Advice needed on Four Parks in 2 Days over Memorial Day Weekend

[Matrixleos]

My wife and I wanted to surprise our daughter (DD20) for doing a great job at school and getting a Teachers degree. I know Memorial Day weekend is crazy busy at WDW but work schedule wise, that was the only weekend we could make it work. Here's our plans for now....

Arriving on Friday, May 24th, then two FULL PARK DAYS on Saturday, May 25 and 26 with flying back home on Monday, May 27th. Initially, I wanted to get single park tickets and just have my wife and daughter pick the two parks they preferred to go to. After 30 minutes of debating, no cuts are being made and they wanted to visit all 4 parks in 2 days. We will be staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge and will be rope dropping early both days. I also got 2 day Park Hopper tickets, three magic bands+ and will be paying for Genie+ and paying for 2 Lightning Lane rides each day.

We were WDW vets when all my kids were young and we visited yearly but we haven't visited in over a decade. Our last Disney trip was 2 years ago to Disneyland. So for this trip we wanted to mostly focus on the newer rides that we haven't yet experienced either at WDW or Disneyland. Here's the Rides we wanted to try to attempt to ride if we got the opportunity...

MK: Tron, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, It's a Small World and Mickey's PhilharMagic (8 rides/shows)
Epcot: Guardians of the Galaxy, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, Test Track, Soarin, Living with the Land, Frozen Ever After and Spaceship Earth (7 rides/shows)
Disney Studios: Rise of the Resistance, Star Tours, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Slinky Dog Dash, Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Roller Coaster (6 rides/shows)
Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage, Na'vi River Journey, Dinosaur, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids and It's Tough to be a Bug! (6 rides/shows)

Part I'm looking for help with, is that all doable over a busy and crowded Memorial Day Weekend? What parks pair well with each other? I'm thinking of rope dropping MK on the morning of Day 1 and then finishing up at Disney Studios, especially to watch Fantastic. Day 2, starting at Animal Kingdom then hopping over to Epcot since my wife wants to check out the International Flower Festival and the World Showcase at night.

I'm also new to Genie+, what's the best strategy for Park Hopping with 2 parks in one day. Is it stacking for the second park you'll be visiting or using them on the first park but risk certain rides not having a return available later on in the day?

Thanks for any advice or feedback, it's much appreciated!

 

[Matrixleos]

Also, I thought about adding a 3rd day but we're arriving late on Friday, May 24 and leaving early afternoon on Monday, May 27th. I figured cost wise, instead of a 3rd park day, I'd be better to spend that on Genie+ and buying Lightning Lanes per day.

Plus we also wanted to do a Pool morning and visit Disney Springs on that Monday morning before going to the airport.

 

[Smrtalec33]

My wife and I wanted to surprise our daughter (DD20) for doing a great job at school and getting a Teachers degree. I know Memorial Day weekend is crazy busy at WDW but work schedule wise, that was the only weekend we could make it work. Here's our plans for now....

Arriving on Friday, May 24th, then two FULL PARK DAYS on Saturday, May 25 and 26 with flying back home on Monday, May 27th. Initially, I wanted to get single park tickets and just have my wife and daughter pick the two parks they preferred to go to. After 30 minutes of all 4 parks in 2 days. We will be staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge and will be rope dropping early both days. I also got 2 day Park Hopper tickets, three magic bands+ and will be paying for Genie+ and paying for 2 Lightning Lane rides each day.

We were WDW vets when all my kids were young and we visited yearly but we haven't visited in over a decade. Our last Disney trip was 2 years ago to Disneyland. So for this trip we wanted to mostly focus on the newer rides that we haven't yet experienced either at WDW or Disneyland. Here's the Rides we wanted to try to attempt to ride if we got the opportunity...

MK: Tron, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, It's a Small World and Mickey's PhilharMagic (8 rides/shows)
Epcot: Guardians of the Galaxy, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, Test Track, Soarin, Living with the Land, Frozen Ever After and Spaceship Earth (7 rides/shows)
Disney Studios: Rise of the Resistance, Star Tours, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Slinky Dog Dash, Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Roller Coaster (6 rides/shows)
Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage, Na'vi River Journey, Dinosaur, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids and It's Tough to be a Bug! (6 rides/shows)

Part I'm looking for help with, is that all doable over a busy and crowded Memorial Day Weekend? What parks pair well with each other? I'm thinking of rope dropping MK on the morning of Day 1 and then finishing up at Disney Studios, especially to watch Fantastic. Day 2, starting at Animal Kingdom then hopping over to Epcot since my wife wants to check out the International Flower Festival and the World Showcase at night.

I'm also new to Genie+, what's the best strategy for Park Hopping with 2 parks in one day. Is it stacking for the second park you'll be visiting or using them on the first park but

That sounds doable to me. I would stack LLs at the 2nd park for sure.

 

[Jhp8]

I think RockNRoller Coaster will still be closed

 

[LuckyL3gends]

Memorial Day is busy, but with Genie+ and park hopping, it's doable. MK + HS could be a good Day 1 combo, Animal Kingdom + Epcot works too. Genie+ strategy depends on your LL purchases - stack for the park you want to hit hardest first. 3rd day might be worth considering, even just for HS in the morning. Pool + Disney Springs is a great Monday plan!

 

[jkh36619]

I would probably rope drop AK and Epcot and afternoon stack MK and HS That is 2 long days. Too much for me.