5 Night Trip - Would you try to do all 4 parks?

[chocolateavocado]

We're really excited about our 1st Disney trip & trying to plan everything. We're coming Nov. 14-19th (5 nights) with 5 day park hoppers. It'll be myself, dh & ds6. Being a first-timer, I'd like any advice or tips on planning park days.

Here's what we're planning:
11/14- we get in early (plane lands around 11:30 am)- MK for a few hrs
11/15 MK - DTD in pm for dinner with friends
11/16 DHS
11/17 Epcot
11/18 - ??
11/19- go back home

So, for 11/18, would you suggest trying to get AK in, or return to one of the other parks??

I wish we had more time- but I couldn't keep ds out of school any longer.
We're staying at the Poly and we do have the magic bands(ordered) and the fast pass plus.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

 

[Planogirl]

Since you have hoppers why not try to work in AK? You could go to AK early on the 18th and then go to MK that evening.

 

[Schmeck]

We're really excited about our 1st Disney trip & trying to plan everything. We're coming Nov. 14-19th (5 nights) with 5 day park hoppers. It'll be myself, dh & ds6. Being a first-timer, I'd like any advice or tips on planning park days.

Here's what we're planning:
11/14- we get in early (plane lands around 11:30 am)- MK for a few hrs
11/15 MK - DTD in pm for dinner with friends
11/16 DHS
11/17 Epcot
11/18 - ??
11/19- go back home

So, for 11/18, would you suggest trying to get AK in, or return to one of the other parks??

I wish we had more time- but I couldn't keep ds out of school any longer.
We're staying at the Poly and we do have the magic bands(ordered) and the fast pass plus.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

11/14 - park that had EMH night on the 13th, or EPCOT.
Other 4 days - rope drop at MK one morning, one evening at MK for Wishes, one morning at EPCOT, one morning-2/3 of a day at AK, one morning at HS and one evening there for Fantasmic. Other two evenings open for the DTD dinner, and the one park you want to see evening show again.

 

[chrishatton]

Certainly, you should hit all the parks. As has been stated above take advantage of the parks early and hit the best rated for the evening.

http://www.undercovertourist.com/planning/when-to-visit.html

Check the week that your are there and find the best park for the PM. (best park for the day) Use fastpasses early and ride/see all that you wish and then worry about lines later in the park with the least forcasted crowds.

It's not always perfect, but it's good.
Don't miss AK it's great!

 

[ktmo]

We are going for 5 nights in October, but we get in really late, so really only 4 park days. My plan:

Day 1 - Epcot - morning and then rest at resort and back to Epcot
Day 2 - MK am and HS pm (Fantasmic)
Day 3 - HS am and MK pm (only evening MK is open - Wishes)
Day 4 - AK am and MK pm (we got BOG dinner ressies)

We have FP+, so I booked fast passes for evenings. I figure we can get a lot in during the evenings, now that I can book FP+.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

We're really excited about our 1st Disney trip & trying to plan everything. We're coming Nov. 14-19th (5 nights) with 5 day park hoppers. It'll be myself, dh & ds6. Being a first-timer, I'd like any advice or tips on planning park days.

Here's what we're planning:
11/14- we get in early (plane lands around 11:30 am)- MK for a few hrs
11/15 MK - DTD in pm for dinner with friends
11/16 DHS
11/17 Epcot
11/18 - ??
11/19- go back home

So, for 11/18, would you suggest trying to get AK in, or return to one of the other parks??

I wish we had more time- but I couldn't keep ds out of school any longer.
We're staying at the Poly and we do have the magic bands(ordered) and the fast pass plus.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

~Yes, I would go to all four parks! I would probably go to AK on the 15th and enjoy a full day at MK on the 18th. Have fun!

 

[MEK]

AK is one of my favorite parks, so a big YES from me. It's really the most scenic of all the parks IMHO. My favorite place to take pictures.

 

[LisaRae87]

~Yes, I would go to all four parks! I would probably go to AK on the 15th and enjoy a full day at MK on the 18th. Have fun!

THIS..

