3 day park hopper touring plan help

[Kirstyn]

Hi. My family and I will be going to Disney world for 3 days in July. We will have the park hopper. We are a family of 4 adults and a 16 year old. I am needing help to come up with a 3 day touring plan that includes time in downtown Disney. I have made all of our dinner reservations for the trip in Epcot. we will also be eating counter service meals for 2 of the 3 lunches, our lunch on the second day is at sci fi. I would like for my first day to be in MK, and my second day at least until after lunch to be in HS. All dinner reservations are at 7. Can someone please help me come up with a order or plan of what parks/ areas to visit on each day? This will be our first visit, and I am feeling a little overwhelmed. 3 days is the most amount of time we will be able to spend on Disney world property. I appreciate any help you can give. Thank you!

 

[kmb584]

Hi. My family and I will be going to Disney world for 3 days in July. We will have the park hopper. We are a family of 4 adults and a 16 year old. I am needing help to come up with a 3 day touring plan that includes time in downtown Disney. I have made all of our dinner reservations for the trip in Epcot. we will also be eating counter service meals for 2 of the 3 lunches, our lunch on the second day is at sci fi. I would like for my first day to be in MK, and my second day at least until after lunch to be in HS. All dinner reservations are at 7. Can someone please help me come up with a order or plan of what parks/ areas to visit on each day? This will be our first visit, and I am feeling a little overwhelmed. 3 days is the most amount of time we will be able to spend on Disney world property. I appreciate any help you can give. Thank you!

I would check out EasyWDW's July crowd calendar and go from there. Select your days based on the park most recommended.

 

[Jennytoon]

Hi -- if you could supply a little more information, I think that will help the folks on the board to help you. There's a ton of stuff to do at Disney, so with three days the question is what is it important to you to get done. These questions might actually help you to get a better handle on it too.

Here are the kinds of things I'm thinking about:

• What kind of rides are important to you?
• Are the evening shows & parades important to you? Or would you be willing to use this time to catch rides with lower lines, because the rides are more important?
• Do you like shows at all? Some parks have more shows. Some people love these, some people think that on a tight schedule they are not worth the effort it takes to work around the start and stop times.
• Is meeting characters important to you?
• Are you committed to going to all four parks, or are you willing to skip one?
• If you are willing to skip a park, which one do you think sounds like the best candidate?
• What specific days will you be there? This is important because although you will be limited somewhat in picking the recommended parks as PP suggested, EMH can make a big difference in a plan.
• Are you staying on site? Will you have access to EMH?
  
• If you are staying on-site, where are you staying? Some resorts have better access to Downtown Disney, which you mentioned is important to you.
• What are you interested in in Downtown Disney? Does it matter what time of day you go?

 

[glassslippergirl]

If it's your first time, you need to understand that WDW is huge. I would cut the time in DTD to maximize park time-- you can buy the same things for the most part in park gift shops. I would also suggest rethinking some dinner plans. Traveling between parks eats a lot of time. I wouldn't hop to Epcot just for dinner. Epcot, DHS, and MK all have nighttime shows that are awesome, but 7:00 dinner at Epcot basically binds you to multiple nights of Illuminations.

I did not look at crowd calendars, so ymmv with this suggestion. Based on what you've said, I would organize as follows:

Day 1: MK-- get there at rope drop. Leave at 6:00 for your 7:00 ADR in Epcot. Stay for Illuminations at Epcot.

Day 2: DHS-- arrive at RD; stay until lunch. Hop to Epcot for the afternoon. If there is a late show of Fantasmic, go back to DHS for it. There is a boat connecting these two parks.

Day 3: AK in the morning-- arrive at RD. When you're finished there, hop to MK-- that's the park with the most attractions. I would stay until Wishes and have counter service dinner at MK, but I would definitely recommend dropping your Epcot ADR. Alternatively, if you feel like you completed MK on the first day and want more Epcot time, go straight to Epcot after AK.

ETA: you could also do the second half of Day 2 at MK. Then, do Epcot after AK on day 3. You wouldn't see Fantasmic, but that would respect your original dining plans.

 

[lovndisney12]

I second spending more time in parks and not to worry about DD - especially with the construction. The parks have many unique - and in my opinion better - shopping options.

Also, I suggest you put a short list together of the must-see attractions for each park. Get your FP+ for those and RD the others - everything else consider a bonus.

Here is a sample of what my DS 13 and I were able to do on a 1 day PH between HS and MK (I'm sure I'm missing a few things) - we have been multiple times and just hit some of our favorites and some with short lines.

