WDW - MK or HS for two days?

[ljca79]

We will be a WDW in the spring for five days. Boys are 5.5. and 2.5. We plan on a day at MK, a day at HS, a day of rest, a day at MK, and a day at AK. I keep thinking, though, that we should be spending two days at HS. It is our first time, so I'm not quite sure what to do! TIA for advice.

 

[100acreHiker]

HS is not a two day park, I'm afraid. We were done with it by mid afternoon, but did stick around until close because we had Fantasmic tickets and wanted to see the Osborne Light show. MK, on the other hand, is very hard to see all of and enjoy in just one single day. We did 2.5 days for MK on our last trip, 2 days in Epcot, 1 day in HS, and it was just right (we skipped AK).

Have fun!

 

[ljca79]

HS is not a two day park, I'm afraid. We were done with it by mid afternoon, but did stick around until close because we had Fantasmic tickets and wanted to see the Osborne Light show. MK, on the other hand, is very hard to see all of and enjoy in just one single day. We did 2.5 days for MK on our last trip, 2 days in Epcot, 1 day in HS, and it was just right (we skipped AK).

Have fun!

Oh really? Wow - thank you! Then I guess we will stick with the plan...at least for now. Now to figure out whether we should do CRT for breakfast or skip it in hopes of being "family of the day" - I know, I know...but hoping has to count for something, right?!?

 

[RustManFan]

No way could I find 2 days worth of things to do at DHS. In fact now that my DD and DS are adults we usually skip this park altogether. Hopefully new things they will be adding in years to come will make it worth visiting again for us.

I would never EVER skip AK. Currently my favorite park

 

[dachsie]

I agree. DHS isnt a park that will hold the interest of the ages of your kids for 2 days. Stick with MK for 2 days

 

[tinkerbee]

Without kids I can barely find enough to fill one day, with kids I can stretch it out. Stick with your plan. Have a great vacation!

 

[dwheaton]

I'd say that even a full day at DHS will be pushing it given the ages of the kids. Your schedule looks good!

 

[DisneyFive]

Those are our two favorite parks, but MK wins out.

We can easily fill two days at HS, but given your question, I would stick with two days at MK and one at HS for sure.

Also, for your day of rest, I might suggest Epcot in the morning, then resting the rest of the day. Or sleep in and rest, then go to Epcot later that day with your FP+'s pre booked for that time. I would hate to miss Epcot, especially the front future world part with Soarin, etc...

Dan

 

[worm761]

I would do 2 days a MK, and one day at each of the other parks if only going for 5 days.

 

[disney world dreamer]

the amount of attractions at HS is dwindling lately as they have been closing older attractions to make way for new ones.

you only need one day at HS.

definitely go to MK two days.
it may be the smallest park in area but it has the most attractions many of which become instant favorites among all ages and you'll want to do them more than once.

personally i'd also go to epcot but it looks like you've ruled it out for some reason. (not enough time maybe?)

 

[avic77]

No EPCOT?

 

[wareagle57]

During Christmas, DHS is my favorite park by far, even though there was little to do. On our 4.5 days we spent a solid 1.5 at DHS, 1.5 at MK, 1 at Epcot, and .5 at AK.

But we did All the shows, plus the Osborne Lights, plus Animation Academy, plus an hour and a half waiting to meet Baymax. We missed a lot at MK and didn't meet any characters except a 5 minute wait for Stitch.

And I would imagine your kids aren't really tall enough to ride 2 of the headliners at DHS, and the Osborne Lights won't be going on.

I would probably suggest sticking to one day at DHS.

 

[wareagle57]

personally i'd also go to epcot but it looks like you've ruled it out for some reason. (not enough time maybe?)

I'd guess it's because he has 2 boys ages 2.5 and 5.5. I'm 28 and I still don't have much interest in Epcot. Visually it does give me the most nostalgic feeling oddly enough though. So I do like that about it.

