Which Park Each Day - 2 Adults and a Toddler

[Jess_S]

I'm getting close to my FP booking day and need to tie down which parks we'll be in each day. This weekend, we extended our park hoppers so that we can visit the parks on both arrival and departure day, which has me revisiting our plan. Originally, we were going to skip DHS, but now I'm thinking of doing a half day.

We're visiting at the end of September with light to moderate crowds predicted. Here's what I have planned so far:

• Sunday arrival day -- we have an ADR at EPCOT
• Monday - EPCOT day (firm -- ADR booked)
  
• Tuesday - MK day (firm - ADR booked)
• Wednesday - AK (firm - lunch ADR) -- considering park hopping in evening to see fireworks
• Thursday - planning morning at the pool. Considering MK or DHS for afternoon. (MK has EMH, so would be more crowded). We have an ADR at Sanaa that night if it makes a difference.
  
• Friday -- departure day, but not leaving until 2 p.m.-ish. Considering MK or AK. MK would be less crowded.

We will have a car with us and we're staying at AKL. As always, your thoughts are much appreciated.

 

[FallsChurchDad]

How old is your toddler, how tall, and what are they like? Would they enjoy shows, or might they go crazy sitting for a half hour? Have you been to WDW before, and how often might you go in the future?

If you have the hopper anyway, I would certainly do at least a half day in HS, and I would definitely do MK on your departure day.

 

[branv]

It's funny, we're going in November with a toddler, and your plan still looks much like ours.

We are probably doing:
Sun/arrival day: Epcot
Mon: Epcot
Tue: MK
Wed: morning DHS (Playhouse and TSM for DS, ToT with riderswap for us). Midday break. MK for dinner, MSEP and Wishes
Thurs: MK (late arrival)
Fri: MK
Sat: AK


As you can see, we have prioritized MK for our DS. Though we are still going to ride plenty of our favorite rides using Rider Swap and FP+. If your DS loves Disney Jr/Mickey Mouse Clubhouse like ours, DHS is a good visit to see Playhouse Disney. And of course TSM. But if I had to choose between a second day at MK or one day at DHS, it would definitely be MK. But I'd choose DHS over AK just because my DS isn't hugely into animals and we go to the zoo frequently. Plus, ToT is my second favorite ride but there isn't anything I'd regret not doing at AK. But that is obviously personal preference. The only reason we aren't able to do Epcot in just one day is F&W. Otherwise, we could easily do the toddler friendly stuff at Epcot in FW, plus Soarin' (with FP+ and RS) and WS in one full day. In your shoes, I'd either do MK on my arrival day, DHS on Thursday (and if you end up doing everything fast and don't care about Fantasmic, either Epcot for WS in the evening or DTD), and I'd do MK on my last day.

But, of course, that's with my and my toddler's personal preferences in mind. And in our case, were taking afternoon breaks, plus MK closes at 7 reach of our MK nights. So we've built in lots of rest time.

 

[Jess_S]

How old is your toddler, how tall, and what are they like? Would they enjoy shows, or might they go crazy sitting for a half hour? Have you been to WDW before, and how often might you go in the future?

If you have the hopper anyway, I would certainly do at least a half day in HS, and I would definitely do MK on your departure day.

DS is almost 3. Currently, he's just shy of 36 inches. He could always have a growth spurt, but I'm working on the assumption that we won't be doing any coasters. Whether he'll enjoy shows really depends on the show. He has a long attention span if he's interested in something. (We did a Disney Cruise with him last year and he loved one of the shows and asked to leave almost immediately for another). It's always interesting to see the differences between kids, branv. DS is fascinated by animals and also likes dinosaurs, so I'm expecting him to love AK. He'll honestly probably like all the other parks too. Generally, if he's outside and doing something new, he's happy.

I did the college program 10 years ago, but haven't been to WDW since. Though we're not planning to be annual visitors, we will definitely go back in the next few years when DS is big enough to try out some of the coasters. DH and I are not planning on doing any rides that DS cannot ride unless his nap and a short standby wait time happen to coincide. For that reason, I think we'll wind up skipping RnR and ToT even though those were mine and my husband's favorites (10 years ago, at least) if we do go to DHS.

 

[PxyShan]

When we went in December with our almost 3 year old, we focused on rides we could all do together too. It was so much fun!

Departure day, yes, MK all the way. If you get there before opening, you'll be able to get in so many of the great family rides before it gets too busy. We were able to get in 5 rides in 30 minutes on our last morning. Also, take a walk over to Barnstormer, your kiddo may just be big enough as I believe it's 35" height required. Our son LOVED that ride, but he is a daredevil.

I've wanted to do the Disney Junior Live! on stage because I think my DS would like it, but we never wanted to stick around Studios long enough to do it. We spent a half day there and at Epcot and don't feel like we missed out on anything. We thought we could get a whole day at Epcot, but we ended up doing only half days there, just because there was more to do at MK. It seemed to be more than enough for our kiddo, he was asking to leave after being there a few hours (we went in the evening for our ADR). Though character greeting at Epcot is nice to do (sometimes better then MK) if your family is into that.

We didn't do AK, but it sounds like a good fit for your family.

For your Thursday plans, could you maybe do Studios in the am, then go back to AKL for nap and pool time? Then you would be there for dinner and could head out for fireworks that night if you were feeling up to it.

Out of the six days we had in the park, we spent at least 4 of those at MK for at least part of the day. There's just more to do there as a family for us than the other parks. Whatever you decide to do, have a great time!

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

We took my son at just over 2.5. He loved HS. He was completely mesmerized by Disney Jr. Live on Stage, loved Toy Story Midway Mania and DID NOT want to leave the amazing Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground there.

Just make sure you're going into this knowing your plans are subject to change with a 3 year old. By the 2nd day I was on MDE rearranging our fast passes. Our schedule was definitely thrown off because it can get pretty exhausting (in a good way!) after a couple days. I feel like having that flexibility made the trip so much more enjoyable.

 

[Jess_S]

PxyShan, were there any issues with riding the Barnstormer with a kid under 3? Disney's website suggested that there was an age restriction on that ride, which is one of the reasons I was thinking my son wouldn't be able to ride it. If that's not an issue, I think he might be interested. We took him to a carnival recently and he was asking to ride some of the little coasters and spinning rides, but unfortunately he was just under the 36 inch height requirement.

DHS in the morning might be an option, but I don't want to lock us into any fastpasses that mean we have to get up early since I'm planning to try and be at MK and AK when they open earlier in the week. Maybe I'll try to put them all late morning/early afternoon so that we are covered whether we decide to do a morning or afternoon swim. NottheBatesMotel, was it easy to change fastpasses? Although I really like the idea of the PF+ technology, all of the pre-selecting of ride, show and meal times is taking away some of the flexibility that's kind of essential to traveling with a little guy. (And on an unrelated note, I was bummed to see that the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground is going to be undergoing a refurb during my trip. Based upon the photos, DS would have really enjoyed playing there).

Thank you all!

 

[FallsChurchDad]

There is no age restriction on Barnstormer, and it has some zip, but the whole ride is about a minute long, so it's a very good first coaster. Even if a kid is upset or scared, the ride is over before the feelings can elevate. Our 3.5-year-old really enjoyed it. He was tall enough for some of the bigger rides, which he did enjoy even more, but we still ended up going back to Barnstormer at his request - he rode it three times on our trip.

 

[Jess_S]

Thanks! I'm happy to hear that. DS doesn't like being told he's too small for anything -- he's very insistent that he's a big boy now.