1 day at each park. Last day-which one?

[Albertan mom]

We have 8 days there. We are doing:
AK
MK
MGM
EPCOT
BB
TL
KSpace
?

Then we have one day left. Which park will we need to spend that last day at? Or which two? I was thinking we would do one in the morning, and switch over to another in the afternoon.

We are: Me, DH, DD11, DS8.
(also my inlaws, and BIL/SIL, but they can do their own thing!!)

We love rides. We love shows.

I don't think we will need another day at AK-correct that one full day is enough?

We are also not hugely into Epcot, different countries etc.. I think one full day there may be enough too. Or am I totally wrong on this one?

I am thinking we will need to split our time at MGM and MK, because they have the most to do. Am I correct?

Any advice, suggestions would be muchly appreciated!!!

(I would just wait and see, but need to make a TS ressie for that day!!)

 

[HM]

Definitely MK, it is hard to do it all in one day....I think you'll have the most left to do there.

 

[Taratink]

I would leave that day open and go back to the park you enjoyed the most. Last trip I planned a couple of free days and it worked out really well. I didn't feel like a prisoner of our schedule.
Tara

 

[bjscheel]

I would do MK!

 

[Goofy4]

Thinking crowd-wise -- whichever park had extended hours the previous night.

Can't say that I can personally confirm that the logic works, but it is something to consider.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I would leave that day open and go back to the park you enjoyed the most. Last trip I planned a couple of free days and it worked out really well. I didn't feel like a prisoner of our schedule.
Tara

I agree. This was our plan our first trip. We thought we'd like MGM or MK best and Epcot the least, but we ended up liking Epcot and AK the best!

 

[Albertan mom]

Thinking crowd-wise -- whichever park had extended hours the previous night.

Can't say that I can personally confirm that the logic works, but it is something to consider.

Is this the thinking? That because a park has extended hours the night before, it won't be crowded the next morning?
It works out that the day before MK has the EE, in the morning, no extra hours at night at any park.

I want to just leave it, and go with the flow, but I need to make a TS ressie!!
I did book one at MGM at 12:15, thinking we could spend the a.m there, eat, then leave and go somewhere else. We could even spend a few hours at another park, and go somewhere else in the evening I suppose, just don't want to waste alot of time shuttling back and forth...

More feedback please!

 

[Hobbes]

Epcot and MK are the 2 that realistically need the longest to do. if you have a Hopper I'd do Epcot am and move over to MK pm and finish up with Wishes/Spectromagic as the perfect end to your holiday-My holiday always has to start and end with MK

 

[Jazz-E-Cat]

I'd definitely do MK on the last day. It's a beautiful way to end the perfect vacation.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

If you want to see everything at a liesurely pace, MK and EP are 2 day parks.
Because you don't have much interest in the WS portion of EP, that would make that a 1 day park also.
So MK is where you are likely to need that extra day.
If Fantasmic is rained out the first day, you might need it for that at MGM.

You won't miss quite enough attractions at either MGM, or AK to make them worth a whole second day and you are likely to miss enough at MK to make it worth a second day just to see everything.

Another thing you might want to try is on your water park day's, you'll get done at 5. You can eat and rest or eat and hit a park at night. Just go hit fantasmic. Or the night parade you wanted to see plus wishes or Illumiinations. Those things are time consuming.

(I would just wait and see, but need to make a TS ressie for that day!!)

Ahhhh. The kicker. I would put it at a restaurant at a monorail resort. That gives you your best flexibility.

 

[Albertan mom]

Good points. On our waterpark days, we have ressies at 5:45 after Blizzard Beach, and at 5:15 after Typhoon Lagoon. We are also doing a water sports day, with Parasailing and mini power boating, with a supper ressie at Chef Mickeys at 5:30.

Predicting we will need 1.5 hours at each one to eat, we could hit some of the parks by 7:00, and stay for a few hours. Unfortunately, none of them have Extra Magical hours at night those days, only in the morning! (we also may be very tired from the day of climbing stairs at the waterparks and just want to go to bed!) Or we could spend a little time looking around the resorts (eating at Coronado resort, Contemporary Resort) and also shopping (eating at Planet Hollywood in DTD)

We could also do one park the morning of the watersports day if need be, though I wanted that morning to lounge around the resort and hit the pool.

 

[Plutofan1]

Magic Kingdom!!! YOu can't do nearly enough there in one day. It is such a magical way to end your trip.

 

[aubriee]

Epcot and MK are the 2 that realistically need the longest to do. My holiday always has to start and end with MK

I agree. I always want to start with eating a hot dog at Casey's and just sit and gaze at the castle before I get started. I also like for my last glimpse to be of that same castle.

Personally we love Epcot and I can't imagine trying to do it all in one day. Enjoy world showcase for what it is. Take your time, shop, eat at least two TS meals there, watch the movies, and the players (mariachi band in Mexico, Chinese acrobats, living statues and juggler in Italy, Drum and fife Corps, Voices of Liberty, and Epcot Vibe at America, Japanese drummers and candy lady in Japan, Mo'Rockin' band in Morocco, Off Kilter band in Canada. Also be sure to eat a school bread in Norway, khaki gori in Japan, and a Napoleon from the French bakery for me.

 

[RunDanceSkate]

This is our plan for Aug 23rd to Sept 2nd with two kids DS 12 and DD 9. We spend alot of time at Disney but this will be our first trip in awhile without AP so no park hopping for us.

