Best route to tour AK

[rlovew]

It will be more crowded during the regular part of the day, except for the EMH and sometimes 1 or 2 around them I avoid the EMH park.

 

[rlovew]

Rlove, Thanks so much! I just scrapped my original plan and just typed my cards that I am going to laminate your way. I am nuts, I know. But I do have another question I was going to post on a new thread, but it sounds like you are the person to ask: I had the same dilema with MGM especially since there are so many shows there as well. I was going to take the boat from our resort, Get FP for Indiana Jones or just go, Lights, Motor Action, Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, Backlot Tour, Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, Voyage of the Little Mermain, Great Movie Ride, Beaty and the Beast, Tower of Terror. What is your strategy of dealing with all those shows with the least amount of wasted time backtracking? We are leaving in 2 weeks and will be there on Tues the 9th.

Tuesday the 9th is a great choice for MGM because it is the day after a EMH night at the same park. It should be less crowded, May tends to be anyway. I'll be in MGM on Sunday the 6th with my high schoolers. Below I have 2 possible touring plans- 1 assumes that you have someone willing to run the park for FPs. Both are for less crowded times of the year. The biggest thing to remember about MGM is that it is much smaller than any of the other parks.

Tour Plan 1(Utilizes a runner)
1. Send runner to get FP for ToT at rope drop. The rest of the family heads to Mermaid where they meet up with the runner.
2. Voage of Mermaid show 1 at 9:10am
3. Playhouse Disney 9:45 show (you will get out of Mermaid at 9:30 get right into the line.
4. Ride ToT.
5. Early lunch 11:00 on Hollywood Blvd
6. Beauty and Beast 11:30 show
7. Great Movie Ride (you shouldn't have more than a 20 minute wait)
8. Indiana Jones 1:15 show (if the park seems crowded send someone for FP for the show before you ride the Movie ride. You will get out of the show about 2.
9. Stop by Honey I shrunk the Kids Playground.
10. Head to the 2:45 show of Lights, Motor, Action. You should be getting over there about 2:25.
11. If you want more time at the playground go back now.
12. Ride the backlot tour.
You have completed what you want to do- I suggest taking the Animation tour and stopping at the end to learn how to draw a Disney character. Also the Naria exhibit is good if there isn't a long wait, a great place to spend some time out of the sun is Walt's One Man's Dream show.

Tour Plan 2
1. Great Movie Ride at rope drop- you should be on the first trip out.
2. Get FP for Mermaid (should be for the 10:10 show)
3. Playhouse Disney (9:45 show)
4. Little Mermaid
5. Get FP for LMA 11:50 show
6. Honey I shrunk playground while waiting
7. LMA (11:30-12:45)
8. Lunch at Studio Catering (ABC Commisary if not open) (12:45-1:30)
9. Backlot Tour
10. Indiana Jones (2:45 show)
11. FP for ToT
12. Beauty and the Beast (4:00) show
13. Ride ToT
You should be finished about 5pm and then be able to do anything else you would like.

 

[rlovew]

The entertainment link was great except I just realized that Extra Magic Hour is the day we were going. Should we not go that day? Does it make a difference how crowded it will be? Getting there by 7:45 is something I would rather not do either, and if we get there later, the lines will be long. Should we change days?

Based on what you have said about your week this is when I would do parks- I am going a few days on each side of your days that I know you would be in the park and avoiding EMH (the evening ones are not worth it in my opinion and you said you didn't want to rise for the morning ones. I alos am assuming you are not park hopping.)

Sunday May 7th- Animal Kingdom or EPCOT
Monday May 8th- Magic Kingdom (both Spectro and Wishes are playing this night and are well worth your time plus with the EMH on Sunday it will have less hotel guests)
Tuesday May 9th- MGM (again day after evening EMH) or Animal Kingdom would be okay
Wednesday May 10th- Animal Kingdom/EPCOT
Thursday May 11th- EPCOT/MGM

The first listed I think is better than the second but you know exactly which days you are going and what parks you need to see.

