The "How many days at each park" question...

[rtbreneman]

I'm no Disney expert but probably am considered to be one in my small circle of friends, and I'm often asked by Disney first timers how much time they should allocate to each park. I know it's different for every specific case, but I'm curious as to how others generally allocate their park days between the major parks and what advice they would give newcomers.

My normal suggestion is 40% MK, and 20% each for Epcot, AK, and HS. So for a five day trip, 2 days MK and one a piece for the others. For a trip longer than 6-7 days, add a day for Disney Springs and the resort.

Anyone else get that question often, or how do you normally divide up your precious vacation days?

 

[Budzooka]

I think you're close. MK is two days for sure. I went back to AK for a 2nd day this last trip because I wanted to ride FOP again and we ended up staying for about 6 hours. What's cool about that park is you never know what you're going to get with the animals. But, I wouldn't spend more than a day at HS or Epcot.

 

[nat8199]

We will have 7 full park days on our next trip. We are going to do two at MK, EP, and AK. One at HS. MK and AK are both two day minimum parks for our family.

 

[Kirk]

For newcomers I'd agree 2/1/1/1 but I'd do it in half day chunks via parkhopper.

Since I'm doing two 10 night stays this year though I'll be mixing it up some. Waterpark/Spa/Fishing/Pandora/Fireworks/Parade emphasis in August. Holiday/Epcot/MK/Tours/Resort emphasis in December.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

For a first timer ak, ep, and hs are all 2 day parks, and mk is a 3-4 day park. Unless they have a 9 or 10 day pass they will have to make choices based on their particular group.

 

[Belle_1989]

We had our first trip in March and I planned 2 days at MK 2 at Epcot and one day each at HS and AK. Looking back on the trip I wish we would have done 1 Epcot day and 2 AK days instead. Outside of DD meeting the princesses and DS riding Test Track Epcot bored us on the other hand though we only planned a few hours at AK and could have spend 2 days there easily.

 

[loves to dive]

It depends on the make up of the party as to what I'd suggest. I always suggest park hoppers, that way if a park if too crowded you can move on to another one. I normally recommend one day for each park, then after you have done your one day, you can decide if you need another day. Say your order is MK,Epcot,HS,Ak. After your MK day you decide you need another day, at that point you can get on MDE and book FPs for day 5, 6 or 7. Rinse repeat. You just never know what people are going to enjoy once they get there. I also always tell people not to overplan, it's too exhausting and a good set up for disappointment. Book your first 3 FPs for things you know you want to ride, after that it's gravy. Stop and smell the roses (literally at Epcot), take in all the details, it's vacation relax and enjoy it. My must dos (I actually don't have any) might not be another person's and I firmly believe you aren't going to miss something you never had.

 

[cvjpirate]

As the parks stand now, 3 days MK, 2 days Epcot, 1 day HS and 1 day AK.

 

[McKelly]

For our 10 night day trip in a few weeks, I have 3 days MK, 2 days AK, 2 days EP, 1 day HS, 1 day Waterpark and 1 resort/Disney Springs day. MK is really 2 1/2, because we will head over on our arrival day and that's not a full day. Through the years we have always allocated one more day at MK than the other parks, so I agree with your suggestions.

 

[SarahC97]

We will have 7 full park days on our next trip. We are going to do two at MK, EP, and AK. One at HS. MK and AK are both two day minimum parks for our family.

This is exactly how we roll too. We really love AK and could spend more than two days there if we had the time. We're doing 6 park days next trip and we're doing 2 MK, 2 AK, and one in EP and HS. I normally don't allocate time for DS or the resort because we only stay at values so there's not too much to see and do around the resort, and DS doesn't really interest us at all.

 

[tcufrog]

I guess we're unusual because we aren't into MK. We always go during the first week in December so we spend a lot of time at Epcot visiting the story tellers. MK 1 day, HS 1 day, Epcot 2 days and AK 1 day. We always feel rushed at AK so I think it will be 2 days from now on because of all of the new stuff. We don't park hop.

 

[hosler427]

We are doing a trip in January with a 10 day park hopper and there will be some partial days but roughly we are planning 4 MK, 2.5 epcot, 2 AK and 1.5 HS. I think your estimate is pretty close.

 

[srwarden1928]

If you want a different plan here is mine: arrival F&W at EP; MK; EP; HS; AK; flex; MK/EP; AK/HS; 4 park thrills; flex; departure day is reopening of Splash so several rides on just that. The flex days are for me to go back to any/all of the parks to pick up things I missed or do what I want.

The family trip with five park days 2MK incl MNSSHP, 1EP, 1HS, 1AK.

DTD is worked in wherever and whenever it works.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We are doing a trip in January with a 10 day park hopper and there will be some partial days but roughly we are planning 4 MK, 2.5 epcot, 2 AK and 1.5 HS. I think your estimate is pretty close.

We have 10 park days planned also this coming trip, and we have a similar breakdown. We don't park hop though, so it's 4 MK, and 2 each at the others.

 

[bryanb]

Every person is different. For me, I would never allocate a full day at Disney Springs even though I like it so much. It is a wonderful mall, with many great restaurants and entertainment options, but spending one entire day at a mall is not my idea of fun.

If you're like me, you can still spread out Disney Springs over different occasions. In fact, I'm guessing we've ended up there on most days during a trip for one reason or another.

For example, a few times we visited Typhoon Lagoon, then headed to Disney Springs for a meal and some shopping in the afternoon. They're on the same bus line anyway, so very convenient.

Or on several nights after the theme parks closed, we got on the bus to DS to grab dinner, followed by another activity. Like drinks and music at Raglan Road. Or a sundae at Ghirardelli's. There is now transportation running from all 4 theme parks after 4pm. We would've liked to have seen a movie one night, but sadly there were no showings after 11:00pm.

Or on the last day of a trip, we took the boat between DS and Port Orleans to kill some time before departure.

Disney Springs is great in smaller doses if you don't like shopping all day.