12/30-1/3: Which Park Which Day?

[pharmama]

Hello- I'm a DLR "expert"/native and usually hang out over on the DL side of the boards but am tentatively planning my family's first WDW trip for 12/30/21-1/3/22. I know this is absolute peak crowds but it is what it is as that's when we can go with school and sports schedules. I say tentative as I have things booked but we may still cancel depending on how COVID is looking and if DD10 can get vaccinated.

I am a super Disney fan but have only been to each of the 4 WDW parks for a half day or so each while in Orlando for work events (MK- I went to a MVMCP a few years ago, AK- I went to a Disney After Dark event a year or so later and I did one day split between Epcot and DHS on that trip as well). The rest of my family (DH, DD16, DD12 and DD10) have never been to WDW at all.

I read another thread on here for similar dates that already prompted me to change my reservations once (switching to Epcot on 12/30 for last day of Festival of Holidays) but just wondering if anyone has any additional suggestions. We do not have park hoppers and are staying at CBR (arrival 12/29 after hitting USO/IoA for Harry Potter, depart 1/4).

Current Park Reservations:
12/30: Epcot
12/31: Magic Kingdom
1/1: Animal Kingdom
1/2: Hollywood Studios
1/3: Epcot

I am least sure about what to do with 1/3 or, more accurately, which park we will want a second day for. I do think DH (who humors the rest of us but isn't the biggest Disney fan) would like Space 220 so I will definitely be getting up at 2:30am Pacific to try and get a reservation there which was part of my reason for doing a second Epcot day- maybe slightly easier to get that for 1/3? We plan to focus on rides and areas that are different from Disneyland & Disney California Adventure which we know well. I absolutely love Galaxy's Edge but we have spent plenty of time at the west coast "outpost" so it's not a big deal to skip it or if we don't get on ROTR in Orlando, for example.

Appreciate any insider tips/tricks/suggestions/thoughts you all might have. TIA!

 

[GBRforWDW]

I like the idea of 2 Epcot days since you're doing 1 for the festival. First day you can stroll through Epcot mostly enjoying the festival offerings and the second day go more for the rides.

Also, if you haven't yet, get your Hollywood Studios day locked in with reservations. I saw another post just now that said HS was full on the 3rd and 4th... For now anyway. They'll probably open more, but for a first time trip, I wouldn't chance a wait.

 

[pharmama]

That's a good point about using the two Epcot days differently!

I do already have park reservations for my current plan so all good there. I actually just changed them around day before yesterday and didn't notice any days that had limited park availability so that's interesting if its changed already.

I saw mention that MK usually does NYE fireworks on the 30th and the 31st. Does Epcot do this too and we would possibly see Epcot NYE fireworks there on the 30th?

 

[GBRforWDW]

I saw mention that MK usually does NYE fireworks on the 30th and the 31st. Does Epcot do this too and we would possibly see Epcot NYE fireworks there on the 30th?

I'm not as familiar with this. According to info I can find online, it seems they only do new years on the 31st at Epcot. Of course, that's probably why they end the festival the day before. But, they could always do something different this year, seems like everything is changing anyway!

Enjoy your trip! I hope to one day make it for new years, seems fun, but I probably need to wait for the kid to get older so she can enjoy it.