Which Parks??

[wdwmatt1983]

We are planning a few days at Disney during our upcoming spring vacation, April 20th for 2 weeks. We plan to spend 4 days at Disney staying off-site. Travelling with my wife, 2 sons (2 & 4), my mother and mother in-law. Trying to decide which parks to visit. I am thinking 2 days at Magic Kingdom and 1 day at Animal Kingdom, not sure where to spend the last day. I am leaning towards EPCOT, but i don't know if there will be enough there to entertain the kids. Any advice would be appreciated!!

 

[yensid67]

Hope you have a great trip! 4 Days at Disney I would definitely do 2 at MK 1 at AK AND 1 at Epcot.(or at least a half day) You never know as techy as kids are nowadays, they may enjoy Epcot! I would plan at least 1/2 day with the possibility of a full day depending on how the boys feel. You are staying off property, do you have a hotel or looking for hotel off property too!? If you are try the Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista(clarionlbv.com) VERY nice hotel, 2 pools a kid's splash zone, restaurant, bar/grille, convenience store, deli, game room, 24 hour security, pillow top mattresses, micro, frig, coffee maker, safe in each room. We got 8 days WITH Hot BUFFET Breakfast each morning for $528 for 2 adults! Let me know

 

[BoarderPhreak]

You're about to get a million opinions... Okay, maybe 500k.

Personally I would bank on one day each at MK and EC. Likely a second at MK. AK is worthwhile (now) for Pandora alone. HS - hard pass. Get the Park Hopper option and you can bounce around as you like; though it is more money.

 

[belledream]

Epcot definitely isn't an kid-attraction-heavy park, but there's no better place to spend a leisurely day while still feeling like you're getting so much done! The Seas with Nemo and Friends will provide a good hour of entertainment, there's Meet & Greet opportunities all around, and it may be good for both kids and adults to relax around the World Showcase in the afternoon. Plenty of food and entertainment for all.

 

[eb3257]

We took our 5 year old twins for the first time in November and did three park days. We went to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot and they loved all three. Since it was their first trip we didn't bother getting park hoppers since there was plenty to do in each park and we skipped HS due to all of the construction. We only had three days in the park so that seemed like the best one to skip this time.

 

[21stamps]

My 2 cents- Don’t listen to all of the ‘Hollywood Studios is a construction mess!’ nonsense.

Seriously, it’s a great park. Definitely worth visiting.

 

[LAKid53]

Avoid Disney that weekend of April 20th. It's the Star Wars Half Marathon weekend. Parks will be crowded and if you're driving, there will be road closures/delays in the early AM due to the races. Plus, whatever park they start from, a significant portion of the parking won't be available as it's used to stage the starting area. All the races end in Epcot, so you will have problems parking in the Epcot lot until the races is done and everything cleared out. Usually by late AM.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

My 2 cents- Don’t listen to all of the ‘Hollywood Studios is a construction mess!’ nonsense.

Seriously, it’s a great park. Definitely worth visiting.

It was a glorified food court even before the construction.

 

[correcaminos]

My 2 cents- Don’t listen to all of the ‘Hollywood Studios is a construction mess!’ nonsense.

Seriously, it’s a great park. Definitely worth visiting.

With a 2 and a 4 year old? I don't agree. I also don't agree that one should ignore the 'construction mess nonsense' because honestly it is not nonsense. It was really bad and there are reports that they will close TSM for a while to finish construction (third track is already closed). Not worth it at all!

I'd pick Epcot over DHS any day of the week for little kids. It was quickly our family favorite even when taking kids in the 2-5 range. Still is to this day as well.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

4 days = 4 parks.

 

[21stamps]

With a 2 and a 4 year old? I don't agree. I also don't agree that one should ignore the 'construction mess nonsense' because honestly it is not nonsense. It was really bad and there are reports that they will close TSM for a while to finish construction (third track is already closed). Not worth it at all!

I'd pick Epcot over DHS any day of the week for little kids. It was quickly our family favorite even when taking kids in the 2-5 range. Still is to this day as well.

The construction mess that people talk about is over exaggerated, completely. I was just there 2 months ago. Unless something has changed since then?

 

[21stamps]

4 days = 4 parks.

