Walt Disney World - Forney,TX

Will you be worn out? YES! But it is worth it. We recently (in May) did 3 parks in 4 days. Magic Kingdom was one and 1/2 days and then we did Hollywood Studios and Epcot then next days. We actually only went back to Magic Kingdom, because we didn't find out until the end of the 1st day that Princess Tiana is there, but in a different section of the park then the rest of the Princesses. If you want to meet the Princesses, there is one section where you can meet 3 of them, but no Tiana. My daughter's one wish was to meet Tiana, so we went back to meet her. FYI- Prince Naveen poses with her, that is the only Prince we have met! Hollywood Studios was better than I thought, it has the new Toy Story ride, which was so much fun, and Mickey's Clubhouse Show, Little Mermaid, Muppets. And the Honey I Shrunk the Kids park was really cool. Epcot was good too, there is Nemo and most of the rides there the little ones could go on. (Not sure how old your kids are). We haven't been to Animal Kingdom yet, I was told by many of my friends not to waste money on it, but that may be because we have a fantastic zoo near us that we go to a lot. Have fun!

Hi:
We went to Disney World three years in a row starting when my two boys were 4 and 7. The park they originally liked the best was Animal Kingdom. We live in California so Magic Kingdom is like Disneyland so the newness factor was not there as we frequent Disneyland a lot. But if you are new to Disney, Magic Kingdom is a classic disney experience.

The most surprising park they loved is Epcot. This park at first looks like an adult 'land' but it is packed with activities and rides that the children love. As the adults enjoy the different countries, the children can collect stamps and passports from each country. There is usually art projects they can do also. In addition, there are rides in some of the countries like Mexico and Norway. Test Track is a great ride and so is Soarin'.

The park that I would avoid if your children are under ten is MGM. The rides are meant for an older crowd so if your children are young there is less to do. I also found this park dirty which was interesting because usually Disney seems so clean. There were cockroaches around the seats where you watch Fantasmic. Gross!

What parks and what order you go to will depend on where you are staying and what hours the different parks are open. Usually some of the parks stay open later than others so its important to go on the Disney website and find out their schedule. Are you staying in a Disney hotel? You can get Magic hours and special wristbands that also allow you to stay later. It's important to plan your stay by their hours.

Animal Kingdom generally closes and opens earlier. So depending on what time you get into Orlando and how tired you are the first morning or how excited and ready to go you are, will determine if this is a good first park. Getting to this park first thing in the morning is important because the crowds are thinner, the animals more awake and potentially it's cooler.

Get prepared for not doing everything. (It's why we went back three years in a row plus we had a blast each time). Call to arrange reservations for meals if you are eating in the parks. There is a disney dining number and the staff can help you choose the right eating experience for you.

You can also go on their website and download maps especially made for your family and the experience you want to have. Another good strategy is to put shows inbetween going on rides so you are sitting down inbetween walking everywhere.

Have a great time! I wish we were going this year!

If your kids are young, then skip Epcot because it will bore them anyway. Animal Kingdom is smaller and only takes a half day. For Magic Kingdom you need a whole day because it's so big and awesome. MGM is half kids stuff, half grownup stuff so that could be the park that you split with Animal Kingdom one day. Do Animal Kingdom first because the animals settle down in the afternoon. It is quite possible to spend two whole days in Magic Kingdom if your kids are smaller... not teens. Again, skip Epcot.

Edited to add: go to the Disney website and they will send you a free DVD that explains everything you need to know to plan the right vacation for your family.

Personally, I don't recommend park hopping with young children. Even if I only had 2 days, I would stick to one park per day, rather than trying to cram it all in. Teenagers who are only seeking the thrill rides, and high energy adults, maybe would like park hopping, but are girls are now 8 and 11, and we still wouldn't want to do all that running. You lose a lot of the magic by running around and not stopping to enjoying the small wonders and surroundings that are not "headliner thrill rides" I guess though, if you want to attempt to see it all, you are going at the best time of year for crowds (unless you are going on Thanksgiving week).

If you are planning to double up on parks, it really depends on the age and interests of your kids. Hollywood Studios does not have as much for younger kids. There is so much at Magic Kingdom, you will not want to do have only a half day. Some say Epcot isn't for young kids, but I disagree, we spent open to close at Epcot when our kids were 4 and 6, and we ALL loved it. Animal Kingdom could by a half day if you choose to skip some of the thrill rides or shows, but it is lovely!

Depends on the age of your kids. The Magic Kingdom is mostly for younger kids. Epcot has more to offer for older kids. November isn't that busy, so hopefully you won't have long waiting periods.

Yes, you'll be worn out. There's lots and lots of walking.

How old are your children? we took our 2 1/2 year old this past January, and we had a wonderful time. We visited a park every day for 6 days. she was worn out by the end:). She would sleep in her stroller while we were in the park, and we did not usually get an early start.
I suggest Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom closes early and does not have fireworks, so you might visit that on the first day, when you want to get going. Then, Magic Kingdom on day 2- which has amazing fireworks.

