Arrival day plan. Please help.

[wdwobsessed]

Hey guys.

It's been a few years since I have been to WDW so I guess I'm second guessing myself a bit.

This is a girls only trip and we arrive in Orlando on Wednesday Dec 16th around 9:00 so I figure we should hit "The World" by 11:00 - 12:00 or so.

We are going to want to hit a park that day since it's a shortish trip.

That day is MK EMH 10-12 and AK EMH 8-9

I had thought about avoiding EMH parks all together and hitting Epcot.

Then I thought about hitting Epcot then coming back, checking in, having dinner & heading over to MK for wishes and EMH.

The last choice was maybe having a nice leisurely lunch then heading over to AK since crowds should be dying down after lunch since everyone was there so early. Then heading to MK for wishes and EMH.

I do want to maximize the day as we only have 4 days.

What would you do?

 

[loves to dive]

AK slows down in the afternoons but I've never been there in the winter to know if that's true then. I usually decide depending upon what is closest to where I'm staying. Usually I check in and either head to MK or Epcot since I tend to stay in the resorts that are at the Epcot IG. I love the MK late night EMH, we often knock out every ride we are interested in on those nights then we can go back and shop and just walk around for a few hours later and not worry about lines for rides.

 

[GillianP1301]

I like the EP in the afternoon and MK at night plan, with a nice dinner in the middle. This is assuming the group you are travelling with are okay with late night touring. If not, then I would probably just opt for MK in the afternoon/early evening with some down time at the resort before bed.

 

[Dynamite626]

I would do the Epcot, MK plan.

 

[GWhitten98]

I agree with the Epcot/MK plan.

 

[angierae]

I agree. MK night EMH is a godsend for those of us who can stay up late.

 

[Quellman]

I'm a fan of the Animal Kingdom plan with this caveat: If you think the park is a half day park. This way you aren't having to trek back out there for another half day. You could instead half day Hollywood Studios/EPCOT or HS/MK again. My doing Animal Kingdom the first day you could FP+ the attractions for the afternoon, see the animals, and then bounce out of there to Magic Kingdom and see what 4th FP+ you could snag.

 

[mickey0624]

We sometimes hit Disney Quest the first day. It's good for a few hours and the kids love it!!

 

[LaurenT]

I would close down AK and then head to MK.

 

[sharonabe]

I agree with LaurenT. Six hours at AK would probably be enough to do most, if not all of it. Plan a dinner there at AK or AKL or somewhere close to MK and then head to MK for the night time entertainment. Just remember, you will be up early, early for that flight that gets you there at 9 a.m., so you may hit a wall somewhere in there.

 

[wdwobsessed]

Thanks for all the great input. They are in the park all day kind of people. I am not. Lol.

I always seem to hit AK towards the end of my trip so I thought I'd switch it up this time.

My main question would be ... what time do you think crowds would start to thin out at AK?

Epcot is so huge I almost rather commando that all in one day than arriving late and having to split it up.

 

[wdwobsessed]

Update:

So based on the fact that wishes is only playing 2 nights we are there I'm definitely doing either EP/MK or AK/MK.

I don't know why I'm being so indecisive with the park to hit first.

 

[caroline1851]

Our last trip was similar. 4 days and we arrived at airport at 9am. We went to our room since it was ready, had our groceries delivered and were able to be at AK by 11am. We rode Dinosaur stand by, Single rider line for EE, then had FP+ for Safari, Kali and Dinosaur again. If it weren't a weekend for arrival time during STar Wars weekends, I would've opted to go to DHS instead as we were doing a short day because of getting up so early and there's only a few things to do at DHS. I wish we spent a longer day at AK.

 

[jmkjr72]

When we have been in January we never really noticed ak die down as it has only been open to 5. I personally wouldn't wait for crowds to die down otherwise you may have no time in the park 7 you go to ak.
We did mk on n our arrival day this last trip got there like 2 pm and didn't even come close to lasting through the emh