How many days will I need to see the whole park?

[simbaroar]

Need some advice on how big the park is and how long queueing will likely be for a trip in September. I have never been to Disney World before and I want to see everything but not sure how many days this will need to get around the whole park?

 

[Klayfish]

WDW is huge....no, it's massive. When you say "Want to see everything", that can mean different things. There are shows, performances, shops (Disney Springs), hotels (worth touring), water parks, etc... So it's really hard to answer. If you've never been there before, unless you can stay for a month, get the concept of seeing absolutely everything out of your head. You simply won't and can't. You'd also wear yourself out trying. If you take a "typical" week vacation, that'll be enough time to get a really good taste of WDW and what it has to offer. Be sure to enjoy the things you're doing instead of worrying to rush and get to the next thing. You may want to spend more time in one park and less time in another, depending on what they have to offer.

As for line length, depends on the attraction. Can be 5 minutes or less, can be 3 hours or more at times. Learn the basics of FP+ and what attractions are popular and what aren't.

 

[Sara_H]

Which park? Or are you calling Disney World as a whole a park? If you mean Disney as a whole which includes 4 theme parks, 2 water parks and a large shopping/dining area; I would say that to see and do it all it will take some time. However, if by "see everything" you mean, see all of the parks but not necessarily do everything in each park then I would guess you could see all the parks and do many things in 6 days or so. Magic Kingdom is a large park and to see and do most it might take you 2 days...however, it can be done in 1 but you may not be able to do everything. EPCOT is also a large park but easier to do in one day since there aren't tons of rides, Hollywood Studios is a smaller park and easily doable in 1 day in my opinion and Animal Kingdom is also able to be accomplished in one day. Disney Springs I think you could do in a half day if needed. I can't say anything about the water parks as we have never been.

Honestly, there is so much to see and do that you could probably spend 2 weeks at Disney and not do it all but you can also see and do many things within a week. It all depends on what you want to see and do.

 

[yulilin3]

Need some advice on how big the park is and how long queueing will likely be for a trip in September. I have never been to Disney World before and I want to see everything but not sure how many days this will need to get around the whole park?

Which park?

 

[siren0119]

LOL We've been three years in a row and STILL haven't been able to see and do everything.

As PP mentioned, you can get a good experience in a full day (park opening to closing) at each of the four individual parks. Not everyone can tour like that, so if you're the type who needs to rest frequently or take breaks mid-day, you'd want to factor that in. You'll have to make some decisions on whether seeing shows, riding rides, or meeting characters is your priority, as you really can't do all 3 in a single day at any park....maybe Epcot with so many closures now, but then I can spend an entire day just in World Showcase so it really depends on what you like and what your priorities are. This does not include the water parks, Disney Springs, or visiting the on-site resorts, so if you wanted to experience any of those as well, you'd have to factor in additional time.

 

[monkyby87]

Long story short, you won't be able to see everything in one trip. The Walt Disney World Resort in Florida is made up of 4 individual parks: Magic Kingdom (the main one with Cinderella's Castle), Epcot, Hollywood Studios (where the new Star Wars stuff is), and Animal Kingdom. In addition, there's the Disney Springs shopping area, two water parks, and, well, a lot more even then lol. Assuming you are only interested in the theme parks, you realistically won't be able to see all that there actually is to do. Between the rides, shows, restaurants, and other experiences, there's too much for one trip. This is be design, as to make you want to visit more than once.

1 day at each park would give you a decent taste of each park, and for Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios that might be enough. But Epcot and Magic Kingdom probably need at least 1.5 or 2 full days to see a good portion of what there is. Personally, I feel like a 5 day/4 night trip makes for a good vacation and the ability to experience a lot, but even then there will be a lot you simply don't have time for.

As for how long the lines/queues are, that's dependent on a large amount of factors, all variable. It's very hard to predict what lines will be like on any given day. The way to help manage this is with Fast Passes. I'm guessing you probably don't have too much experience or knowledge with that, so I would refer you to the stickied topic on the main page that talks all about Fast Passes. There's a lot to digest, but educating yourself on that will help make for a much more enjoyable vacation.

