Have a little time- but trying to pin point where we will be on what parks, so I can make the right ADRS. Based on the advice I got here. This is what I am thinking. Going to be in WDW over the F&W marathon weekend.
Thursday- Flying in staying at airport
Friday- head to Poly drop off our bags then head to MK because I know my daughter will have to see the castle first thing for it to feel real.
Saturday- MK (since on monorail) then break with a trip to Animal Kingdom maybe. Traveling with two little kids. is AK worth it? we wouldn’t be doing of the major rides, looks like we could catch a show and see some animals. Maybe dinner there?
Sunday- Hollywood Studios for the morning. Maybe Mk after our break if anyone is up for it.
Monday-- heading to Epcot! id love to end the trip at MK but we will see.
we have park hoppers, so we can be flexible. Maybe I’m overthinking this but I want to pick the right parks!
Trying to plan because based on your advice I know we need a game plan. I am the only one who has been to Disney, and that was over 10 years ago.
Thanks for all your help this far— taking your advice and avoiding Epcot for the weekend.
So much is a matter of personal preference, how old the “little kids” are, and what they like or don’t like.
You’ll definitely want 1.5 - preferably 2 - days at MK. If you kids are old enough to appreciate animals, then I would say that AL is definitely worth at least half a day. KS is excellent, the walking trails have animals to see, and both all three shows are well done. If you’re planning just for your kids, DHS may want to be the park to skip - unless you have someone who is really into Star Wars. Yes, there are a several appropriate sshows, but very few rides for them. EP is huge and has quite a number of rides that they could go on and maybe enjoy (again depending on their ages).
Thank you! My kids will be 5 and almost 2. HS would be for the Disney jr characters. My husband likes star wars and Indiana jones show I thought he would like… I agree it would be a quick trip for us.
I’m torn on AK. Seems off by itself, so longer to get too. But my 5 year old would like the animals. Hard to decide. Epcot we left til Monday because of the food and wine festival on the weekend.
Hard to figure out how to make a fun trip that’s not too overwhelming.
With kids that age I would plan to do 2 full days at MK, 1 day at Epcot and 1 day at HS and skip AK. With such a short trip you won’t possible get it all in. You can then take afternoon rests and possible hop to a park in evening to see show fireworks after a much needed nap and rest. Pushing little ones usually is disastrous for there is so much overload for them and then off their schedules. But you know your kids the best and how they handle early mornings or late nights. When my boys were little they were troopers and would be fine napping in their strolllers and/or at TS meals mid day, but not all do well with that.
I would. Kilimanjaro Safari, where you’ll be driven though the animal-filled savannah, plus both Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical were huge hits with my kids when they were 3, 6, & 8. Beyond that, stay or hop back to another park are all up to you.
Ditto on not pushing your littles too hard - and be sure you talk about your expectations and plans as you go. It’s a good way to get feedback on how they’re doing throughout the day, and you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
AK is definitely worth it. Your kids would probably love the Kilamanjaroo Safari, plus there’s the trail you guys can walk through. There’s some shows as well. I think AK is worth it more than Hollywood Studios if you’re not going on major rides.
In Hollywood Studios, the attractions are Toy Story Mania, Rockin Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror and Star Tours. You guys probably aren’t doing the Rollercoaster, Tower nor Star Tours so going to Hollywood Studios wouldn’t be as fun IMO.
By the way, on my May trip, I’m going a day early to stay at the airport hotel also lol.
Thank you! Okay-- Ill keep AK-- If we do HS Ill plan on it being a pretty quick visit. Was thinking of the breakfast with the Disney JR characters and maybe a show or two… then head out.
Airport hotel seems like the best place to just crash since we will get there after dinner time and my kids have early bed times. This will definitely be a trip! lol
Planning on a good 3 hr hotel/ pool break everyday. for naps or pool time.
Im also planning on a double stroller so the older one can rest too…
Also my husband wants less of a plan and more of a just go and see stuff vacation… from what I read we need a plan and FP! So I’m trying to make a plan that doesn’t feel like a plan. if that makes sense! We will have an opportunity to get the extra FP-- Im wondering if I should. I think the more time we don’t have to wait in a line the better my kids will hold up. I also read I can make them at a different park for the afternoon?
Thanks for the advice! Im just ready to be able to book more!
Once your initial FastPasses are used, you can get more on a rolling basis. Just go into the app (or the in-park kiosks) and pick whatever you want that’s available. All it can do is reduce your waits for things you want to do.
You absolutely can grab FastPasses in a different park later in the day. Just select the park you want when you’re making a new FP reservation.
Follow up question! If I have 2 MK days— do you split up stuff by lands? So fantasy land and tomorrow land then— adventure and frontier? Need to work on my TPs! With 2 little kids does that make sense?
Last time we didn’t have TP and we had MK three days so we just enjoyed it and rode whatever we wanted. It’s not that large of a park like AK or EP. This time we have two days so we’ll break it up just as you said unless we find ourselves with extra time and want to ride a ride that doesn’t look like it has a long wait on the TP app.
I know you have already decided on AK, but there are some great characters there for littles too. Doc Mcstuffins, Russell, King Louie, Pocohantus, We go in two weeks and have DD8 and DS4 and we are pretty much staying away from Pandora and going to enjoy the rest of the park.
Not especially. It all depends on where you are staying. I would argue that from the AS it takes longer to get to MK than it does AK. In all honesty, it seems that no matter which resort or which park, the bus ride falls in to 15-20 minute window, barring unexpected traffic issues (I can’t comment on FW as I’ve only ever gone there by boat from the MK).
You know, when weighing the AK versus HS, don’t forget that the child-friendly aspect will improve a bit once Toy Story Land opens. So there will be a few more options there available. Then again, AK has Dinoland USA in addition to what was already mentioned.
Only bringing it up since I didn’t notice anyone comment specifically on the opening of TSL.
This is certainly a reasonable approach, especially with littles. As an adult, I typically only plan 1 1/2 days at the MK; one full (RD to closing) day, and a second AM. I typically plan out my first day and leave the second day mostly unplanned; I’ll RD rides I missed the day before (or want to re-ride) and then play things by ear.
