First time at WDW- I need help please re tickets & parks!

[tamaraten]

Hi! I'm coming to WDW with husband and four kids, ages 5 (almost - he'll turn 5 on our trip!), 7, 9, and 11. We're arriving Dec. 13 in the later afternoon (a Sunday) and leaving early morning Dec. 18th. So we'll have four full days and another 1/2 day on the day of arrival. I'm having an incredibly difficult time deciding what type of tickets to buy - the basic tickets for 5 days, or the basic with the park-hopper option added.

I just can't decide what type of tickets to buy and the indecision is driving me crazy! I'm wondering if it's necessary to have the extra option because I imagine that going to one park per day will already be so awesome for the kids - they'll be in heaven, I'm sure. On the other hand, I've heard that the flexibility of the PH option is great. I'm just thinking, do you really have the energy to park hop?! Is there a reason not to do one park per day?

I would love to hear from experienced WDW travellers!

Another question, if I may - which parks, given my kids' ages would you suggest? And in what order? I can't begin to decide how to organize that part!

Thank you so much for your input - Tamara

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to DisBoards!

First question is are you staying at a Disney Resort or not. The answer can affect your plans. As you are asking about tickets I can guess that you do not have a package which includes Dining.

You will need thee adult (age 10+) and three child (Ages 3-9) tickets. I would suggest staying with the five day base. If you decide that you need to do park hopping it will cost $52.00 per person (plus tax) to convert each ticket from base to a park hopper . It does not matter if you do this on the first or last day, the price is the same.

If you are not staying on property and will have a car is is definitely woorth the $14 per day for parking rather having to deal with the very infrequent service provided by off property hotels.

Again, if you are staying off-property your best bet for a park is the day after it has had Morning Extra Magic Hours; it would tend to be lighter than the other parks.

And your extra day should be either the Magic Kingdon or Repcot; the other two can each be coverred in one day.

[LPZ_Stitch!]

As a first-timer without any extensive planning already done; I don't see that the park-hoppers will be worth the extra $$$ for you. You're probably better off just sticking to one-park-per-day and not sweating it a moment longer!

DHS and AK are easily 1-day parks. And, if you have some time left over and still want to do things, there's always shopping at Downtown Disney (no park hopping needed!) -- I'm sure your kids would LOVE the Lego and Toy stores!

EPCOT can be one or two days (depending on how much time you want to devote to the two main areas).

MK, especially with younger kids, is almost certainly a more-than-one-day park; so I'd suggest spending your extra 1/2 day there. Go there right after you check in. Nothing's more magical than the MK at Christmas time!! And, there's plenty for the oldest child to do, as well as the youngest one.

You're probably going to have to eat a lot of Counter Service meals, because ADRs (basically, reservations for the Table Service restaurants) will be hard to find on such short notice. Most people (well, most DISer's!) start planning their ADRs 180 days out!! However, you can sometimes get lucky by going to Guest Services for the park you're attending and asking them what ADRs they have open!

[tamaraten]

Thank you for your reply and for your welcome!

We'll be staying at the Contemporary (that was also a difficult decision), mostly because of the convenient location that I was advised is a huge plus. As I understand it, it's a short walk to MK.

I know the PH option will be an extra $300 for all of us, but I have heard that it's worth it. But what do I know - I've never been there!

Wondering why you suggest base tickets vs. PH.

Also, would you go to the park which had the extra hours at night on the following day only or did you mean in addition to going on the night of the extra hours too? (in which case, wouldn't the PH option be important here?)


thanks again!:

[tamaraten]

Thank you for your reply and for your welcome!

We'll be staying at the Contemporary (that was also a difficult decision), mostly because of the convenient location that I was advised is a huge plus. As I understand it, it's a short walk to MK.

I know the PH option will be an extra $300 for all of us, but I have heard that it's worth it. But what do I know - I've never been there!

Wondering why you suggest base tickets vs. PH.

Also, would you go to the park which had the extra hours at night on the following day only or did you mean in addition to going on the night of the extra hours too? (in which case, wouldn't the PH option be important here?)


thanks again!:

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Originally Posted by tamaraten

Thank you for your reply and for your welcome!

No problem! We're going to be there the week before you!