 

[3kidz4dis]

Tuesday the 9th is a great choice for MGM because it is the day after a EMH night at the same park. It should be less crowded, May tends to be anyway. I'll be in MGM on Sunday the 6th with my high schoolers. Below I have 2 possible touring plans- 1 assumes that you have someone willing to run the park for FPs. Both are for less crowded times of the year. The biggest thing to remember about MGM is that it is much smaller than any of the other parks.

Tour Plan 1(Utilizes a runner)
1. Send runner to get FP for ToT at rope drop. The rest of the family heads to Mermaid where they meet up with the runner.
2. Voage of Mermaid show 1 at 9:10am
3. Playhouse Disney 9:45 show (you will get out of Mermaid at 9:30 get right into the line.
4. Ride ToT.
5. Early lunch 11:00 on Hollywood Blvd
6. Beauty and Beast 11:30 show
7. Great Movie Ride (you shouldn't have more than a 20 minute wait)
8. Indiana Jones 1:15 show (if the park seems crowded send someone for FP for the show before you ride the Movie ride. You will get out of the show about 2.
9. Stop by Honey I shrunk the Kids Playground.
10. Head to the 2:45 show of Lights, Motor, Action. You should be getting over there about 2:25.
11. If you want more time at the playground go back now.
12. Ride the backlot tour.
You have completed what you want to do- I suggest taking the Animation tour and stopping at the end to learn how to draw a Disney character. Also the Naria exhibit is good if there isn't a long wait, a great place to spend some time out of the sun is Walt's One Man's Dream show.

Tour Plan 2
1. Great Movie Ride at rope drop- you should be on the first trip out.
2. Get FP for Mermaid (should be for the 10:10 show)
3. Playhouse Disney (9:45 show)
4. Little Mermaid
5. Get FP for LMA 11:50 show
6. Honey I shrunk playground while waiting
7. LMA (11:30-12:45)
8. Lunch at Studio Catering (ABC Commisary if not open) (12:45-1:30)
9. Backlot Tour
10. Indiana Jones (2:45 show)
11. FP for ToT
12. Beauty and the Beast (4:00) show
13. Ride ToT
You should be finished about 5pm and then be able to do anything else you would like.

Wow!! That is awesome thanks!! I like plan #1 because it is quicker although I am trying to figure out what is different about it. Everything is in both?

Now, are the times of the shows going to be accurate for when we get there on the 9th?

I am also having a dilema because we were supposed to go to Animal Kingdom on the 8th but didn't realize that it is Early Magic Hour on that day. We were then going to ADR at LeCellier at 5:30 and then were going to go to Epcot and then Illuminations. Then on the 9th we were going to go to MGM but have dinner reservations at Boma at 5:30, then we were going to Wishes at 9:00. (wishes was messed up on our MK day because of grad night). So, do you think I should keep the days as it is because of all the ADR's or switch Animal Kingdom and MGM? But then MGM has Early Magic Hours on the 9th So either way I have the Early Magic Hours on one. Sorry if this is confusing!

 

[3kidz4dis]

Based on what you have said about your week this is when I would do parks- I am going a few days on each side of your days that I know you would be in the park and avoiding EMH (the evening ones are not worth it in my opinion and you said you didn't want to rise for the morning ones. I alos am assuming you are not park hopping.)

Sunday May 7th- Animal Kingdom or EPCOT
Monday May 8th- Magic Kingdom (both Spectro and Wishes are playing this night and are well worth your time plus with the EMH on Sunday it will have less hotel guests)
Tuesday May 9th- MGM (again day after evening EMH) or Animal Kingdom would be okay
Wednesday May 10th- Animal Kingdom/EPCOT
Thursday May 11th- EPCOT/MGM

The first listed I think is better than the second but you know exactly which days you are going and what parks you need to see.

Sorry, I didn't see this posting until after I sent my latest one.
My ADR's makes things difficult to switch around. I actually do have park hopping. Here is what I have:

05/05 MK ADR for RT and dinner ADR at CP. The park closes early because of Grad night and so then we are going to Fantasmic.

05/06 ADR Mickeys Breakfast then stay at resort. Downtown Disney in PM

05/07 Maybe a Waterpark then Hoop Dee Doo

05/08 Animal Kingdom (which has Magic Hour I didn't know about) then we have ADR for Le Cellier at 5:30 then we were going to stay at Epcot and do Illuninations.