 

[disney world dreamer]

I'd guess it's because he has 2 boys ages 2.5 and 5.5. I'm 28 and I still don't have much interest in Epcot. Visually it does give me the most nostalgic feeling oddly enough though. So I do like that about it.

i'm also 28 and i have always liked epcot.
i'll admit i was never a huge fan of watching the videos in the countries but i've always enjoyed attractions like living with the land, captain eo, journey into imagination with figment, spaceship earth.... even as a very young child.
i even have a tattoo of figment.
and i also love illuminations reflections of earth and i think its the best fireworks show there is at WDW.

just because one person doesn't like it does not mean the next person won't like it and the only way you'll know is to experience it.

 

[ljca79]

No EPCOT?

I love Epcot myself (or did many, many years ago when I was last at WDW), but, yes, think my kids are too young. no?

 

[Anri]

Definitely stick with two days at MK. DHS is really only a 1 day park and sometimes I feel like it might be pushing it to call it a 1 day park. We visit a lot of the shops so I consider that "filler" time. Personally, I would think that with two young kids you are going to be hard pressed to keep them entertained for a full day at DHS. I generally consider DHS and Epcot (if you go at all) to be half day parks for younger children and MK and AK to be full day parks. I always allow at least 2 days for MK per trip, sometimes more and I still feel like I miss out on things.

 

[Princess Vespa]

My son is 8 and my daughter is 5. My son has been going to WDW since he was 1. EPCOT is one of his favorite parks.
I would not rule it out because of the age of the kids. It is definetly worth a day if you have never been to WDW.

 

[snoopy352]

There is plenty to do at Epcot for young kids - I would do two days at MK, one day at Epcot, one day of rest, and a half day at DHS (morning - do toy story at rope drop) and a half-day (afternoon) at AK. If you don't have the budget for the park hopper on that one day, i'd seriously consider skipping DHS altogether.

(not in that order obviously - MK/epcot/rest/two halves/MK OR MK/two halves/rest/epcot/MK)

 

[Asherry25]

With kids of that age, I would call it a half day, at best. You're pretty much looking at Toy Story and character meets, plus any shows that your kids might like. Maybe the Disney Jr show for the little one, while the older goes on a ride he is tall enough for?

 

[akmolbert]

We went last year when our boys had just turned 4 and 2. We had 5 park days. Spent 3 at MK, one at AK and one at HS. I'd do it again that way in a heartbeat. Our boys were definitely happiest at MK and enjoyed every day there. We spent a full day at HS, mostly because of show times...we didn't do much. Started with breakfast at Hollywood & Vine (both boys LOVED it), rode Toy Story with a FP (we were there the week they did a fast pass only test so were only able to ride once...otherwise, we would have gone straight there after breakfast, which was when the park opened, so we could ride twice), then waited in a long line to see Woody and Buzz, saw the Disney Jr show with FP, ate lunch at 50s Prime Time (I personally wouldn't do that again), went back to hotel for nap time, came back for Frozen Sing Along with FP. Some down time and just wandering around to kill time between scheduled attractions. We would have seen more characters but had already seen most everyone at MK by then. Anyway, just my experience with boys close to the same age as yours.

We also did CRT for breakfast. The boys liked being in the castle and getting swords, but that was about it. My oldest isn't to the point where he thinks princesses are just too girly, but he only posed for pictures with them when they came around to the table because we let him hold his sword in the photos but wouldn't let him touch it while eating. Food was ok. I kind of wished I had a girl with me to watch her get all excited about meeting the princesses...that would have made the experience much more magical. We won't go again most likely, but I'm glad we did it.

I never once wished we had done Epcot. We will be back in a couple of years when they're older but still young enough to like doing most of the "little kid stuff". They were so overwhelmed by everything else - and don't even know Epcot exists - that they were perfectly happy with what we did. And my oldest is a ride weenie, so there's really not much at all there that we would have done anyway.

More info than what you asked about, but I always find it helpful to hear about others' experiences...hope you do too!