Arriving 8/9 for 1st time how does this schedule sound?

[KHoagB]

Hello...I am new to this and we are departing for WDW this Saturday. I am traveling with my DH and 5yr DD. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Family Suites. We are renting and car and have already purchased 5 Day Park-Hopper passes. The "schedule" I have in mind for visiting the parks is below and I am hoping those of you who have done this a lot can give me your feedback.

Sat.-check in/ spend day at hotel pool
Sun. AK
Mon. EPCOT
Tues. Go to beach or waterpark or hang out at hotel
Wed. MGM
Thurs. Go to beach or waterpark or hang out at hotel
Fri. MK
Sat. MK (We have PS for dinner w. Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare this day)
Sun Fly home

My thinking is the days "off" from Disney will give DD a chance to sleep in a relax doing other things which will hopefully enable us to spend the entire day at the parks. I have avoided all parks on EE days and taken in to account some of the info I have read about the best days from guidebooks and posts, but since that info is often conflicting any advice on the schedule and any other tips you have will be much appreciated. Thanks for you help!

 

[tjkraz]

I would move MK from Friday and Saturday (VERY busy days) to earlier in the week.

Realizing that you are staying off-site, I would still encourage you to consider a bit more variety in your schedule. Take advantage of the "HOPPER" in those PH passes. You can use WDW transportation to easily get between parks, with the possible exception of AK. Don't be afraid to go to the Magic Kingdom in the morning, and then take the monorail over to EPCOT. There's a boat that runs between EPCOT and MGM, or you can even walk that route in about 20-30 minutes.

I like to get to each of the parks within the first half of our trip, and then revisit those parks/attractions that were missed the first time around. Don't wait until the last two days of your trip to visit the Magic Kingdom--or any other park for that matter.

Here's what I would personally do with 5 hopper days (not necessarily in this order):

1 Day MK
1 Day AK (hard go get to, not a whole lot to see. Get it over in a single day and you probably won't find a need to go back again this trip. AK does close early, so consider Hopping to another park later--maybe MGM for Fantasmic)
1 Day EPCOT/MGM Split (EPCOT is a full day for some, but not for me. Start out at MGM in the morning and take the boat to EPCOT later in the day to stay through Illuminations)

That leaves you 2 "flex" days on your pass to hop around and catch the things you missed or want to do again.

Lastly, I noticed that you have waterparks listed as a possible attraction visit on your off-days. If you did not purchase the Park Hopper PLUS tickets, but are considering visiting the Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon, you might want to inquire about upgrading your pass to the Hopper Plus when you arrive. WDW will upgrade passes for you, crediting you with the original purchase prices of the tickets you are holding. This will likely be more economical than buying single-day admissions to the water parks.

Good luck.

 

[pstepka]

We were at HIFS three years ago and while we LOVED IT, we could not spend an entire day there. My plans originally included at least one full day at the hotel, but after getting there, we realized we could NOT spend an entire day at the pool/in the room so we upgraded our hopper passes. At the time our kids were pretty young so we did not want to go OUT for dinner, which probably would have killed another few hours. If you're planning on doing other things away from the hotel those days, I'm sure you'll be fine. Just don't set your hopes on two full days at HIFS. It's a terrific place...but it's just a hotel with a pool, not a resort with other things to do (altough I think there is miniature golf, but how long can it take to play a game of that!!)

Hope this helps!
Pam

 

[Jackie H.]

I agree that MK on Saturday may be a mistake. It is usually very crowded on Saturdays. There may be a night parade at MK that you want to see - and it may only run on Saturday (Disney does that sometimes). If that is the case, I recommend doing another park and coming over to MK just for the parade. If there is nothing drawing you to MK on that particular day, I would avoid MK on Saturday.

In general I try to do this: avoid a park on it's busiest days and it early entry day (this draws crowds to that park). Since you are staying offsite, you really should avoid the EE park. Either this site or Deb Willis' site says these are each parks busiest days:
MK-M, Th & Sat; EPCOT- T & F; MGM - Sun & Wed; AK- M, T & W.
Check on this site: www.wdwinfo.com for which park is early entry. BUT! If the crowds are not great at this time of year, the only park that will matter is MK. It is busy on Saturdays no matter the time of year.


I also agree that one park in the morning and another at night helps break things up. My family enjoys doing this.

 

[Suedrews]

This will be a very exciting trip for you & your family....I want to throw my 2 cents in & tell you that you will want to immediately go to MK with a 5 year old daughter....no way will she be willing to wait until the end of the week to see all those princesses! Have a great time!

 

[Slartibartfast]

What a coincidence. WE are going to be there the same days as you (only a slighlty shorter stay) at the CYM. Here's our itinerary (subject to change by acts of God or preschooler meltdowns):

Sat : Arrive / hotel
Sun: AK - dinner at Chef Mickey's early bedtime.
Mon: EPCOT (PSB at 8:30) - FW only. MK evening Stay till after close.
Tues: DD and Waterpark - Cape may for dinner. Early bedtime.
Wed - MK moring & afternoon. Broken up by WCC for lunch. Stay till after close.
Thur: Sleep in, EPCOT WS, Birthday dinner at LeCellier, Illuminations.

We also have a 5-day PHP but can only go to parks Sun-Thur. The kids just were'nt interested in MGM, and I'm thankful because that means we can spend more time in the other parks.

I'll try to wear lime green, maybe we'll run into each other. Look for the caucasion couple with hyperactive asian kids (with deep southern drawls).

 

[laurie31]

To add another idea to do on your non-park days, you may want to go "hang out" at Downtown Disney. Let your dh watch your dd play with the legos while you shop (that's MY plan anyway

Or your dd may enjoy picking out a special Christams ornament from the shop there or something from the huge Disney store. There are also interactive fountains, I believe

Last time we went, we stayed off site. We always ended up at Epcot in the evening because it was open later. We parked at Epcot in the morning, then went to whatever other park we wanted via Disney transportation. Then at night when we left Epcot, our car was there waiting

Have fun!

Laurie

 

[susy]

I have a 5yo and I live in FL. It is WAY TOO HOT to stay at the parks all day. You will be miserable. It is 6:30 pm here and still boiling out.

I would also move MK to earlier in the week. Do Epcot on the Saturday.

I would get to the parks VERY early and leave after lunch for a swim/nap (very easy if you have a car). Then go back to the park of your choice at night.