Advice for Scheduling Down Days

[catrax]

We are planning a vacation for early August. We haven't been as a family since Nov 2016, and I know a lot has changed. Also, we're planning a long vacation - a sort of once in a lifetime 13 day trip to Grand Floridian. We are so excited! Now I'm planning for our Fast Passes and daily visits to the parks. Because we are theme park commandos, trying to fill every day with as much park fun as possible, we usually don't take a down day, and now we're faced with making some decisions in advance of FP booking (2 weeks from now). Here's the deal:

• Trip is from Aug 2 (arriving around noon) - Aug 14 (departing in the evening)
• We have 10 day park hoppers with water parks
• We have 3 children in tow - DS(14), DS(12), DD(8)
• We definitely want to have some nighttime fun
• We definitely want to visit MK on the day that we arrive

So, after looking at lots and lots of the crowd calendars out there (I used to like Josh's but it is no more), I'm still feeling a little less than confident about how to plan. I'm trying to decide whether or not to take our last day off from Parks or a third day off in the middle. Here's what I'm thinking and I'm looking for feedback regarding whether I should be taking days off in the middle of the week or on the weekends. My current plan:

Thr, Aug 2: Arrive, visit MK in the afternoon
Fri, Aug 3: AK
Sat, Aug 4: EP
Sun, Aug 5: MK
Mon, Aug 6: Break
Tue, Aug 7: HS
Wed, Aug 8: Break
Thr, Aug 9: MK
Fri, Aug 10: AK
Sat, Aug 11: Break
Sun, Aug 12: EP
Mon, Aug 13: HS
Tue, Aug 14: MK

 

[holden]

I think your plan looks good. I like to spread break days out over a long trip.

With regard to weekends...more locals may visit, but Saturday is a travel day for many WDW visitors. I have found hitting the parks at opening on a Saturday means lower crowds. This has been my experience. Not sure about others.

 

[epcotobsessed]

I think your plan looks good, with the caveat that on such a long trip (I am jealous - have never been more than 9 days) you probably are not going to stick to this schedule/will want a different break day, and that is fine. Your FP choices might be limited if you change park days while onsite, but I think that is worth it to feel like your days are making sense to you while you're there. Weather is another factor here that you can't predict and is probably our #1 reason for changing plans while onsite.

 

[StacyStrong]

If I had that many days, I think I would put my down days on Saturdays when I could. I've personally experienced it being more crowded but that might just be confirmation bias

With that many days though, I don't think you'll be able to go wrong.

 

[StacyStrong]

Are you getting hoppers?

 

[wdw&sonny]

You said you have 10 day PH, with Water parks. I see no plans for the water parks. With kids that age, I would plan the first and last day off and use the other full days with a break in the middle of the week. I would go to one park in morning, afternoon pool break and hop to second park for evening. I would leave some mornings/afternoons and evenings as flexible/unplanned and spontaneously go where you/they want to.

 

[rwdavis2]

How about instead of full days off, sleep in and go later in the day? That's what we did last trip instead of full days off and it worked well.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

You said you have 10 day PH, with Water parks. I see no plans for the water parks. With kids that age, I would plan the first and last day off and use the other full days with a break in the middle of the week. I would go to one park in morning, afternoon pool break and hop to second park for evening. I would leave some mornings/afternoons and evenings as flexible/unplanned and spontaneously go where you/they want to.

Yah, you need waterparks. The are world class, clean and fun. And of course they are Disney!

If you bail on the WP then you are cutting your billion day vacation short. IMO.

 

[Antaniasmom]

Schedule looks good...we're you planning WP on break days?? That is what I would do..so jealous..Have a wonderful time!!!!

 

[cbl1]

I tend to find Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom less full days then Magic Kingdom and Epcot. So I tend to take break days after those 2. Of course animal kingdom you probably want to do one night.

An alternate for thought. Using EMH - and some of those EMH mornings then you may want to go waterpark or something to relax in evening. This is more maximizing getting done using more of the EMH. I tend to want to leave the morning emh parks by early afternoon as they tend to get crowded - going to another park for a while or waterpark or get a dinner reservation at Disney Springs on those EMH days.

