1-day visit ideas?

[CMUhoopz13]

I know this would be an all-day event, but due to the number of days we will be in Orlando, my friends and I were considering getting a 1-day hopper pass and try and check out as much as we can. I know this would be very difficult but we were planning on going on a few rides from each park and that's it.

Does anyone have any tips or recommendations on how to attack this? Like, what rides will cause the longest lines and which parks we should try and go to first. We will be going on a tuesday or wednesday in march so I'm hoping nothing is too busy at that time.

We were thinking of hitting Animal Kingdom first and go on the Safari and then maybe go on a ride there. After that we would shuttle over to either MK, Epcot, or MGM, but am not sure the best way to hit them all. Any help would be greatly apprecaited. Thanks!

 

[CMUhoopz13]

bump^

 

[Pixiedust34]

I think I'd pick my 2 favorite parks and split the day between those two. That would cut back on driving/parking time (or bus time) during your day. I'd rather spend time IN the parks than getting to/from each park. Come to think of it, I'd probably spend the whole day in 1 park.

But, if you want to hit all 4 in 1 day, decide which headliner attraction is the #1 most important for you to see. Hit the park that has that attraction first, and make sure you are there at the park's opening to ride it.

You could also make use of EMH if you are staying on Disney property. That'll buy you some more time to enjoy the parks.

Make sure you do not save AK for last. It generally closes earlier than the other parks.

Have fun park hopping!

 

[CMUhoopz13]

Since they all start at 9, we were going to hit animal kingdom first. Plus, we were going to use the shuttle to get from park to park, as opposed to driving to each one.

Is there any that we should wait until the very end? We were thinking of hitting Epcot last so we could see the fireworks. How does it work if the park closes at 7? What time does it start because I know it's not dark at 7 yet.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Timeframe information is very important here. If you are going one day in the extreme off season like January you'd be able to walk onto a lot of rides but most likely the parks would close early except for EPCOT.

If you are going during a very busy time then hitting all four parks isn't really a good idea. Three parks maybe...but seems like four would be a stretch. However given your constraints I'd probably...

1. Be at Animal Kingdom at opening and hit Expedition Everest and Dinosaur! Fast pass one and ride the other (probably FP Everest). Or ride Everest twice. Leave the park...if it wasn't for Everest I wouldn't tour AK in a one day hopping plan.

2. Zip over to MGM. Do ToT and RnR...same plan...FP one and ride the other. If you haven't hit one oclock yet you might consider doing something else in MGM. Otherwise head over to the park that closes earliest (of EPCOT and MK).

3. For the sake of argument we are going to assume EPCOT closes earliest. I'd go FP one of Soarin', Test Trak or Mission Space...most likely Soarin'. Then I'd head over to Test Trak and have my entire party ride as solo travelers. Then Mission Space and on to my FP at Soarin'. You will not enter the World Showcase. If it is not yet 5:00 then I'd finish doing the Future World rides I like the most...concluding with SE because the lines are non existent towards late afternoon. At or after five its back to the car.

4. MK...assuming it closes at 10PM or later. Especially around dinner time you can pick your favorite rides and go. There will be no point in FP's because they'll be gone by this time. I'd probably do Splash, BTMRR, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted House. By this time you could head over to Tomorrow land and do Buzz Lightyear or Space Mountain. Watch Wishes when it comes around and head home tired, hungry and exhausted.

PS. Be ware the Extra Magic Hour parks. Ideally you would want a day where EPCOT has late hours for hotel guests but Magic Kingdom is also open after 9PM.

 

[CMUhoopz13]

Thanks, that really helps.


However, I looked at the disney site and the time the parks are open on a weekday in march is 9-7 pm and 9-8 pm for all the parks. AK is 9-5.


That limits my time but how do the fireworks work at epcot? I know they don't start until late but if the park closes at 7, how does everything work? Do the rides close at 7 and then the fireworks start later?

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Since they all start at 9, we were going to hit animal kingdom first. Plus, we were going to use the shuttle to get from park to park, as opposed to driving to each one.