This is a tough one... I’m helping my sister plan their first trip as a family right now... her kids are just-turned-3 and 4... They are doing 4 park days. I want them to do 2 MK Days..but I don’t know which park to skip. Toss up between AK and Epcot...but Epcot has FEA. HS isn’t on the drawing board to skip.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

This is a tough one... I’m helping my sister plan their first trip as a family right now... her kids are just-turned-3 and 4... They are doing 4 park days. I want them to do 2 MK Days..but I don’t know which park to skip. Toss up between AK and Epcot...but Epcot has FEA. HS isn’t on the drawing board to skip.

Too bad they don’t let you add the park hopper option for only one day.

 

[Cameron1529]

It greatly depends upon your kids and families interest. For the most ‘Disney’ so to speak the Magic Kingdom is excellent for 2 days and so too is Animal Kingdom for 1 day. The final day could be either Epcot or Hollywood Studios. Epcot is definitely a much larger park, so if you think you will not be wanting to be walking to much this park is not the best park to go to. However it does have a variety of rides and plenty of different atttactions etc to entertain kids such as Frozen Ever After, Innoventions, Misson Space (green version) and Illuminations (firework and water show). The kids may also find the World Showcase pavilions (areas themed to different countries) interesting. It really does depend upon their interests.

Hollywood Studios however I believe is a better park for younger kids. It has extensive amounts of Star Wars shows, ride, merchandise and memorabilia. It also features a Toy Story ride, stunt show and stage show. It requires less walking also.

Hope this helps and enjoy your trip.

 

[21stamps]

OP- one more thing to add about Hollywood Studios, your 4 year old is old enough to do Jedi Training Academy... that may be a determining factor if he likes Star Wars at all. The 2 year old, along with the rest of the family, ca watch him in the show.
Make sure to arrive before rope drop. It’s free, but the sign up line gets closed off shortly after park opens, at least in my experience.
Here’s the link https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/entertainment/hollywood-studios/star-wars-jedi-training/

 

[correcaminos]

The construction mess that people talk about is over exaggerated, completely. I was just there 2 months ago. Unless something has changed since then?

A matter of opinion then. It was awful when I was there last year. Other than taking out a track for TSM, nothing has changed. It's been a mess for a while IMO and while we never spent more than a 1/2 day there prior, it took it down to just about 3 hours for us to be in and out. Not worth day ticket at all.

I think you have a love for the park that many don't. I don't see anything that a 2 or a 4yo should see and miss out on Epcot.

 

[Disneyworld_here_we_come]

So many different opinions. Good luck! My opinion, just to add it in, is to get the park hopper. We did HS in October, there's some good stuff but I wouldn't necessarily say a whole days worth, then took the ferry over to epcot. Now epcot is my favorite so I'm biased but it would give you the opportunity to see all 4 parks rather than skip one. IMO all the parks are different and have something different to offer your family. Give em all a try!

 

[J_Krafty24]

With kids at that age I would consider 3 days at the Magic kingdom and completely skipping Epcot and Studios. Epcot is a lot of extra walking and a lot of attractions kids that age might not enjoy (depending on the kids). The studios has a lot of sit and watch shows that (again, depending on the kids) might be tough for kids that long to sit still for. 3 days at the magic kingdom will allow your family to go slow, see everything the kids are big enough to do, do child swap for the things they are too small for, repeat their favorites multiple times and take longer breaks away from the crowds by either finding a quiet corner or going back to the hotel mid day.

 

[becca_]

The construction mess that people talk about is over exaggerated, completely. I was just there 2 months ago. Unless something has changed since then?

100% agree - I was just there last week and the only thing that sucks due to construction is the 3rd track of Toy Story Mania closed, making wait times reach 2-3 hours. Everything else was great!! The only construction walls I saw were by TSM anyway since Grand Avenue opened the walls by Star Wars Land look to be part of the park, if you will.

OP - I think you really can't go wrong with any parks, but definitely do MK and AK if you can, Epcot & DHS are great as well!!

 

[21stamps]

100% agree - I was just there last week and the only thing that sucks due to construction is the 3rd track of Toy Story Mania closed, making wait times reach 2-3 hours. Everything else was great!! The only construction walls I saw were by TSM anyway since Grand Avenue opened the walls by Star Wars Land look to be part of the park, if you will.
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OP - I think you really can't go wrong with any parks, but definitely do MK and AK if you can, Epcot & DHS are great as well!!

I’m waiting for you to start your trip report!