Schedule and timing question

[disneyworldnewbie]

Hi, this is my first post, I apologize in advance if I'm asking my question in the wrong thread. I am going to Disneyworld in July with my husband and two children, 3 & 5. We plan on going to Animal Kingdom when it opens and then to Epcot for the remainder of the day. In Animal Kingdom we plan on going to Kilimanjaro Safari, Festival of the Lion King, lunch,and then Dinoland in that order. We then plan on shootin over to Epcot for about 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon and go to the Living Seas and possibly the Land and then go to World showcase to walk around while heading over to Italy for dinner reservations at 6:00. My question, as we have never been to Disney World is if this schedule sounds like something that could be done in one day or impossible with the time restraints. We are staying for 4 full days and plan on touring Magic Kingdom for 2 days and MGM one full day. It is the day of Animal Kingdom /Epcot that I am worried about having enough time for. Thank you for your help.

 

[deide71]

Your Animal Kingdom itinerary sounds do-able, if you get to the park when it opens, but you will really only scratch the surface of EPCOT in your remaining time.

Have you already purchased the tickets for this trip?


I'm asking because you are paying an extra 35.00 per ticket for park hopping, and only hopping one day.

I would suggest devoting the entire day to EPCOT and skipping the hoppers and Animal Kingdom.

Alternatively, I would suggest one full day at Magic Kingdom, one at MGM, one at EPCOT, and one day split with Animal Kingdom during the day, and hopping to Magic Kingdom in the evening, since you have another full day devoted to Magic Kingdom.

Hope that helps .

 

[Punkin's Mom]

I agree. You could easily get AK done in that time, but you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not spending more time in Epcot. This is just my personal opinion, but I'd MUCH rather spend the whole day in Epcot. AK I can do without. Do you have any half days that you could use for a couple of hours at AK? Then you'd have your four full days for MK twice, Epcot, and MGM. I also like Deide's idea to split AK and MK.

Also, with a 3 and 5 year old, I'm not sure they can (or would want to) ride Primeval Whirl or Dinosaur in Dinoland. That leaves you with a Dumo look-alike and a nightmare of a play area (Bone Yard). You'll have to decide if that area of the park is even worth it.

Something else to consider is whether or not you plan on staying for Illuminations. If you do, that will be a VERY long day for the kids. I would be at Epcot for the opening and stay through lunch, take an afternoon break, then head back for dinner and Illuminations.

I hope that whatever you decide, you have a wonderful trip!

 

[mrzrich]

Mom of 2 and 6 year old DS and Aunt to 2 and 4 year old Neice and nephew. AK is their favorite after MK.

The park that required the least time for us was MGM the 2 yr olds could only ride TGMR much of which scarred them. The other two were tall enough for Star Tours and TOT, but were not quite ready for TOT. However, we have been many times and have seen all the shows already, so we only see one or two when we go now. If you want to squeeze in all the shows, then you'll need more time.

Epcot requires a full day. Spaceship Earth, living seas, the land, Imagination, and Test track are all favorites with my group, World showcase has two rides that they enjoy (Norway and Mexico) Its also a great park to see characters. And the food is great!

I would do a good full day at MK, seeing almost everything I wanted, then on another day go to AK in the morning and hop back to MK later that day. I would do this on the day of your trip that MK is open the latest.

 

[Punkin's Mom]

The park that required the least time for us was MGM the 2 yr olds could only ride TGMR much of which scarred them.

PLEASE use extreme caution when deciding whether or not to take your kids on the Great Movie Ride. When we took our 2 and 4 year old, the younger one started wailing/screaming/crying as soon as we got to the gangster part and didn't stop the whole time. Because her little brother was crying, big sister tuned up too. It was totally miserable and I felt horrible AND it was the VERY FIRST ride we did on our trip!

Your kids are a little older, but for an extremely mediocre ride I don't think it's worth the risk. It gets dark and has very loud gun fire. Then a bad guy jumps in the ride car. My poor baby boy still gets frightened by loud noises.