Originally Posted by tamaraten

We'll be staying at the Contemporary (that was also a difficult decision), mostly because of the convenient location that I was advised is a huge plus. As I understand it, it's a short walk to MK.!

Yes. You can easily walk to the MK from the Contemporary. You can also get to EPCOT easily by taking the monorail to the TTC (the next stop from the Contemp.) and transferring to the EPCOT monorail.

Originally Posted by tamaraten

I know the PH option will be an extra $300 for all of us, but I have heard that it's worth it. But what do I know - I've never been there!.!

We've been there a bunch of times (check the sig.!), and I can say that Park Hoppers are worth it ... but ... ONLY if you've *planned* for it.

We're going to a couple of dinners at Resorts (instead of parks) and it makes sense for us to go from one park, to dinner, to a different park (to catch various shows). But, we *did* plan on doing that. Without a plan, there's really no reason to just leave one park for another ... it's not like you're going to get bored in ANY of them!!

Wondering why you suggest base tickets vs. PH.

Originally Posted by tamaraten

Also, would you go to the park which had the extra hours at night on the following day only or did you mean in addition to going on the night of the extra hours too? (in which case, wouldn't the PH option be important here?)

EMH is only available to WDW Resort guests (which, of course, you'll be). It makes sense to go to the EMH parks when you ARE a resort guest, but it makes sense to avoid them if you are an off-site guest.

More resort guests go to the EMH parks and non-resort guests have to leave when evening EMH starts (or, can't get in until normal opening if it's morning EMH). That tends to make it a little more crowded during the "main" part of the day; so if you can't take advantage of EMH, avoid the EMH park on the EMH day....

[bumbershoot]

If you buy base tickets, and have the extra money set aside, if for whatever reason you suddenly want to hop, you can add the option THEN. And if you never hop, you haven't wasted money, and can either save that 52x6 plus tax for another trip, or go crazy with souvenirs.

[tamaraten]

Sorry- accidentally pressed something and my post appeared twice!

I'm new to this Dis thing and thought when I answered Cheshire Figment my answer would appear right after his - didn't realize someone else could reply in the middle!

LPZ Stitch - thanks for answering. This is quite daunting, and it is quite last minute. We're also coming from overseas which makes it a huge deal in every department - especially making the right choices - hence the stress!

Re your suggestions - I'm wondering then, if you wouldn't mind letting me in on the news - when do people feel the need to park hop? And as I asked above, is there energy to do this, especially with kids?

I just heard from someone that you might be in one park one day, and then in the evening want to attend a great fireworks show at another park and this is a good reason for the PH option. Is it? How do you go about the parks feeling like you're not missing something at another park?

On the first night we're there (Mon. dec. 13) which is our 1/2 day, DHS has extra magic hours at night - should I take advantage of that for the first (1/2) day? Even though my inclination is also to go to MK first as you suggested?

And on the next day (dec. 14) MK has extra magic hours at night - should I be there for that day?

Then dec. 15, Epcot has early hours - should I go there that day?

Then dec. 16, AK has late hours ....

And our last day, Dec. 17th, MK has early hours - should I go there again for that?

If I follow that route, it would mean only 1/2 day at DHS and that's the first day, where really we should go to MK!!!

I'm extremely confused! Thanks for any help!

[StrikerObi]

Given that you only have half a day on your first day, I would actually buy 4 day park-hoppers to use on the four days following the arrival day. Instead of buying a 5th day (that you can only half-use), use that money to buy tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. You'll get into the Magic Kingdom at 4:00 and can stay until midnight.

Personally, unless I was taking a very relaxing vacation, I would never skip the park-hopper option. I skip it often now that I live in Florida and can be very leisurely about my visits to WDW. Before, the park-hopper was essential to getting things done.

[tamaraten]

Sorry- accidentally pressed something and my post appeared twice!

I'm new to this Dis thing and thought when I answered Cheshire Figment my answer would appear right after his - didn't realize someone else could reply in the middle!

LPZ Stitch - thanks for answering. This is quite daunting, and it is quite last minute. We're also coming from overseas which makes it a huge deal in every department - especially making the right choices - hence the stress!

Re your suggestions - I'm wondering then, if you wouldn't mind letting me in on the news - when do people feel the need to park hop? And as I asked above, is there energy to do this, especially with kids?

