AK then MK, or AK then Epcot? Help!!!!

[Irishlisa]

Here's our schedule for 3 adults and 4 children (ages 8, 6, 4, and 4):

We arrive early (9am) on Wednesday morning 9/19, staying at AKV. We plan on relaxing at the resort the first afternoon and then have ADR for DTD at 5:30. We'll walk around DTD after dinner.

Thursday we are going to park hop. The plan is to do AK in the morning and then DH wants to do MK later in the day after we take a break back at the resort.

Friday we are doing MNSSHP so we'll hang out at the pool for the day before heading to MK at 4:00.

Saturday we are going to Blizzard Beach (weather permitting) and then DH and I have ADR for my birthday at Shula's at 8:00.

Sunday we are having breakfast at Boma and then probably DTD before our 7pm flight.


So here's my question....should we do MK twice? Thursday and Friday? We knew we couldn't fit all the parks in and we're fine skipping HS, but I want to do Epcot on Thursday with AK instead of MK. DH thinks the kids won't like Epcot but it's our favorite place to go as a couple. Thoughts?

 

[Redbudlover]

Everyone loves different places at WDW, but for my tastes it seems you are spending a lot of time at a shopping mecca (DTD) and little time at places where the kids can have fun... I would suggest you use your day of arrival to hit one of the parks. You could get over to Epcot and grab a FP for Soarin then take the kids on Spaceship earth, imagination with figment, Nemo, Turtle Talk, explore Innovations ( my then 5 year old DGD and I made paper there one day) go on the Mexico and Norway rides and TT with the older ones using rider swap. Finish up with dinner with characters at Akershus or have dinner with Cinderella dinner at your fave Epcot place. Spend a little time playing in the fountains or playing the Epcot spy game - get the kids involved in Kidcot. My DGD now 6 loves Epcot!
With the MNSSHP you may not need to go to MK another day, but my DGD told me yesterday her favorite park is HS ) not mine I am not a fan especially) But she wants to ride TSM, go on TOT, see the muppets, see the Mermaid show, go on Star Tours and the great movie ride. She absolutely loves the playground there. And she likes dancing to the parade. Actually she likes Junior Disney dancing too, but I am afraid she is too big this year, sigh. But i looked at the list of what she wants to do and pencilled in lunch - we will defintely not be done before that... It would be a great park to visit though on your departure day as it won't take the whole day and you can be back for your ride to the airport in plenty of time.
It is just me but I can't see a group of kids getting too excited wandering around DTD while their parents shop....

 

[Irishlisa]

Everyone loves different places at WDW, but for my tastes it seems you are spending a lot of time at a shopping mecca (DTD) and little time at places where the kids can have fun... I would suggest you use your day of arrival to hit one of the parks. You could get over to Epcot and grab a FP for Soarin then take the kids on Spaceship earth, imagination with figment, Nemo, Turtle Talk, explore Innovations ( my then 5 year old DGD and I made paper there one day) go on the Mexico and Norway rides and TT with the older ones using rider swap. Finish up with dinner with characters at Akershus or have dinner with Cinderella dinner at your fave Epcot place. Spend a little time playing in the fountains or playing the Epcot spy game - get the kids involved in Kidcot. My DGD now 6 loves Epcot!
With the MNSSHP you may not need to go to MK another day, but my DGD told me yesterday her favorite park is HS ) not mine I am not a fan especially) But she wants to ride TSM, go on TOT, see the muppets, see the Mermaid show, go on Star Tours and the great movie ride. She absolutely loves the playground there. And she likes dancing to the parade. Actually she likes Junior Disney dancing too, but I am afraid she is too big this year, sigh. But i looked at the list of what she wants to do and pencilled in lunch - we will defintely not be done before that... It would be a great park to visit though on your departure day as it won't take the whole day and you can be back for your ride to the airport in plenty of time.
It is just me but I can't see a group of kids getting too excited wandering around DTD while their parents shop....

You bring up a good point about using our first day a little better. Problem is we are meeting 4 more family members at Disney and have a res at Raglan Road for 5:30. It's been a tradition that we always eat dinner the first night at RR. I guess we could still do Epcot and then head to DTD for 5:30 but we have to leave our house at 4am for a 6am flight and I'm a little concerned that our 4 year old twins will be tired (our 8 and 6 year old will be running on adrenalin I'm sure). That's why I thought we'd lay low when we first got there. Hmmm....

 

[laughinplace199]

Can you add a day to your tickets and do a park on your last day? If your flight is at 7:00 PM, you won't need to leave for the airport until around 3:00-4:00.

If you could add a day, I'd do Epcot when you were originally going to do AK, then do AK on the last day before you head home.

 

[Irishlisa]

Can you add a day to your tickets and do a park on your last day? If your flight is at 7:00 PM, you won't need to leave for the airport until around 3:00-4:00.

If you could add a day, I'd do Epcot when you were originally going to do AK, then do AK on the last day before you head home.

I never thought about that. So would you keep my first day the way it is? And then do Epcot and MK the second day, and AK the last day?

 

[rapunzels]

Can you add a day to your tickets and do a park on your last day? If your flight is at 7:00 PM, you won't need to leave for the airport until around 3:00-4:00.

If you could add a day, I'd do Epcot when you were originally going to do AK, then do AK on the last day before you head home.

