Planning Question-HELP

[Mate]

I have noticed on other forum boards that a lot of folks are against the Park/rest/Park and in favor of Early day not to be mixed with a park at night and if you do a park at night take the morning off concept. I thought the Park/Rest/Park idea was a good one, but I guess not? We will be a party of 2 adults and one 7yr. old and I am having trouble with all this planning involved. HELP ME!!

Also it seems that Park Hopping is looked down upon in favor of using AM FP in the evenings. What is Disney's position on this? Or is this a not to be done issue like holding a place in line for someone?
Mate

 

[Robo]

1-I thought the Park/Rest/Park idea was a good one, but I guess not?
2- We will be a party of 2 adults and one 7yr. old and I am having trouble with all this planning involved.

3-Also it seems that Park Hopping is looked down upon in favor of using AM FP in the evenings.
4-What is Disney's position on this?
5- is this a not to be done issue like holding a place in line for someone?
Mate

1- Me too! A great way to go in the hot Summer months when the parks are open later.
2- I say, "Do it!"
3- By whom?
4- I don't think DISNEY has a position on it.
5- Of course it's OK. Disney sells you the tickets at a premium to allow you to do it.

 

[Kim66]

We have always done park/rest/park every visit & every day since DS (19) was 7 yrs. old. ENJOY!!!!

 

[Mate]

So do you think it is better to Park/Rest/Go to the same Park to use AM FP or Park/Rest/Hop to another Park for variety. Or the make sure no Early day Park follows a late night Park Day concept.
mate

 

[Robo]

1-So do you think it is better to Park/Rest/Go to the same Park to use AM FP or Park/Rest/Hop to another Park for variety.

2-Or the make sure no Early day Park follows a late night Park Day concept.

1-Up to you and what rides and shows you still want to see, or see again.

2-I don't understand the question.

 

[la79al]

Do you realize how expensive Disney is? Get up early, hit the park all day, stay for PM EMH, drag yourself back to your room, wake up early the next day to do it all again. Sleep when you get home.

 

[Robo]

Sleep when you get home.

I have that tattooed on my forearm.

 

[MHSweb79]

Hi Mate-
Take a deep breath. Breathe in. Breathe out.
There is no ONE single way to "do" a Disney vacation. Every family is different. Our family loves getting to parks early, then heading back to the resort for a rest before going to another park around 4-5pm. We do NOT stay out very late for evening EMH's - we are all ready to drop by 9 or 10 pm at the latest.
The best advice is to pace yourself. You do not have to see everything that Disney has to offer. In fact, you can't, even if you stayed a month or two. The trick is to have fun and enjoy the things you DO see, and to me, that means not hitting the wall on Day 3. So if that means a mid-day rest, or a sleep-in morning now and again, then that's what you should do. Your 7 year old probably doesn't have the stamina to be on the go for 12-15 hours non-stop, at least for more than one day.
Planning is supposed to help you enjoy your vacation, not keep you awake at night.

 

[TxTiggergal]

We are a park/rest/park family. This continues to work well for us. As others have said though, you will have to figure out what works best for your family. And there is nothing written in stone...you can try the park/rest/park strategy for a day or two and if you don't like it, switch gears to something that is a better fit for your family. As a parent, you will quickly get a feel for how your child is doing and whether or not you need to tweak your plans.

Regarding to park hop or not, I think that depends on what all you want to do. We generally like park hopping and always add that option onto our tickets so we can be flexible on it. For us, when planning what parks to do, our morning itinerary is guided by whether we want to do or avoid the a.m. extra magic hour. But our evening itinerary is determined by several things, including where our dining ressies may be, whether or not we are trying to catch a parade or trying to hit Fantasmic on a night it is offered, etc. Or sometimes we may want to go to the park closest to our resort for convenience that evening.

Enjoy the planning phase. To me, the planning is sooo much fun and builds anticipation.

 

[kathymuggle]

Hi:

I do not park - rest -park. It can take up to an hour to get back to your room - and I do not like wasting time on transportation.

Here is what I do:

Go when we are ready. Relax in park during mid day (TS restaurants and longish shows). If we are doing an evening EMH, we arrive late, and take a day off from the parks the next day.

 

[CarolAnnB]

Do you realize how expensive Disney is? Get up early, hit the park all day, stay for PM EMH, drag yourself back to your room, wake up early the next day to do it all again. Sleep when you get home.

This is our philosophy also. I know a lot of people say park/rest/park but I am there in the afternoon and I don't notice that it has emptied out that much.

I think it all depends on the family. Sometimes our afternoon break is getting an early seat for the parade and eating some ice cream while we wait. With the crowds in the summer, that's an hour break right there, plus parade time.

See how your first day goes and adjust your schedule as needed. Everyone is different.

 

[CathieArms]

I can't imagine there's a right or wrong way. This is my "itinerary" or our upcoming trip:

Most days, we'll be at the park at rope drop (8 or 9, depending upon which park and whether EMH are available for the park I want to go to). We'll tour the park until about 12:30, and then head over to wherever we have lunch reservations for 1:30ish Then we'll go back to the resort and rest until about 5:30 or 6, and then back out to close the park.

 

[Greysword]

We have gravitated to the Park-Rest-Park theme.

By noon/1PM, our DD is ready for a nap, and so is my DW. This gives us time to rest, eat, and get freshend up before the evening touring. It also gives us time to enjoy the resort during the park's busiest time, which is an attraction itself.