I just heard from someone that you might be in one park one day, and then in the evening want to attend a great fireworks show at another park and this is a good reason for the PH option. Is it? How do you go about the parks feeling like you're not missing something at another park?

On the first night we're there (Mon. dec. 13) which is our 1/2 day, DHS has extra magic hours at night - should I take advantage of that for the first (1/2) day? Even though my inclination is also to go to MK first as you suggested?

And on the next day (dec. 14) MK has extra magic hours at night - should I be there for that day?

Then dec. 15, Epcot has early hours - should I go there that day?

Then dec. 16, AK has late hours ....

And our last day, Dec. 17th, MK has early hours - should I go there again for that?

If I follow that route, it would mean only 1/2 day at DHS and that's the first day, where really we should go to MK!!!

I'm extremely confused! Thanks for any help!

[Piglets Mommy]

I would just go with the Non-park hoppers and add park hopping while you are there if you feel you need it. I only got them this trip, because I needed them due to my ADR's. One park a day is usually fine, esp. since it's your first trip. What time does your flight arrive? A PP mentioned that your first day is a MVMCP night at MK, which means it closes at 7. If that is the case, I would do DHS that first day, if it is an EMH night. If you are not doing park hoppers, I would just plan to do whatever the EMH park is for that day. We usually do not have the energy to park hop very much, and on a shorter trip (ours is 4 days this time) I feel like it is a waste of time to travel from park to park.

[tamaraten]

I did it again - I'm sorry! I don't know how I keep resending the same post. I have to get the hang of this.

StrikerObi, thanks for your reply and your suggestion. Do you know how much the tickets to the Christmas Party are, and what happens there?

If I did do a PH option can you suggest how I would use it given my days there? (ie. which park/s on which days, and would the early/late morning hours affect this?)

thanks.

[e6bflyer]

We are season passholders and have been 3 times in the last year. We also have a family of exactly the same size and roughly the same ages. We almost never hop parks with one exception, which is the last day of our visit when we are "cleaning up" and doing things like Kali River, the 3 mountains, or fireworks that we couldn't do while we were there. Leaving a park, loading up in the car or disney transpo, getting to a new park and getting in through security and the gate is an incredible time killer, it could take as little as an hour and as much as 2.5 depending on your transportation. If you only have 5 days, you really can't afford to do this often. You are in a great resort in a prime location, I suggest you take some of the suggestions above and do the "one day parks" on their own days, do an early morning Epcot (it will be a long day, but doable), and then either devote 2 days to MK or save the last day for an "audible" where you go to either MK or Epcot based on what you have left to do. You made the great choice of going at a great time when the crowds should be relatively light, which is going to be huge for you, so you won't spend too much time standing in line (except maybe the last day or so when it should start getting a bit busy). You could potentially do any of the parks in a single day because of that as long as you have a good game plan going in. Have fun, you are set up to have a very fun trip!

[tamaraten]

Thanks for responding Piglets Mommy!

Re travel, we are actually arriving in Miami Beach a few days before, and then on the morning of Sunday Dec. 13th will be driving to WDW. I understand the drive is 4 1/2 hours or so and I imagine we'll leave around 9 or 10 a.m. So I'm figuring we'll get to DW at around 2-3:00 p.m.

What you said about wasting time Park Hopping was my question. On the other hand, what if you are in a park one day because of early morning hours (like on Dec. 14th, AK has early morning hours) and on the same day a park has late night hours (like on Dec. 14, MK has late hours). Wouldn't you want to park hop in that case?

thanks again.

[bobbie68]

Hi, We always buy the park hopper option. You honestly don't know till you are there what parks your children will or will not like. It is less stressful knowing that after a couple of hours at a park, if the family wants to move on you can try another.

You have such varied age children that they will like different parks. I agree with the shows at night. Since the shows are not every night or once a night you can miss them. The park hopper gives you the flexibility and assurance that you can make the night events.

Honestly, you won't be able to see and do everything you want in four days. I have been there six times and there is always something else. We look at every ride and attraction before we go and plan as much as we can, what we don't get to we will go again. I understand that it will not be as easy for you to come since you are over seas. Once again the park hopper helps you get the most of the parks in a short amount of time.

I hope this helps, I am sorry if it confuses you more.