Is 3 days too much for Disney parks?

[mom_of_gia]

Hi,
We're local, but staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge this weekend for my MILs birthday. We have 3 daughters, age 2, 5 and 7. The 2 yo still naps. I'm thinking we should go all out and spend 3 days at the parks since we'll be there for 2 overnights. My DH thinks that 3 days is too much and that the kids will get burnt out and cranky (they are pretty high-maintenance).

I figure they'll be so excited and be having a blast. I also figure we could just leave if it's all too much.

What's your experience? Is 3 days too long of a time to be going to the parks on consecutive days?

Also, there are 7 of us in our group. My ILs, and my husband, kids and I.

TIA

D

[edurnemk]

IMO, it's not too much. We did 6 days with only one day of rest in between and it was fine. There's so much to do I actually think 3 days is the bare minimum for WDW. DS was almost 4 and although not a regular napper he did nap in the stroller almost daily.

When we were young we also did week-long trips with daily visits to parks, when my youngest brother was 3 yo.

[Smillow]

There can be a lot to do at the resort, as well. We stayed at Coronado Springs in January and loved just hanging out by the pool & then hopping over to Fort Wilderness for the campfire & sing-a-long or to the Polynesian for the fireworks. We were more interested in relaxing, though. And we just have the one DS who was not yet 3 and didn't care what we did as long as we were having fun.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I like hanging out at the resort some and taking advantage of the things there, so I'm inclined to say to sit out a day and do resort activities that since you're local and likely to be going to the parks other days.

[TwinFoxes]

We did 7 days when the girls were 28 months. They napped in their stroller. They roll with the punches pretty well though.

[Cam&Clay]

We leave next week for 10 days, so I don't think 3 days is too much...maybe for just one park.

[Seitvonzu]

we stayed at animal kingdom for 6 nights in january...we did parks all 7 DAYS we were visiting. we went from just about opening to pretty late in the evening (a couple days we did full days, some days we went to parks that closed earlyish....so full days). my four year old was FINE-- but shes a "do-er" and a "go-er."

we did leave late afternoon a couple days to take advantage of the pool at the hotel and to get back and see some animals :) late afternoon is the best time to do that because they feed them- so they are EVERYWHERE.

the AKL is really wonderful and i feel like we didn't take advantage of it at all-- they have lots of programs (even in january low season). we went to BOMA for dinner our first night, and even though i loved the food-- my daughter was super overtired and so was everyone, so we were all feeling a little rushed

so-- i'm conflicted on what to tell you-- your local and springing for a deluxe hotel-- maybe take advantage of that and just do parks as day trips? we hit all 4 parks, but i actually felt like we could have skipped the animal kingdom and just experienced more at the hotel if necessary (we sorta got the africa thing from the hotel, iykwim). (of course then i would have missed my favorite-- expedition everest!) :) i think i'd focus a bit on the hotel-- there certainly is lots to explore- we loved it there.

[hellokitty]

3 days is really short, but if you are local to that area, I can see why you think it might seem longer. We went in Dec with our 3 boys, ages 6, 7 and 2.5 at the time. My youngest still naps and has never napped in a stroller before, BUT napped in a stroller while we are at WDW (6 nights). So, I wouldn't bother bringing her back to the room to nap if I were you, if she falls asleep in the stroller, just go about touring and take turns leaving one adult with her while you go on rides/shows. Some shows will allow a sleeping child in a stroller. The, "wings of flight" show at AK let me in with DS3 sleeping in the stroller and another family in the same situation sat next to us.

[rkold]

We went for 8 days in early December 2011? I think with DD when she was 14 months. We didn't visit the parks the day we arrived, left and the day we changed hotels, but other than that every day we went to at least 1 park every day. DH gave out long before DD. It did help though that some days we only went to the park for 1/2 a day. It was super low season when we were there so most attractions didn't have lines. The longest line we waited in was to meet Rapunzel since DD adores Rapunzel. I took advantage of the single rider lines a few times and got fastpasses using my ticket and DHs for other rides, since DH is not a ride person. He was happy going on Small World with DD again and again. We also skipped the Studios since there was nothing there for a 14 month old.

I stayed last March 2011 in the Lodge and Kidani/Jambo house are both really really nice and both have amazing pools. (and pool sharing privileges.) They had some fascinating programs for kids as well, but DD was 5 months then and the programs are really geared for the 3+ crowd. Boma can get pricey with such a large group but they have a huge selection of items. We ate there for breakfast and dinner when we stayed at the Lodge since we didn't rent a car. We also tried Sanaa in Kidani (and were disappointed compared to Indian restaurants near us, we also had the longest ADR wait I've ever had in WDW) and ate at Jiko (good but pricey!)

Would you consider splitting your group? Are people in the group ride people? Things like that make a difference.

[kbud]

We are local too and spent 2 nights in Feb at the Contemporary. We had 5 kids in our party, 3 four year olds, a three year old and an 8 year old. We did one day at the parks and spent the rest of the time just enjoying the resort, pool, riding the mono-rail, etc. Since we were local we didn't feel the urge to do the parks each day. We have had passes in the past so we go to the parks a lot. What we don't do as locals is stay on property. I'm sure you could do the parks for 3 days but I'd say do 2 days and enjoy the resort for a day. You can always hop over to Disney for a day from your house;)

[mom_of_gia]

Thanks for all the great advice. We've not been to the parks before (as a family) even though we live less than an hour away. My girls and I are very excited. I don't know when or if we'll be back to the park again, so I think we'll just play it by ear.

Also - what is a fast pass? Is it free?

What is a single rider?

Is Mickey's house closed in Magic kingdom? Is Minnie's house closed?

Thanks so much.

D

[klwa]

Thanks for all the great advice. We've not been to the parks before (as a family) even though we live less than an hour away. My girls and I are very excited. I don't know when or if we'll be back to the park again, so I think we'll just play it by ear.

Also - what is a fast pass? Is it free?

What is a single rider?

Is Mickey's house closed in Magic kingdom? Is Minnie's house closed?

Thanks so much.

D


Fast pass is free. Basically, you go up to a machine in the parks near the ride you want to go on (well labeled) & insert your park ticket. It will spit out a ticket that tells you when to come back to the ride. You'll enter by a seperate line (once again, well labeled) from the standby people & get on faster.

Single rider only exists on (3?) rides. Test Track (which is currently closed for remodel), Expedition Everest, and it seems like one other I can't think of. Basically, these are for rides that seat three across. Since most people coming in have 2 people per grouping, the single rider gets inserted to fill the row. Fewer people are willing to break up their groups that way, so the line is short & moves pretty quick.

Mickey & Minnie's houses were closed when Toon Town closed. The only attractions open back where they used to be are the new Dumbo & the Great Goofini roller coaster. But, Mickey is still doing a meet & greet on Main Street somewhere.

[PAfirsttimemom]

Fast pass is free. Basically, you go up to a machine in the parks near the ride you want to go on (well labeled) & insert your park ticket. It will spit out a ticket that tells you when to come back to the ride. You'll enter by a seperate line (once again, well labeled) from the standby people & get on faster.

Single rider only exists on (3?) rides. Test Track (which is currently closed for remodel), Expedition Everest, and it seems like one other I can't think of. Basically, these are for rides that seat three across. Since most people coming in have 2 people per grouping, the single rider gets inserted to fill the row. Fewer people are willing to break up their groups that way, so the line is short & moves pretty quick.

Mickey & Minnie's houses were closed when Toon Town closed. The only attractions open back where they used to be are the new Dumbo & the Great Goofini roller coaster. But, Mickey is still doing a meet & greet on Main Street somewhere.

Do you wait in line to get the fast pass in the first place?

[mom_of_gia]

I'm so disappointed to hear that Toon town is closed. That's what I was most excited about visiting with my little ones. They love, love, love Mickey Mouse.

I'm not even sure what to see first when we enter the park. I'm sure there's still lots of great toddler and preschool stuff to see, but I was really eager to show them Mickey's and Minnie's houses.

Do they still have the Winnie the Pooh playground area?

My 2yo loves Mickey, Goofy and Pooh. Any recommendations?

Thank you all so much,
d

[klwa]

Do you wait in line to get the fast pass in the first place?

Depends on the ride. Toy Story Mania in DHS, yes. Most of the time, maybe 1 person in front of you at the machines. (There's usually a bank of machines dedicated to the ride.)

As for Pooh's playground, I think it got closed with the new expansion BUT they added an interactive queue for the Pooh ride, which has some of the old playground stuff in it.

Oh, and for meeting characters, you may want to take a look at http://wdwent.com/ which gives an overview of the times guide for each park for the upcoming week. It gives you an idea where you can meet the various characters at each park.

[TwinFoxes]

Do you wait in line to get the fast pass in the first place?

The most time I've waited for a FP is probably 1 minute. It's super easy. Ticket in, FP shoots out. Sometimes you get behind someone getting passes for their entire huge family.

OP, if your DCs love Mickey, MK is the place to go even without Mickey's house. If they like Pooh, you could do a character meal at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and Friends.