Three days at MK and one at Epcot or two days at each?

[ClapYourHands]

7 day trip. Non hoppers. I'm there with my 4-year-old daughter for whom everything will be new. I've decided on 1 day AK and two days DHS, but trying to decide how much time I should dedicate to Epcot. I'm pretty sure MK will be her favorite park. If we did 3 at MK, we would do it day 1,4,7 with the others sandwiched in between. Second guessing myself with Epcot.

 

[davedmaine]

Half a day at Epcot .. Not much to do there right now

 

[ClapYourHands]

Half a day at Epcot .. Not much to do there right now

Interesting. I would have thought character meets in WS would be very time consuming since there are no FP. I was afraid we might be too rushed for one day.

 

[mickey520]

Without park hoppers, and wanting to do the character meets, you can still fill a nice day at Epcot. If it's all rides all the time, definitely not enough to do at Epcot. Still, one day is probably enough for your 4 year old.

 

[Krisshay13]

my vote is 1 day at Epcot with a 4 yr old

 

[Always teaching]

I agree.. one day at Epcot is plenty with a four year old. Finding nemo ride, aquarium attached to it, Mexico boat ride, some snacks , seeing some characters but not much else for more than one day. In my opinion, magic kingdom will be much more enticing and memorable for a young child.

 

[Tomh]

Normally, I would say two days at Epcot, but with a four year old, and with Epcot kind of in a shambles at the moment, probably one day will be enough for you.

 

[Disneylover99]

Plan for 3 at MK and 1 at Epcot and switch it to 2 and 2 once you get there if necessary. You might find your four year old daughter loving the Kidcot fun stops in World Showcase.

 

[maryj11]

Hmm I would do 2 and 2 unless the construction is making a big impact on Epcot. I know some are saying the 4 year old would probably like 3 days at MK, but mom needs to have fun too! There are so many great places to eat at Epcot and WS is so big. Maybe get hoppers and hop if you you think you have had enough of either park.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Hmm I would do 2 and 2 unless the construction is making a big impact on Epcot. I know some are saying the 4 year old would probably like 3 days at MK, but mom needs to have fun too! There are so many great places to eat at Epcot and WS is so big. Maybe get hoppers and hop if you you think you have had enough of either park.

Thanks for the thought about Mom's fun! I have never been able to really enjoy WS because I’ve always been ride focused. I think this trip will be more WS than FW anyway. The construction means DD won't get the chance to do some of the interactive things that used to be in FW like the paint experience, and I don't think she'd enjoy some of my must-rides from previous trips (like TT or Mission Space).

Unfortunately, hoppers would add over $250 to my ticket costs because I bought them before the price increase. Maybe I should have purchased them from the start, but at this point, the price increase isn't worth it.

Plan for 3 at MK and 1 at Epcot and switch it to 2 and 2 once you get there if necessary. You might find your four year old daughter loving the Kidcot fun stops in World Showcase.

This is a good suggestion. Fortunately, FP at Epcot are not an issue the way they would be if I were trying to add a day at HS.

 

[yorkieteacher]

With a four year old there is less to do. I'd do a morning that included FP for Frozen, FP for Seas with Nemo, rides on Figment and the Mexico ride. Then just enjoy the Seas exhibits and character meets, which are MUCH easier than any other park. She might enjoy breakfast at Akurshus or Garden Grill with the characters, and some of the Kidcot stops. We went to every one with my 7 year old grandson as part of his assignments from missing school, and some of the staff were not that engaging with him. Mexico was wonderful, so was Germany and Canada, Japan, France and Norway. China not so much, UK not so much, Morocco not so much, Italy not so much. I know it depends on what CM's were there at the time, but the enthusiastic ones who wanted to share with my grandson really stood out. You should be able to leave by 2 at the latest.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Then just enjoy the Seas exhibits and character meets, which are MUCH easier than any other park.

How long should I budget for the character meets? There are some characters like Mulan, Aurora, and Snow White that only meet at WS. Without FP do the lines move fairly quickly? I'm used to seeing wait times for the meets at MK on the app, and those are often 30-40 minutes. I don't think I can handle waiting that long for every character.

 

[mickey520]

How long should I budget for the character meets? There are some characters like Mulan, Aurora, and Snow White that only meet at WS. Without FP do the lines move fairly quickly? I'm used to seeing wait times for the meets at MK on the app, and those are often 30-40 minutes. I don't think I can handle waiting that long for every character.

It was a mix for us on our most recent trip. Most waits were around 15 minutes but we did wait closer to 30 for Minnie I think. We found that the waits were shorter than the "pop-up" characters in other parks. Do be sure to check the times guide though since they do change. Also, if it's raining be sure to watch for alternative meeting locations. We found Alice hidden in one of the gift shops. As we walked out we saw people waiting at her normal spot who didn't see the small note about the location change.

Edit to add: Snow White also meets at MK right at the front next to City Hall - and actually when we met her there was NO wait.