Is there any that we should wait until the very end? We were thinking of hitting Epcot last so we could see the fireworks. How does it work if the park closes at 7? What time does it start because I know it's not dark at 7 yet.

Using the bus or monorail or boat to get from park to park will probably cut out 3 hours of your day right there.

What might help others help you is if you post the time of year and the park hours for your proposed date of travel. Park hours can change closer to ones travel dates if it seems to disney the parks will be at higher occupancy than they originally projected. I haven't seen them close earlier due to low occupancy but that doesn't mean it hasnt happened.

 

[paigevz]

Are you staying off-site? If you are staying on, you could hit the morning EMH..........especially if it's Animal Kingdom, you'd pretty much be done with its headliners in an hour and a half to two hours.

Then, I agree with doubletrouble, MGM is the next. All you want are rides? There are some great shows you'll miss........I might try to take in just one.

Off to Epcot, but I'd also schedule a world showcase dinner there. Just hit Soarin' and Test Track, then go to dinner and at least see that country's showcase.

Then off to MK.........I definitely think you should end there, like doubletrouble suggested, as it's usually open later than the others, and there is so much to do there, it's just best to run from attraction to attraction until they tell you you can't. Catch that fireworks show at closing.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Usually the World Show case closes at 9PM which is when Illuminations (Fireworks) begins...

Under a scenario where MK closes at 8 you've got a bit of a problem. Future World closes substantially by 7PM altho the big ticket rides might stay open longer. So you'd need to go to MK first riding the rides you would most enjoy. Unfortunately this is during the afternoon when people will still be in that park. Worse still they will be heading over to EPCOT with you because people with park hoppers enjoy eating dinner in EPCOT. You would wind up enjoying the World Showcase for the last couple hours of your stay.

So....unless Disney changes those hours (which is certainly possible) I would definitely reconsider the four parks notion. And I would use my car if I had one. An 8PM closing at MK is indicative of one of two things...it is the EMH park for hotel guests or Disney isn't anticipating big crowds.

 

[CMUhoopz13]

Again, thanks for all the help everyone. If anyone else has any tips, please feel free to let me know.


I know trying to hit all 4 parks in one day is REALLY going to be difficult. We are going to be off-site so we wont be able to use the EMH. We may spread everything out for two days, it's just we will not be in Orlando for very long and are still trying to determine how we can hit as much stuff as we can.

We are basically going to have 4 full days in orlando. One day we will be at wide world of sports for most of the time because our home town detroit tigers are playing in a spring training game and we all want to go check it out. That leaves 3 days to hit as much as we can.

Possible things we want to go see are all 4 parks, Typhoon Lagoon, maybe universal studios, the baseball game (which we are already going to for sure) and if anything else strikes our interest. So, hopefully we don't have to hit all 4 parks in one day, but there's a chance it may happen so i'm just trying to see what needs to be done in case we have to do it.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

MK closes early only on six days in March...1, 2 , 3, 7, 8, and 9. Normally I'd say that was a positive thing but those dates are so close I'd expect Disney to stick with that schedule.


Staying onsite would make a huge difference here as long as the day you are going includes EMH ...especially if you are going to the expense of a hopper to begin with.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

We are basically going to have 4 full days in orlando. One day we will be at wide world of sports for most of the time because our home town detroit tigers are playing in a spring training game and we all want to go check it out. That leaves 3 days to hit as much as we can.

Possible things we want to go see are all 4 parks, Typhoon Lagoon, maybe universal studios, the baseball game (which we are already going to for sure) and if anything else strikes our interest. So, hopefully we don't have to hit all 4 parks in one day, but there's a chance it may happen so i'm just trying to see what needs to be done in case we have to do it.

Okay...if you want to actually enjoy your trip you need to start out by making choices. You know that the game is important to you. After that you need to decide how you want to approach Orlando before you go. Making decisions on the fly in what amounts to a three day trip is a recipe for a bad time. Why? The reality is that EPCOT takes two days to see if you haven't seen it before, so does Magic Kingdom. Animal Kingdom and MGM are one day a piece although you could cut that down to half days each. Universal and Islands of Adventure are one day parks each. You are proposing fitting in a six day tightly scheduled vacation into three days...or less. Bad bad bad idea.

