Deciding which parks to do which day

[sara1215]

This may be overkill, but I actually check out four different crowd calendars! I start with Touring Plans and come up with a tentative schedule of which park which days. Then I create a little chart. List the days I'll be there down the left side, along with tentative parks. Then across the top I have columns for Touring Plans, EasyWDW, Kenny the Pirate, and Undercover Tourist (all have their own crowd calendars). I go through and put the numbers in for Touring Plans and then have a +, -, X (positive, neutral, negative) for each of the others. Gives me a quick glance at the consensus for each park. If they really disagree with Touring Plans, I'll adjust.

Then I do the ADRs based on that, followed by FPs. All seems to fall into place pretty well!

One exception is that arrival day is ALWAYS Magic Kingdom! We arrive late morning and HAVE to spend a few hours there to kick things off!

Good solid advice. I will have to look more closely at the crowd calendars, I guess!

 

[rwdavis2]

Usually Easywdw. We would almost never allow ADRs to dictate which parks on which days. We have been spoiled by a multitude of excellent restaurants here in the Baltimore to DC area so we don't hold WDW dining in as high regard as some people do.

 

[amandals2007]

I check crowd calendars at touringplans.com and easywdw.com and try to pick the least crowded park

i do the same thing normally but we go in sept so it hardly matters for us. but when i book a trip for people (dad is a TA so i help) we use those sites to help. if EMH are in the evening, we pick the least crowded park and we book our FP for that park, then we hop to the next park normally around 3, and make our dinner ressie there and enjoy EMH.

for morning EMH we go there first, then hop to another park and use our FP there. sometimes we make our ressie there sometimes we hop to a 3rd park. just depends. we go for 11 days so we have lots of flexibility

 

[Shmily01]

I use easywdw.com as well. It has never steered me wrong. After I pick my parks, then I pick my ADR's.

 

[goodeats]

You can use the crowd calendars, but generally, avoid Mondays and Saturdays at MK. Also avoid any morning EMH park unless you are planning to get there at rope drop for EMH. Even then I'd park hop after doing what I wanted. Evening EMH seem to have less of an effect, but still if I were an offsite visitor I would avoid the evening EMH park.

 

[KathyNY76]

My kids are younger and I'm not sure it would be interesting to them, based on what I've heard from others. I'm not totally ruling it out yet, because there are some good characters there. We aren't getting park hoppers, though. But it might be a good option for the last half day before we fly home.

My kids were 7 and barely 4 last year and they loved the rides at Epcot. Soarin' was the 4 year olds favorite, and Test Track the 7 year olds favorite. Spaceship Earth is a classic and a smooth, easy ride. Figment and Nemo are great kid rides, Turtle Talk with Crush was cool, and they both enjoyed Living with the Land even though it's not a "fun" ride. Add in the Chip & Dale and Mickey/Minnie/Goofy M&G and a yummy lunch at Sunshine Seasons - we found it a great morning for kids that age! (Didn't have time for World Showcase that trip).

And I agree on the easywdw recs!

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

The park with early entry is the park we are always going to. If there is no early entry for any parks one day we will do a park that we aren't doing early entry at the day before or after. If you would stay offsite, I'd avoid the park that has early entry.