Without knowing which parks have extra magic hours during your stay, I would say do AK on the day that you have dinner plans at DTD, odds are they close earlier anyway, go early - do all you can/want and head to DTD.. Then save your last full day for MK.. Or switch around your other parks if there are EMH at one on a different day.

 

[Islandmom71]

We had an almost identical trip to yours in September. We also stayed at the Poly and had magic bands. I would say you should see all 4 parks. But I would really consider if you need the hopper. We had it but cancelled it when I really sat and looked at our plans. Here is what we did:

Day 1 - arrived around noon. MK - spent the whole afternoon and evening there then kids pooped put and we watched fireworks from the beach at the Poly (in their defense we were up around 6AM)
Day 2 - Epcot. Took a break in the afternoon and went back to Epcot for dinner and Illuminations
Day 3 - MK- Again took a break
Day 4 - HS - Got there at lunch time because I felt it was time consuming to travel/take a break but the whole day would have been too long and since we had fast passes for TSM around 2 we were all set
Day 5 - AK - Got there first thing in the AM and stayed until 4:30 (park closed at 5) and we ate at Kona Cafe for dinner and
Day 6 - MK until noon.

Have a great time! Oh, we were myself, DH, DD9, DD7, DD5

 

[Hisgirl]

Absolutely!

We actually go through the smaller parks rather quickly when we use a touring plan...hardly any standing in line time at all! One park per day has been the mode of operations and it has worked well for years.

This is very do-able! Hope you have a great time!!

 

[Sheilby]

Wait, why are you getting hoppers if you aren't planning on hopping? If you don't hop, drop to regular tickets and save a few bucks. Like a pp said, I would do AK on the day you are planning on going to DTD in the evening since AK closes early anyway. You don't mention what time your flight is on your last day. We got picked up by ME around 3:30 on our last trip and we still managed to go to AK that day and see pretty much everything we wanted.

 

[ldoogie]

We always do AK in half a day, I would add it in.

 

[Paradise18]

Wait, why are you getting hoppers if you aren't planning on hopping? If you don't hop, drop to regular tickets and save a few bucks. Like a pp said, I would do AK on the day you are planning on going to DTD in the evening since AK closes early anyway. You don't mention what time your flight is on your last day. We got picked up by ME around 3:30 on our last trip and we still managed to go to AK that day and see pretty much everything we wanted.

This is what I was thinking as well. It doesn't look like park hopping is in your plans so I would save that money. I know a lot of first time visitors like to make MK their first park, but it would also make for a great way to end your visit, especially if you stay for Wishes.
For me, I love all 4 parks for different reasons and would feel like I missed something if I skipped one of the parks, even on a short trip.
Have a great trip.

 

[kytiam]

We will be there the exact same dates! We don't get in until later on the 14th so no park that day. We will be at MK on the 15th, EPCOT on the
16th, AK on the 17th and then MVMCP at MK that evening, and DHS on the 18th. Our flight leaves pretty early on the 19th so no park for us that day. Our plans were based on Josh's recommendations over at easywdw . com. Absolutely, DO go to AK! and have a wonderful trip!!

 

[jimmytammy]

Since it is your 1st trip, go to Ak. There are certain rides attractions that are must dos, like Expedition Everest, Kiliminjaro Safari, Dinosaur, Festival of the Lion King, Tough to be a Bug. But IMO its still a half day park. Epcot will lend itself to 2 days to see it all and still just scratch the surface. MK, can be done in 2 days as well. Since you have PHs, take advantage but remember transportation can eat up time. Be sure of your plan, yet be willing to compromise under circumstances.

 

[Terrie..]

On a 5 day trip we always do all 4 parks

Day 1 - Epcot
Day 2 - MK
Day 3 - DHS in AM and AK in PM (easy to accomplish these parks in half day)
Day 4 - Epcot
Day 5 - MK

We have hoppers so after dinner decide on which park we will go back to in the evening. We enjoy MK and Epcot the most - so much to do - so we always plan on 2 full days in each. We could never see all we wanted at MK in half day. We always get to the parks at RD.

