How much time do you need for each part?

[kss]

Hey everyone,

I'd love to hear how much time you need/spend at each park. With kids and without kids. In our case, we'll be 3 adults, 2 of whom have never been to Disney.

The more I read, the more I think we can do the Magic Kingdom in one day. Same with Epcot -- if we skip most of the shows (one of us doesn't speak much English), can we do Epcot's main area + walk through the countries in a day?

We have 5 days and here's the plan so far -

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom
Day 2 - Epcot
Day 3 - MGM Studios
Day 4 - Blizzard Beach
Day 5 - Animal Kingdom or return to Magic Kingdom and Epcot

Whether your situation is similar or not, this should be interesting to read!

Thanks

 

[barnum42]

Depends on what interests you the most. I can spend days at Animal Kingdom, but others who are only interested in "rides" hate the place, they come in do Dinosaur, Primaeval Whirl, maybe the Safari then head out.

Personally I love to take it easy and wander leisurely through the parks.

 

[wannabeBelle]

Hey everyone,

I'd love to hear how much time you need/spend at each park. With kids and without kids. In our case, we'll be 3 adults, 2 of whom have never been to Disney.

The more I read, the more I think we can do the Magic Kingdom in one day. Same with Epcot -- if we skip most of the shows (one of us doesn't speak much English), can we do Epcot's main area + walk through the countries in a day?

We have 5 days and here's the plan so far -

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom
Day 2 - Epcot
Day 3 - MGM Studios
Day 4 - Blizzard Beach
Day 5 - Animal Kingdom or return to Magic Kingdom and Epcot

Whether your situation is similar or not, this should be interesting to read!

Thanks

OK I truly think that each park should be one day entirely. Depending on what you choose to skip and what not you might be right in your planning. Unfortunately the shows and atmosphere that you plan on skipping are a part of what makes Disney special and unique. If all you are looking for is thrill rides, Disney is definitely not your thing. Oh I know about Mission:Space and Test Track, Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster etc. but some of the most memorable things for me involve the little out of the way things that you plan on blowing right past!!!
Within your schedule I would factor in a return to MK or EPCOT on the night for Blizzard Beach as the water parks tend to close early. I usually go with all adults as I dont have any kids. Belle

 

[Laura]

I've been trying to figure this out for myself and I have calculated how long it would take to do each park at a leisurely pace (including waits in line, switching off on the thrill rides because we have toddlers, bathroom breaks, walking between attractions and gift shop visits.)

Here's what I've come up with. This does NOT include any meals, parades, fireworks, or live 'street' entertainment. 19 hours for Magic Kingdom, 10 hours for MGM, 9 hours for Animal Kingdom, and 11 hours for Epcot (for Epcot I did not include the movies in France, China, or Canada because we always skip them). Keep in mind those figures would be a little bit less without little kids because there would be no taking turns on rides, and there would be less bathroom stops.

If I were you I would try to plan the week so that you're taking advantage of extra magic hour nights each day of your trip, and use the Blizzard Beach day for recuperation (go to Blizzard Beach in the morning, and spend the rest of the day relaxing).

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Hey everyone,

I'd love to hear how much time you need/spend at each park. With kids and without kids. In our case, we'll be 3 adults, 2 of whom have never been to Disney.

The more I read, the more I think we can do the Magic Kingdom in one day. Same with Epcot -- if we skip most of the shows (one of us doesn't speak much English), can we do Epcot's main area + walk through the countries in a day?

We have 5 days and here's the plan so far -

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom
Day 2 - Epcot
Day 3 - MGM Studios
Day 4 - Blizzard Beach
Day 5 - Animal Kingdom or return to Magic Kingdom and Epcot

Whether your situation is similar or not, this should be interesting to read!

Thanks

I agree with Belle. Return to either MK or Epcot on the afternoon and evening of the Blizzard Beach day to see either the night time parade or fireworks at the MK in case you missed it or just to hit the things you missed in either park since they are both quite big.

FYI**Epcot is 1.5 miles around just to walk world showcase.
Good luck and have a wonderful time!

Pam

 

[stitchlvr]

Like it has been said already, it totally depends what you're willing to skip. For the sake of a non-english speaker, I would recommend the following:

Magic Kingdom must do's:
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain
TTA
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of Carr.
Small World
Buzz Lightyear
Peter Pan
Philharmagic
Winnie the Pooh
Haunted Mansion
Wishes
Nighttime parade (Spectromagic?)

possible skip-its:
Carousel of Progress (I recommend it, except for the fact that you have a non-english speaker, who may not enjoy it for that fact).
Timekeeper (again, most would disagree, but for the sake of the non-english speaker) (both of these may be operating seasonally, so it also depends on the time of your trip).
Country Bears-again because of the langage barrier. Although this one is fun just for the music and visual.
Tiki Room-same as Country Bears
Carpets of Aladdin, Dumbo and Astro Orbiter-same rides basically. Choose one if you like this type of ride. Dumbo and AO always seem to have long lines. We were able to get on Aladdin pretty quick.
Mad Tea Party-this one depends on the line and your own spew factor.
Snow White-I personally like it, but if you're not a huge SW fan, and there is a long wait, skip it. The other dark rides give you a similar experience.
Toontown Fair-the only ride is Barnstormer, which I have not ridden, so I'm not sure about it. Looks to be more of a child sized coaster, but my hus rode with the kids and liked it. You could really skip all of Toontown Fair, unless you want to wait for an hour to see Mickey Mouse.
Hall of Presidents-skip for the language issue. Great attraction, but could be very long and boring for the one.
Riverboat and Railroad-to me, these are not worth taking the time for.
Tom Sawyer Island-takes a lot of time, and I say without kids its not worth sacrificing other attraction time.
Stitch's Great Escape-this one I have not done so I don't have a recommendation on it.
Afternoon parade (Share a Dream Come True? personally I don't like the afternoon parade, in the heat...its not worth it)

