, 1 Epcot, 1 HS, and 2 AK), with Free Dining.

Can you help me decide this? I've got choice 1 already booked but can swap it for choice 2 this week if need be. Thank you, really. This site is amazing.

 

[Reddy]

I would go with the free dining - there really is something for everyone & for a first visit 6 days will keep you going the whole time

 

[Sally]

Welcome to Dis!!
I agree with Reddy that 6 days and free dining is a great first visit. With a little one, I would enjoy the ability to take a break and come back to the resort for a nap or swim. Disney is a lot of area to cover for a young one, and some of us not so young ones , so trying to break up your day may ease some stress.
See Disney through your child's eyes and you will never be bored.
Have a great trip!

 

[k3chantal]

This is my first post. I am trying to plan my first family vacation to Disney World for this fall. You guys are all absolutely wonderful. I've read through so many useful threads and really value all of the input which has helped me evaluate different resort hotels and parks. For our first family vacation to WDW I have it down to two choices of which I can not make up my mind. Both choices would have an equivalent net cost:

1. Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kilimanjaro Club Level Standard Room for 4 nights, 3 days at the parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot), with the Sunrise Safari on Animal Kingdom day.

2. Animal Kingdom Lodge, Pool View Standard Room for 6 nights, 6 days at the parks (2 at MK, 1 Epcot, 1 HS, and 2 AK), with Free Dining.

This trip is mostly for my 4 year old child who absolutely loves animals and amusement parks. I love you guys but I'm not particularly interested in Disney World myself. It would be nice however to enjoy the trip as much as I can. I maintain a busy pace in life and don't really know how to vacation, especially in one spot. I'm afraid that 6 nights anywhere would bore me to death. I think since the net price would be roughly equivalent that this may be a quality vs quantity choice. I just can't decide. I can't believe how much planning I've already done yet I'm still undecided.

Can you help me decide this and soon? I've got choice 1 already booked but can swap it for choice 2 this week if need be. Thank you, really. This site is amazing.

The beauty of Disney World is that it really is for everyone. Adults can have an absolutely wonderful time too without being freakishly into Mickey Mouse! I have never done the free dining because my husband 'doesn't get it'. But I will say that it is probably better to stay longer and not go to the parks one of the days in the middle. There is so much to do that you are actually going to regret not spending more time at AKL and you will be exhausted (no matter how fast paced your normal life is) if you don't take a day to enjoy the pools and other amenities the resort offers.

Hopefully your child is like mine; they enjoy good food. You will want to make reservations for at least one meal a day regardless of whether you do free dining or not. We love to go to Downtown Disney and eat at Wolfgang Pucks. Epcot has lots of nice quality restaurants such as the Tokyo Dining where they serve sushi. Sanaa is wonderful too!

1. Take a moment to figure out what you want to do each day (like the Sunrise Safari) no vacation should just be about the child
2. Remember there is a ton to do, and no one gets everything done in a ten day trip so completely forget about seeing everything but this fact should also keep you from getting bored. (The internet works really well at AKL so if your four year old needs a nap; you can 'work' on your laptop; I am going to assume you have one. We brought two and were easily able to get on and navigate through where we wanted to go online. Our situation was a little different. We took friends and stayed in a two bedroom villa; their family moves much slower than we do so we knew we needed something to do while we waited for them to leave the hotel room or we would have climbed the walls.

3. My kids absolutely love Epcot (especially when they were around four. When you get to the countries your child can go to the Kidcot stations and get stamps and you can also purchase them a passport that each CM at each country signs. The kids love this and it is always their favorite souvenir.

Don't be afraid to enjoy this trip; the activities and amenities are there for you to enjoy; you just have to have a little faith that Disney has it there for you too.

 

[Metro West]

Welcome!

 

[jesswindsor]

Hello, I would agree with the free dining for a first visit, have fun!!!

 

[ses1230]

I would do the 6 day trip, no question.

 

[Aliceacc]

Four days just wouldn't be enough for me.

I would go with the longer trip anytime. There are 4 different parks, and each is too large to do in a single day... so boredom won't be an issue.

 

[Yentley]

Thank you. It seems we have a consensus. Hopefully there are AKL rooms remaining in the Free Dining block. I can't believe I'm going to be there for such a long stay.

 

[mikkiwikki]

6 days free dining.
It will go faster than you know...
As they say...time flys...when your having fun...

with 4 days the first day would be spent arriving and unpacking...'traveling' as well as your last day...that means you only have 2 days to really vacation....with 6 days at least you have 4 days to vacation...At least that is how I look at it.

WELCOME (ill be vacationing for a 13 day stretch shortly - my family needs at least a week to unwind...!)

 

[Dizisfun]

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[Bonniec]

With Disney, always go with quantity. Even with 6 days you can't see and do everything. You definately won't get bored. I'd always choose the longest visit.