How long in each place??

[happymealUK]

Hey everyone :wiggle: As we've never been to disney before - Im taking everyones advice and making some pre-holiday plans :thumbs:

I was wondering if people could tell me roughly how much time or how many hours to spend in each of these places??

Magic Kingdom
Animal Kingdom
Epcot
MGM
Sea World
Universal Studios
Islands Of Adventure

(There is just me (24) & my boyfriend (25) we are not ones for the 'big' rides so we'll only probably do a few of the rides in each park, but want to see all the shows, shops etc...)

We're also going to do downtown disney, city walk, I-drive and places like that, but wanted to get an idea of how much time for each park as they are our priorities :) Thankyou for any tips :thumbs: :thumbs:

[Isafari]

Sounds like the type of holiday that dh and myself like :thumbs:
You will get allsorts of answers as everyone is different on how long they spend in places. We were going into a park just after it opening and we don't leave until they throw us out :lol:
for us........MK - 2 days
AK - 2 days (big animal lovers)
Epcot - 1 day
MGM - 1 day
SW - 2 days
US - 1 day
IoA - half a day

Depends on how long you have on holiday too.

[Whitequeen]

Plan for days rather than hours!! :wink:

[JuniorMickey]

For me it depends :D My upcoming weekend trip will almost be totally at MGM since that's where ESPN weekend is taking place :D

In December, I spent 2 days at EPCOT, 1 1/2 at AK, 3 at MK and 2 at MGM. I found I didn't have time for US or IOA. It's been YEARS since I've bothered with Seaworld. Last March I spent 3 days combined at IOA and US and still didn't get everything in (the Jimmy Neutron line was like 2 hours long)

[happymealUK]

Sounds like the type of holiday that dh and myself like :thumbs:
You will get allsorts of answers as everyone is different on how long they spend in places. We were going into a park just after it opening and we don't leave until they throw us out :lol:
for us........MK - 2 days
AK - 2 days (big animal lovers)
Epcot - 1 day
MGM - 1 day
SW - 2 days
US - 1 day
IoA - half a day

Depends on how long you have on holiday too.
I was thinking about doing just half a day for IOA, because it seems to be mainly big rides whereas the studios seems to have alot more shows/tours.

We're going for 2 weeks. We're staying at the hard rock (universal) for 3 nights and then the other 10 nights at 3 different disney resorts. So whilst at the hard rock I thought the first night we'll just check-in, unpack and mooch around the hotel and have a nice meal :) Then the next day hit the studios for the full day. Then the last day there do IOA and city walk and have a meal there too.

[happymealUK]

Plan for days rather than hours!! :wink:
Thats what I was doing but then I've read some posts who said they only spent 3 hours at certain places - Not much chance of us doing that, I'll probably spend 3 hours in each shop :lol: :lol:

[Keith]

We dont do rollercoasters and rides like that but we do see all the shows and shops. We stay on site and tend to just start off in one place, see a few shows, then hop over to another park and see a few there etc. So we never do one park in whole then the next etc.

Nevertheless in terms of stuff to do, even without the rides, each of the main Disney parks has so much to do, there's little chance of doing it even in one day ;-) so that'll give you some idea!

I always think the best idea is to read up about all the attractions and make a list for each park of the things you definitely want to see down to the stuff you wouldn't mind missing if you absolutely ran out of time. That way you're not tied to a stuffy fixed plan but you're also not going to get back home and think oh no! I missed XYZ!

[happymealUK]

For me it depends :D My upcoming weekend trip will almost be totally at MGM since that's where ESPN weekend is taking place :D

In December, I spent 2 days at EPCOT, 1 1/2 at AK, 3 at MK and 2 at MGM. I found I didn't have time for US or IOA. It's been YEARS since I've bothered with Seaworld. Last March I spent 3 days combined at IOA and US and still didn't get everything in (the Jimmy Neutron line was like 2 hours long)
There's so much choice!! :hehe: I decide on a plan and think yeah thats the one, then I find out about something else that I want to add to the list :lol: Guess we'll just have to go back again, what a shame :whistle: :wink: :thumbs:

[happymealUK]

I always think the best idea is to read up about all the attractions and make a list for each park of the things you definitely want to see down to the stuff you wouldn't mind missing if you absolutely ran out of time. That way you're not tied to a stuffy fixed plan but you're also not going to get back home and think oh no! I missed XYZ!
Thats good thinking actually! Maybe thats the best way to plan it, just write a list of the places we want to go and then the MUST do's for that place. And then we are not feeling under pressure and constantly rushing to meet deadlines so to speak :)

I've just been reading about MNSSHP and the first night its on is the 30th September which is our last night there!! So I think this is going to be a MUST do!! Plus it gives us extra time in the MK and would be a great way to end the holiday :D

[wdwgrandma]

It depends on the time of the year we go. If it's during Food and Wine Fest, we'll be visiting Epcot at least 3 days! And if we are going during the holidays, we'll do at least two days at MK! MGM is the park I could go to once and be satisfied. It's not my favorite.