Thr, Aug 2: Arrive, visit MK in the afternoon
Fri, Aug 3: MK morning EMH / Epcot Evening
Sat, Aug 4: Animal Kingdom (morning EMH) - late dinner Disney Springs
Sun, Aug 5: HS (morning EHM) - stay late to see nighttime activities
Mon, Aug 6: Break - waterpark then dinner Disney springs
Tue, Aug 7: Epcot evening EHM
Wed, Aug 8: Magic Kingdom Evening EMH
Thr, Aug 9: Break - waterpark and then dinner Disney springs
Fri, Aug 10: Magic Kingdom Morning EMH - late dinner Disney Springs
Sat, Aug 11: Animal Kingdom (morning EMH) - stay late to see nighttime
Sun, Aug 12: HS (morning EMH) - waterpark evening
Mon, Aug 13: Break - waterpark then dinner Disney springs
Tue, Aug 14: MK Morning / Evening Epcot EMH

 

[Delirium]

I would plan on leaving departure day open. That way, if there is some terrible weather and you want to shift days around, it gives you more flexibility.

You mention having hoppers, but your plan does not reflect hopping at any time. I would shoot for hopping on as many days as possible, with extended breaks in the middle of the day, to stay out of the heat and also take advantage of extra magic hours without being in that park the whole day.

 

[Mainemama]

I would bump your first break day up by a day. I always like a break every 2-2.5 days in summer. Spend the day by the pool, then head to a park for dinner, or DS. What a great trip!

 

[rentayenta]

I would add a water park day and I agree with the PP who suggested Saturdays be your down days.

 

[cwis]

I would definitely be in a park on the last day, since you'll have to check out of your room at 11am.

Having done 14 nights at the MK, I would also recommend going to MK only for a few hours, it's so close!

 

[catrax]

This is all very helpful. Yes - I'm planning on hopping, but I'm not sure that that is going to look like at this point. Mainly I'm just thinking about scheduling meals and fast passes, so I'm focused on the main park of the day. We will definitely be going to the WP on the off days (weather permitting). I'm super type A, so all of this planning for such a long trip has my head spinning! Thanks for the confirmations and advice, everyone!

 

[catrax]

I tend to find Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom less full days then Magic Kingdom and Epcot. So I tend to take break days after those 2. Of course animal kingdom you probably want to do one night.

An alternate for thought. Using EMH - and some of those EMH mornings then you may want to go waterpark or something to relax in evening. This is more maximizing getting done using more of the EMH. I tend to want to leave the morning emh parks by early afternoon as they tend to get crowded - going to another park for a while or waterpark or get a dinner reservation at Disney Springs on those EMH days.

Thr, Aug 2: Arrive, visit MK in the afternoon
Fri, Aug 3: MK morning EMH / Epcot Evening
Sat, Aug 4: Animal Kingdom (morning EMH) - late dinner Disney Springs
Sun, Aug 5: HS (morning EHM) - stay late to see nighttime activities
Mon, Aug 6: Break - waterpark then dinner Disney springs
Tue, Aug 7: Epcot evening EHM
Wed, Aug 8: Magic Kingdom Evening EMH
Thr, Aug 9: Break - waterpark and then dinner Disney springs
Fri, Aug 10: Magic Kingdom Morning EMH - late dinner Disney Springs
Sat, Aug 11: Animal Kingdom (morning EMH) - stay late to see nighttime
Sun, Aug 12: HS (morning EMH) - waterpark evening
Mon, Aug 13: Break - waterpark then dinner Disney springs
Tue, Aug 14: MK Morning / Evening Epcot EMH

Thanks for putting so much time into this! I'm going to see how your suggested plan would work out for us with other considerations. This will be our first time at the waterparks, so I'm a little nervous about how busy it is at those places if you hop there in the afternoon. We'll just have to give it a shot!

 

[Smbmoyers]

I agree with off days being Saturday’s as much as possible ( I schedule week long trips with arrival and departure on Saturdays because the crowds tend to be heavier)

With that being said I like our last day to be a park day(preferably mk)

 

[tinkerhon]

I agree with off days being Saturday’s as much as possible ( I schedule week long trips with arrival and departure on Saturdays because the crowds tend to be heavier)

With that being said I like our last day to be a park day(preferably mk)

Doing the same - going for 2
weeks in July and scheduling the down days for weekend, when we would probably see more locals - especially with TSL just opening

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

I agree with off days being Saturday’s as much as possible ( I schedule week long trips with arrival and departure on Saturdays because the crowds tend to be heavier)

With that being said I like our last day to be a park day(preferably mk)

Except Water Parks can be crazy on Saturdays - there's always a tradeoff

 

[DisneyDeb83]

You might want to book fast passes for every day. You never know when you may lose a day to bad weather. You could use that as a break day if needed. Maybe plan some evening fast passes on those scheduled days off in case you get the itch to head to a park. We tend to always think we are going to take a break midway through, but we always seem to head to a park every day, even if it’s just for a couple hours.