Days per Park/Destination

S

scritchell

Active Member
All,
After being on these forums for just over a week and reading through all the posts, and advice (Thanks for all those that have helped)
I have a rough guide to 'how many days i would need at each park' to do everything....

Magic Kingdom - 2 days to see all
Animal Kingdom - 2
Blizzard Beach - 1
Epcot - 1
Hollywood Studios - 1
Typhoon Lagoon -1
Universal Studios - 2
Universal Islands of Adventure - 2
Volcano Bay - 1
Sea World - 1
Aquatica - 1
Busch Gardens - 1
I-Drive 360 - 1
Kennedy Space Centre - 1
Discovery Cove - 1
Legoland Florida - 1
Legoland Waterpark - 1

Total of 21 days

So, along with a planned rest day every week during my 3 week stay (i will need it as well as my 7yo), that totals 24 days.......as we will only be there for 21 days (20 with arrival/departure) can anyone give some well needed advice/thoughts please? I am planning of visiting some of the WDW parks in the evenings to cover some things we don't do/miss

TYIA
 
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S

scritchell

Active Member
Original Poster
nickys said:
Yes this ^^^ You CANNOT do everything, really! The parks are huge, there is so much in them.

Even DHS. If you tried to see every show, ride everything, watch/experience all things Star Wars you will need a second day. The people who say DHS is a half day park are those that have been going year on year. Once you've seen a show you probably don't need to see it again until/if you have a younger child who hasn't been. Personally I love Indy, and go every visit, but have never seen the Beauty and the Beast show or Little Mermaid at DHS.

So you need to do some research. Start with what interests you and your son? Go to the WDW site and start looking at the maps. I would get a copy of the Unofficial Guide and read about the parks, look at some videos online.

I'll give a shout out to Josh, aka @nelsonj3 , who posts here and has a website with great videos. Here's a link to a thread he started recently, you can link to his website from there. These give a good idea of the scope of MK,

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...round-the-parks-can-lift-your-spirits.937151/

Then decide what do you really want to see, your "must do" attractions, what are the "nice to do" things, what can you skip. Whittle things down a bit. Then look at the maps and your lists. I also suggest you look at the touringplans site; they have ready made plans or you can make your own. Even just to see how long you can expect things to take.
Click to expand...
Great tips, thank you
Do you have a link to that site please?
 
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S

scritchell

Active Member
Original Poster
James J said:
You still get Disney's Magical Express (DME) included. Taken from my booking confirmation:

"As a guest staying in a Disney Resort Hotel you are eligible for Disney's Magical Express transfer service which provides FREE transportation from and to Orlando International (MCO). Disney's Magical Express is complimentary but must be specifically requested. Please call our Disney Experts on 0800 169 0730* to book."
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and do Universal offer me transportation back to the airport at the end of my stay?
 
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S

scritchell

Active Member
Original Poster
LAKid53 said:
Disney's Magical Express (DME) runs from/to the Orlando airport to Disney hotels. You can probably add that by providing Disney your flight info if you didn't book your plane tickets through them. We drive, so I'm not sure how that would work.
Click to expand...
I will have to look into it, thank you
 
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LAKid53

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
scritchell said:
What do you mean?
I check on the WDW site daily lol
Click to expand...

When Disney offers a special deal, like discounted resort rooms or the free dining, not every resort will participate and not all the rooms at a particular hotel will be included. So maybe for free dining, only 50% of the room inventory at Pop Century will be available.
 
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S

scritchell

Active Member
Original Poster
LAKid53 said:
When Disney offers a special deal, like discounted resort rooms or the free dining, not every resort will participate and not all the rooms at a particular hotel will be included. So maybe for free dining, only 50% of the room inventory at Pop Century will be available.
Click to expand...
Ok thank you, i will look and ensure i get the free plan once it is available
 
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nickys

nickys

Premium Member
21stamps said:
@scritchell

Here’s 2 more recommendations for the heat-

1. Cooling Fan. Best $20 that I’ve ever spent! You can replenish the ice at any drink location or cart.

View attachment 259944

2. Casey Jr’s Play n Soak at MK!!! We all ran around in the water. :)
View attachment 259945
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Don't forget the jumping fountains outside Imagination at Epcot! Love those! And I wish they'd put back the coke can at DHS....
 
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M

Minnie Mum

Well-Known Member
LAKid53 said:
Disney's Magical Express (DME) runs from/to the Orlando airport to Disney hotels. You can probably add that by providing Disney your flight info if you didn't book your plane tickets through them. We drive, so I'm not sure how that would work.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's how it works. When you add the DME option to your package, you give them your flight details.
 
