Calling all planners! Touring advice needed.

[RainbowGirl]

Help me plan my week Apr 22-29, 2007

We are touring newbies. The last trip any of us had was in the early 80's just when Epcot was opening so we have no idea what exactly we're in for here!

We have our arrival day and departure day + 6 full days in between. We are driving down and will have a car. We have Park Hoppers, are doing the DP and are staying at the Poly. We are planning on 2 days at MK, 2 days at EP, part of a day at MGM and a day at AK. We would also like some time at Downtown Disney and possibly having a look at some of the other resorts onsite. We are morning people and morning EMH are possible for us. Evening EMHs will likely not be in the cards for us. I’ve got the UG plus I check their website to see what they recommend. Grad night is on the 27th (Fri) and 28th (Sat) of that week so MK will close early.

Originally I had us doing all EMH and our week was as follows:
Sun - arrival probably mid afternoon - dinner at CM - maybe check out a parade or fireworks at MK
Mon – AK (EMH)
Tues – EP (EMH)
Wed – MK
Thurs – MK (EMH)
Fri – EP
Sat – MGM (EMH)

According to the UG the best parks are:
Mon – MK
Tues – MK
Wed – MGM
Thurs – EP
Fri – AK
Sat – EP

Do I follow the EHM strategy at this time of year or the UG’s recommendations? When's the best time to try and check out DD and other resorts? 5 of our 7 ADR's are at Epcot restaurants (poor planning I'm sure but that's what appealed!) - will we regret this? I would love to hear from anyone with experienced advice.

Thanks in advance to anyone with some advice for me.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Well, I do not recommend going to the parks on the day they host Extra Magic hours. The parks get very very crowded, especially on the weekends. I would never do MK on a Sunday if you expect to do a lot. This is what I would recommend:
Epcot on Weekends- this park is so big that no matter how crowded it gets, it won't be too bad
MK- Monday or Wednesday (which you already have. It can get busy on a Monday, but not as bad as the weekend)
AK- Friday
MGM- Tuesday or Wednesday
Most disers think the UG has very good predictions and I agree. They are usually right and If I could give you advice, it would be to go on the days they recommend.
I would also recommend going to DD on weekday nights, not Fri, Sat or Sun. Thats when most people go to pleasure Island. If you can go on a weekday morning. When the parks close at night, a lot of people go to DD. Go to the resorts anytime you have available.
Also, if you scheduled a lot of meals at Epcot, you will spend a lot of time traveling to epcot just for your meals. Try to schedule meals in the park you'll be in that day or try the resorts for some great restaurants. I hope this helps.

 

[RainbowGirl]

Thanks mickeysgirl17! Lots of good advice. Much appreciated.

 

[southernbohemian]

Since you have park hoppers, why not do the EMH parks for a few hours, then hop over to the UG parks?

 

[Redbudlover]

Hey Southernbohemian,

Welcome to the Disboards! You are the first other Austin area person I have seen on here! Glad to see you here. cute baby!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Your very welcome. I've done a lot of planning.

 

[fAnnF]

I do EMH parks and for the most part they are fine, the only EMH(e) that I don't go to is Epcot just too busy and not enough open for me. I don't like TGM so I'm a little biased. I also park hop and do a park in the morning and then one in the evening. If you find that EMH is too busy for you, you can change plans, evenings normally start to really thin out about 1.5 hours after park closing.

 

[RainbowGirl]

Thanks everyone.

I'm still a bit on the fence. The rest of the family who do not do any research into this want to do EMH since we're onsite. DH says...how many are staying onsite and up early??? We might as well be at the morning EMH parks. I've heard that at least AK is good to do EMH and to hit the safari first while the animals are out early. May do that on the Monday and then avoid the EMH schedule otherwise. There is always the 'hop' available to us. Just figured a lot of hopping was going to exhaust all of us even more. I know it'll help us with our dining needs. I wish the Poly restaurants appealed to us since we're staying there but the menus are just not for us. If I'm hopping and changing plans I doubt my ADR's are going to be in a convenient place anyways. At least with them being mostly Epcot I don't have to do too much second guessing on coordination! Where do you dine on your AK days? That's the only day I don't have booked yet. I'm avoiding Boma (as well as Kona & O'Hana) because I see too many nut items on the menu which cuts down the selection for me and my kids.

Right now (factoring in the Fri/Sat MK grad nights) I'm considering
mon -AK
Tues - MK
Wed - MK
Thurs - EP
Fri - MGM (not a lot appeals here -should be done in 1/2 day)
Sat - EP

Any crowd issues I'm not considering with this schedule? I think despite all the planning I do we'll end up going where the tide takes us sometimes! I have no idea which day we'll hit 'the touring wall' so we'll end up with Plan B or C....or X anyways!!! The kids are used to 1 day at an amusement park...not 6 or 8 in a row! Breaks? What are those? I've got things to see, ride & buy people! Now I know why people go for 10 days or more. As it is, FIL with his tendency to go stir-crazy can't fathom how we'll keep busy in one place for 8 days. I laugh at the idea that he perceives he'll get bored or have nothing to do. I said, leave it up to me. You won't know what hit you... LOL! Despite all of this...hand to heart... I pledge to be a good mom and give the family a time out even if it's not in the "plan".

Thanks again! Time to give my Type A planning self a lunch break before my head explodes analyzing too many things