AK: short afternoon or midday without RD?

[CapnJacksGirl]

New hours came out this morning for our 2/27-3/3 trip. I thought I was looking forward to that but now it's got my overactive type-A brain in overdrive. Things I thought I had pretty much sorted out are back up in the air.

AK will now be open at 8 am while we are there. I kinda sorta pinky swore to DH that we wouldn't have any mornings that we were out the door before 7 am on this trip. (Shouldn't have done that! Note for next time.) I had originally planned to RD AK one day, knowing it wouldn't likely be a full day, leaving us some pool time or time to head to DS. With the 8 am opening, I'm rethinking that, but I'm still concerned about FoP without a huge wait.

So, which would you do:

Option 1: Head straight to AK on our arrival day, Saturday 2/27, likely getting there by 2 pm (1 if we really push it) with a 6 pm closing? (Not sure we could do everything without feeling like we are in a sprint. I do love to stop and smell the Pandora flowers, figuratively speaking.)

With Option 1, our week would be Saturday AK 2-6, Sunday HS RD, Monday Epcot RD, Tuesday MK RD, Wed HS RD-3 pm (to be back for ME)

OR

Option 2: Do AK on Monday 3/1 as I originally planned, but without RDing it. (Egads, I can't believe I even said that.) Probably get there around 10 am with a 5 pm closing. Go to Epcot on arrival day, getting there around 2 pm with an 8 pm closing.

With Option 2, we'd be doing Saturday EP 2-8, Sunday HS RD, Monday AK 10ish-5, Tuesday MK RD, Wed HS RD-3. I have to say, it makes me twitchy to NOT RD 2 PARKS!!!

OR

Option 3: RD AK on Monday like I planned, be done there after lunch, head back to the resort for the kids to swim and DH to nap

What would you do? I realize we're all different but I need input!! Kids don't know about this trip yet so I have no one to bounce ideas off of! Thanks in advance for the help!!!

 

[TwinMomEsq]

I’ll be there the week before you! Our hours changed similarly a couple of weeks ago. I had also made a very similar promise to DH who is not a big fan of early mornings (to say the least). However, I persuaded him that he would just need to put his big boy pants on that one day so we could get to AK for rope drop. I promised him he could sleep in for everything else. We’re staying on site and walking or busing to all the other parks so he can get himself there whenever and just meet me and the kids when he arrives. It’s just AK where we all are going to drive over together where he needs to make the compromise. At this stage in the game, I don’t like having to revamp plans (especially with park reservations needed) so I would stick with your original plan and just treat him to a nice nap break while the kids are in the pool (which is what I promised DH).

 

[MomOTwins]

I'd go without rope dropping it rather than try to go on arrival day. I always try for arrival day not to make any plans that require me to be there within 4 hours after arriving in case there are travel delays (whether you are going via flight or driving--you never know if you'll get slowed down by bad weather or an accident for cars or mechanical issues for planes). Nothing worse than having a rough travel day only to add the disappointment of cancelled plans on top of it because you don't get there in time. Epcot on arrival day gives you an extra 2 hour cushion in case you get in later than expected.

 

[kathi]

We are there same time as you. I've been watching the wait times on the Disney app this weekend and it's been FAR worse than I was expecting. Had the same deal with my family about taking it easy, but we also are not fans of waiting in long lines for rides. Totally need to re-think the whole thing now. Looking forward to seeing what advice you get!

 

[marcar12]

I would go with Option 2.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

We are there same time as you. I've been watching the wait times on the Disney app this weekend and it's been FAR worse than I was expecting. Had the same deal with my family about taking it easy, but we also are not fans of waiting in long lines for rides. Totally need to re-think the whole thing now. Looking forward to seeing what advice you get!

I’m trying to avoid looking at all until next week. With this being a holiday, I’m sure some people went last week through today and some arrived this weekend and will stay the week. I’m hoping that by next Monday, things look a little better. It seems like most spring breaks aren’t until the second week of March or later so fingers crossed we are in a slightly less crowded pocket between the holiday and spring breaks. Maybe wishful thinking but that‘s my hope.

Regardless, we’ll be at Disney. We stopped at DS for a few hours on Thanksgiving day on our way from MCO to Tampa (planned for that short stop and the drive over) and it was magical, just to be at that little corner of Disney for a bit. Even the surly teenage DSs were overjoyed! No matter what our upcoming trip brings crowdwise, we’ll run with it. It’ll sure beat this Minnesota winter!!

 

[skuttle]

We did AK this past Sunday. Normally we rope drop, but Disney changed hours after we planned our days, and we ended up with a 10pm MK closing time followed by an 8am AK opening. Not gonna happen. We made it to AK around 10am. It closed at 8pm but we did everything we wanted by 6pm. Everest’s line moved quickly all day and we never waited the posted time. FOP was 75min at 5pm but we only waited 40min. Safari wait was much shorter than listed too.

 

[kathi]

We are there same time as you. I've been watching the wait times on the Disney app this weekend and it's been FAR worse than I was expecting. Had the same deal with my family about taking it easy, but we also are not fans of waiting in long lines for rides. Totally need to re-think the whole thing now. Looking forward to seeing what advice you get!