Epcot must do's
Test Track
Mission Space
Spaceship Earth-although the language issue would be a problem, it is still very visual
Soarin-I have not done this but I would guess it to be a not-miss attraction
Figment-I know some do not like, but we loved it (probably because it is the only version we have seen)
Maelstrom in Norway
El Rio del Tiempo-it is pretty short and there is hardly ever a wait
World Showcase--walk through it, take it in a bit. Enjoy some of the street performers (I especially like the drummers in Japan)
Living Seas-I have not been since the Nemo overlay, and because we have a fantastic aquarium in our hometown, but most really like it.
Illuminations (Personally this is not my favorite, but most people love it)

Epcot possible skip-its:
Universe of Energy-the dinosaur part is neat, but its a very long attraction and most of it is a movie that the non-engish speaker would not understand
kidcot funstops-not really an attraction, and really for kids
Honey I Shrunk the Audience-not my favorite of the 3D movies.
Body Wars
Imagination Pavillion
M:S pavillion
Spaceship Earth pavillion
test track pavillion
Innoventions pavillion
the 3 movies (Canada, Norway and France)

I'm not sure about Wonders of Life, as it is currently closed and I have never been. I'm also not sure about Living with the Land, as I have never been, but the newly opened pavillion looks lovely and with Soarin, I would check it out.

MGM must-do's
Tower of Terror
Rock'n Roller Coaster
Fantasmic
Great Movie Ride
Star Tours, if there is any fan in the bunch ( I know some say it is dated, but the whole experience and que area are neat)
Lights Motors Action-I have not been, but I'd give it a shot
Muppets 3D (I love this one and the visuals are worth it even if you don't follow the story)


MGM possible skip-its:
Honey I shrunk the kids play area-for kids only.
Indiana Jones-I haven't seen this one and I don't have regrets, but maybe others would beg to differ.
Playhouse Disney-again, for the kids
Millionaire-haven't seen, don't regret
voyage of the Little Mermaid-while I enjoyed it a lot, I know a lot of people who thought it was a waste of time.
Backlot tour-I was not overly excited about this one.
Sounds Dangerous-haven't seen, don't regret (could also be a language issue)
Magic of Animation-I believe I saw this a few years ago with the walkthrough of the animation studio, but since the animation dept closed, I'm not sure what it is.
One Man's Dream-I'm not sure why we didn't do this one...so I don't know if the language is an issue.

Animal Kingdom must-do's
Kilamanjaro Safari
Kali River Rapids
Dinosaur
Tough to be a Bug-I love this one too, and again its visual more than a real story
Primeval whirl-I love this one even though I didn't want to love this carnival looking attraction.


AK possible skip-its
Triceratop Spin-same as dumbo etc in MK
Boneyard etc, really just for kids

As Barnum said, the animal attractions depend on the group. Personally, I didn't spend a lot of time there because we have a world class zoo in my city.


Blizzard Beach: We only got to spend about 2 hours there because of rainstorms. I would say if you're planning on visiting Downtown Disney, or having a nice meal at one of the resort restaurants, combine those with the BB day. Typically BB isn't open past 6 or 7, and usually doesn't open until 11, so you could almost combine it with the AK day, if you chose to skip some of the animal attractions. If you visited AK in the morning, especially on an early entry day, and utilize fast pass, you could be done by early afternoon, and then get into BB for a few hours until closing, then have a nice dinner at one of the resorts or go to Downtown Disney or Pleasure Island.

If Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island aren't your thing, you could do Ak in the morning, BB in the afternoon and head back to MK for the nighttime parade and Wishes. Depends on how much energy you have.

Phew! That was quite a post. :wave:

 

[shoppingnut]

Just because the person doesn't understand English well for the shows, etc. you can get the translating device (http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/england.htm). Here's an excerpt from the website.

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]On July 14, 2003, the newly designed Ears to the World, Disney`s Show Translator was introduced in all four theme parks. Guests can use these new light-weight, integrated, digital headset devices in more than 30 attractions across the four theme parks. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This complimentary Guest amenity translates our key narrative attractions into our most widely spoken Guest languages: French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish. Although there is no charge for Guests to use the device, Guests will be asked for a $100 security deposit when they obtain their translators at Guest Relations.[/font]
​

 

[BRER STITCH]

The biggest determing factor of how much tie is needed for each park is the time of year you will be visiting and the corresponding corwd levels!

We have really visited all 4 parks in one day to do selected attractions during off season.

In reality, one park per day is the general rule, with options to visit other parks on evening extra magic hours for fireworks or to hit some favorites again.

I would not schedule a full day for the water park, as you coul dget seriously burned, bored, or both! :lol: You could do the wtare stuff in the mormning and then go to Animal Kingdom (or whichever park has evening late hours) for the rest of the day. That would give you another full day to get back to your favorite parks!

HAVE FUN!

:wave: