How many days in each Disney World Park?

by Vickie
(St. Louis, MO)

Hi Dad...

First thank you for providing such a valuable resource. Your website has been more helpful than many of the books we naively purchased.

We just booked our 6 night Disney stay at the Polynesian for January 2011. We will be traveling with a 2 and 4.5 year old. My question is how many days do you think we need to appropriately see everything at a relaxing pace? We'd like to hit Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and also spend a day at Sea World.

Thanks so much! I'm sure I might be in touch again with more questions :)

Vickie A.

Dad's Knowledgeable Answer

Vickie,

Wow! Thanks for the kind words. And congratulations on the trip. (I'm a little jealous, I need my own trip to the Polynesian.)

Here's Dad's general guide to how many days in each Disney World Park.

• Magic Kingdom - To see everything in the Magic Kingdom we like to spend one whole day and part of another. In January, you might see the whole park in one day, but to do it leisurely, I figure 1 +.
  
• Epcot - Epcot is a little trickier. You can do all the rides in one day. If you want to take time to visit all of the countries and spend some time in each one you should figure about a day and a half. We will usually spend a full day and have dinner in Epcot on a second evening.
  
• Animal Kingdom - The Animal Kingdom takes a full day to see everything. That is a full Animal Kingdom day. Animal Kingdom usually closes at 5:00 or so in January. We will usually stay until closing and then go eat at 'Ohana.
  
• Disney's Hollywood Studios - I'm going to add Disney's Hollywood Studios even though it's not on your list. It takes a full day to see everything at the Studios. (Yes it's not a 100% full day, but it's almost a full day).
  

Your situation is a little different than most visitors. With such young children you will need time each day outside the parks for an afternoon nap. (Don't skimp on this one.) But, on the other hand, you won't be able to ride some of the rides that will have the longest lines. So the above guidelines will still be pretty accurate for your family.

I hope this answers your question. Don't hesitate to ask any other questions. I'm here to help.