 

[yorkieteacher]

How long should I budget for the character meets? There are some characters like Mulan, Aurora, and Snow White that only meet at WS. Without FP do the lines move fairly quickly? I'm used to seeing wait times for the meets at MK on the app, and those are often 30-40 minutes. I don't think I can handle waiting that long for every character.

I don't believe the characters have fast passes at Epcot. The lines were always short-we never waited more than five minutes, but we try to arrive about the time the meets begin. The lines that have wait times listed at MK do have fast passes available. In Epcot, we have met Minnie, Pluto, Alice, Mary Poppins, Belle, Mulan, Jasmine, and Aurora all around World Showcase.

 

[ClapYourHands]

I don't believe the characters have fast passes at Epcot. The lines were always short-we never waited more than five minutes, but we try to arrive about the time the meets begin. The lines that have wait times listed at MK do have fast passes available. In Epcot, we have met Minnie, Pluto, Alice, Mary Poppins, Belle, Mulan, Jasmine, and Aurora all around World Showcase.

No, you’re right that the Epcot character meets don’t have FP. There used to be a FP for the Character Spot, but that was closed down last September.

I’m wondering if the lack of FP works to keep the standby lines moving at a better pace than at the other parks where FP is available.

DD is planning on disbounding in her blue dress to meet Alice and Belle in WS. She has a plain blue dress that she insisted on wearing when it was too cold for a sleeveless dress, so I put a white shirt under it, and when she put on her headband, we discovered quite by accident that she looked a lot like Alice. If I pop an apron and a blue hair bow in my backpack, she’ll be ready for her Belle meet, too.

 

[Kaadk]

If you main reason is to see the princesses, maybe do the meal at Akerhaus. Seeing a princess there, you don't then need to see her again at her 'home' country.

But to the original questions, we did a whole day with the 4 and 5 year olds just doing WS. It's a long walk for short legs. If your focus is just on rides, then maybe skip WS all together. Or, only as far as Norway for Frozen, you pass Mexico on the way, so you can hit that one too, and that's pretty much it to see ride wise in WS until Rat opens later this year. If you really want to see WS, take in the culture, take in the shops, and take in the unrealistic portrayal of Canada, (admittedly, I haven't seen the new movie yet, but the old one painted us as pretty primitive), then you'll want to plan time to make that trek, and to make it more interesting for the 4 year old, probably the kidcot stops.

The aquarium after Nemo and the play centre after mission space are both great spots for some stop and rewind downtime with a young'in. When our kids were that age the playgrounds tended to be things they wanted to see the most, and pulling them away from that because we have limited time to get to the next ride can make the experience not so great. So I'd plan on 2 days at Epcot, spread out what you want to see, and take it leisurely.

 

[alwayssmile]

We just did 3 days at MK with no regrets. Next time we do Epcot we'll just do a couple of rides and spend most of the day in the world showcase. No need to schedule a second day there when it's a kid focused trip.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Interesting. I would have thought character meets in WS would be very time consuming since there are no FP. I was afraid we might be too rushed for one day.

Depends on how many character meets your kid wants to do. I remember dragging my poor dad back and forth between world showcase because I wanted to meet the princesses there...I was 34

 

[ClapYourHands]

Depends on how many character meets your kid wants to do. I remember dragging my poor dad back and forth between world showcase because I wanted to meet the princesses there...I was 34

Well, this is her first real Disney trip, so she hasn't done one before. We have Disney+ so she has been watching ALLLLL the Disney over the past few months. Every time she watches a new movie, she wants to meet the "real" version of that character at WDW. I've had to prepare her for some disappointments - with 101 Dalmations you would think Disney could find ONE dog available to meet fans, but apparently not. And Moana is off traveling somewhere, and not meeting anyone, either.

However, I have no idea what we are going to do during all those meets. At this point, she is planning to tell Elsa that she shouldn't slam the door on her sister, but that's about as much as I've managed to get out of her. No idea if these will be fun or super awkward. I just don't want to miss out on the Epcot-only characters if we're only there one day.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Well, this is her first real Disney trip, so she hasn't done one before. We have Disney+ so she has been watching ALLLLL the Disney over the past few months. Every time she watches a new movie, she wants to meet the "real" version of that character at WDW. I've had to prepare her for some disappointments - with 101 Dalmations you would think Disney could find ONE dog available to meet fans, but apparently not. And Moana is off traveling somewhere, and not meeting anyone, either.

However, I have no idea what we are going to do during all those meets. At this point, she is planning to tell Elsa that she shouldn't slam the door on her sister, but that's about as much as I've managed to get out of her. No idea if these will be fun or super awkward. I just don't want to miss out on the Epcot-only characters if we're only there one day.

It is possible to meet a good chunk of the characters in one day at EPCOT. I met the sisters and everyone but Jasmine, Snow, & Mary Poppins. I also met Baymax, Joy, & Sadness. You can sometimes meet them at MK instead, which is what I did.

Checking the MDE app helps as you can filter by parks & characters to see who will be available.