Best use of 5 days

[phillydorn]

Hey all -

What do you think is the best way to visit the parks? We're going for 7 days in January, (me, DW, MIL, FIL, and 7mo DS) but with travel that leaves 5 days of park-hopping. What's the best way to maximize our time? We're open to a day at a water park too. Do you think we'll spend a full day at each of the 4 parks? Will we need more than a day for any of them? And what's the best order to hit them?

Thanks!

[Wishmaker]

I have asked this question myself. DD and I are leaving in about a month. We will be there for 4 nights 5 days. Here is our plan (but you need park hopper to do it)
1. We arrive around 1:00 pm so we are doing the front of Epcot
2. Magic Kingdom All day (this is my favorite)
3. Epcot world showcase (F&WF) :cloud9:
4. DHS currently hours are alot shorter, I believe they close at 7:30 this night. We will do fantasmic then stroll over to the Boardwalk to see if we can catch some street action.
5. Always go back to Magic Kingdom as the last day.
We are skipping a water park and animal kingdom. We may stroll to AK on day three instead of spending it all at EPCOT but not sure. Very hard to squeeze in so much on short stay. Hope this gets your mind going. Pros and Cons to my plan will hopefully get you thinking of the plan that fits you better. Best Wishes :mickey:

[Disneyfun]

That is a great question! There are a lot of variables that would play into your plan such as when you are going to be at the parks (different parks are better to visit on different days of the week), personal likes/dislikes, have you ever been to WDW before,.....

My DW and I took a familiy to WDW that had not been before and we ended up doing a whole day at each of the parks and then using the last day to hit their favorites. We did do some park hopping after early parks closed (AK & DHS) but it was pretty limited as they were usually pretty tired and their kids (5, 3, & 1) turned into pumkins pretty early.

If this is your first time to WDW, I would definetely skip the waterpark. Check out http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/weather/whentovisit.asp for some great info on what days are best to visit the parks and when the busiest days of the week are at each one.

Hope this helps. Have fun!

[Ms. Mode]

Have you been to WDW before? Parkhoppers are really nice if this is not your first trip. If it's your first trip don't waste your money; it will take a full day at each park. :mickey:

[BriarRose0708]

My tip would be to make a list of "must-dos" for those visiting. It would take much longer then 5 days to see and do everything at WDW! Having a priority list helps to focus the group, especially if you're the type of travelers who don't like to plan down to the millisecond. I would also suggest getting to a park at opening, touring until it gets busy (usually around 10 or 11 a.m. depending on the day of the week, etc) then leave and take a break back at the hotel to nap or swim (don't know if you're staying on site) and then use the late afternoon and evening to enjoy another park. If you are staying on site and are early risers, take advantage of morning Extra Magic Hours. Especially in January after New Years, there shouldn't be much problem with crowds and it's easy to check off one ride after another in an hour or so.

Happy traveling! :mickey:

[magicofdisney]

Are the water parks open in January? While I'm sure you'll have extremely LOW crowd levels, January can be fairly nippy, even for northerners.

[darthmacho]

I agree that there are a ton of variables, and the way you approach it might depend on your priorities and the weather. Assuming you want to see all four parks and go to a water park, here is a couple of suggestions based on how I might go about it.

Day 1: Magic Kingdom
Day 2: Animal Kingdom
Day 3: Water Park
Day 4: Epcot
Day 5: Hollywood Studios

Of course, you could shuffle them any way you want, but that's how I'd try to do it. I like to spread Epcot out over two days, but one day is probably enough if you manage your time and prioritize. Also, if you didn't get enough of MK, you could add that to the end of Day 5 if you leave HS early enough. I personally like to begin and end in the magic Kingdom! :mickey:

[Imagineer1981]

Are the water parks open in January? While I'm sure you'll have extremely LOW crowd levels, January can be fairly nippy, even for northerners.

Generally speaking they are closed for refurbishment in Jan/Feb

[momofdisneyprincess]

If I double up parks on one day, they tend to be DHS/Animal Kingdom. Go to the one that has EMH in the morning then hop over to the other one in late afternoon. I find there is so much more at Magic Kingdom and Epcot that my family wants to see/do so we like to spend at least one full day at each of those then hit our favs on another day.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

We allow at least one full day for each of the parks...and really Epcot and Magic Kingdom could be two day parks....

[phillydorn]

DW and I have been there a bunch of times, but not since 1999, MIL and FIL have never been there, and we'll definitely be staying on site - just not sure where yet.

[Laughin' place]

Hard to know your group's tastes and wishes, but given that you are an adult group with a small baby, here's my two cents
Allow full day for MK and day and a half (an evening, especially) for EPCOT
Rope drop to mid afternoon for Studios and AK.
Use those two afternoon into evenings that are left over for DTD/shopping on one night and exploring (your resort, other resorts, whatever you like) on the other evening. Save the last full day for whatever you loved the most, or missed on your first time thru. Have fun!

[buzznwoodysmom]

Generally speaking they are closed for refurbishment in Jan/Feb

If I am not mistaken they normally do one water park at a time. While the first water park is down for refurbishment the other is still open then when the first reopens they shut down the other one. At least that's how it was done the last time we visited in Feb. However, in Jan. you may not have any days warm enough to do a waterpark and even if it is warm you can probably get most of what you want done in half a day, leaving the other half of the day to go back to one of the parks. I'd allow for one day per park and if you have hoppers you could always hop over to another park on the day you do AK, or even DHS, if you've done all you want to do early in the day.

What my family would probably do is one park per day taking one day off from the parks to enjoy our resort or just spend the day relaxing or shopping at DTD half way through the trip. Or we'd do one park per day without any days off, using the last day to go back to our favorite park.

[LVT]

It can be too cold for WP, we go in Mid March and it is hit or miss. You may have to plan according to the weather forecast. Please do your HOMEWORK to maximize enjoyment. This area is the size of a city and getting around eats a lot of time. If
you know what you want you can do it all even with the shorter days of Jan. Enjoy!

[Kentucky Cat]

Water parks in January like stated above are hit or miss depending on the wx. We were there in January two years ago and it was in the upper 30's to start each day. The buses to Blizzard Beach ( no pun intended ) were empty. And yes they do rotate water park closures. Typhoon Lagoon is usually the one closed during the month of January. We generally go for 5 days and have no problem fitting every we want to do in. You can knock out a lot of rides early morning in morining if you arrive for the park opening. Have fun!

[bruin1344]

I like to do half days at the park

example:

Day 1 - MK in AM then Epcot in evening (I like Epcot in the evening because illuminations, world showcase in nice when lit up, and the great dining options)
Day 2 - AK in AM then DHS at PM if you want to see fantasmic
Day 3 - Waterpark then MK in PM to see wishes (also MK is beautiful at night)
Day 4 and Day 5 is open to go to whatever park you want

MK and Epcot I usually need to visit at least twice on a trip