Disneyworld- only 2 full days- which park to choose for 8 year old?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hollywood studios is much smaller than AK. Would recommend AK

Just had a trip to Disney in May where we only went to AK and HS. I thought they were about the same, or perhaps AK was smaller?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not Epcot, especially if you're going in the summer. The walk around the lake to all of the countries is a slog for some kids, especially in the summer b/c there isn't much shade.

My kids had zero interest in this and we were there in April.

I thought Epcot would be a short day, but all 3 of my kids loved it and spent a lot of time wandering the pavilions, trying food, going on rides, taking the boat across the lagoon. It was a surprising hit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hollywood studios is much smaller than AK. Would recommend AK

Just had a trip to Disney in May where we only went to AK and HS. I thought they were about the same, or perhaps AK was smaller?

My kids thought HS > AK. AK is a zoo with some rides. As frequent zoo visitors they weren't really blown away. And we're not Avatar fans so didn't really care much about FoP or Navi, although we did both. They were much bigger fans of the theming at HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Magic Kingdom. That is quintessential Disney. Especially for an 8 year old. No way would I waste time at a water park in Disney if I was only there 2.5 days.

OP here. I already decided to go to the Magic Kindgom. My sister compromised by not going to Epcott ( that she wanted to go to) and go instead to Magic Kingdom. I agree with you- water park doesn't call to me, but my sister insists to go to the water park, so we will go to stay together. So that was my compromise with my sister to go to the water park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Magic Kingdom. That is quintessential Disney. Especially for an 8 year old. No way would I waste time at a water park in Disney if I was only there 2.5 days.

OP here. I already decided to go to the Magic Kindgom. My sister compromised by not going to Epcott ( that she wanted to go to) and go instead to Magic Kingdom. I agree with you- water park doesn't call to me, but my sister insists to go to the water park, so we will go to stay together. So that was my compromise with my sister to go to the water park.

Why can't you go to Epcot and MK? Then everyone wins. A water park is a water park. My kids loved Epcot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t do Epcot. Do Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios has Marvel, Star Wars and Toy Story.

Epcot is very large and not nearly as charming. Long vistas of brutalist architecture. So not worth it.

Consider Animal Kingdom. I loved it. Best ride in the whole park - the dragon riding one from Avatar (and I hate that movie) is in Animal Kingdom.

I must say that with an 8 year old, I completely agree with this. But also, I really love Epcot so make sure you do it on a later trip.

This. I loved Epcot the most but you can’t not do Magic Kingdom with an 8 year old. Maybe do that while your sister and kids do Epcot and then you can all do HS or AL depending on interests. AK has a cool safari and great food and shows. Not sure why you would do a water park with two days at Disney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t do Epcot. Do Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios has Marvel, Star Wars and Toy Story.

Epcot is very large and not nearly as charming. Long vistas of brutalist architecture. So not worth it.

Consider Animal Kingdom. I loved it. Best ride in the whole park - the dragon riding one from Avatar (and I hate that movie) is in Animal Kingdom.

I must say that with an 8 year old, I completely agree with this. But also, I really love Epcot so make sure you do it on a later trip.

This. I loved Epcot the most but you can’t not do Magic Kingdom with an 8 year old. Maybe do that while your sister and kids do Epcot and then you can all do HS or AL depending on interests. AK has a cool safari and great food and shows. Not sure why you would do a water park with two days at Disney.

Epcot has good rides. Guardians of the Galaxy is a favorite of many people. Boys also like: Test Track, Soarin, Mission Space. There is also Ratatouille, Frozen, etc. Plenty for kids and adults to do.

[Anonymous]

If your sister really wants to do Epcot and you really want to do MK and you have 2.5 days, do MK one day, Epcot one day, water park 1/2 day. Water parks are the same everywhere but MK and Epcot are things that you can’t do anywhere besides Disney,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t do Epcot. Do Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios has Marvel, Star Wars and Toy Story.

Epcot is very large and not nearly as charming. Long vistas of brutalist architecture. So not worth it.

Consider Animal Kingdom. I loved it. Best ride in the whole park - the dragon riding one from Avatar (and I hate that movie) is in Animal Kingdom.

Marvel? It's been a couple years since I was last at Hollywood Studios, but I thought Marvel was only west of the Mississippi for Disney?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t do Epcot. Do Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios has Marvel, Star Wars and Toy Story.

Epcot is very large and not nearly as charming. Long vistas of brutalist architecture. So not worth it.

Consider Animal Kingdom. I loved it. Best ride in the whole park - the dragon riding one from Avatar (and I hate that movie) is in Animal Kingdom.

I must say that with an 8 year old, I completely agree with this. But also, I really love Epcot so make sure you do it on a later trip.

This. I loved Epcot the most but you can’t not do Magic Kingdom with an 8 year old. Maybe do that while your sister and kids do Epcot and then you can all do HS or AL depending on interests. AK has a cool safari and great food and shows. Not sure why you would do a water park with two days at Disney.

Epcot has good rides. Guardians of the Galaxy is a favorite of many people. Boys also like: Test Track, Soarin, Mission Space. There is also Ratatouille, Frozen, etc. Plenty for kids and adults to do.

Agreed. We took our kids to Disney for the first time recently and my 8 year old DS’s favorite park was Epcot. Lots of fun rides there. Yes it’s big but it’s Disney, you need to go in expecting big parks and lots of walking.

[Anonymous]

The one with star wars

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not Epcot, especially if you're going in the summer. The walk around the lake to all of the countries is a slog for some kids, especially in the summer b/c there isn't much shade.

My kids had zero interest in this and we were there in April.

I thought Epcot would be a short day, but all 3 of my kids loved it and spent a lot of time wandering the pavilions, trying food, going on rides, taking the boat across the lagoon. It was a surprising hit.

FYI that they stopped doing the boat rides. And, Test Track closes this week for a long refurb (a PP mentioned it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Magic Kingdom. That is quintessential Disney. Especially for an 8 year old. No way would I waste time at a water park in Disney if I was only there 2.5 days.

OP here. I already decided to go to the Magic Kindgom. My sister compromised by not going to Epcott ( that she wanted to go to) and go instead to Magic Kingdom. I agree with you- water park doesn't call to me, but my sister insists to go to the water park, so we will go to stay together. So that was my compromise with my sister to go to the water park.

Why can't you go to Epcot and MK? Then everyone wins. A water park is a water park. My kids loved Epcot.

This is what I would do too. Epcot over water park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a hopper pass and do a taste of all 4 parks. You can go to any old water slide park somewhere else.

The Disney Water Parks are definitely not "any old water slide parks," at all. They are really, really nice. But if I had only 2 full days, I probably wouldn't choose one either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your sister really wants to do Epcot and you really want to do MK and you have 2.5 days, do MK one day, Epcot one day, water park 1/2 day. Water parks are the same everywhere but MK and Epcot are things that you can’t do anywhere besides Disney,

All of these people who have never gone to a Disney water park. But yes, MK and Epcot.