Best Strategy for Epcot in the Fall

[DisneyStarWisher]

My DH and I are toying with the idea of adding a few days at WDW onto an existing trip this fall. We would be there for three days (Sept. 30-Oct. 2). The plan is to do Disney Springs on Friday (since we will be arriving around lunch) and then get 2-day PHs to go into all four parks on Saturday and Sunday (2 each day). I know Epcot's birthday is on Saturday, so I'm thinking it would be best to avoid it due to crowds, especially since Food & Wine will be going on. So I'm thinking it would be best to do Epcot on Sunday. Are Sunday nights crazy during Food & Wine? We would like to do AK that morning and Epcot that night (or we can switch them to avoid crowds doing Epcot that morning and AK that night). Another issue we have though is MK on Saturday night. Will that be a Boo Bash date? If so and we don't attend, will we miss the 50th fireworks? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me for planning this whirlwind trip.

 

[Her Dotness]

The entire day on weekends during FWF festival can be insane.

Maybe not so much when you're planning to go. I dunno, as we've typically been there in November for the last week of it which may draw more crowds.

Something else to consider about weekend FWF nights is how much drunken behavior bothers you. It can get really icky at night, especially on weekends.

 

[Eastern]

I would avoid WS on Friday nights and Saturday, maybe Sunday as well. Gridlock awaits you.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like I need to maybe do Epcot on Sunday morning/early afternoon. I can then hop over to AK at 2:00. The last time we did Epcot was Black Friday 2019, and it was miserable. We are looking for a pleasant Epcot experience more than longer hours at AK, so that will work. We really don't have a desire to see Harmonius either. What about MK on Saturday night? That is the fireworks show I want to see. Also if they don't do a Boo Bash that night (which I'm now seeing was on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays so they probably won't have one that night), will it still be horribly crowded due to it being it's 51st birthday? Not sure which will be worse: Epcot's 50th or MK's 51st.

 

[Kazi7]

Some thoughts: If you want to ride Guardians at Epcot, and IF you can only ride with a Boarding Group (we'll see), then you would need to have a park reservation at Epcot for one of the days. I would think the APR's for Epcot could fill for that weekend? I don't think I'd want to be anywhere near Epcot on Oct 1, but you may feel differently. Hopping to AK gives you less time there since it typically closes earlier. Is 2pm-7pm enough time for you to accomplish all you want at AK? I have had good success hopping to HS with Genie+, but who knows what the status of that will be in Oct.

 

[Kazi7]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like I need to maybe do Epcot on Sunday morning/early afternoon. I can then hop over to AK at 2:00. The last time we did Epcot was Black Friday 2019, and it was miserable. We are looking for a pleasant Epcot experience more than longer hours at AK, so that will work. We really don't have a desire to see Harmonius either. What about MK on Saturday night? That is the fireworks show I want to see.

Honestly I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I don't think Sunday Oct 2 will be a "pleasant" experience at Epcot. I could be wrong. I guess if you are hopping to AK at 2, then you won't be in Epcot for too long. We were there on Sat Feb 5th (temps in the 50's-60's) and it was very crowded at all the food booths right at 11am. Also, I think you need to allow at least an hour to walk to the front of Epcot and get over to AK.

 

[Her Dotness]

Also, I think you need to allow at least an hour to walk to the front of Epcot and get over to AK.

Not really, because the OP could exit Epcot at the International Gateway off World Showcase and then hop a bus to AK from Beach Club.

Beach Club is really close to the IG, about a 5-minute walk (for those reading this who aren't familiar with World Showcase).

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Some thoughts: If you want to ride Guardians at Epcot, and IF you can only ride with a Boarding Group (we'll see), then you would need to have a park reservation at Epcot for one of the days. I would think the APR's for Epcot could fill for that weekend? I don't think I'd want to be anywhere near Epcot on Oct 1, but you may feel differently. Hopping to AK gives you less time there since it typically closes earlier. Is 2pm-7pm enough time for you to accomplish all you want at AK? I have had good success hopping to HS with Genie+, but who knows what the status of that will be in Oct.

I guess it would help to tell what we would like to do. We have no desire to ride Guardians at Epcot. Here are our musts:
Epcot: Remy, strolling around WS and eating at the food kiosks, maybe Soarin'
AK: FoP, Safari, eating at Yak and Yeti (5 hours would be more than enough! Plus we have the Landry's card so we could plan to do Y&Y close to closing to extend our time, if needed.)
DHS: RotR, MMRR, TSM, SDD
MK: HM, PoC, 7DMT, BTMRR, Splash, JC
I'm worried about hopping to DHS because there are fewer rides we want that utilize G+. Aren't most ILLs?

Honestly I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I don't think Sunday Oct 2 will be a "pleasant" experience at Epcot. I could be wrong. I guess if you are hopping to AK at 2, then you won't be in Epcot for too long. We were there on Sat Feb 5th (temps in the 50's-60's) and it was very crowded at all the food booths right at 11am. Also, I think you need to allow at least an hour to walk to the front of Epcot and get over to AK.

I would actually prefer to do Epcot in the morning. We've always had luck hitting the food kiosks right at 11:00. I'm wondering if the fact that it will be the day after its birthday will help with the crowds.

Not really, because the OP could exit Epcot at the International Gateway off World Showcase and then hop a bus to AK from Beach Club.

Beach Club is really close to the IG, about a 5-minute walk (for those reading this who aren't familiar with World Showcase).

Yes, we would do exactly that, especially since almost all of what we want to do is in WS.

 

[Kazi7]

All of the rides at HS are available on G+ except Rise which is ILL$

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

All of the rides at HS are available on G+ except Rise which is ILL$

Thanks, I didn't realize that. I was planning on doing RD at DHS and starting at RotR and then quickly getting in line for MMRR with a SDD G+ in hand. I guess now the decision is do you try to get a MMRR or a SDD G+ at 7:00 a.m.? But that's a topic for another thread.

What I need to know at this point is whether to plan on Epcot for Friday morning or a Sunday morning. I can possibly be at Epcot by the time they open Friday. Do you think one would be less busy than the other? The day before its birthday or the day after?

ETA: I just rearranged some things and will be able to go to Epcot on Thursday. We will probably get there as soon as Remy opens and hit the food booths for lunch. I hope this will be a much more pleasant day crowd-wise than the Friday or Sunday.