Wed Aug 23th Arrive
Thurs Aug 24th Animal Kingdom dinner at Boma
Fri Aug 24th Magic Kingdom dinner at DTD Raglan Rd
Sat Aug 26th Epcot Dinner Garden Grill
Sun Aug 27th MGM dinner Hollywood Brown Derby
Mon Aug 28th Magic Kingdom dinner in the castle
Tues Aug 29th Typhoon Lagoon breakfast at O'Hana
Wed Aug 30th Epcot dinner Rose and Crown
Thurs Aug 31st Animal Kingdom dinner Planet Hollywood
Fri Sept 1st MGM Early dinner at SciFi
Sat Sept 2 Cry I mean leave.

We love to do two days at each. When we have one extra we usually head for Epcot because it is like 2 parks in one. My second choice would be Magic Kingdom for the rides and just the feel good feeling I get. Usually we start with MK, finish with MK and hit it at least once in between.

Cindy of Ottawa formally an Albertan

 

[Albertan mom]

This is our plan for Aug 23rd to Sept 2nd with two kids DS 12 and DD 9. We spend alot of time at Disney but this will be our first trip in awhile without AP so no park hopping for us.

Wed Aug 23th Arrive
Thurs Aug 24th Animal Kingdom dinner at Boma
Fri Aug 24th Magic Kingdom dinner at DTD Raglan Rd
Sat Aug 26th Epcot Dinner Garden Grill
Sun Aug 27th MGM dinner Hollywood Brown Derby
Mon Aug 28th Magic Kingdom dinner in the castle
Tues Aug 29th Typhoon Lagoon breakfast at O'Hana
Wed Aug 30th Epcot dinner Rose and Crown
Thurs Aug 31st Animal Kingdom dinner Planet Hollywood
Fri Sept 1st MGM Early dinner at SciFi
Sat Sept 2 Cry I mean leave.

We love to do two days at each. When we have one extra we usually head for Epcot because it is like 2 parks in one. My second choice would be Magic Kingdom for the rides and just the feel good feeling I get. Usually we start with MK, finish with MK and hit it at least once in between.

Cindy of Ottawa formally an Albertan

Hi Cindy!
Here are our plans:
Wed Aug 23 Arrive
Thurs Aug 24 MGM, lunch at Sci-Fi
Fri Aug 25 MK, dinner at Cinderellas Castle
Sat Aug 26 Blizzard Beach dinner at Maya Grill
Sun Aug 27 Animal Kingdom Breakfast at Donalds Breakfastasauraus
Mon Aug 28 Kennedy Space Center for the launch
Tues Aug 29 Watersports Day, Parasailing and boating, dinner at Chef Mickeys
Wed Aug 30 Epcot Dinner at Biergarten
Thurs Aug 31 Typhoon Lagoon dinner at Planet Hollywood
Fri Sept 1 MGM in the morning, lunch at 50s Primetime Cafe, then to whatever park we need to see more of!
Sat Sept 2, head home.

Looks like we have picked completely different parks on our days! (except for MGM on the friday) We do have the park hopper option, so may hop around a bit, as long as we stick to our dining ressies.
Where are you staying?

Enjoy your free dining!! I can't wait!!

 

[RunDanceSkate]

How did I miss that there would be a lanuch. Dinner at the castle/space lanuch. Ughhhh I thought all my desicions were made.

Cindy

 

[Albertan mom]

How did I miss that there would be a lanuch. Dinner at the castle/space lanuch. Ughhhh I thought all my desicions were made.

Cindy

Info on the launch is at Kennedy Space Center.com

I called yesterday to book tickets. I was told that if the launch in July doesn't happen, the one on Aug 28th won't happen (shhhh-dont tell my husband--that was the clincher to book the trip!)

She said until the July launch happens, I can't book tickets for the Aug 28th one. The July one can happen anytime from July 1-19.

My hubby will be soooo disapointed if the launch doesn't happen. That is why I am not telling him yet, until we know more.

 

[Foe]

Leave on a high note, Magic Kingdom.

 

[WVParkfan]

The best advice is to leave that day open and make your decision during the week that you are at Disney. There will be something you missed at one of the parks that you really wanted to do, or you will find that you really liked something unexpected (Epcot or AK).

For most people, seeing Wishes at the Magic Kingdom is their final memory of their Disney trip. We've done that before, but now that our kids are older (son is 12), the MK is too "kiddie" for more than one day for us, and it's too crowded. We still visit the MK for the memories, but we've outgrown it... there really isn't that much to do there anymore for us.

We finished our trip last month with a leisurely stroll through the Animal Kingdom, followed by Fantasmic at MGM. It was the perfect end to our trip. We had done all of the big shows at the AK earlier in the week (Everest, Kali, Safari, Lion King, Dinosaur, etc.). Our last day at the AK was spent taking a nice walk on the Pangini Forest Trail, an hour walking around the Tree of Life, and a long walk around the Oasis. It was the BEST way to relax.

Good luck, and wait to decide on where to go for your last day until you've seen everything and find out what you like.

 

[MrsMud]

If possible, I would rearrange your meals just a bit so that you have a CS (or 2?) rather than a TS that last day. Then you can choose whichever park(s) you want to revisit without worrying about ADRs. I did exactly that. Our last day (well, it's actually just a 1/2 day) I didn't make any ADRs. I will let the kids choose where they want to go.