What parks would you recommend for adults for the best rides and a great all-around experience if visiting WDW for the first time? My wife, daughter and I are planning on going November 4th - 11th. Wife and I are both in are early 40's and my daughter will be turning 18 when we are there.
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Best Parks For Adults
- Thread starter PearlWhiteGT
- Start date
Unless there are some Disney rides that are on your list of things you really want to ride or see... I might seriously consider Universal if it is all adults. While every Disney park has something for adults, the overall slant for some parks is aimed more at younger kids. MK is very much targeting kids, and while you have a few rides that are for adults they certainly aren't the majority, you'll have Space Mountain and Tron (most likely), Thunder Mountain and if you want the classics you have Haunted Mansion and Pirates. EPCOT has Soar'n, Guardians of the Galaxy and Test Track.. So 3 rides worth doing and that's about it. Studios will give you 2 Star Wars ride, the Tower of Terror and Aerosmith's roller coaster. Animal Kingdom has 4 rides targeting adults, Avatar, Dinosaurs, Everest and a water ride....
Now I will admit that Disney is better at the theme throughout the parks... but for rides Universal is a better deal. Depending on how long you plan on being there I would at the very least do 1 day at Universal. Otherwise you really have to decide what you want from Disney. Are you looking for thrill rides or something else.
Now I will admit that Disney is better at the theme throughout the parks... but for rides Universal is a better deal. Depending on how long you plan on being there I would at the very least do 1 day at Universal. Otherwise you really have to decide what you want from Disney. Are you looking for thrill rides or something else.
Being that we've never been to WDW I know my wife and daughter would like to visit at least a couple of the parks just to experience it. But I do want to visit Universal for two days. I'm actually going to see I can convince them to go for Halloween instead because I read that it's a great time at Universal.
Vegas Disney Fan
Well-Known Member
Are you going to Florida for theme parks or for something else? The 4th-11th is more than enough time for a day at every park, including a day or 2 at Universal.
If you are there for other reasons and only have a day or two to spare I’d say MK and Epcot for the most Disney experience, for a little more thrill I’d say MK and IOA, if you are outdoor people I’d say AK and Epcot…
Not sure there’s a right answer because they all offer unique things worth seeing and unique rides, if I only had 2 days and had to choose though I’d do MK and Epcot.
If you are there for other reasons and only have a day or two to spare I’d say MK and Epcot for the most Disney experience, for a little more thrill I’d say MK and IOA, if you are outdoor people I’d say AK and Epcot…
Not sure there’s a right answer because they all offer unique things worth seeing and unique rides, if I only had 2 days and had to choose though I’d do MK and Epcot.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
You're going for 7 nights for the first time?
All of them.
All of them.
Just going to Florida for Disney and Universal. The week we would like to go is Jersey week and Veterans Day. Not sure how that would affect the amount of people going. I've looked at a few different crowd calendars and they are all different for that week.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Just know that you won't get to see and do everything. We went for 8 days during a slow period and it was just enough to do pretty much every single thing in just the four WDW parks.
Vegas Disney Fan
Well-Known Member
Definitely enough time for a day in every park, assuming the 4th and 11th are partial days (due to travel) I’d do one day at each WDW park and one day at Uni… the big question is what to do with day 6, for me it would be a toss up between a second day at Uni or a second day at Epcot or MK.
If you can swing Halloween then I would suggest you do a Mickey's Halloween party for the time you want to spend at Magic Kingdom. Provided you don't go the week before Halloween the crowds are much better during the party which makes riding the rides you would want much easier than going during the day. Unless things change you would be able to enter the park from 4:00pm on and stay until midnight which might not sound like a long time but it should be enough time for you to do everything you would want to do at MK. Just as long as you don't get sucked into long line meet and greets which can have extremely long lines because they are often with rare characters or characters in special costumes that some people get off on being photographed with.
The Nights of Horror at Universal are worth it if you are into horror stuff like haunted houses... if anyone in your group can't deal with haunted houses then don't drag them to it because they would not be having fun. The upside is that on the Horror Nights in the past I noticed that the parks are not as crowded during the day.
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Depends on how they plan it and what they really want to do in the parks. For some people a day in each park is more than enough time while for others it isn't enough. Frankly I don't think I can recall the last time we spent more than a half day at Animal Kingdom. For my family it is like going to a zoo and we have good enough zoos where we live that we don't need to spend time at Disney's version.... Although if they would get some CMs with cattle prods to make sure you actually saw all the animals on the safari I might reconsider spending more time there.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
That's not what I said.
I said there's not enough time to "see and do everything."
I'm well aware that some people can go to Animal Kingdom for half a day and feel like they "did" Animal Kingdom. However, it is not possible to go to Animal Kingdom for half a day and see and do everything in Animal Kingdom.
Yes, if you skip half the stuff, you need a lot less time.
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Vegas Disney Fan
Well-Known Member
We often split our AK day with Disney springs, we don’t like the dining offerings at AK so we usually leave around 5-6 and head over to Disney Springs for Boathouse or one of the other really good restaurants over there. This also allows us to hit the world of Disney and explore DS without skipping a day in the parks.
jloucks
Well-Known Member
A second vote for all of them (including Universal)
We usually open with Uni (1-2 full days) then head over to WDW, wrapping up with MK.
NelleBelle
Well-Known Member
I’m also going to throw in water parks as well if anyone is into those. Either of the WDW water parks are great (I’d give the edge to Typhoon Lagoon). Can’t say anything to Volcano Bayas we’ve not been there (yet).
Thanks for all the advice. As much as I would love to go for Halloween my wife and daughter really want to be there for when my daughter turns 18th. That will be the same week of Jersey Week and Veterans Day. Do any of you know if that week is as bad as other holiday weeks with the amount of people visiting the parks? I've read that Thanksgiving, Christmas and other major holidays are a 10/10 crowd and off peak weeks are more of 5/5 crowd. I definitely do not want to go when it's anywhere near 10/10, the closer to 5/5 is when I'd like to be there.
Tuvalu
Premium Member
Yes Jersey/Veteran’s Day week is bad. And the following week was just as bad this past November (we were there). Not 10/10, but definitely 8/9 during some parts of the day. None of November is off-peak anymore, despite what the guide books say. I’ve been visiting for many years (multiple week-long visits each year during different months) and the only true “slow” period any more is late August/September.
Can you still have fun? Absolutely. Patience is key. Allow yourself plenty of time to get places, so you won’t feel hurried. Avoid peak meal periods by eating earlier or later. If you don’t want to pay for Genie+, get to the parks before opening….or a couple hours prior to closing….to hit a few attractions with minimal waits. Expect big crowds so you aren’t “surprised” by them. If there aren’t as many people as you expected, take that as a win!
You don’t have to see “everything” to have a great vacation. FOMO is deceptive. (You may end up hating the ride everyone says is a “must”.) Prioritize the attractions most important to your family and aim for them, with anything else being a bonus. Disney is only as stressful as you allow it to be.
I’m sure you, your wife and your daughter will have a wonderful time celebrating her 18th birthday!