[Wendy]

Maybe keep a couple of "free" days towards the end of your trip so you can decide if there's anywhere you want to return to whilst you're there..... :)
I like to do Epcot and MK over 2 days, if possible. Especially Epcot as there is alot of ground to cover. Or just split them up into mornings and evenings, with breaks in the afternoon.

[TimonAndPumba]

We usually allocate about 2 days in each park and about half a day each in the water parks in Disney, but we actually spend about 1 and half days in the parks if we accounted for 'rests'.

Then any spare days, we go back a see if we missed anything or just go back to the places we liked most!

:ears:

[tajainaz]

I'm not a thrill ride or coaster person either--except Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in MK! It's intended to be a runaway train experience, so it bumps, jostles and jolts more than traditional roller coasters. That might be why I like it! :hehe:

I'm lucky to have 6 consecutive days at WDW (had 7 in December, 2004), so I pretty much stay on property. I thought I would go to Sea World one day last December, but that required more energy than I could muster!

This is pretty typical for my trips (6 full days):

Arrival: about 5:00 p.m., check in, shop off property for supplies, then explore resort a bit and possibly DTD. Depends on whether or not I had any sleep the previous night!

Departure: flight usually is about 1:00 p.m., so I try to finish any resort or DTD photos I can before checking out at 11:00 a.m.

MK: 2 full days plus 1 evening (after AK) for SpectroMagic & Wishes
EPCOT: 2 full days and any time I can sneak it in!
Disney-MGM: 1 full day (be sure to catch Fantasmic), usually with a break to the resorts (S&D, BWI, YC & BC) and sometimes a sneak visit to EPCOT.
AK: About 5 hours is my limit. Something in this park gives my sinuses fits, and my left leg does not love the terrain. Others love it, so listen to them! :)

[AlisonFromUK]

I'm surprised a lot of people spend two days at MK as most of it was for very young children so me and my other half found a full day was enough (if you want to stay all day and wait for spectromagic and wishes that is). Besides it gets so busy I wouldnt want to be in there for more than a day as I just get hot and bothered.

A day at AK and MGM was also enough for us. Again at MGM we stayed on and watched Fantasmic.

Epcot we made two days, one day for the Countries and one for the other half of the park. If you check out all the Countries properly I think you need a day just for that as they have their own entertainment in each Country dont they.

With Universal personally I would say you can spend a day in each of their two parks, although we have done a third day to go back to do stuff we like in both as I love these parks.

One day of course needed for Sea World.

The first time we went to Orlando we did Busch Gardens but wont do that again as much of that is big thrill rides and we dont like them that much.

First time we went we had a day at each water park, but again as we dont go for the mad rides we might not even bother with Blizzard Beach, may just have a couple of days at Typhoon Lagoon in each week instead to break it up. We like chilling by the wave pool.

:wiggle:

[roebuck]

Magic Kingdom - 2 Days
Animal Kingdom - 2 Days
Epcot - 2 Days
MGM - 2 Days
Sea World - 2 Days
Universal Studios - 2 Days
Islands Of Adventure - 2 Days

Add on a couple of days for the water parks, lots of shopping, visiting other attractions, also got to have a couple of days relaxing.

Problem - Not enough time to do everything :(

Solution - Just have to do less and plan another visit at a later date. :thumbs:

[d_dreamer]

Magic Kingdom-1 1/2 days
Animal Kingdom-3/4 day
Epcot-1 1/2 day
MGM-1 day
Sea World-1/2 day
Universal Studios-1-2 days
Islands Of Adventure- 1 day

it really depends on how much you are into rides, or seeing things. And how crowded things are.

[AlisonFromUK]

Mary has hit the nail on the head really and I think she is about right with her times personally. Although Id have a whole day at seaworld because we always go to see the show they have there which is half an hour in itself, then once you've seen the whales show. other animals and Shamu of course it would take more than half a day. It depends if you want to see all the animals or not really.

Same goes for AK. Just going from attraction to attraction doesnt take long but its a pretty park so you can take your time and enjoy the atmosphere - therefore having a whole day. We saw people literally charging around the place last year saying 'there is nothing in this park its rubbish' and they were moving so fast they didnt notice the lovely river and the wildlife around it or all the carvings in the tree. Each to their own I guess. My partner is fishing mad so he was checking out the water most of the day looking to see if there were fish in it!

IOA does have a lot of big rides but the place looks amazing so I just like to look at it all !

[happymealUK]

Thankyou everyone so much for all your help!! :D

I'm going to try and write a sample plan and post it in the Itineraries (http://www.wdisneyw.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=38) section :thumbs:

[Vikki]

Peronally we prefer to spend a day in each park, then just see where the mood takes us. We are both 25 and find that without young children to please, this is the easiest option for us.

We also tend not to stay in the same park all day (The Disney ones anyway) and we park hop rather a lot.

[tajainaz]

Love MK! But I grew up at the original Magic Kingdom--Disneyland! :thumbs:

[Melfuzz]

I love the original MK its great.

I was not planning more than a day at MK because I have been to California and Paris. Without kids we can get around the place alot faster as well. I am looking forward to IOA and Seaworld. I haven't been to Universal since I was about 8 and that was California one so I am really looking forward to that!

[d_dreamer]

Everyone loves the Magic Kingdom :D