We return about 5-6PM, when it seems lots of people are leaving the parks for dinner/rest and the parks feel a little emptier to us. We are also ready for extended evening hours if we choose!

Bottom line, we don't feel we are rushing things with this plan, and we always have a great time!

Good luck with the planning!

- Chris

 

[DisneyDebbie]

I tried the park/rest/diff. park strategy for a trip (w/ ds6 and ds7). They would not rest at the hotel, they wanted to swim and explore. after 1 day of that, I gave up on the rest in the room, because my yelling at them to rest was not fun!!!!

I then changed my strategy. we would get to a park at ropedrop, have a 1 hour sit down time in the afternoon (either lunch or snack). And hop to another park (I love hopping- it feels like a new day!) for evening back at hotel by 9.

or sleep in, hang out at resort till afternoon (1 ish), then head to a park till close.

 

[sohappy]

We tried to rest, but my kids don't sleep. It didn't work out for us. If you have a child that will nap, I think it could be a good strategy. My kids haven't napped since they were 2. If they get extra tired, they just crash in the stroller for about 30 minutes. My youngest will be 4.5 on our next trip. I expect he *might* take one nap all week. We will be at the bus stop at 7:15 every morning and will go until about 9 each night- depending on what we do.

 

[Mate]

Thanks for all the input. We really would like to see some of the evening attractions like Spectro, Fantasmic, and the fireworks, but I was not sure how early of a start people usually made after a little later evening or if they took off a morning. Then I read that it is most important to hit the parks early. If so how do you fit in the wonderful evening experiences.

It seemed easier years ago without all the ADR, Green, Yellow and Red day, concerns. I know back then we did the park-rest-park strategy and we had a great time even though it seems counter to some current tour plans. I think our family tends to enjoy those types of things more than needing to ride every ride and using FP to the max.
mate

 

[Lynne M]

Hi Mate-
Take a deep breath. Breathe in. Breathe out.
There is no ONE single way to "do" a Disney vacation. Every family is different.

KEY point, thank you for posting that.

What you're reading on this board are opinions, not rules. People are describing the best way to do WDW....for them.

There's no right or wrong way to 'do' your vacation. If your family likes to spend every waking moment going from ride to show to restaurant, only going back to the resort to sleep, then that's the right way to do WDW. If you want to split time between the parks and resorts, and spend the entire afternoon reading at the pool, then that's the right way to do WDW. Heck, there are plenty of people who stay at a Disney resort, enjoy the recreation and amenities there, and never set foot in a theme park.

Do what seems right for your family.

 

[MGMBill]

About a month ago I did a poll on the question of whether or not to do a park/rest/park day or stay at the park once you arrived. About 300 people participated with about 66% in favor of park/rest/park.

If you do a search you should be able to find the poll and read the reasons people gave.

 

[Ktharee]

Listen, go at your own pace. It's vacation and it's supposed to be fun! Pardon the pun, but play it by "ear". Of course we all want to get in as much as possible while we are there, but believe me (from experience) staying at a park until midnight, then getting up for an early EMH-makes that day a struggle at times. Do whatever you need to, to have fun and feel energized throughout your vacation. When you see families "freak out" at WDW, it's most likely a by product of trying to do too much on too little sleep.

If it helps you, here is our schedule:
Day One: Arrive at resort around 7pm. Hang out, swim, get a good night of sleep. (hopefully)
Day Two: Up at the crack of dawn for early EMH. This day we plan to go ALL day, no break since it is our first day and we can't help ourselves.
Day Two: At rope drop for a non EMH park. Take a mid-day break. Return for Mickey's NSS Halloween Party until midnight.
Day Three: Relaxing morning at resort. Afternoon park of choice. Dinner at DTD. Shopping. Resort by 11.
Day Four: Rope drop at non EMH park. This is our DHS day, and since we only have a select few things we like here and it's not a Fantasmic night, we will head back for a midday break then to dinner at the Grand Floridian, followed by evening EMH at MK.
Day Five: Rope drop for an AM EMH park. This is AK and we only have a select few attractions we like here so it will be another midday break day (not a long one) then back to Epcot for EMH
Day Six: Early morning breakfast and just hopping around to various parks to get in our "last licks" before leaving at 3pm.

I hope that helps somewhat. Just do what works for your family! And if what you planned isn't working, adapt and have fun! Good luck!!

 

[caroline1851]

We went in Oct with ds6 and dd2 (almost 3) and the park/rest/park concept didn't work so great for us. i found that the travel back and forth from the parks using the buses was quite time-consuming. We did miss some nightime activities but it was okay to have happier kids.
This is what we did:
MK for rope drop until 3:30. resort swimming, dinner, bedtime. Great day.
DHS for rope drop until 3:30. resort swimming, dinner, bedtime. Great day
MK for early ADR until 2, nap at resort, dtd at night. Kids were crabby and tired by 9pmEPC 12p-8p (relaxing, slow a.m., kids were still recovering from day before-bad day)
AK 10-3, resort swimming, dinner, bedtime. Great day
DHS for rope drop until 1;30, nap, dinner, MNSSHP (kids didn't get cranky until 9:30pm )

Each way of doing the parks works differently for different people. But just don't underestimate the amount of time it uses up to get to the bus stop, wait for the bus (up to 20 min), get to the park and get into the park. Then, leave the park, wait for the bus again, get to your resort and then to you room. and then......do it all again later in the day or evening.