dilemma for a large group, please help

[mjc2003]

I'll try to keep it simple.

I have 3 ADR's this weekend for 10-12 people. Friday Sanaa (staying at Kidani), Saturday San Angel (sisters request, her favorite), Sunday Ohana (daughters bday dinner).

Nobody outside my 4 have hoppers or AP's, so no hopping.

Logic would dictate going to AK on Friday, Epcot on Saturday, MK on Sunday. But all the research says AVOID AK on Friday (go Saturday instead), AVOID Epcot on Saturday (go to AK instead).....but at least MK on Sunday should be ok (no extra hours, no parade, no wishes).

Also furthering the confusion is they would like to see wishes and illuminations at least once.

My sister is suggesting we go to MK Thursday night just for a few hours & wishes (no problem, no ADR), then Epcot on Friday and just try to walk-in at San Angel, and then go AK saturday and eat wherever and then back to MK Sunday for rides. This means, no Sanaa....boooo......I wanted to try it....and also means walking in at San Angel with 11 people, yikes.

Is Epcot on Saturday going to be a nightmare (Last weekend of F&W and a holiday Saturday)? Would you just stick with what works for the ADR's, or not build the entire day around the ADR? Would Epcot on Friday be much different than Saturday? On a relatively busy holiday weekend like this do you just do whatever b/c no park is going to be much less crowded?

Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[Pakey]

Friday and Saturday crowd level predictions at Epcot are about the same. Both days are going to be extremely crowded. Friday early in the day would be the best time to go.

Saturday at AK is expected to be a little less crowded than Friday but not by much.

We were there a week ago and I'd avoid Epcot on a weekend. I don't like crowds like that but that's just me. On top of that, SAI is certainly not good enough food to justify going to that park just to eat. I'd rather eat counter service at a less crowded park.

 

[Kidanifan08]

Honestly, I like your original plan. My iPhone UT app has the following for F, Sa, Su:

AK - yellow, green yellow
MK - green, green, yellow
Ep - RED, green, green

AK never seems very busy to me, but we don't try to get on EE or Kali since our son is only 5. We went to Sanaa for the first time last month and it was FANTASTIC! It is probably my favorite WDW restaurant at this point and I can't wait to go back. Warning: this is not a good restaurant for picky eaters, although the Tandoori chicken was pretty mild.

I agree with Pakey, SAI is not worth working to hard to get to. We were there as a group of 7 last December for lunch at 2PM. They completely screwed up the service and we were there for over 90 minutes. They ended up paying for the meal, but it was quite frustrating to lose the time. The food is good, though.

If you get to the parks early, you can get a fair amount done before the crowds get too bad.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[thepops]

Depending on how much of wishes you want to see (fireworks vs. castle), we stayed outside the MK right under the monorail on July 4th and watched the fireworks from there. You could see the castle as well but you're pretty far back. It also made for an easy walk to the resort busses before the crowds got there.

 

[get_us_to_WDW]

I would stick with your original plan, my reason is Sat is expected to have VERY HIGH CROWDS - all the parks will be mobbed - and Epcot seems to be the park that can best absorb crowds. Sunday should be much lower crowds and I like to do MK on the lowest crowd level day. That leaves Fri for AK by default - which agrees with your original plan!

 

[thepops]

Also you can watch Wishes from the beach at the Poly. They pipe the music in over there also.

 

[mjc2003]

Also you can watch Wishes from the beach at the Poly. They pipe the music in over there also.

Unfortunately no Wishes on Sunday, but we can get that done tomorrow. MK hours on Sunday are only 9-7, but Saturday they are 8-3am (extra hours) so I guess thats why Sunday would be quieter.

 

[mjc2003]

I would stick with your original plan, my reason is Sat is expected to have VERY HIGH CROWDS - all the parks will be mobbed - and Epcot seems to be the park that can best absorb crowds. Sunday should be much lower crowds and I like to do MK on the lowest crowd level day. That leaves Fri for AK by default - which agrees with your original plan!

Thank you all for reassuring me, I think we will stick with the original plan.

My only thought about San Angel is, with a group of this size ANY ADR is better than having nothing. If we swapped days, we'd lose both ADR's for Friday and Saturday and end up bogged down trying to fit everybody in somewhere for dinner (and probably waiting an hour or more).




Thanks all, fingers crossed!