 

[BalooFan]

Bear in mind that many of us who have been to WDW many times still haven’t seen and done everything; there is just too much. Personally, I have never come home from a WDW vacation feeling that I had seen and accomplished everything I wanted. You really need to do some research and planning to make your own decision.

For instance, what attractions do you absolutely have to visit and which don’t seem as interesting? Are you planning to spend a few hours per day in the parks or do you plan to visit parks each day from open to close? Do you want to visit Disney Springs or are you focused only on the parks? Are you planning to visit water parks and, if so, how long do you want to spend there?

My intent isn’t to overwhelm you, but to point out that is unlikely you will be able to do everything, even on a two week trip. So, it is important to research and prioritize, then you might have a better idea of how long a trip you need. If you haven’t already, start with the Disney World website. There are also a number of other websites to help you with planning.

 

[StageTek]

Need some advice on how big the park is and how long queueing will likely be for a trip in September. I have never been to Disney World before and I want to see everything but not sure how many days this will need to get around the whole park?

My first trip to Disney World was in 2007. We did 10 days and didn't see everything. But 10 days was great for having the time to really explore.

How big is the park? It's HUGE. Have you looked at a map yet? It's intimidatingly huge.
How long will queuing likely be in September? Figure 40/60 minutes for the "big" attractions, 60/110 for the most popular in each park and 30 and under for everything else. Some will be a walk on in the morning or in the last 90 minutes of park operation.

 

[Rusty2rules]

Need some advice on how big the park is and how long queueing will likely be for a trip in September. I have never been to Disney World before and I want to see everything but not sure how many days this will need to get around the whole park?

I don't want to highjack the thread. I just wanted to mention to the OP that there's a thread specifically for those of us going in September 2020 if you're interested. https://www.disboards.com/threads/official-september-2020-thread.3769357/

 

[Minniesgal]

Thats a bit like saying how long will it take me to see New York. Somewhere between a weekend and an decade.

It depends what you want to do and what you want to see.

 

[Alesia]

For my family, 10 days is about right to allow us to accomplish our "must dos"

If you really want to see and do everything, you'll need at least a month or so

 

[Rach3975]

If we had unlimited money and time off, I'd love to go for 2 weeks, do a few rest days and lots of leisurely park days. But since that's not the case, we generally do 5 park days. We spend 2 in MK and 1 in each of the other parks. It's not even close to everything, but with good planning we can do our priorities for each park in that amount of time. If school and work schedules allowed, we'd like to have 6-7 park days instead of 5.

ETA: We don't spend time on the water parks, Disney Springs, or resorts other than the one we're staying at. If you want to do those things, add more time.

 

[lorenae]

I don't know where you are from, but Florida in September is HOT. Humid and hot, and it rains every afternoon. Not long, but it's a great time to take a break and rest up because you'll want to enjoy the evenings with the rain out of the way.

I'm likely going in August or September 2020, but haven't made the decision. However, I'll get up early with the grandkids, visit a park until 11:30 or noon, go back to the hotel and swim/rest before heading back again. I don't like hot weather, and my family is not at all used to hot weather, so it will be a slower pace than my January trips for sure.

I live in Florida in the winter, but can't take it in the summer!

 

[NH-to-FL]

Need some advice on how big the park is and how long queueing will likely be for a trip in September. I have never been to Disney World before and I want to see everything but not sure how many days this will need to get around the whole park?

First, to DISboards!

As you have probably figured out from the previous posts, you have asked some pretty big questions. My wife and I have made many, many trips to Disney World, first during vacations and now as snowbirds and there are still plenty of corners that we haven't seen. These days that is because we spend most of our visits returning to our favorite attractions. We have come to call our visits 'winter walks enhanced by Disney'.

When we began our Disney World visits we started with 6-7 night stays. We visited each of the 4 major parks once, enjoyed a sleep in "rest day" and would revisit one or two parks based on what we were feeling in the moment. As others have noted you won't see everything but we found that length of time reasonable.

