Three parks in one day?

[katied]

We are planning our tour day for Dec 19th… plan is:

rope drop MK - hit the mountains, Haunted Mansion, Pooh, Pirates (buy ILL for 7DMT)
hop to AK at 2 - Buy ILL for FOP, ride EE, Kali, Navi
hop to Epcot (around 8 pm) - try for Test Track and Mission space

we will buy Genie+ and two ILL

do you think we can get through this on a crowd level 8 day, or is this too ambitious?

kids are 11 and 14, so they have more energy than us and should be fine. No sit down food, just grab and go food plans.

 

[Centopar]

That's a long day, but if you have the energy and your kids aren't the age which will make them want a whole MK day, I say go for it! Epcot's always a lovely way to end the day; we often hop there to finish the day off.

 

[aeasterling]

I think it's doable. We (me, husband and 15 year old) did all four parks the last week of October. The only suggestion I might make is to plan the order of parks around where you are staying if you are using Disney transportation. For us, we started at AK since it required a bus (we stayed at Swan). We actually rope dropped FOP and rode Navi, Safari and Everest (4 times) and had time to nap at the hotel before we went to our next park.

Not sure if you planned to purchase Genie, but I had LL stacked for our 2nd park which helped a lot. Also, if you are using Disney transportation, then you can take the monorail from MK to EPCOT.

Have fun!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I don't think the idea of 3 parks is an issue, but the order of the parks you have selected will lead to a lot of wasted travel time.

 

[KristaZ]

It's a doable plan - it would be more efficient if you could group MK and Epcot together transportation wise. Just make sure you grab a Test Track reservation earlier in the day (keep an eye on what time they're distributing whenever you tap into another ride or have your 120 minute time out) - they often sell out.

 

[katied]

I will talk to my son about the order… he is fixed on seeing AK and the Pandora area after sunset, so around 6 pm, but I’ll see if I can sell him on efficiency.

 

[brightlined]

I will talk to my son about the order… he is fixed on seeing AK and the Pandora area after sunset, so around 6 pm, but I’ll see if I can sell him on efficiency.

I'll be the gentle contrarian here - I love AK at night (especially Pandora), and I wouldn't necessarily trade that for easier logistics (especially if that's the only chance he'll have to see it). It's harder to see Pandora at night now than it used to be, since the park typically closes at or before sunset most of the year. With Epcot open until 10pm, you shouldn't have any trouble doing both of those rides, especially if you can snag an LL for Test Track.

 

[katied]

Ok… another option… can we Uber between MK to AK and then AK to Epcot?

I don’t know if Uber still works in the CoVID world?

 

[aeasterling]

Ok… another option… can we Uber between MK to AK and then AK to Epcot?

I don’t know if Uber still works in the CoVID world?

Since AK at night is important, I'd keep the order you have. You could Uber BUT Uber will drop you off at Ticket and Transportation and then you'd need to monorail or ferry to MK, so the bus might actually be faster.

I'd do the following. I'm assuming you are staying on site and can do the early hours.

7am - purchase ILL for FOP and SDMT. You should be able to get times that work. Get your first LL for AK - Safari or Navi, depending on priority. Since its not your reservation, it will default you to times after 2pm.

Arrive MK 30 minutes before Early open.Only tomorrowland and Fantasy land are open, so ride Space Mountain and whatever else you want. Before regular park open, make your way to Fronteirland and ride BTMR and Splash. Then ride whatever has lower waits or other priorities. Use your ILL for SDMT.Two hours after AK opened (since that's where you got your first LL),you can make another LL and have 2 stacked. I'd do something in MK if there is something you want available soon OR another AK ride OR Test Track if they are in the evening yet. if two hours pass before that LL ends, you could get a 3rd.

When you are ready, leave MK and take the bus to AK. Ride FOP and whatever LL you have. You can do Everest single rider. Enjoy Pandora after dark.

Finally take bus to EPCOT. You could also Uber on this one. If you got a LL for Test Track use it. Mission Space is usually a walk on. If it were me, I'd end my day watching Harmonious after grabbing some Quick Service for dinner.

 

[katied]

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I’ve been trying to sort out, and you have planned it perfectly!

 

[gharter]

Personally, I wouldn't as you will spend a lot of time on transportation. It can work, but I think you are wasting a lot of time. If you are there 2 weeks and want to do 3 or 4 parks in 1 day to say you did it, go for it.

 

[katied]

Ok… just thought I’d reply back… we did it, yesterday.

thanks for all the advice.

we got to MK at 7:10 am, just a bit behind schedule, got through everything at MK, but I did add in sit down lunch at Skippers at 1130, which was a good break. We spent some shopping time. We hopped and got to AK about 230, hit EE, Kali, Na’vi and FOP, had a snack break, enjoyed Pandora at dusk, hopped to Epcot, got Test Track LL, shopped, Spaceship Earth, did Crepes for dinner…

15 miles of walking, 16+ hours, got it all in… BUT, I do not recommend this. If you have another way, break up your plans. Three parks at 16+ hrs is one day is TOO much. We were really not in the position to enjoy Epcot by the time we got there (or at least, after Test Track), it was more an endurance exercise at that point. Kids any younger would likely really struggle.

today is a resort day, so we slept in and are relaxing.

but, THANK You for the advice and help to make it work. We had two days of tickets for this trip, and this maximized the value of what we had.