 

[DisneyAllyC]

Yeah its your first time so go to all the parks

 

[Wood Nymph]

We're really excited about our 1st Disney trip & trying to plan everything. We're coming Nov. 14-19th (5 nights) with 5 day park hoppers. It'll be myself, dh & ds6. Being a first-timer, I'd like any advice or tips on planning park days.

Here's what we're planning:
11/14- we get in early (plane lands around 11:30 am)- MK for a few hrs
11/15 MK - DTD in pm for dinner with friends
11/16 DHS
11/17 Epcot
11/18 - ??
11/19- go back home

So, for 11/18, would you suggest trying to get AK in, or return to one of the other parks??

I wish we had more time- but I couldn't keep ds out of school any longer.
We're staying at the Poly and we do have the magic bands(ordered) and the fast pass plus.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

With a six year old you will probably want to spend a bit more time at MK than the other parks. Since you are at the Poly it will be easy to hop over there anytime. I would plan on spending one short morning at AK and one morning at HS. Hit the safari ride at AK and Dinoland. If he is a big animal lover you can go to Raffiki's Planet Watch. Festival of the Lion King is fun, too. Then I would leave AK and either go back to the resort for swimming and naps, or go to another park, like Epcot. The other three mornings I would go to MK until it got really crowded, then back to the resort for swimming.

Epcot is great at night and the Future World section is a lot less crowded at night. Check out Turtle Talk with Crush and Test Track.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

We're really excited about our 1st Disney trip & trying to plan everything. We're coming Nov. 14-19th (5 nights) with 5 day park hoppers. It'll be myself, dh & ds6. Being a first-timer, I'd like any advice or tips on planning park days.

Here's what we're planning:
11/14- we get in early (plane lands around 11:30 am)- MK for a few hrs
11/15 MK - DTD in pm for dinner with friends
11/16 DHS
11/17 Epcot
11/18 - ??
11/19- go back home

So, for 11/18, would you suggest trying to get AK in, or return to one of the other parks??

I wish we had more time- but I couldn't keep ds out of school any longer.
We're staying at the Poly and we do have the magic bands(ordered) and the fast pass plus.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

Personally, I would hit DTD on Thursday and save some money on tickets, but you've probably already purchased. That's what we normally do. DTD is free, so after either a long day driving or jet lag, we relax in the room for a bit than head over to a leisurely day at DTD.

Also, MK is more than worthy of a full day for most people. There are an abundance of great restaurants to get dinner at, and Wishes and the parade are two things you can not miss, and we normally catch dinner during that. After dark is normally also the best opportunity for rides, because most of the families with kids have gone. I really advise against leaving early for dinner, as we normally spend more than 2 full days there, though we normally do catch the monorail over to Polynesian and get a few drinks with a view at their bar to rest our legs midday.

DHS, on the other hand, in my opinion is not a full day. I would switch your DTD day to that day if you're not going on the first day. We normally go there, hit RnRC, ToT, Star Wars, walk around and shop a bit and leave. Barely half a day.

Epcot is another full day park. Hell, Epcot is more of like an all week park. We find ourselves heading over there often to get meals, as in our opinion, it has the best food choices of any other park. My wife isn't much of a fan of the Epcot fireworks show, but I like it.

Your last day has to be for Animal Kingdom, in fact, I would swap the DHS day with an AK day. AK really depends on your taste (they all do, but AK more than the others). I, for example, get bored after half a day. My wife, on the other hand, could LIVE at AK. AK is, however, a must do park. Considering that, I would spend the last day at DHS as a park hop day. That's what we normally do. Go to DHS, do what you want, then hop wherever you want to do the things you really enjoyed on your trip.

These are all just my opinions though, and are based on my experiences. Everyone has their own strategy.

P.S. I missed that you have a 6 year old. That changes things, but only makes MK and AK more important. When I was a kid, I HATED Epcot and DHS. HATED. MK and AK will be paradise for him.

 

[redsbe]

This is our typical five night trip (been done last several trips)

Fri pm MK (arriving mid afternoon)
Sat MK
Sun DS
Mon AK
Tues EPCOT (with evening flight home)

RD each day (or close to it), in same park all day (no park hopping), some days late afternoon break for swim if hot and tired. Only one or two reserved meals if any, and done at times with kids as young as 7.