Need Feedback - How many days in each park?

[FarmerBill]

Family of 6 (all adults), heading to DW Jun 8 - 15 2022. We have 7 days in the parks. Current plan is 2 days at each park, except for AK (only 1 day there). My question is; should we reduce HWS to one day and add a 3rd day to MK?? The initial thinking was with 2 days at each park, we'd not have to feel pressure getting all rides in with one day. Does this sound like a good plan? Because you have to reserve your park days in advance, we have to decide now and get our days locked in.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Yes... Multiple days in parks does give you more chances of getting all you want to do in and also redo favorite things. How much of DHS thrills you? Is there enough there that warrants you using that day there instead of MK? For a lot of guests at this point in time, one thing that makes them want more time there is decided on by how much of a SW fan they are and whether they get RotR in. Are there are enough newer attractions there that youve never done that will add to your enjoyment? MK and EP typically are the 2 parks we add more days in because of all we get out of them.

 

[ppet]

Park hoppers would give you flexibility to backtrack to a park if you want or need to. I have two days in MK,EP, HS and only one in AK for park reservations, but we'll be in all of the parks much more. If hoppers aren't for you, then I think your plan is workable.

 

[Po'Rich]

On my next trip, we're going to spend 7 days as well. I divided it pretty much the same way you did, except we're spending 2 days at AK and only 1 at HS (but my family really likes AK). We tried park hopper one year, but we found we didn't use it much. However, we have some friends who always buy park hoppers, and really get a lot of use out of them. I just didn't like wasting time more time on a bus (but we also tend to stay at AKL).

 

[arich35]

To me the park hoppers just give you much more flexibility, worth it IMO.

 

[MacVenture]

I agree, the Park hopper tickets are worth it. Our standard visit always includes 2 days or more to MK. With all the recent ride additions to HWS, I would consider it a 2 day must visit to ensure you get to ride the new ones. Other thing to consider is what time you are planning to start each morning- currently MK, HWS and AK are opening at 9am while EP is at 10am. For this reason we typically start out at either MK, HWS, or AK then park hop over to EP for the food and rides.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Family of 6 (all adults), heading to DW Jun 8 - 15 2022. We have 7 days in the parks. Current plan is 2 days at each park, except for AK (only 1 day there). My question is; should we reduce HWS to one day and add a 3rd day to MK?? The initial thinking was with 2 days at each park, we'd not have to feel pressure getting all rides in with one day. Does this sound like a good plan? Because you have to reserve your park days in advance, we have to decide now and get our days locked in.

Park Hopper would give you 14 half-days.

4/5 Magic Kingdom
3 Epcot
4 Hollywood Studios
2/3 Animal Kingdom
0/1 Disney Springs

Epcot is in very rough (i.e.borderline depressing) shape right now.

 

[DfromATX]

Wow, 7 parks days is going to be so much fun. I think your plan sounds great and it will be nice to be able to savor everything and not rush. I guess I'm in the minority - I don't like to park hop. I prefer to stay in one park for the whole day, but we always take a mid afternoon break (something you might consider especially since you'll be at it for so long). We usually do 5 full park days. On arrival day we usually go to Disney Springs. We like 2 MK and one for all the others is usually sufficient. Next time we might do 2 days at Epcot because by the time we go again they'll have all the new stuff and we might go at a festival time - and I want to enjoy it without rushing.
P.S. - One day was enough for HS. We rope dropped it and were able to ride everything, including the new Mickey ride and RotR - but that was last February when they did the boarding group thing. The park even closed early so we didn't do our usual afternoon break and we still had no trouble getting everything done. (It might be different now though with no boarding passes and stupid Genie+.)

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Family of 6 (all adults), heading to DW Jun 8 - 15 2022. We have 7 days in the parks. Current plan is 2 days at each park, except for AK (only 1 day there). My question is; should we reduce HWS to one day and add a 3rd day to MK?? The initial thinking was with 2 days at each park, we'd not have to feel pressure getting all rides in with one day. Does this sound like a good plan? Because you have to reserve your park days in advance, we have to decide now and get our days locked in

My family and I are planning to be there around the same time! I am not a big park hopper guy either. For less than the cost of the hopper you can add another day to the trip. Plus with the hopper I almost feel compelled to do more when sometimes it's nice to just relax at the resort. 7 days sounds great we are debating 6 or 7, I figure I can always add a day if 6 isn't working out.
That said I think 2 full days at MK will probably be plenty. We actually really needed 2 days at the Studios last time. With Galaxy's edge there it may not have a ton of rides but the ones they have can take awhile to get in and ride and if you can score a ressie at Olga's that will be another hour or so of your day gone.