 

[DISUNC]

Hi, this is my first post, I apologize in advance if I'm asking my question in the wrong thread. I am going to Disneyworld in July with my husband and two children, 3 & 5. We plan on going to Animal Kingdom when it opens and then to Epcot for the remainder of the day. In Animal Kingdom we plan on going to Kilimanjaro Safari, Festival of the Lion King, lunch,and then Dinoland in that order. We then plan on shootin over to Epcot for about 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon and go to the Living Seas and possibly the Land and then go to World showcase to walk around while heading over to Italy for dinner reservations at 6:00. My question, as we have never been to Disney World is if this schedule sounds like something that could be done in one day or impossible with the time restraints. We are staying for 4 full days and plan on touring Magic Kingdom for 2 days and MGM one full day. It is the day of Animal Kingdom /Epcot that I am worried about having enough time for. Thank you for your help.

Yes, it sounds very doable!

Since you have Parkhoppers...If once you get to Epcot and see something else your kids might like (or you too...like the Epcot Sphere) and there is not enough time the day you go. I would cut into some of your scheduled the MK or MGM time.

If possible I would leave the very last day for one of your MK days...and if warranted, go back to something else you may want to do that day...along with MK!

 

[mikymouse]

My kids 4& 6 loved Animal Kingdom and it was our 2nd favorite behind the Magic Kingdom. Your plan is very similar to our plan and we did Safari 9AM, Camp Minnie & Mickey 10AM and Dinoland 11AM and done by 12-1PM (we ate a late lunch at the resort because the place was packed!). The pochonas show right next to the Lion King show was very cute and there is character greetings that opened at 10AM so we were able to meet characters without lines when we went before the shows. Dinoland took sooo long as it was starting to get busy and the Dumbo like ride had a big line, we would actually skip this area next time as I thought it was crowded and a bit trashy. My son 6 went on Dinosaur and loved it but he is a HUGE Dinosaur fan he said it was a little scary but wanted to do it again (I forwarned me that it was dark and bumpy and he might get eaten alive).

It sounds like you have a break planned before you go to Epcot for dinner and fun, which is very good because Epcot made my kids tired. We liked Epcot but wish we would have done Epcot first thing in the AM as the place is huge and I needed the kids to have their first thing in the morning energy, but if you go in the evening you can certainly hit a few things and have a nice dinner. My kids loved Turtle Talk with Crush but the line was the longest we waited 30 or 40 minutes but it felt like hours!

I think it is smart to have park hoppers for the first visit, so you can go to the Magic Kingdom at least part of every day! The kids just loved it!!! They are still playing "lets go to Disney" at home now and it just makes me want to book another trip NOW. By the way they were pretending to go on all the fantasyland rides and safari to give you a clue at their favorite parks. They also loved the bus and monorail trips. Have fun on your trip!

 

[mikymouse]

Maybe switch your Full Day at MGM to Epcot and then split a day between AK and MGM. We did not go to MGM but I have heard from friends that we did not miss much. There is a lot to do at Epcot and I think you need at least one full day there.

 

[rlovew]

It all depends on the time you want to spend in the park and what all you want to do. If you arrive at AK at rope drop and go straight to the Safari and ride, then go to the 1st Lion King show (if it is 1 hour or less after opening). If there is more then 45 minutes before Lion King go to Dinoland and do what you want before Lion King Show. You will be done with AK by 12 and could eat here or at EPCOT (which can take up to 30 minutes by bus depending on your wait time). You will be missing out on a lot at AK and I personally like Its a Bugs Life better than Lion King (but have heard it is frightening to young children). If you arrive at EPCOT by 1:30 you will have plenty of time to do SpaceShip Earth, Living Seas, Imagination, and everything other than Soarin' at the land. You maybe able to get FP at 1 but may not. You can then take some time to tour the WS. The biggest thing I would suggest is to get a guidebook and look at what you want to do at each park and then plan out a basic schedule. That will help you make sure you get to all of what you consider important.

 

[momandseandodisney]

Mom of 2 and 6 year old DS and Aunt to 2 and 4 year old Neice and nephew. AK is their favorite after MK.

The park that required the least time for us was MGM the 2 yr olds could only ride TGMR much of which scarred them. The other two were tall enough for Star Tours and TOT, but were not quite ready for TOT. However, we have been many times and have seen all the shows already, so we only see one or two when we go now. If you want to squeeze in all the shows, then you'll need more time.
.

Same goes for us (me and my DS8) we like animal kingdom more then MGM, dont miss AK, but I do this the orginal poster will need more time in Epcot!