RD HS - rode RnR three times at RD, FP Star Tours and Toy Story Mania, ToT standby - short wait, Muppets FP (not needed), Great Movie Ride, Beauty and the Beast Show.

Hopped to MK by 1 PM - Cinnamon rolls and apple slush from Gastons, could not get any ideal FP so we did have some longer waits but were still able to do Space Mountain, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, People Mover, Carousel of Progress, Haunted Mansion, TS Dinner at the Plaza, Buzz Lightyear, Stitch (not worth it), and Fireworks.

Good luck and I can't stress enough to plan ahead a short list of what you really want to do. There is so much and it can be overwhelming if you try to do it all.

 

[mamabellefortwo]

I echo the previous comments- skip DTD. It is a hassle to get to/from and is just shopping and some restaurants- in my book, it's not Disney, it's an outdoor mall.

 

[Rosebud123]

I love DTD, but I'd never make time for it on such a short trip.

 

[Kirstyn]

Hi. As a follow up, I wanted to give more information so that maybe this would help you be able to help me more.
1.) We are off site guests with no access to EMH will arrive at the parks around 8:30. Eating breakfast at our villa.
2.) we want to see all 3 fireworks/light shows in Magic kingdom, Epcot, and HS.
3.)we perfer to see all four parks as this will likely be our only visit at least for some time. But, we are least interested in epcot's future world and part of animal kingdom. We can not add anymore days to our tickets.
4.) the shows we most want to see are Beauty and the Beast and Lion King
5.) characters are important especially those from repunzel,olaf, sven, and Mickey and friends.
6.) we will be at Disney July 14th 15th and 16th, we want to spend the first day in Magic kingdom, and the 3rd day to be in HS since that is when fantasmic is showing.
7.)The first day we have a noon brunch planned at chef mickey's and a 7:30 reservation at the plaza in MK. The second day we have a dinner reservation at San Angel inn but no lunch plans. The last day we have lunch at Sci fi and dinner at mama Melrose. We would love to also eat at BOG sometime for lunch but I don't see how. Do you have any suggestion on how to keep these restaurants and add lunch at BOG without skipping AK? Mainly I need help planning my second and third days, especially the second.
8.) we have a reservation at planet Hollywood on the 13th at 8:15. What time would you suggest going beforehand in order to visit a few shops and the chocolate factory? Most of the 13th will be set aside for resting at the resort from our 16 hour drive the two days prior.
Sorry for the long post. I really appreciate the help. Thank you!

 

[Kirstyn]

UPDATE: Chef Mickey's is alternatively available on the 16th at 5:30, but would still want to see fantasmic which only shows on with the 14th or the 16th. I Just thought I would mention this in case it would make it easier for planning. We would also love to spend more than 1 day in MK, ideally 1.5 days.

Again, thank you so much for the help!

 

[SplashMo]

I would skip DTD.

Simple 3 -day
MK 1 day (Rope Drop to close)
EP 1 day (Rope Drop to close)
AK rope drop without FP+ / then transfer to DS with FP+ around 1-2 PM

Variations

MK 1 day (Rope Drop to close)
1 day of: EP Rope Drop SOARIN and Test Track for two hours or less. Leave for DS with FP+ reservations. Return to Epcot for dinner and Illuminations.
AK rope drop without FP+ / then transfer to DS with FP+ around 1-2 PM Watch fantasmic.


Basic building blocks that work well. Combine as you see fit:

1 Day MK (Rope Drop to Close)
1 Day EP (Rope Drop to Close)
1 day split AK rope drop without FP+ and then jump to DS
1 day split 2 hours epcot rope drop. Transfer to DS with FP+ then stay or hop back to epcot.
1 day split RD MK for three hours and hop to another park with FP+

 

[sharonabe]

I think you've pretty much got it done. Keep your ADRs the way they are.
13th is your DTD time
14th is MK all day
15th start in AK at rope drop. Use FP+ for EP in the afternoon evening
16th is HS all day

This isn't the best use of your PH, but it works. It does mean you can't do BoG this time, but you still get all four parks. UNLESS you can snag a breakfast ADR at BoG for the 13th. If you can't get a pre-opening ADR for that, I would skip BoG, as anything else would just take up too much of your park time.

What I like about your plan:
Your Chef Mickey brunch gives you a GREAT break in the middle of the day. Same for Sci-Fi at HS. These two ADRs will give you a much needed breather without having to go back to your hotel.