Ah - I was looking at your dates wrong. My brain saw 3/27, which is the week before Easter (and when we will be there). I think you are correct and crowds should be lower for your trip! Mine will be exactly like this weekend and I sure hope that Disney opens up a few more things for people to do and re-arranges lines to allow for proper social distancing. My husband wants to cancel after seeing the wait times and the reports of no social distancing in some areas.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

Ah - I was looking at your dates wrong. My brain saw 3/27, which is the week before Easter (and when we will be there). I think you are correct and crowds should be lower for your trip! Mine will be exactly like this weekend and I sure hope that Disney opens up a few more things for people to do and re-arranges lines to allow for proper social distancing. My husband wants to cancel after seeing the wait times and the reports of no social distancing in some areas.

Yeah, that's a whole different ballgame. I don't know what I would do in your position. This past weekend sounded pretty scary....and not just in an "oh my gosh, I had to wait an hour" kind of way. Sending lots of positive vibes your way as you make that decision. That's a tough one for sure.

 

[MomOTwins]

Ah - I was looking at your dates wrong. My brain saw 3/27, which is the week before Easter (and when we will be there). I think you are correct and crowds should be lower for your trip! Mine will be exactly like this weekend and I sure hope that Disney opens up a few more things for people to do and re-arranges lines to allow for proper social distancing. My husband wants to cancel after seeing the wait times and the reports of no social distancing in some areas.

I don’t think there is a rearranging lines fix. For one thing, the lack of social distance tends to be outside of lines. For another, the lines have extended so far outside of the ride entrance now there is not really anywhere to move one queue without it running into another ride’s queue

 

[Blondie58]

We often split up in the early morning and even sometimes in the evening. DH not thrilled about rope drop so I sometimes I take off and we meet when he gets "there" (MK, HS, AK or E). In the evening most of the time he wants a signature dinner and/or r and r so we compromise and go to dinner and then I might take off to go see fireworks and/or go shopping. We are not traveling with children though.

 

[Wosmama6]

I presented the following options to my DH after making a similar promise
1) we get up with the kids (they've never slept past 6 on vacation) and are back in the room by noonish (depending on park) for him to nap, and then can go back later if we want. I will take kids to pool.
2) he sleeps while kids eat and watch tv in room (we have dvc 2 br), we get to parks later and wait in hour lines, pool after dinner

He heard hour lines and was like "naps sound good". So I booked a babysitter for 3 afternoons (our son's teacher's daughter is a laid off cast member now working at sea world, so it's someone we trust and the price isn't crazy like some of the services) so that I don't have to work myself silly while he is napping. But I also have a 2 year old, so there is no relaxing by the pool while the kids play. If your kids are older you may not need the sitter.

This makes DH sound like a big baby, but he works 13-15 hour days, a weekend each month and is on overnight call every 4th night. Convincing him to walk 10 miles a day and get up early on vacation is hard work, but I'm persuasive

So, maybe say "up early or in line all day, which do you prefer?" Your week should be fine crowd wise. We are there March 4-10, not spring break quite yet but not mid Jan either.

 

[Blondie58]

I presented the following options to my DH after making a similar promise
1) we get up with the kids (they've never slept past 6 on vacation) and are back in the room by noonish (depending on park) for him to nap, and then can go back later if we want. I will take kids to pool.
2) he sleeps while kids eat and watch tv in room (we have dvc 2 br), we get to parks later and wait in hour lines, pool after dinner

He heard hour lines and was like "naps sound good". So I booked a babysitter for 3 afternoons (our son's teacher's daughter is a laid off cast member now working at sea world, so it's someone we trust and the price isn't crazy like some of the services) so that I don't have to work myself silly while he is napping. But I also have a 2 year old, so there is no relaxing by the pool while the kids play. If your kids are older you may not need the sitter.

This makes DH sound like a big baby, but he works 13-15 hour days, a weekend each month and is on overnight call every 4th night. Convincing him to walk 10 miles a day and get up early on vacation is hard work, but I'm persuasive

So, maybe say "up early or in line all day, which do you prefer?" Your week should be fine crowd wise. We are there March 4-10, not spring break quite yet but not mid Jan either.

You are very nice to recognize your husband works such long hours as you do too with children. Great idea to have someone help out so that all feel like they have some vacation hours. If I lived close to WDW this would be a fun job for me. Have a great time.

 

[Wendy98]

I have visited WDW 4x since they reopened and have tried both methods. We did RD over Thanksgiving week (AK opened at 7). We went straight to FOP and walked on. When we went in December, we went to AK in the afternoon around 2 (no park hopping yet, kids had virtual school that morning). We were easily able to get everything done that we wanted (I think AK closed at 5). We waited maybe 40 minutes for FOP right before close. Last month we attempted to RD and my family being the slow movers they are, we got there around 9:15 am for a 9 am opening. It was so dead and we walked onto FOP and Safari. It did seem to pick up by 11 am. We see to be able to do AK in about 3 hours.

 

[Wosmama6]

You are very nice to recognize your husband works such long hours as you do too with children. Great idea to have someone help out so that all feel like they have some vacation hours. If I lived close to WDW this would be a fun job for me. Have a great time.

We are lucky to know someone close by! We do have a friend who is a travel nanny. She charges $300 plus expenses for a week. We save points for flights and hotel and then pay her the cash.
Can't bring her this time because of covid stuff but she is a gift. She doesn't charge much because she doesn't need the money, she just likes to travel and explore when she's not on duty.