skier_pete
DIsney-holics Anon
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2006
- Messages
- 13,059
Oh duh, I wasn't even thinking at all. I was thinking that the elec. parade was at 9:00 on the 17th, not 7:00. So, no, we would not make it at all with the Luau show happening no matter what time we did that. I'll just stick with the original plan on seeing the elec parade on Sat. the 19th then. I sort of think that parades are always packed no matter what day so I guess we'll feel packed in regardless
So, how are we all not at the same places on same days I wonder? I sort of based my plan on Tour Guide Mike more or less. I hope I'm not doing anything totally dumb since you and Joy13 are much more experienced than me and you're doing totally different days for things. Yikes.
Well, I can't say I've ever read Tour Guide Mike. I do use the Unofficial Guide to a degree - but since I don't subscribe to him it hardly matters.
The truth (that Unofficial Guide WILL actually tell you) is what day you go to the park is less important than how you actually tour the park. Using rope drop and fastpasses and understanding which rides to wait until later in the day to ride are way more important than what day you pick. (Example: While we hit most of Fantasyland first thing in the morning, we skip Philharmagic until later in the day.) We also try to pick uncrowded weeks to go - which make a big difference as well.
A couple things we do:
1) we avoid EMH parks completely. Not that there's anything wrong with doing EMH, but unless your going to actually be there FOR the EMH - then these parks should be avoided. We don't find that getting up so early is worth the extra hour of park time, and generally the evening hours are too late for DD.
2) We try to hit MK on party days, if a party is going on. Our experience is the park is pretty empty until about 3 PM on party days. Also try to avoid MK on Sundays and Mondays if we can.
3) We avoid EPCOT on Fridays and Saturdays, particularly late in the day. This is when the locals come out.
4) We avoid hopping as much as possible for two reason - one is the time that it wastes with transporting between parks but more important is (2) to take advantage of using Fastpasses late. It's an unwritten rule that you can use your FP anytime after the window. So we spend the morning gathering FP - and then in the afternoon / evening we use the FP when the lines are the longest, this is especially valid with MK and DHS. (The other two parks we don't get a lot of FP.) I once had 8 sets of FP in my pocket at MK waiting for the crowds to arrive. In fact, often we have too many, and end up giving some away. (If you see me Saturday night the 19th - you might get some!)
There's no way to plan a schedule that avoids all the things that they tell you to avoid. (Like us showing up at MK on the 19th.) But again, smart touring is really the key to managing the crowds.
Looking it over - I think your plan is just fine - really! Doing mostly Epcot the weekend the start of Thanksgiving is a smart move. (I know I said Epcot on Saturday is bad - but mostly that's late in the day when your swinging over to MK. - Saturday evening is not good anywhere.) The only thing is- I would never be able to handle spending my LAST day there and not go to the parks at all.
We don't know where we'll be on Sunday (other than @ 3 PM on a DME bus 
), so maybe i'll see you both on Sunday.
And then the 20th we are doing Epcot also so you just never know...
Now, these friends are wonderful and I love them dearly but I'm just not good doing trips with other people. You see, I'm a people-pleaser type and will find myself doing what "they" want versus what I've planned on doing for over a year now!
Be sure to request that you sit outside *with a good view for the show - you'll do that when you check in for your ADR.
