Quick Disney Trip

[Anonymous]

I’d like to do a 3 night trip in January with our family of 4. We have 2 kids, ages 7 and 10. We are looking at someplace with warm weather but since beach weather isn’t guaranteed in January in FL or Bahamas, I’m wondering if we should do a few days at Disney World. We’ve taken them to Disney Land previously and Disney World is on our bucket list, but we aren’t people that would want to do a whole week there. Does anyone have tips on maximizing a quick 3 night trip?

[Anonymous]

Yes this is a good time of year and length!

What’s your budget? Staying on site at Swan (where you can walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios) or a skyliner resort makes a big difference. It also maximizes the Disney bubble effect for a short trip and gets you early entry.

Here’s an idea of an itinerary:

day 1 - arrive on a flight that leaves late enough to allow you to have a full night rest so you start out fully rested.

Assuming you arrive around 3-4pm, spend day 1 checking out your hotel and head to Disney Springs for dinner. Alternatively (if possible) book a dinner at a resort to enjoy atmosphere.

For day 2 and 3, you need to figure out if you want to get up early, stay up late, or have a long afternoon break. There are a lot of strategies to maximize time in the parks (like rope dropping at 7am) but there’s no point in exhausting yourself. Also depends on whether your kids are able to stay up late or not.

You should probably decide on just 3 parks depending on your kids’ interests. I think plan to skip either Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. I consider Epcot and Magic Kingdom musts.

Think of sit-down meals and snacks as ways to take breaks and rest so you can keep going. Not as ways to enjoy any particular cuisine or restaurant. That is not really the point! You may even want to plan on room service dinner so you can just collapse in a heap.

You’ll have a LOT more fun if you enjoy all the older experiences and shows, like the Carousel of Progress and Living with the Land. Because they are easier to get into and relaxing.

[Anonymous]

I've been to Disney World and don't think it requires more than two days honestly. Especially if you go off season (shorter lines).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been to Disney World and don't think it requires more than two days honestly. Especially if you go off season (shorter lines).

Do you do 4 parks in 2 days? I agree it is doable in 2 days but not all 4 parks unless you are a real marathoner. (we are but most people are not!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been to Disney World and don't think it requires more than two days honestly. Especially if you go off season (shorter lines).

Do you do 4 parks in 2 days? I agree it is doable in 2 days but not all 4 parks unless you are a real marathoner. (we are but most people are not!)

You can do 4 parks in 3 days if you know what you are doing. For a first time visitor, I'd stick to one park/day.

[Anonymous]

If we do 2 days at the parks should we get the park hopper?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been to Disney World and don't think it requires more than two days honestly. Especially if you go off season (shorter lines).

Do you do 4 parks in 2 days? I agree it is doable in 2 days but not all 4 parks unless you are a real marathoner. (we are but most people are not!)

You can do 4 parks in 3 days if you know what you are doing. For a first time visitor, I'd stick to one park/day.

OP says 3 nights so I guess your plan would be to do one park on the arrival/departure day? We did Animal Kingdom on our departure day and that worked out OK because we were able to do a lot but leave by around 1. That did require some stress and planning. We did not rent a car - it might work better if you rented a car because then you wouldn’t have to worry about timing Ubers to the airport and could have your stuff all packed in the trunk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If we do 2 days at the parks should we get the park hopper?

We did. My kid is a maximizer and was into going back and forth to be able to hit the rides he wanted to do. You may not be the same!

[Anonymous]

We are doing a low key three night trip in May with our 7 year old. This is my plan-

Day 1- arrive midday and either do the free water park on arrival day (not sure this will be offered) or just hang out at the pool at our resort- Animal Kingdom Lodge- and see the animals and do activities at the resort. Dinner at Sanaa.

Day 2- rope drop Magic Kingdom. We will buy the lightning lane pass and possibly take a mid day break. Stay out late for fireworks.

Day 3- Animal Kingdom and then back to the resort for swimming, campfire, movie etc.