Yes, it's possible, but I would most definitely bring a stroller since the ones they rent are usually pretty yucky. We went to four parks in four days, with morning sickness and an 18 mo old in June. Crazy!! But we still had fun. It helps to start early and have a stroller for any child four and under since they will get tired of walking. Also, it helps to keep small snacks like fruit and extra bottles of water since you can spend lots of time waiting in line with a tired, hungry kid. For younger children, I would recommend Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom in order keep the kids interested and happy. For older children, Epcot and Hollywood studios may be more interesting to them. Hope this helps, have fun!!

It's possible but you may have to cut your days a little short (at least the second day). I would recommend doing Animal Kingdom and Epcot on consecutive days.

My family went to Disney last summer so I understand your situation. Going to two different parks is possible however I recommened going to at least one smaller park. Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios should be find to go to in one day. Buses run all day so you shouldn't have any problems with transportation. I don't know how old your children are so that could be a factor in choosing your parks but I hope you have a good time.

If you are going the week of Thanksgiving then be prepared for a crowd. The crowd level increases your level of exhaustion. It's possible, but you have to play smart.

We go to Disney often and have learned a few valuable lessons. First, think about the ages of your children and figure out what is most important to each member of your party. If one child has to ride splash mountain and the other hates roller coasters form a plan to get the child onto splash mountain but allow the other child to maybe do the Swiss Family tree house. Second, realize you don't have to do everything. We see so many people trying to accomplish everything and they get angry and ruin their vacation because they want to do every single ride. It's almost impossible. Third, never visit the park with the early opening. Go to another. Fourth, if you have a smart phone then download something like the Undercover Tourist. This app tells you the crowd forecast and wait times on all the rides. Use Fast pass wisely. For some strange reason Peter Pan always has a long line. Get a fast pass for it and come back later instead of waiting an hour for a short minute ride.

Take a break in the middle of the day, even if it is in the Hall of Presidents, or other sit down show. The American experience in EPCOT is a wonderful respite.

If you would like to PM me I can send you some information based on specific questions.

We went in March and did 6 days of parks with our 5 and 2 year olds!! They never got crabby! We did 3 days in a row, took a rest day, then 3 more days on a row. We got to each park when it opened, stayed til about 1:00, went back to our condo for naps, then returned to the park for the evening. We based our schedule for the week on a "crowd calendar" at http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/crowd-calendar
It tells you the best and worst parks for each day, based on crowd estimates, and it seemed accurate for us. Animal Kingdom closes early, so you can get to bed early that day. You can do it! Tiring but worth it!

You can do Animal Kingdom in the morning and then Epcot in the afternoon/evening.
Just my two cents,
R.

Depends on the age of your kids. Agree with previous post that Magic Kingdom is a full day. Our kids wanted to go back, so we did two days there. We did do Epcot, our kids liked it, but they were eight and ten years old when we went. If we had to do it again, we would skip MGM- we aren't big movie/tv people, so our kids were bored.

If you have time, do a search of this site for Disney advice. There are some great ideas already posted. Have a fun trip!

We planned on doing two parks a day when we went to Disney last Christmas. We ended up doing a park a day. The kids could have gone more- it was us! It was packed and the worry of watching 3 kids was wearing...so we did a park a day for Dec 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. We all had a blast!! Since right now is not too busy, you won't even need to go when they open. We messed up there - we took our time in the mornings and missed a few rides because they were just too long of a wait. But you can definitely do it!! just don't overdo yourselves!

Yes you can. You didn't say how old your kids are so that will influence. Ever since I was a kid (and even as a young adult traveling with my hubby), we have always done the schedule of be there when the park opens, stay through early afternoon (e.g. 1ish), go to hotel to rest, then head back at dinner time through the evening. We took our kids last year when they were 14 months and 3 3/4. We did a park every day. Obviously the 14 month old was too young for some rids, but my older one was old enough for splash mountain, thunder mountain, etc and LOVED them. Agree with bringing a stroller - we brought our sit and stand so that when the older one got tired she could ride. We also packed a soft sided small cooler each day with snacks and water. This fit under the stroller. On the parks, here was our experience....Animal Kindom - some nice things, but it didn't take a whole day to so. Hollywood studios - not much that young kids can "ride" - so it's mainly shows. Epcot - my daughter loved Spaceship Earth and Imagination - so even if it's a half day I'd go. Of course the biggest attraction is MK and we went numerous days on our last trip - we had the park hopper and dinning plan, so we did lots of park hopping.

I will say the best part of our trip was doing the dinning plan and selecting the character meals - the kids really liked that.

Like the others said, Animal Kingdom is probably the shortest day and a decent amount of it is rides that take a while so a little less walking. DO make reservations for eating though!!

Depending on the age of your kids (ours were 3 & 5) the stroller rental was a very good investment!