05/09 MGM then dinner at Boma at 5:30. Then have to go to Wishes since we missed that on 05/05.

I COULD SWITCH THE ABOVE TWO BUT THEN MGM HAS THE MAGIC HOUR. THE ONLY GOOD THING THOUGH IS WE HAVE BOMA THAT EVENING ALTHOUGH THAT SEEMS LIKE A LONG DAY ANYWAY AT AK.?

05/10 Maybe a waterpark if it wasn't done on the 7th. Then ADR for Park Fare at 5:30.

So there it is. A lot of switching parks I know but Wishes kind of messed us up. I have a feeling we are going to regret structuring ourselves so much with the ADR's. Thanks so much for all the help! I really do appreciate it!

 

[meresandwillsmom]

Hi, 3kidz4dis We are going that same week. However, the 8th is a Tues. We start on our Land/Sea Thurs the 11th. I'm getting my schedule ready too! This board is great!

 

[wild4dis]

Cant agree enough with what has been said about getting to EE early...just got back today after 9 days, including Easter.....EVERYBODY heads to EE right away..the standby queue was over 2 hours from mid morning on...we went from rope drop to get a FP and then stood in queue, rode and came back for FP .....its worth it...AWESOME ride !!

Note that during Easter/school break week....lots of the big rides (EE, TT, RNR) had sold out of FP by 3:00pm....even thought the parks were open for at least another 6 hrs

 

[rlovew]

Sorry, I didn't see this posting until after I sent my latest one.
My ADR's makes things difficult to switch around. I actually do have park hopping. Here is what I have:

05/05 MK ADR for RT and dinner ADR at CP. The park closes early because of Grad night and so then we are going to Fantasmic.

05/06 ADR Mickeys Breakfast then stay at resort. Downtown Disney in PM

05/07 Maybe a Waterpark then Hoop Dee Doo

05/08 Animal Kingdom (which has Magic Hour I didn't know about) then we have ADR for Le Cellier at 5:30 then we were going to stay at Epcot and do Illuninations.

05/09 MGM then dinner at Boma at 5:30. Then have to go to Wishes since we missed that on 05/05.

I COULD SWITCH THE ABOVE TWO BUT THEN MGM HAS THE MAGIC HOUR. THE ONLY GOOD THING THOUGH IS WE HAVE BOMA THAT EVENING ALTHOUGH THAT SEEMS LIKE A LONG DAY ANYWAY AT AK.?

05/10 Maybe a waterpark if it wasn't done on the 7th. Then ADR for Park Fare at 5:30.

So there it is. A lot of switching parks I know but Wishes kind of messed us up. I have a feeling we are going to regret structuring ourselves so much with the ADR's. Thanks so much for all the help! I really do appreciate it!

I would suggest switching AK and MGM, if you are leaving MGM for EPCOT by 4:45-5 to make your dinner reservation(I would suggest the boat although it is a 20 minutes ride you go in right near Canada) then the evening EMH will make the park less crowded until midday. The easiest way to get to Boma's is being at the AK and the AKL has lots of things to do (a great playground and the Safari area for viewing while waiting for dinner.

 

[3kidz4dis]

Tour Plan 1(Utilizes a runner)
1. Send runner to get FP for ToT at rope drop. The rest of the family heads to Mermaid where they meet up with the runner.
2. Voage of Mermaid show 1 at 9:10am



I have a question about this one: What if there is not any FP given out because it is right when the park opens? Should we just ride and then if that happens do YOM later? or are you able to get a FP even if there is not a long wait at the Stand by line?

 

[3kidz4dis]

I would suggest switching AK and MGM, if you are leaving MGM for EPCOT by 4:45-5 to make your dinner reservation(I would suggest the boat although it is a 20 minutes ride you go in right near Canada) then the evening EMH will make the park less crowded until midday. The easiest way to get to Boma's is being at the AK and the AKL has lots of things to do (a great playground and the Safari area for viewing while waiting for dinner.