 

[lightguy]

I think you probably get more done if you hit 1 park all day/night vs park hopping, but it's really rough after a day or two. We prefer to rope drop a park every morning in order to get big rides in, stay till the park gets stupid crowded/hot (sometimes longer if we're trying to catch a show or get that last thing in), usually around lunchtime. Head back to the hotel for resting/swimming/relaxing/lunch. Then head out to a second park late afternoon/early evening. Unfortunately (if you like sleep) the best time to hit big rides without nutty lines is right at open and at close. That unfortunately makes for late nights and early mornings. We try to plan a pool day in the middle to catch up on sleep and take a break from the late nights/early mornings when we can.

I think how long you need in each park depends on what you want to do, how bad the crowds are and how long you're willing to spend in line. We HATE lines, so it's easier to get big rides in when you can split it between 2 or 3 rope drops. But you can do AK in 1 day, and since it usually closes early, you might want to try that in order to free up time for other parks. Epcot is best at night- though the crowds can be annoyingly large. MK has the most to do and you'll probably want more time these than anywhere else.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

We did 5 day park hoppers. Seemed to scratch the itch. Made each park a priority til day 5 when we picked our favorite 2.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Family of 6 (all adults), heading to DW Jun 8 - 15 2022. We have 7 days in the parks. Current plan is 2 days at each park, except for AK (only 1 day there). My question is; should we reduce HWS to one day and add a 3rd day to MK?? The initial thinking was with 2 days at each park, we'd not have to feel pressure getting all rides in with one day. Does this sound like a good plan? Because you have to reserve your park days in advance, we have to decide now and get our days locked in.

While you do have to choose park days now, more or less, if there is availability, you should be able to change one of your days if you change your mind. June is fairly busy, so maybe you won't have 100% the ability in all 4 parks for every day of your visit, but if you want to swap 1 day of HS for 1 AK day, that should be doable.

For now, given WDW's current situation, I'd sorta lean towards roughly planning a break every day. Not a set in stone break, but just keep in mind it might be something your group wants to do.

Summer tends to be pretty warm, and afternoon storms are a factor. For me, I prefer AK over HS, but if you are trying to get on Rise, your group might prefer HS. (Having been on Rise, I'm willing to skip it.) A downside of AK is that many attractions close during lightning. A downside of HS is the lack of attractions. So AK has less to offer on a rainy day, but HS has less to offer period. At AK, if weather is nice, you can still see animals with little wait.

Generally....well...you are sorta right and sorta wrong. I am ALWAYS of two minds, I always feel pressure to get on as much as possible every day, but also always feel I can return to ride attractions on another day, or that we are fine if we skip something. With WDW prices so high, to me, every onsite day is a day I'm going to max. In the past, I was more willing to tolerate a relaxed day, and/or to happily allow a half-park day.

Also, it is your visit, but for us, given WDW of 2022, I suggest minimal ADR's. With Genie+, table serve dining is a significant time limit. For a summer visit, TS = a significant constraint, especially when trying to herd a group of 7 people.

A big factor when booking for a group of 7 - and how I would strategize - - is a.) if everyone is in sync, or B.) everyone is NOT in sync. By that I mean, is everyone reliably willing to be ready for: rope drop, late park hours, neither, or both. Is everyone flexible, or inflexible on eating times? other factors? If everyone tours in sync, you can cover much ground. If some folks want to sleep later, or eat at different times, or are picky about what they eat, then trying to keep everyone together becomes less fun. Hard plans become less fun. I used to plan family trips, but stopped because it was too hard trying to keep everyone happy. And THAT was some years ago, when WDW was far less rigid than it is now.

Now, if you miss just a single ILL - you could easily be out 7 x $15 = $105! YIKES!

 

[JustAFan]

Too much to do at HS to keep that to one day. If you like rides and want to do all or most, you likely won't fit it all in one day. On top of that are the shows and other experiences. For my crew, HS is definitely a multi-day park now.

 

[spock8113]

My personal limit is two days for each park, that's my limit.
Day 1-MK Columbia Harbor House, upstairs
Day 2-EPCOT (used to love the Electric Umbrella, Alfredos) Das Biergarten!
Day 3-MGM Backlot Dining, Sci-Fi Cafe, Prime Time Cafe, Pizza Rizzo
Day 4-AK Pizzafari, sit in the back room to the left, characters occasionally come out from back there and will mingle in the dining area, dinner over to Ohana's
Day 5-MK-EPCOT Pecos Bill's
Day 6-AK-MK
Start with the original park, end with the original park
Give or take a park or two and a meal or two.

 

[JoeCamel]

Too much to do at HS to keep that to one day. If you like rides and want to do all or most, you likely won't fit it all in one day. On top of that are the shows and other experiences. For my crew, HS is definitely a multi-day park now.

Why? Because you are waiting in line?

 

[DisAl]

Park hoppers would give you flexibility to backtrack to a park if you want or need to. I have two days in MK,EP, HS and only one in AK for park reservations, but we'll be in all of the parks much more. If hoppers aren't for you, then I think your plan is workable.

My problem with park hoppers is that by the time I'm ready to hop all I can do is park.