Update: Picking two parks

[katiecj6]

We are going to Disney for two days.

We have two 10 year old boys.

We are definitely doing Magic Kingdom, but I'm at a loss on how to pick a second park.

Any suggestions? We are definitely not doing hopper passes.

We have a 3rd day also, but we are thinking of going to Universal Studios for a day instead of doing a 3rd day at Disney.

Update: After talking to the kids, we decided to do Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and two days at Universal Studios. We actually added an extra day to our trip to still have an "off" day while we are there.

We were going to drive (from Ontario), but now we are looking at flights. Lol.

[elcjet]

Your 10 year old boys will *love* Universal! My almost 9 year old son has been to Disney three years in a row but declared this year that he *loves* Universal.

As for the 2nd park, if they like Coasters, maybe you do Hollywood Studios. You have 2 in that park, plus some shows and good meet and greets for Star wars. When are you going? If it's after Star Wars Land is open, then I retract the recommendation and suggest Animal Kingdom. A good mix of rides and fun things to eat and do.

[katiecj6]

Apr 5, 2019 11:18:04 GMT -5 elcjet said:

Your 10 year old boys will *love* Universal! My almost 9 year old son has been to Disney three years in a row but declared this year that he *loves* Universal.

As for the 2nd park, if they like Coasters, maybe you do Hollywood Studios. You have 2 in that park, plus some shows and good meet and greets for Star wars. When are you going? If it's after Star Wars Land is open, then I retract the recommendation and suggest Animal Kingdom. A good mix of rides and fun things to eat and do.

We are going May 6th to 9th. Our plan is to do 3 days of parks and 1 day of unplanned/rest.

[katiecj6]

Apr 5, 2019 11:18:04 GMT -5 elcjet said:

Your 10 year old boys will *love* Universal! My almost 9 year old son has been to Disney three years in a row but declared this year that he *loves* Universal.

As for the 2nd park, if they like Coasters, maybe you do Hollywood Studios. You have 2 in that park, plus some shows and good meet and greets for Star wars. When are you going? If it's after Star Wars Land is open, then I retract the recommendation and suggest Animal Kingdom. A good mix of rides and fun things to eat and do.

Was there a Universal park your son liked more?

[elcjet]

Apr 5, 2019 11:25:06 GMT -5 katiecj6 said:

Apr 5, 2019 11:18:04 GMT -5 elcjet said:

Your 10 year old boys will *love* Universal! My almost 9 year old son has been to Disney three years in a row but declared this year that he *loves* Universal.

As for the 2nd park, if they like Coasters, maybe you do Hollywood Studios. You have 2 in that park, plus some shows and good meet and greets for Star wars. When are you going? If it's after Star Wars Land is open, then I retract the recommendation and suggest Animal Kingdom. A good mix of rides and fun things to eat and do.

Was there a Universal park your son liked more?

Well, we had the buy 2 get 2 days free and I added the "hopper" so we could take the Hogwarts Express between parks.....so, I can't say really because we moved around a lot.  His favorite rides were Kong and Escape from Gringotts, and those are in 2 different parks.  Kong, Hulk, Forbidden Journey, and Jurassic Park are all in IOA, so if they are thrillseekers you may want to aim for that.  Without Express passes it'll be hard to manage two parks in one day.  (And even with, it would take a lot of maneuvering IMO!)

[CrazyLucky]

I agree with Hollywood Studios. My family enjoyed Animal Kingdom more than I expected us to, but I think HS is the way to go for a short trip.

[nicolewi]

Do they like Star Wars? I would say Hollywood Studios, for sure. My 8 yo boy and 10 yo girl both loved that park. It's also more immersive and easy to manage, in a way, as compared to Epcot, which is so much more spread out. Animal Kingdom is cool but wouldn't be my priority for a shorter trip.

You could do Jedi Training, Star Tours, the Indiana Jones show, Toy Story Land, meeting Star Wars characters, etc.

[ribollita]

With two 10yo boys I would just do Universal. It’s very expensive to do short stays at either Disney/Universal but crazy expensive to do both in the same trip.

[katiecj6]

Apr 5, 2019 15:09:16 GMT -5 ribollita said:

With two 10yo boys I would just do Universal. It’s very expensive to do short stays at either Disney/Universal but crazy expensive to do both in the same trip.

We are definitely doing at least one day at Disney. The cost of tickets is crazy, but it is what it is I suppose.

[curbsideprophet]

Is this for this May? At this point I would look at the FP options available and see if that is a factor.

I might lean towards Animal Kingdom for FOP and EE. It has Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur and the Safari. However that would probably require RDing FOP or doing it at the end of the night since I assume getting a FP will be hard.

[bowies]

I just realized that May 4 is on a Saturday this year. Hollywood Studios is gonna be LIT that day but will then probably experience a lull after. (As much as it can considering how new TSL is.) That would be my pick.