If I might make a suggestion, go out and buy a copy of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. It is a big book with all of the information you need to plan a trip. I referred to this book a lot during our early visits. Another resource for a first timer is the Your First Visit website.

As to your question about the length of the queues, September is a lower crowd time. That said, wait times are very variable. For popular attractions, the wait times are always long. If you've got a smart phone there are a number of apps, including the official Disney app, that report wait times. But most important take the time to learn all about Fast Pass+. Also, for your first visit I would encourage you to stay at one of the Disney resorts. This will allow you to make you Fast Pass+ reservations 60 days prior to your arrival verses 30 days for off site visitors. And staying on site really immerses you in the "Disney bubble".

Finally, I will second @lorenae that September is hot, humid, and rainy. Unless you are used to being outside for extended periods in tropical heat and humidity make plans to rest midday. And be prepared for afternoon rainstorms. That time of year I would suggest focusing your planning on morning and evenings. Another advantage of staying on site are the Extra Magic Hours. If you can bring yourself to get going early on vacation take advantage of morning Extra Magic Hour. We always found that we could get a lot done in that first hour.
Wishing you visit!

 

[gharter]

We go for 6 days every year and a second trip of about 4 days. I don't think we see everything in that time.
You have 4 parks, 2 water parks, minature golf, Downtown Disney, multiple golf courses.
So it really depends on how you define everything you want to see.

 

[rpb718]

I've been going to WDW since the late 90s and I know I haven't seen everything yet.

 

[Callist]

We go for four days. My family members don't like any shows, parades, shopping, or food more adventurous than burgers. :: Rolls eyes at all of them:: So we go mostly for the rides.

They are also firmly of the mindset that vacation means sleeping in, so we never use early morning magic hours. We ARE used to the Florida hear and humidity in September (we live in Florida) so we don't take mid day breaks.

We spend 1.5-2 days in Magic Kingdom, a full day in Animal Kingdom, and 0.5-1 day in EPCOT. We don't see everything, but we do ride our favorite rides, get quick/counter service meals, and try to take our time enjoying things.

You won't see everything in one trip. But you can see a lot and enjoy yourself. I'd love to spend 10 days, but my finances say otherwise. So the four day trips ( by that I mean four days in the parks, evenings at the resort pool) work for us.

No matter what you do, I think you'll have fun! There a lot of great information here, and helpful people. Good luck!

 

[KenHutch]

We have been 5 times in the past usually for 8 to 12 days. Our next trips is 3 days at Magic Kingdom and 2 each for Epcot,Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. We don't do the Water Parks thou. After this we will do 2 days at Universal and 2 at Daytona Beach. The girls much prefer the ocean to a water park.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

Walt Disney World as a whole is 47ish square miles. If you’re comparing it to Disneyland, well, you can’t.

MK is 142 acres
EPCOT is 300 acres
DHS is 154 acres
AK is 500 acres (to be fair a large portion of this is the safari)

130 attractions give or take and 34 shows. And that’s just within the 4 parks.

We walk on average 26000 steps in one day at WDW.

We stay for 12 nights and have been many times.

We have yet to see everything.

Your best bet is to check out a park map and attractions list (maybe watch a few YouTube videos), figure out what appeals to your group the most and make those your Must Do’s.

And then plan come back

 

[tguz]

We do 6 days at Disney World and it is not enough time to do everything. However it is enough time to do the things we really like and also some new things. There were a couple things we like but didn't do this year because of lack of fastpass or mechanical issues. FOP was the fastpass issue and ToT and Splash Mountain were because of the rides being down for technical issues. We were ok with it as there are tons of other things we like. The new things for us were Festival of the Lion King, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, and carousel of Progress. We did 2 days in the MK, 1 day at Animal Kingdom, and 1.5 days at Epcot and DHS. We also squeezed in some Disney Springs after park closing. We would really like to do 10 days but haven't been able to so far.