Oh, so MGM on the 8th is just a Magic Hour in the evening, not AM? So, you are saying the on the 8th, do MGM which is opens at 9:00 (but has a Magic Hour in the PM) then go directly to Epcot from there,
then on the 9th, do AK then Boma. Although I doubt that we will be at AK until dinner. So with a car and going back to Boardwalk and then back to Boma you think will still be okay?

 

[rlovew]

Oh, so MGM on the 8th is just a Magic Hour in the evening, not AM? So, you are saying the on the 8th, do MGM which is opens at 9:00 (but has a Magic Hour in the PM) then go directly to Epcot from there,
then on the 9th, do AK then Boma. Although I doubt that we will be at AK until dinner. So with a car and going back to Boardwalk and then back to Boma you think will still be okay?

Right go to Epcot from MGM and depending on schedule you follow (the first one requires 1 person to run out of their way for FP) you should be done about the right time to check in for dinner but since you are at the BW if you are done early you can get off the boat and then get on again before dinner if you want a break. MGM will start getting pretty crowded between 4 and 5 but you will be finishing up your day then.

On AK day- If you have a car and are going back to BW just plan on about 20 minutes travel time each way.

 

[3kidz4dis]

Right go to Epcot from MGM and depending on schedule you follow (the first one requires 1 person to run out of their way for FP) you should be done about the right time to check in for dinner but since you are at the BW if you are done early you can get off the boat and then get on again before dinner if you want a break. MGM will start getting pretty crowded between 4 and 5 but you will be finishing up your day then.

On AK day- If you have a car and are going back to BW just plan on about 20 minutes travel time each way.

Thanks so much! I really do appreciate it! Now, the fun part, I have all my laminated cards to change around and my Excel spreadsheet for the week So I am going off of what you said!!

Now I want to make sure I understand you are saying to switch the days to avoid Magic Early Hour on the Animal Kingdom day plus MGM will flow better into going to LeCellier and Epcot. But the negative of changing the schedule is that I could possibly have to take the car right to AK twice in one day because of Boma if we don't make it through the day. You mentioned though tha if we stayed to the original schedule that MGM on the 9th would be a slow day because of ELH the night before. So I would be giving all that up too by switching. So, should I still do the switch?

 

[rlovew]

Thanks so much! I really do appreciate it! Now, the fun part, I have all my laminated cards to change around and my Excel spreadsheet for the week So I am going off of what you said!!

Now I want to make sure I understand you are saying to switch the days to avoid Magic Early Hour on the Animal Kingdom day plus MGM will flow better into going to LeCellier and Epcot. But the negative of changing the schedule is that I could possibly have to take the car right to AK twice in one day because of Boma if we don't make it through the day. You mentioned though tha if we stayed to the original schedule that MGM on the 9th would be a slow day because of ELH the night before. So I would be giving all that up too by switching. So, should I still do the switch?

I would switch unless you plan to get there at rope drop for the EMH, the morning EMH tends to make the park more crowded druing the day. The evening EMH normally means the park will be less crowded until midafternoon at which time it will begin to get very crowded. At the same point this time of year is still a lot less crowded than the summer and Christmas.

 

[3kidz4dis]

I would switch unless you plan to get there at rope drop for the EMH, the morning EMH tends to make the park more crowded druing the day. The evening EMH normally means the park will be less crowded until midafternoon at which time it will begin to get very crowded. At the same point this time of year is still a lot less crowded than the summer and Christmas.

Okay, thats what we are going to do! Switch it and avoid getting up earlier too! thanks again SO MUCH for all your help! You are awesome!

 

[QueenT]

We didn't run itno anything running out in October but I bet FP for EE is gone at least as early as Soarin', the next few months should begin to give the picture.

Queen T- you could go do Dinoland instead of Kali and do Kali later in the day- they may even havbe a Flights show later in the day to catch. When we got FP first thing in the morning the wait was about 1 hour for EE (the first FP started at 1 hour into park time.) When we got there at 11:30 we got FP for 2:30 but that was before it officially opened.

Thanks rlovew & cannot wait 4disney for your help! I think I am looking forward to visiting AK the most, so I want to have a decent touring plan to both minimize waits & backtracking. I will likely have my mother and father-in-law in tow, plus 18month old grand daughter, & teens, makes touring a little complex!