Days spent at the Parks

[Levett 0]

I'm planning our first camping trip to the Fort in Nov ..my kids will be 5&6..We are staying for a week..wondering if I should buy park tickets for everyday or save some days to enjoy the campground? what do you guys do?

[bhall 115]

I would save some days to enjoy the campground.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

We recently spent a month at the Fort.  But we have no small children.  We visited a park 28 out of 30 days.  A few days it was only to go to MK for ice cream.  But we love the parks and can't imagine spending too many days just hanging around the Fort. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I would save some days to enjoy the campground.

I agree. With young kids you will appreciate some slow time to recharge.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

13 hours ago, Levett said:

I'm planning our first camping trip to the Fort in Nov ..my kids will be 5&6..We are staying for a week..wondering if I should buy park tickets for everyday or save some days to enjoy the campground? what do you guys do?

Remember you can always add days to your tickets by just paying the difference. 

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Let me clarify my last statement. 

As long as your within 14 days of the time you started using your tickets and the purchase doesn't push your ticket past 10 days and you have at least one park day left in your ticket. 

 

So so if you buy an adult 4-day, base ticket for $325 you can add a 5th day for the difference of $15. (5-day base ticket $340.). And you can do this as many times as you want. Again as long it doesn't exceed 10 days etc. 

 

so buy the ticket with the least amount of days you think you might go and then if you decide to go another day. Simply add one or two. 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Our son is 7, and we always plan some Fort only days. In fact, we've even done a trip that was more than 1/2 Fort days. There is sooooo much to do there- visit the horses, go to the pool, pony rides, ride bikes, fish, catch lizards, marshmallow roast and sing along, crafts, etc.

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[bdm 47]

My son is 2 now and our last trip was to Bay Tower, for a week.  We always plan on 3 days in, 1 day out.  Our days in the park are early in then back to resort for lunch, followed by a 2 hour nap then back into the park for the evening until dinner.  

I think the best bet is to plan for some down time.  Your kids are much older and may not need a break in the middle of the day and 8 or 10 hours at a theme park is a lot for anyone to do 3 days in a row with out time to recover. 

[keith_h 420]

I'm with the others on just planning some playtime around the Fort or other resorts. You should be able to find some activities by looking at the activity calendars for the Fort and other resorts for the time you will be there.

[Travisma 1,317]

We have spent a week at the Fort many times without going to the parks.  Especially now when our pass has black out dates.

There is plenty to do at the Fort, or if they get antsy you can always resort hop.

One thing we really enjoyed was the boat ride from Port Orleans to Disney Springs.  Very relaxing, and no hassle trying to park at Springs..

Plus if you catch the boat from the French Quarter, you can grab some beignets.

Both AK lodges have a lot of kids activities, from brass rubbings, to cookie decorating to face painting. 

Take boat rides and monorail rides.  Take the evening wagon ride from in front of Pioneer Hall. 

[Cortezcapt (Derek) 156]

The first time we stayed at the Fort was in a cabin when I was around 7, we never went to the parks, I didn't want to. There was plenty to do at the Fort. That being said we live in Florida and had been to Disney before. Now when we go we are in one park or another almost everyday, but like Gwen it could be a quick trip for something to eat or to do one thing and leave.

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[Travisma 1,317]

15 minutes ago, Cortezcapt (Derek) said:

Now when we go we are in one park or another almost everyday, but like Gwen it could be a quick trip for something to eat or to do one thing and leave.

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That's the advantage of living fairly close and having a pass. We went last weekend and just did a few things.  Took the train all the way around the MK, then walked over to Buzz Lightyear. Saw the Muppets, hit the Jingle Cruise, and then we left.

My wife was taking my granddaughter to Busch after school a lot last year.  Just go in do a couple things and leave.  But now that she's a middle schooler and doesn't get out until 4:15,  has a lot of homework, dance, gym, or sports that hasn't been happening

[Seals 111]

We don't go often, and my kids were in the later elementary age when we used to go annually, but I found that alternating park days and not park days worked best. We'd get back late on park days and then could sleep in or get going gradually on the next day and it seemed to reduce crankiness (of me). In addition to doing things at the Fort, one of our best non-park days was when we set out on an "adventure". We rode boat, bus and monorail and visited several resorts. We spent a long while at Animal Kingdom looking at the animals and relaxing in the hotel and had lunch at the Poly quick service and wandered around a couple of others just looking at all the "stuff. It was fun for all. 

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I have never come back from a trip thinking I wish I had spent more time at one of the theme parks. I have thought I wish I would have slowed down and enjoyed the Fort more.

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[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

21 hours ago, momof3kids-Yvonne said:

I have never come back from a trip thinking I wish I had spent more time at one of the theme parks. I have thought I wish I would have slowed down and enjoyed the Fort more.

 

And after a month there this fall I came home wishing I could have spent more day in the MK!

[Levett 0]

Thanks for the great advice everyone!!..I believe I will alternate days. Sleeping in a few mornings sounds like a great idea!!?

[Cortezcapt (Derek) 156]

Thanks for the great advice everyone!!..I believe I will alternate days. Sleeping in a few mornings sounds like a great idea!!?

You may also want to look at the days you'll be there and if any have short or extended hours, morning and or evening magic hours. Depending on your family, going back for a nap mid day then taking advantage of extended hours can be more enjoyable.

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[Tuke 16]

Our family actually is much more willing and able to make the most of our time in the parks when we alternate days. 

[Theed31u 10]

We did a trip in April with 4 kids (8, 5, 3 and 1).  We did 8 days at the fort with 7 of those days in the parks.  We are looking at our next trip and would like to spend 7 days in the parks but with the kids we are going to do 1:1 ratio of park days vs hanging out at the fort days.  We did take advantage of extra magic hours when they were offered so staying in the parks until 1 am was awesome for getting lots of attractions in a short amount of time but it was not fun the next morning heading to another park.