Now that we have the rest of the story what would I do for Disney? I'd start with MGM and be on the boat to EPCOT by 1PM. Finish the day at EPCOT hitting Future World first and finishing up in the World Showcase...you could ride Mexico and Norway...catch the movies in China, France and Canada while enjoying counterservice for dinner. The next day I'd do AK first up until 1PM then I'd head over to Magic Kingdom. On day two I'd use a car if I had one available.

On the day of Spring Training I might see if I could wedge in the Typhoon Lagoon trip in the late morning. If you can get a two day convention hopper from ticketmania or one of the other places mousesavers has recommended it will include one day at TL, PI or DQ. This leaves you with one day to do something else on the fly.

The other option is to do one full day each at Universal and IOA. But in that case I would NOT use the remaining day at WDW...the ticket would cost you almost $100 for a one day hopper...instead I might go to Sea World or take it easy and relax by the hotel pool, go shopping, go to Disney Quest or one of the smaller venues in Orlando. That's assuming that Universal doesn't have some sort of buy two play get more days free promotion going. If they do I'd go back and hit the rides I liked best.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Twice we've done three parks in one day. But I'm far from new to this. If you are new to WDW, and don't know your way around, it would not be worth it to try. You'll spend too much of your day doing nothing and feel like you wasted it. Since you didn't really read the hours of Epcot correctly, I'm guessing you're new to the parks. If you spend an entire week entirely at WDW, you still will not see everything.

Having said that, having long hours to work with really helps, as does acess to EMH. (What would a room at a value cost?) March is usually fairly crowded, but mid-week is better than the weekends. Avoid MK in the mid-day when it's most crowded.
Epcot doesn't close at 7 - only Future world - and Test Track stays open until park close. The fireworks happen at nine, after the rides stop (although if you are in line for something at nine, they will let you on that ride, but you'll miss the fireworks).

It can be done, but probably the last park you wouldn't get to go on much. The last time we did it, we had breakfast at MK, hit a few rides while lines were short. Then we went to AK , and went on most of the big rides there (the only show we saw was the bird show). Last, we went to MGM, and we were able to hit a few things there - before 8pm! But we knew what we were doing!

Another time we had from 9am until midnight - we did MGM - Epcot, and after the fireworks were over, MK was open until midnight, so we said, 'why not?" and raced over there. It was awesome! Even if we didn't go on much at MK - it is so much fun going in when everyone else is going out - makes you feel like the park is yours!
One trick of being offsite would be getting back to your car at the end of the night. (taxi?) Also, make sure you are at the gate at park opening - this can be difficult. It usually takes people longer to get there than they think it will.

Next, you kind of have to wait and see. Don't try to plan what you can't plan. Sometimes we're wiped out by nine pm, other times were able to cruise until midnight. You can't really plan for the crowds. Your best bet is to check the boards when you enter each park - go to the rides with the shortest lines (excpet the first park you hit in the am - hit your favorites there first). Aim for a few things - so you have an idea of where you want to go, but be flexible. if something has a short line - go for it. If you happen to walk by a show when it's starting - go in- otherwise don't wait for it. Dine QS. Don't sit down any more than you have to - there will be time to 'rest' while you are standing in line. Eat snacks while walking. Take bathroom breaks when you walk by restrooms - everyone goes when one person has to go. Don't wait in long lines for bathrooms - if the line is long - wait until you get to the next one. the same is true for food. Choose food options where the lines are short, esp eating at off times (have ice cream at noon, lunch at 2-3pm). Use Fastpass! Walk quickly from place to place (without being rude), don't dawdle like most people do. I wouldn't waste time on the surround movies, parades, or waiting in line for characters. Parade time means shorter ride lines! Popular meal times (noon, 6pm) mean shorter lines for rides!

Get in shape before you go - take at least a 45 minute walk each day - even if you are young - and walk as quickly as you can. There is a difference between walking and running. Don't run - walk.

It can be done, but two days is better by far!