What is an adequate amount of time to spend in the parks each day?

[smsmsw]

Family of four...two adults, 4 year old and 7 year old boys. Staying at AKL end of April 2018 for 7 nights. Will be having several table service ADRs, so trying to balance those with park touring time. What is an adequate amount of time to spend in the parks each day? I know this is totally subjective and depends on each unique situation. However, I found that when we went last year that we didn't really stay in a park for longer than 4 or 5 hours, even less on some days. We would occasionally hop to another park for a couple more hours. Is that enough time to take it all in, in your opinion? I know there is no wrong answer, just looking for other experiences (especially for those where TS dining is also important).

Edited to add: We would likely do several MK visits, a couple AK and Epcot, and maybe one HS.

Thanks!

 

[subtchr]

That would not be nearly enough time to “take it all in”, depending of course on how you define that. Show schedules would be an issue, plus fitting in FP and attractions in general. I can’t imagine limiting myself to 4-5 hours in a park!

 

[hiroMYhero]

@smsmsw ~ After your trip last year, did you feel your family spent enough time in the parks to ‘take it all in?’

Did you feel you had missed out on a number of experiences?

It would be best to base this upcoming trip on what you feel you need to accomplish for your family compared to your previous trip.

 

[smsmsw]

That would not be nearly enough time to “take it all in”, depending of course on how you define that. Show schedules would be an issue, plus fitting in FP and attractions in general. I can’t imagine limiting myself to 4-5 hours in a park!

Yes, totally depends on definition of "take it all in!" I am thinking I need to better determine the timing of shows and which shows, in addition to rides, that we hope to visit. We can do a few separate visits to our favorite parks over the course of our trip, but is it much better to do longer time frames for each park instead? For example, would two 4-5 hour visits be ok vs one 10 hour day? Or would the logistics be too difficult with FPs, shows, parades, etc.?

Thanks for your input!

 

[smsmsw]

@smsmsw ~ After your trip last year, did you feel your family spent enough time in the parks to ‘take it all in?’

Did you feel you had missed out on a number of experiences?

It would be best to base this upcoming trip on what you feel you need to accomplish for your family compared to your previous trip.

Good question. We had such an amazing time last year, but I just wonder if we could have accomplished much more with a better touring plan. We did a good mix of rides, shows, TS meals last year. I just want to maximize our time by coming up with a better park touring plan next year. Other than our FPs, we just kind of winged it for shows and standby rides, which maybe caused us to waste some time.

 

[slpeters]

Never been, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. But it seems to me that particularly if you have been before you shouldn't feel the need to take it all in. Do the things you are going to enjoy in the way you are going to enjoy it the most. It's your vacation. It's not like you're going to sit around twiddling your thumbs with whatever time you aren't in the park. You're going to have fabulous meals and have time with your family, maybe hang out by the pool. Most places you go on vacation that's most of what you do any way. Don't let being at Disney World keep you from enjoying your vacation!

 

[smsmsw]

Never been, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. But it seems to me that particularly if you have been before you shouldn't feel the need to take it all in. Do the things you are going to enjoy in the way you are going to enjoy it the most. It's your vacation. It's not like you're going to sit around twiddling your thumbs with whatever time you aren't in the park. You're going to have fabulous meals and have time with your family, maybe hang out by the pool. Most places you go on vacation that's most of what you do any way. Don't let being at Disney World keep you from enjoying your vacation!

Thanks, that's a great perspective! I'm in the obsessive planning phase right now, so I'm thinking of every detail. I know we'll have a great time and I actually don't want to feel like we are having to constantly run from one thing to the next. I am sure we will find a good balance! Thanks again.

 

[hiroMYhero]

If you didn’t ‘rope drop’ last year, you may want to try that this year to get in a few rides before using your 3 pre-booked FPs. After an afternoon break, return to any park for evening shows.

You can also book your 4th FP of the day while standing in the line for FP#3. You can also pre-book 1 or 2 FPs of the day for Park#1 and while in line for FP#1, you can book a FP for Park#2. (See the FP FAQ ADDENDUM)

It will all depend on how much you want to pre-plan compared to winging it as there is a huge difference between the two.

Your kids are old enough for Jedi Training Academy and if they want to participate, that entails being at DHS well before it opens to sign them up for a session to train against Vader or Kylo Ren.

 

[smsmsw]

If you didn’t ‘rope drop’ last year, you may want to try that this year to get in a few rides before using your 3 pre-booked FPs. After an afternoon break, return to any park for evening shows.

You can also book your 4th FP of the day while standing in the line for FP#3. You can also pre-book 1 or 2 FPs of the day for Park#1 and while in line for FP#1, you can book a FP for Park#2. (See the FP FAQ ADDENDUM)

It will all depend on how much you want to pre-plan compared to winging it as there is a huge difference between the two.

Your kids are old enough for Jedi Training Academy and if they want to participate, that entails being at DHS well before it opens to sign them up for a session to train against Vader or Kylo Ren.

Thanks, we came close to rope drop a couple days and did a PPO breakfast twice. However, we didn't really have a solid plan for park touring outside of our FPs. I think some better planning for that will help and if we are able to rope drop most days. We waited in a long line for Jedi training last year, signed up and then ended up being rained out. However, my son was able to meet Darth Vader for photos instead. We had so much fun, even though we had to adjust expectations on that one! Thanks again, all the input is a big help to me.

