Adults only, 4 parks in 2 days HELP!

[caitcance]

I'm in need of expert advice on how to break down a short trip.

Just to give some context, DH and I have 2 day park hoppers and have been to WDW before but most recent trip was almost 10 years ago. We have 3 little ones who are NOT coming with us, but we are doing a much longer trip with them next year. The goal of this short trip is to hit the attractions/shows we most likely won't get to do with the kiddos (thrill rides, animation class, WS countries, meals that don't involve characters).

The trip is in late August, mid-week and crowds are predicted to be around a 4.

So far I have:
Day 1: dinner res at HS + Fantasmic
Day 2: dinner res at Epcot + Illuminations

We opted not to do Wishes because we will for sure do it next trip with the kids.

So should I break it down as Day 1 MK+HS, Day 2 AK+EP? Or the other way around? Or something else I haven't even thought of?

 

[dworldlovers]

Your plan looks good! Try to get to MK early and hit the mountain rides! Lights,motors, action stunt show at HS is awesome and may be better without the kids. Day 2 looks good too!! Have fun!

 

[Raenstoirm]

Dh and I just did 36 hours in WDW last month after a cruise. We started at DHS and did the Star Wars type stuff (Star Wars weekend) and then left there and spent he afternoon/evening in Epcot with dinner in France. MK was open till 2am, so we did the late evening there. Next day we went back to DHS to actually ride the rides since it was a madhouse the day before. And then spent the rest of the time at MK. If it hadn't been SWW, we could have ridden the rides at DHS that first morning and went to AK that second morning.

Are you staying onsite? Look into the EMH hours. That might give you some "bonus" time.

 

[caitcance]

Actually yes we are staying onsite and if I reverse the morning parks we could hit morning EMH both days... I def like that idea but it might be a tough sell to get DH to get up at 6 both days of vacation! I will try

 

[Missymouse18]

DH & I do an adult only trip every year, but this summer took our niece. It had been awhile since we had been with a kiddo, and man was it a totally different experience! You will no doubt have an awesome time. And you will also discover just how romantic WDW can be!
Your plan sounds great. Some things I would suggest - share a dessert in a quiet spot late at night, take time to really stop and see some of the beauty in WS that you won't get to see when you have the children along (this is a great place to get that dessert I mentioned!), see things like "American Adventure" & Voices of Liberty at EPCOT, since this doesn't usually thrill the youngsters, ride BTMRR and JC at night snuggled up by your sweetie (totally different ride experience at night IMO!), even though its just you and the hubby do a Meet and Greet with talking Mickey at MK..
And even though you said you would skip Wishes, it is very memorable, magical and romantic when you watch it with just your significant other.
I hope you have an awesome time!!!!!

 

[SplashMo]

Sounds like a good plan. I would use easywdw or touringplans.com to flush out the rides and attractions and then post back. I like the current selection of parks but as you post your top rides then it might change...

 

[nighttowll]

Actually yes we are staying onsite and if I reverse the morning parks we could hit morning EMH both days... I def like that idea but it might be a tough sell to get DH to get up at 6 both days of vacation! I will try

If you can convince him, I would. I was going to suggest you switch those around to begin with. Here's my reasoning.

AK has very little small children can't do, and it is a smaller park, so you could probably do everything there, even if you needed to use child swap, during your next trip. HS on the other hand has a lot more for adults and with the limited show times, it is very hard to see even just the adult attractions in 1/2 day. Plus it will close earlier than Epcot, so putting AK and HS together makes better sense.

At AK you can do Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, Everest, and Kali River Rapids in the first couple hours. There isn't really anything else small children can't do. Then be at HS by 10:00 or before. This will give you closer to a full day at HS which is really needed because there is a lot more that small children can't do or aren't always interested in. At HS there is both stunt shows (this will let you decide if your kids will sit through them or not later), the animation class, RnR, ToT, GMR, Backstage Tour, whatever reality tv show game is playing, and Star Tours if yours are too young even for that. The two shows take up a lot of time by themselves, and to hit both, you usually need to catch one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

Then day 2, go to MK and do the 3 mountains, the mine train, Stitch, the HoP, POC, HM, and Astro Orbitor. Those are the ones I can think of that may be too much for young children. Again, you should be able to get to Epcot before or around lunch depending on how much of the above you decide to do. This should give you about 10 hrs at Epcot to do SE, MS, TT, Soar'n, Sum of All Thrills, Captain EO, and the countries.

 

[caitcance]

Ok here is everything we are looking to do... A few will be repeats with our kid trip but not many.

MK
Must do:
Space Mtn
Splash
BTMRR
Pirates
Haunted Mansion

Would like to do:
Lunch at BOG, if I can snag a FP
SDMT but not if the line is crazy long, would prob only wait 30 min for it

Epcot
Must do:
Soarin
Test Track (can be single rider)
Lots of time to explore countries, see several country movies, live entertainment etc
Illuminations

Would like to do:
Spaceship Earth
Maelstrom

AK
Must do:
Safari
Kali
Everest

Would like to do:
Dinosaur
Flights of Wonder
Tough to be a bug

Hollywood Studios
Must do:
TSM
RnRc (can do single rider)
Animation Class
ToT
Great Movie Ride
Fantasmic

Would like to do:
Indiana Jones
One Man's Dream
Star Tours

Based on this, which parks do you think I should group together? Also should I consider travel times between parks? I assume MK-EP is fastest because of the monorail?

 

[JanaDee]

With that short amount of time for park time, I wouldn't waste it on sit down meals. Eat quick service and save yourself the time.

 

[Stefecatzz]

You mentioned you'll be staying on property. So you can book FP+ in advance which I highly recommend w/your short stay. With FP+s & using single rider when you can, I'd say your original line up should work fine. I also agree w/PP that you should dine at QS instead of TS b/c of the time factor.