This is good advise. What time is your Boma breakfast? Hopefully early, rather than later, to actually have time to enjoy AK. Don't be concerned about 2 times at MK. With young children, you'll be moving more slowly, and will need those 2 evenings to get to see the most attractions.

 

[Quin]

Another way to tweak it would be:

Wed: arrive 9 am. Go to Blizzard Beach rather than your hotel pool. Then meet the rest of the family for that Raglan Road dinner. Heck, pack your swimsuits in a carry-on bag so you can just drop all your luggage at AKV (since room may not be ready yet anyhow), change at BB, then change back into your travel clothes for dinner. No need to waste travel time going back & forth to AKV since you have a relatively early dinner ADR.

Thurs: MK at rope drop (kids will like the pre-show and MK is the only park that has one any more). Do some of the headliner rides today so that you can spend your MSSHP time on the special party offerings. Park hop to Epcot for the later afternoon/evening; lots of activities there, as a prior poster explained. And lots of good dinner options too, both CS and TS.

Fri: I'd do AK at rope drop this morning, just for a few hours. Leave at lunchtime for naps and a dip in the pool before MNSSHP. To maximize your party time are you having your main meal at noon?

Sat: I'd try HS today at rope drop, starting with TSMM. The kids will certainly love the Muppets and may like a few of the other attractions. Back to AKV whenever you all run out of steam; then on to your adult date night.

Sun: I'd return to AK this morning after that wonderful, wonderful Boma breakfast. AK is a park best experienced slowly, to really allow the kids time to interact with the animals. I much prefer 2 half-days there to one full day.

This plan would mean you would need 4 day park tickets with hoppers (you were going to add the hopper option anyhow and once you add it, it's good for all your ticket days for the single price) and a 1 day water park admission, plus the separate MNSSHP ticket. It's probably cheaper to buy a single-day ticket than it would be to add the Water Park& More option to your base ticket, if you are sure you are only going to use 1 admit. If this is too costly, frankly I'd drop the water park ticket in favor of spending the additional time at the theme parks.

 

[Irishlisa]

This is good advise. What time is your Boma breakfast? Hopefully early, rather than later, to actually have time to enjoy AK. Don't be concerned about 2 times at MK. With young children, you'll be moving more slowly, and will need those 2 evenings to get to see the most attractions.

Boma is at 9am, do you think that's early enough?

 

[Cherinva]

Can you add a day to your tickets and do a park on your last day? If your flight is at 7:00 PM, you won't need to leave for the airport until around 3:00-4:00.

If you could add a day, I'd do Epcot when you were originally going to do AK, then do AK on the last day before you head home.

I like this plan....

 

[Irishlisa]

I like this plan....

Me too
I'm going to do it this way.

 

[Irishlisa]

Another way to tweak it would be:

Wed: arrive 9 am. Go to Blizzard Beach rather than your hotel pool. Then meet the rest of the family for that Raglan Road dinner. Heck, pack your swimsuits in a carry-on bag so you can just drop all your luggage at AKV (since room may not be ready yet anyhow), change at BB, then change back into your travel clothes for dinner. No need to waste travel time going back & forth to AKV since you have a relatively early dinner ADR.

Thurs: MK at rope drop (kids will like the pre-show and MK is the only park that has one any more). Do some of the headliner rides today so that you can spend your MSSHP time on the special party offerings. Park hop to Epcot for the later afternoon/evening; lots of activities there, as a prior poster explained. And lots of good dinner options too, both CS and TS.

Fri: I'd do AK at rope drop this morning, just for a few hours. Leave at lunchtime for naps and a dip in the pool before MNSSHP. To maximize your party time are you having your main meal at noon?

Sat: I'd try HS today at rope drop, starting with TSMM. The kids will certainly love the Muppets and may like a few of the other attractions. Back to AKV whenever you all run out of steam; then on to your adult date night.

Sun: I'd return to AK this morning after that wonderful, wonderful Boma breakfast. AK is a park best experienced slowly, to really allow the kids time to interact with the animals. I much prefer 2 half-days there to one full day.

This plan would mean you would need 4 day park tickets with hoppers (you were going to add the hopper option anyhow and once you add it, it's good for all your ticket days for the single price) and a 1 day water park admission, plus the separate MNSSHP ticket. It's probably cheaper to buy a single-day ticket than it would be to add the Water Park& More option to your base ticket, if you are sure you are only going to use 1 admit. If this is too costly, frankly I'd drop the water park ticket in favor of spending the additional time at the theme parks.

Interesting. I'm just not sure about Wed and Sat. We have a Polar Patio reserved for Saturday at BB but I could switch it to Wed. Thursday sounds like a great plan. Friday is a little too ambitious for me, lol. Especially if we don't use Wed at our resort pool, we'll want to do that Friday. We are planning a big lunch that day and a snack right before we leave for the party.

 

[Irishlisa]

So we came up with a compromise....we're going to attempt 3 parks in one day. I know it sounds crazy but we'll see. The plan is to utilize EMH at MK that morning so we'll get there at 8am and stay for the morning, head back to AKV for lunch and a break, then head to AK for the afternoon. My sister has suggested that we leave our 4 year old twins with her after we have dinner at our resort and head to Epcot for the evening with just our 8 and 6 year olds.
My thought process is that we don't have to go crazy at MK since we're heading there the next night for MNSSHP, and I really want to take advantage of EMH that morning. Also, if we only make it to Epcot that night for Illuminations, at least it's something different that we've never done before