Advice appreciated

[Maks Alexander]

Hi everyone!
So I'm planning for our Disney trip this year and I'm having a hard time deciding how many times I should go to Magic Kingdom.
Our plan currently is: HS, AK, EP, MK, MK.
However, from experience I know that I won't be able to ride everything in Magic Kingdom that I would like in 2 days as the wait times can get up there and I'm wondering if I should skip Animal Kingdom to go to Magic Kingdom a 3rd day!
Now for the record last year we did: MK, HS, EP, MK, EP because last minutes we decided we wanted another day at Epcot. So why I know I don't want to skip AK again (even though I didn't regret it), I also know I want to get to ride everything I didn't get to ride at MK last time on this time around. What do you guys think?

 

[BigRedDad]

You can easily do all of the rides at MK in 1 day. With that said, can you do all of the rides, all of the street shows, parades, etc? No. If you are not rope drop people, it will be hard because you can do half the rides in the first 2 hours of park opening. FPs cover the big rides and the others will not have long waits.

I personally love AK. I know it is not an all day park, but RoL and Pandora are changing that. I will not skip a park to add a 3rd day at another.

 

[Maks Alexander]

You can easily do all of the rides at MK in 1 day. With that said, can you do all of the rides, all of the street shows, parades, etc? No. If you are not rope drop people, it will be hard because you can do half the rides in the first 2 hours of park opening. FPs cover the big rides and the others will not have long waits.

I personally love AK. I know it is not an all day park, but RoL and Pandora are changing that. I will not skip a park to add a 3rd day at another.

Last time we focused on parades/shows/low wait time rides. While I'd agree normally you'd be able to get most/all rides in one day, the problem with this time is we are taking my niece who is 2 and since it'll just be my mom and I, everything we want to ride we'll have to be there for double the time. When my mom rides (say Space Mountain for example) I'll have to watch my niece and when I ride my mom will have to watch her. The other day we plan on just meeting characters, shopping and going to a show or two. I'm thinking now maybe it might work if the day we go to AK, we go going to MK at gate drop first and ride a few things then park hopping to AK for the rest of the day.

 

[Schneewittchen]

My family routinely does all MK rides in 2 days, and many of our favorites twice. We are rope drop commandos (myself, DH, DS7, DD4). We always skip the 3 pm parade and the live shows. And we only do table service for dinner. And we tend to skip character meet & greets because we do so many character meals. We always get FPs for Splash Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Tomorrowland Speedway.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Hi everyone!
So I'm planning for our Disney trip this year and I'm having a hard time deciding how many times I should go to Magic Kingdom.
Our plan currently is: HS, AK, EP, MK, MK.
However, from experience I know that I won't be able to ride everything in Magic Kingdom that I would like in 2 days as the wait times can get up there and I'm wondering if I should skip Animal Kingdom to go to Magic Kingdom a 3rd day!
Now for the record last year we did: MK, HS, EP, MK, EP because last minutes we decided we wanted another day at Epcot. So why I know I don't want to skip AK again (even though I didn't regret it), I also know I want to get to ride everything I didn't get to ride at MK last time on this time around. What do you guys think?

Who is traveling? I would give different advice depending on ages of children, if any.

 

[Maks Alexander]

Who is traveling? I would give different advice depending on ages of children, if any.

My 2 year old niece, my mom and I

 

[JillC LI]

I would definitely NOT skip AK if you are going June or later, as both RoL and Pandora will be open.

^^^ This. You can surely do all of MK in 2 days if you arrive at rope drop and it is not Xmas or Easter week.

 

[Chaset24]

For our trip this year, we are only going to Hollywood studios on the first day, since it is so bare at the moment.. We might go to it on a half day with Epcot.. I personally believe that Hollywood studios at the moment is half day park..

 

[Maks Alexander]

I would definitely NOT skip AK if you are going June or later, as both RoL and Pandora will be open.

A plan for you, mom and 2yo niece is tough. So much I would want to do that a 2yo cannot, and rider swap for just one is not fun to me - I like to be with someone.

Personally, I would look at what your niece can ride/attend with you, and use that to gauge how much time to spend at HS and Epcot, and likely end up with just a half day at each of those, or skip one altogether. I would still plan for a full day at AK, to experience as much time as possible in Pandora, and get to experience the RoL show at night. Then, you would have at least two full days at MK, and possibly some extra time if you hop from Epcot/HS after the half days there. Keep in mind that even with a half day, you will likely want to eat lunch in that park before hopping to MK, and probably would not arrive at MK until after 4pm.

We're actually going in early May so I know I won't be missing anything I couldn't see next year but I'm still torn over it as we skipped it last year as well. I'm the same way with rides and I'm trying to get a friend to come down for maybe 2 days but if it comes down to it I guess I'll just have to suck it up and ride with a stranger lol.
I ended up deciding to go to HS by myself and taking the star wars guided tour since my mom is fine with skipping it and taking my niece for an extra day at MK because there's so much more they can do there.
So I believe it'll look like this:
Me - Mom/Niece
HS | MK
*AK/MK | *AK/MK
*EP/? | *EP/?
MK | MK
MK | MK
* Hop days most likely
I think this might be the best for us personally after getting feedback and researching

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

I'm not a huge fan of AK. In the past we have also skipped AK during our trips. It just isn't our favorite park. Unless we have park hoppers, which we don't usually, that's the only time we would go there in the morning of one of our days. I would say skip it. There isn't much there for a 2 year old to do anyway. Just my opinion.

 

[GVentola]

Park hopping is not something I would recommend. It can be exhausting and stressful, especially now that you have to go through security at all parks. The first time I tried doing all the current Disney theme parks in a day (before Animal Kingdom opened), I got sick with a very painful headache. I especially wouldn't recommend it with a two year old niece. I would do one park a day. I would not skip Animal Kingdom--there are lots of live animals there, and children tend to love animals.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

I would not skip Animal Kingdom--there are lots of live animals there, and children tend to love animals.

I agree. Little 2 year olds tend to to animals. There is the petting zoo at Rafiki's Planet Watch which she should love. The safari and the jungle trek where you get to walk through an aviary should be enjoyable for her. It is also more tree covered so it provides a lot of shade than MK.

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

Not even the viewing of animals on the trails, safari and Rafiki's planet? Our grandson loved all of the animals, and also the Lion King show.

It's just my opinion when compared to the other parks....

 

[contrariwise]

I think 2 days is enough for MK. Now, whether you just want another day to re-ride stuff your niece loves is another story. It kind of depends on how badly you want to see stuff in other parks and how much you think there is to do at the other parks for your niece. I'm not sure I would add hoppers just to hop for 2 days.

Let me also say this. I know if feels like you are stuck with whatever you plan because of FP+, but I was able to switch around some days mid-trip the last time I went. It took a bit of watching the app for availability, but I worked it out. And MK is easier to work with because of so many FP attractions. So, one plan would be to book FPs with your 2 days at MK plan, but then if your niece really wants to go back to MK again, switch around some things.

I have never done WDW with a 2 year old. My daughter was probably 7 or 8 the first time she saw Animal Kingdom. I know it's more than a zoo (we actually had a great time there recently), but she was just really not into it when she was younger. We have a really good zoo at home and I think it just felt like more of that to her. Obviously not all kids are the same. But as others have pointed out, there should be some big new fun things going on at AK when you visit.