Day 4- breakfast at Boma maybe one last swim at the pool and fly home late afternoon/early evening.

We obviously are not trying to pack everything in and hit every park. I figure next trip we can do another 3 nights at a boardwalk resort and walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been to Disney World and don't think it requires more than two days honestly. Especially if you go off season (shorter lines).

Do you do 4 parks in 2 days? I agree it is doable in 2 days but not all 4 parks unless you are a real marathoner. (we are but most people are not!)

You can do 4 parks in 3 days if you know what you are doing. For a first time visitor, I'd stick to one park/day.

OP says 3 nights so I guess your plan would be to do one park on the arrival/departure day? We did Animal Kingdom on our departure day and that worked out OK because we were able to do a lot but leave by around 1. That did require some stress and planning. We did not rent a car - it might work better if you rented a car because then you wouldn’t have to worry about timing Ubers to the airport and could have your stuff all packed in the trunk.

OP here- 3 nights, yes. But now based on responses I’m thinking maybe we won’t do a park for the first day and just do 2 days with park hopper.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on what your priorities are. Back in the day when I worked at the parks, we had a method for doing all 4 parks in a day. But you won't be able to do everything, just a couple things at each park. We also used fast passes and you might have to pay for lightning lanes.

So really think about what your priorities at the parks are and go from there.

[Anonymous]

Pick your dates carefully. Early January is marathon weekend and MLK weekend is always busy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been to Disney World and don't think it requires more than two days honestly. Especially if you go off season (shorter lines).

Do you do 4 parks in 2 days? I agree it is doable in 2 days but not all 4 parks unless you are a real marathoner. (we are but most people are not!)

You can do 4 parks in 3 days if you know what you are doing. For a first time visitor, I'd stick to one park/day.

OP says 3 nights so I guess your plan would be to do one park on the arrival/departure day? We did Animal Kingdom on our departure day and that worked out OK because we were able to do a lot but leave by around 1. That did require some stress and planning. We did not rent a car - it might work better if you rented a car because then you wouldn’t have to worry about timing Ubers to the airport and could have your stuff all packed in the trunk.

OP here- 3 nights, yes. But now based on responses I’m thinking maybe we won’t do a park for the first day and just do 2 days with park hopper.

Do you know what your flight plans are? I think it is feasible to do a 3rd park day on the day you fly home if you have a late flight.

I think the main thing to consider is rest vs “getting everything done.” We go hard but tend to sleep in - so we would be at the parks from 10am-close.

[Anonymous]

If you’re there on a Monday or Wednesday you can get additional evening hours while staying at a deluxe resort (and Swan/Dolphin.) There are also several After Hours events that require a separate ticket.

If you’re going to try to do all 4 parks on 2 days, make sure you time it wisely.

Animal Kingdom is an AM park. It opens and closes the earliest and a lot of the animal related attractions close even earlier (like 3PM)

EPCOT is a PM(ish) park. A lot of World Showcase doesn’t open until 11AM. However, EPCOT gets a lot more crowded (and intoxicated) in the evening hours. They have a firework show, Luminous.

Magic Kingdom is great in the AM for knocking out a lot of rides, but you’ll probably want to make it a PM park for its evening entertainment. Also, it’s typically open the latest.

Hollywood Studios is better as an AM park for taking advantage of lightning lanes and daytime shows. If you want to do Fantasmic, then prioritize evening.

I’d split it Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom one day and Hollywood Studios/Epcot the other.

Be careful if you’re traveling the last week of January, as the skyliner is closed for maintenance that week.

[Anonymous]

I would skip the Park Hopper passes. They just cost more and you spend more time in transit. You can fill your day in one park.

We went to a few parks recently with my kid and niece and nephew. My 10 year old and 8 year old niece loved Epcot the best, maybe because the lines were the shortest and we went on the most rides? My niece went to all 4 parks and AK was the least favorite. So I would just pick 2 parks.