Edited to add: Come to think of it, I think a big mistake I made last year was booking fast passes too early in the morning. Essentially wasting FPs during shorter wait times and not having them available during busier times.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Edited to add: Come to think of it, I think a big mistake I made last year was booking fast passes too early in the morning. Essentially wasting FPs during shorter wait times and not having them available during busier times.

That’s why first planning which days you’ll rope drop determines your FP planning.

Rope dropping or a PPO ADR for DHS keeps you from wasting time waiting in line for JTA sign-ups. And you’d have all of sessions from which to choose.

 

[HandsofReiki]

touringplans.com

you build what you want to do, they optimize it.

 

[peg2001]

We had such an amazing time last year...we could have accomplished much more

Trust me, I fall into this same trap every trip. Please reflect on your own words. Having an amazing time and accomplishing as much as possible are NOT synonymous. The second can actually negatively impact the first. Especially with younger children.

I have to continually remind myself that the purpose of our WDW vacation is to enjoy ourselves, not check off as many attractions as humanly possible. It's tough for a "Type A" personality but your family will thank you for the effort!

 

[Bete]

If you take a longer trip at least over a week then you can get by with shorter days at parks each day.

We find using the extra magic hour in the morning most helpful. You can train yourself to do this by practicing at home just before you go to get up earlier. Then, it won't be such a shock. You can accomplish a lot in that extra hour when the general public is not there. You work your way to the back of the park in that first hour and you have some good time in the back of the park before the general public catches up to you. Then, you use your three Fastpasses on rides, not shows. If you get done early with a fastpass then take in an attraction on standby but watch the time waiting to make sure you don't screw up your other Fastpasses. We then break for lunch for a rest. After lunch if you decide you can continue, get a fourth fastpass while eating lunch. Doing shows, not rides in the afternoon provides for more rest. With most shows if you get there ahead of the show time you will get in without a problem. You may not have the best seats, but it's doable.

The other approach is to take an afternoon break, but do it early; so, you can get back to the park for early evening. If your kids won't take an actual nap this may not work. This will involve two commutes and that can be harder on a person. Make sure your Fastpasses are used up in the morning; so, you can go for a fourth fastpass when you return in the evening. Now, you can enjoy fireworks and maybe some late extra magic hours.

Finally, I don't think there's a wrong way with visiting Disney. For us, it comes down to economics. We want more park hours to get our money's worth. You pay for park tickets whether you stay in the park for an hour or ten hours. If long days at the park are tough for you, maybe consider alternating a long day with a short day the next day. Obviously, choose your favorite parks to be the long days.

 

[fla4fun]

If you are a repeat visitor, then I would just spend the amount of time in the parks that you need to accomplish what you want to, not what you think you need to. It's not like there's a right way and a wrong way - there's just the right way for your family. If you really enjoyed your last trip, and didn't feel like you missed out, or wished you had done more, then I would plan a similar trip this time.

I am a frequent visitor, and I would guess that I spend about 4-5 hours tops in the parks each day, with at least one non-park day scheduled midway during my trip. Sometimes it's a morning, sometimes afternoon, sometimes evening, depending on why I'm hitting that particular park on that particular day. I prefer to go back to work a little more rested than I was when I left, and commando touring just doesn't do that for me. But I can totally understand the concept of wanting to be in the parks from open to close, especially if you don't get to go very often.

 

[Lovetherodent]

When my kids were little, 7-8, butbalways took an afternoon nap/break. Now that we’re all adults, 10-12, still with afternoon break, RD to lunch and 3 or 4 til close.

 

[mom2rtk]

I would leave disappointed if I only got 4-5 hours in the parks on a given day. Some are quite happy with that amount of time. We tend to stay for very long days, but we like to see parades, shows and fireworks.

 

[HandsofReiki]

Trust me, I fall into this same trap every trip. Please reflect on your own words. Having an amazing time and accomplishing as much as possible are NOT synonymous. The second can actually negatively impact the first. Especially with younger children.

I have to continually remind myself that the purpose of our WDW vacation is to enjoy ourselves, not check off as many attractions as humanly possible. It's tough for a "Type A" personality but your family will thank you for the effort!

I loved the original insight and this response.

I have a touring plan. I have fastpasses. I have adrs....

But if we are feeling rushed in a non excited way, I will let things go.

I have a plan and willing to deviate.

one thing I l8ke about touringplans, too. I can deviate, then rerun the "plan" to get a new one in case we are done deviating.

 

[Elle23]

We are open to close people, but my kids are teenagers and love the parks.

It’s one reason we smacked ourselves and realized a moderate resort wouldn’t be worth the extra money and booked a value again.

If I had young kids, I doubt I’d spend all day at the park (heck...probably wouldn’t even be at the parks since I always thought vacations with young kids was no vacation at all! )

 

[subtchr]

I guess I should have asked this earlier -- exactly WHY did you end up limiting your days to 4-5 hours in the parks? Were you and your family tired after that amount of time? Did you just feel that's all you should do each day? Was the weather bad?

 

[Sparkly]

If that's what worked and you had a good time, I see no reason to not continue that plan. I did a 12 hour day at MK in September and never again, it was far too hot and I was exhausted and my feet were killing me.

With a good plan and FPs you can get as much done in 4-5 hours as you can in more time, and you can go back to the beautiful resort you chose and enjoy it fully. I enjoyed resort time in September as much as I did park time!