Upvote 0
NelleBelle

NelleBelle

Well-Known Member
Definitely take advantage of the Photopass photographers!! Whenever we saw one, we stopped to take a brief picture and never regretted it!! We have over 350 professional pictures that are just beautiful!! But make sure you download them as soon as you get home because Disney does delete them after a certain time frame. I checked our pictures at the end of every day--you get them on a lot of rides as well, which is also a lot of fun!! This year, when we get Memory Maker, we are going to go to the Disney Springs PhotoPass and take advantage of some cute backgrounds for our pictures!
 
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nickys

nickys

Premium Member
Hi @scritchell! This might sound a little bit odd, sad even, but I've actually been thinking a bit about your plans lol!

So you're being an amazing dad, taking your 7/8 year old (I think you said he'll be nearly 8) on a holiday of a lifetime. And you're right, there really is soo much to see and do.

BUT ..........

The weather will be hot hot hot. And humid. We've been once in the summer, and I vowed never again if we could go other times. My DS, at 15, was so self conscious about sweat patches on his t-shirt that he wore a hoodie to cover them up. o_O Yeah, that worked well, as you can imagine!

We were at Legoland one day and after about 3 hrs the boys were done. They were too hot, and despite drinking a lot of water they were absolutely spent. We spent a bit of time inside but in the end decided to cut the day short. Went back a couple days later, arriving around 2pm, had lunch and then started doing rides around 3pm which worked better.

When we went to Universal to see WWOHP (Harry Potter - only Hogsmeade was open then) we arrived at 3:30, walked across the park as everyone else was leaving and it was great.

My concern about your long list of day trips is that you might just hit the same problem. One very hot, tired youngster who just can't handle the humidity.

PLUS he'll be 8. Sure, he'll remember riding Minions, Spider-Man, Space Mountain etc. He'll also remember the pool. Yep, all that money and he'll rave about the pool and the time he met BB8!

I suggest you leave a few days scattered around which aren't planned out. So when he says "I want to go ride Big Thunder again", "Can we stay here and swim in the pool?", you can. Rather than "Well we're going to Sea World today". Maybe he'd really prefer to spend 2 or 3 hours playing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, followed by ice cream and some time in the arcade.

I work in a primary school. Whenever kids have been to WDW, I always ask them about it, and they'll tell me about "there was this ride and my mum screamed like a baby on it. I think it was Everest. Oh wait, it might have been The Simpsons". And then they tell me about going swimming and the great water slide at the hotel pool. And they have no clue about all the things they didn't do. Or did do but can't remember it.

I can't remember everything on your initial list. But for instance you could start with the Disney parks with maybe a spare day in the middle. Then plan a couple of days, and a rest day, another couple and soon. Maybe have a second day at DHS planned with slightly easier to get FPs which can be changed, depending on what you both feel like that day. And a day where you might do Sea World or something else. :hungover:

Anyway, just some more things to mull over. As if you didn't have enough to think about!
 
Upvote 0
JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
scritchell said:
All,
After being on these forums for just over a week and reading through all the posts, and advice (Thanks for all those that have helped)
I have a rough guide to 'how many days i would need at each park' to do everything....

Magic Kingdom - 2 days to see all
Animal Kingdom - 2
Blizzard Beach - 1
Epcot - 1
Hollywood Studios - 1
Typhoon Lagoon -1
Universal Studios - 2
Universal Islands of Adventure - 2
Volcano Bay - 1
Sea World - 1
Aquatica - 1
Busch Gardens - 1
I-Drive 360 - 1
Kennedy Space Centre - 1
Discovery Cove - 1
Legoland Florida - 1
Legoland Waterpark - 1

Total of 21 days

So, along with a planned rest day every week during my 3 week stay (i will need it as well as my 7yo), that totals 24 days.......as we will only be there for 21 days (20 with arrival/departure) can anyone give some well needed advice/thoughts please? I am planning of visiting some of the WDW parks in the evenings to cover some things we don't do/miss

TYIA
Click to expand...

Regarding WDW, 1 day to see Epcot is impossible. I would make Epcot 2 days and AK 1 day.
 
Upvote 0
LeighM

LeighM

Well-Known Member
scritchell said:
Is AK do-able in 1 day tho?
Click to expand...

Depends on what you want to see and do. I've done AK in one day without doing any of the shows or Expedition Everest. But with the opening of Pandora and the new night time entertainment it might be hard for someone that wants to see the shows and do most of the rides. I love Animal Kingdom and can easily spend 2 days there just enjoying the atmosphere and the animal trails.
 
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