4 parks in 2 days - Please help! (Added one more question)

[Jayrech]

Our family of 4 from Chicago have 2 day hopper passes and plan to visit on 8/9 & 8/10. Since we can only reserve 1 park a day, our plan is to do:

Hollywood then Epcot on the 9th
Animal Kingdom & Magic on the 10th

Of course our goal is to ride the epic rides like Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy.
We're staying at a Disney affiliated hotel so we get the early entrance privilege.

1) Did I plan out the parks ok or should I change?
2) Is it possible to get into the second park before 2PM if it's not at full capacity?
3) Can I make a reservation for the second park after entering the 1st?
4) Am I getting too stressed over nothing?

Any other tips will be greatly appreciated!

 

[JodyK]

1 - I think the parks are fine. Although you are trying to do all of the newest things on the same day. Are you going to buying Genie+ and ILL for GOTG and ROTR?
2 - no
3 - no
4 - no I think it is stressful trying to pack a lot into 2 days.

 

[Tom_E_D]

Our family of 4 from Chicago have 2 day hopper passes and plan to visit on 8/9 & 8/10. Since we can only reserve 1 park a day, our plan is to do:

Hollywood then Epcot on the 9th
Animal Kingdom & Magic on the 10th

Of course our goal is to ride the epic rides like Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy.
We're staying at a Disney affiliated hotel so we get the early entrance privilege.

1) Did I plan out the parks ok or should I change?
2) Is it possible to get into the second park before 2PM if it's not at full capacity?
3) Can I make a reservation for the second park after entering the 1st?
4) Am I getting too stressed over nothing?

Any other tips will be greatly appreciated!

1) Starting one day at AK and ending one day at MK takes advantage of the chance to be at the earliest-opening park when it opens and stay at the latest-closing park until it closes. Doing both in the same day can make for a very long day, however. If you go to Epcot after HS, you won't be able to try for the 7:00 virtual queue at Guardians. If you're going to buy the ILL for it anyway, that may not be an important consideration for you. But if you want to try for the VQ before paying for an ILL (or if you want both), you should start a day at Epcot. Personally, I suggest Epcot, then MK one day; and AK, then HS the other day. But that doesn't mean your suggestion is bad. That's just my preference to do it differently. I don't think it matters much which parks you do Tuesday and which Wednesday.

2) You have to wait until 2:00 to park hop.

3) No reservations are needed or possible for the park you park hop to. You can have only one park pass reservation per day and it has to be for the park you visit first. (There have been vague rumors that might change in the future, but it certainly won't happen before you go.)

4) Doing all the "epic rides" at all four theme parks in two days sounds pretty stressful to me. Of course, that could depend on how many epic rides you think there are. You didn't mention whether you are going to buy any ILLs or Genie+. If you think there are more than a couple of epic rides in each park, you should consider buying them.

 

[Jayrech]

Our family of 4 from Chicago have 2 day hopper passes and plan to visit on 8/9 & 8/10. Since we can only reserve 1 park a day, our plan is to do:

Hollywood then Epcot on the 9th
Animal Kingdom & Magic on the 10th

Of course our goal is to ride the epic rides like Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy.
We're staying at a Disney affiliated hotel so we get the early entrance privilege.

1) Did I plan out the parks ok or should I change?
2) Is it possible to get into the second park before 2PM if it's not at full capacity?
3) Can I make a reservation for the second park after entering the 1st?
4) Am I getting too stressed over nothing?

Any other tips will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jayrech]

Thank you for your quick replies! Since we don't have a lot of time, yes we will be purchasing Genie+ and ILLs.

 

[JodyK]

I think since you are doing Genie+ and ILL you can stay with parks as is. There are pros and cons of different ways but these are some of the reasons I like your itinerary:

Starting at HS and gives you the advantage of rope dropping ROTR if you can't get an ILL for it. That isn't an option if you don't start in HS. Since you are going to purchase the ILL for GOTG you don't need to start there and the ILL for GOTG isn't as hard to get. Also gives you the ability to hop back and forth between the two parks more easily if you had to finish off things.

It is a busy day so I would try to have multiple people trying to book the things you want. One person for ROTR and one person for your first Genie+ (I assume slinky or MFSR) whoever finishes first moving on to the GOTG ILL or if you have a third person that is their job. If you can't get the ROTR ILL everyones next job is refreshing for the 7:10 drop.

The reason I like an AK morning and MK afternoon is you are maximizing park hours. Also with early entry AK isn't a park you really need Genie+ so you can start in the morning doing a late day stacking for MK which I really like. It is a long day so I would probably make sure I was doing a sit down meal in the middle of the day to rest and get in some AC.

Good Luck! Hope you have a magical trip.

 

[Jayrech]

Do you think Magic Band would be a good idea for us? Does each of us need one or one per family?

 

[Marionnette]

Do you think Magic Band would be a good idea for us? Does each of us need one or one per family?

MagicBands are helpful but not a necessity. Your park tickets will function the same way. The MBs are just more convenient than pulling out your ticket every time. Everyone will need either their own MB or ticket to tap in at G+ and ILL$ attraction LLs.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Do you think Magic Band would be a good idea for us? Does each of us need one or one per family?

Hollywood then Epcot on the 9th
Animal Kingdom & Magic on the 10th

Of course our goal is to ride the epic rides like Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy.
We're staying at a Disney affiliated hotel so we get the early entrance privilege.

1) Did I plan out the parks ok or should I change?
2) Is it possible to get into the second park before 2PM if it's not at full capacity?
3) Can I make a reservation for the second park after entering the 1st?
4) Am I getting too stressed over nothing?

So, folks have already answered you a little. But my question is what are the headliners you want to hit? I would make a list with everyone of what you would like to hit in each park. If you are willing to pay for the ILLS, which you said you were, I would def just buy both for each park each day. And then decide on 2 more for Genie + to priortize for each park for each day. That way, anything over that will be bonus verses feeling like you missed out on things. If that makes sense. The time will go by fast!

Just be prepared to be exhausted after the 2 days!

I def think you have the parks stacked correctly. Hollywood Studios is a must for starting there. There is a lot of good rides there.

I wouldn't worry about the park hopping. You do have to wait till after 2, but unless it is Christmas,they haven't really been to capacity, so you should be able to park hop where ever you want.

What do you think you will do for food for the day? Counter Service?

 

[Jayrech]

So, folks have already answered you a little. But my question is what are the headliners you want to hit? I would make a list with everyone of what you would like to hit in each park. If you are willing to pay for the ILLS, which you said you were, I would def just buy both for each park each day. And then decide on 2 more for Genie + to priortize for each park for each day. That way, anything over that will be bonus verses feeling like you missed out on things. If that makes sense. The time will go by fast!

Just be prepared to be exhausted after the 2 days!

I def think you have the parks stacked correctly. Hollywood Studios is a must for starting there. There is a lot of good rides there.

I wouldn't worry about the park hopping. You do have to wait till after 2, but unless it is Christmas,they haven't really been to capacity, so you should be able to park hop where ever you want.

What do you think you will do for food for the day? Counter Service?

We'll do ROTR for early entry & book disney+at 7am for Slinky Dog & buy ILL for Guardians. We'll also do Avatar for early entry the next day. The rest of the itinerary will be dependent on the Disney+.

As for food, we'll try to do quickies.

Thanks!

 

[sheilafri]

Do you think Magic Band would be a good idea for us? Does each of us need one or one per family?

You dont need MBs, but each person would have to have their own. One person can keep the tickets (marked with the ticket holder’s name) in a lanyard around their neck, pass them out to check into the parks or into a LL for a ride, collect them and keep them for the next ride.