Epcot morning EMH, 1 day hopper, short trip advice

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

We are returning October 19-21, quick trip for MNSSHP Tuesday night.
We are staying at the Poly, we usually stay off site, so I feel like I should take advantage of this and try to squeeze in as much as I can without overloading.
My question is, if we head to Epcot for the morning EMH Tuesday morning, what will the waits be like for Soarin and TT? I was "thinking" this:
Epcot emh: ride Soarin/TT if time Nemo
Bus to HS:FP rides-ST,TSMM, possibly ToT (if my son is still pushing riding this, but he'll be 3, so his courage is iffy )
Head back to Poly after a quick lunch, relax until MNSSHP, arriving either at 3 for parade, or 5ish depending on what my son does for napping.
We were just there, so TT not a must do, but we didn't get to ride Soarin.
Also TSMM not a must do.
I'd like to be back to relax around 1ish.

Monday night I figured we'd go to TE for dinner and watch Wishes from Poly.
Wednesday we fly out at 5, but since we have to leave 3 hrs prior to, not much time that day for anything. Figured we'd rent the little boats or ride monorail around to resorts for fun.

We could do 2 day tix instead, and do something Monday night, HS maybe? I just can't figure out what is the best plan, and I don't want to ruin MNSSHP, hoping son can stay up for 2nd parade!

Any advice or thoughts?

Edit to add it'll be just me, DS3 and DD20 this trip

 

[kwdw]

All that in one day with a 3 yo? Will he sleep in a stroller?

So - as a solo adult not carrying a bag - I could do your plan. But I'm not sure there would be alot of downtime between HS and the party. More importantly - unless I had an annual pass for the year - I'm not sure I would want to PAY for it. One day ticket with hopper and the cost of the party ticket all for one day? Pricey day, IMO.

Not sure of your arrival and departure times - but maybe you can see more with a two day, non-hopper ticket? That's a bit more money - but if you are going to be there long enough - on arrival or departure day - maybe more bang for the buck.

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

I'm actually more comfortable with the 1 day park hopper price, as long as I can get to Epcot at emh RD and get a few rides in and get out and over to HS early enough to make it work.
To accomplish the same goal, with 2 day tixs is going to cost me 300 more.

I really just need to know what the average waits are at Epcot during EMH to see if this would even work out...If waits build quickly, then it wouldn't be worth it, I don't want to be a mad woman dashing.
Guess I'll have to watch wait times and figure it out...

My son rarely naps. Last trip, first week of Dec, he didn't nap once, but we also did RD to 2ish everyday, except Universal/IOA day, then we went RD to 4.But we did not have a down day, parks Sun-Fri.
He's pretty tough, and a 10 minute nap to him is like a 3 hr nap for others. SO if I can get him to take an hour nap, he'll be good to go, not worried about myself and my daughter.

Thanks for the input, I'll start watching emh waits these next few weeks, to get an idea. I was hoping to have an idea soon incase Orbitz/Ebates has the great ticket deal again in a month. Last year I saved a ton!
Thanks again

 

[Ari37]

Hi TISHLOVESDISNEY,
Here's my best guess for how your morning would work out time-wise (with a little help from the wait times listed on Touring plans from last October!)

Assuming you arrive at Epcot about half an hour before EMH begin, and are on one of the first few Soarin flights of the day:

~8:00- 8:20 AM- Soarin (assuming a 10-15 minute wait and 6-minute ride)

It's a 10-minute walk from Soarin to Test Track for adults, but probably more like a 15-minute walk with a three year old in tow! By the time you arrived a Test Track, there would probably be a 20-30 minute standby wait.

~8:35- 9:10 AM (assuming a 30-minute wait and approx. 4-minute ride)

It will then be a 10-15 minute walk back over the Seas pavilion, but there should be almost no wait at Nemo at this time.

~9:25 - 9:35 (assuming a 5-minute wait and approx. 4-minute ride)

If you are using Disney transportation, I would plan on it taking an hour to get from park-to-park, or park-to-resort, though it will likely take less than that (especially from Epcot to DHS).

If you planned to arrive at DHS around 10:30 AM, you could schedule fp's for 10:30 AM, 11:30, and 12:30 PM. However, this would potentially put you back at the Polynesian around 1:30 PM, assuming another hour for transportation (from 12:30- 1:30 PM). Although there initially needs to be an hour between fp+ reservations, you could potentially move the later reservations up earlier after using the previous ones, which could help you leave DHS a bit earlier. You could also schedule the fp's for slightly earlier (e.g., at 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, and 12:00 PM), with the realization that you may miss the first one or need to reschedule it on the fly if you encounter any morning delays.

One last thing to consider is that if your DD20 really wants to ride Test Track but you and your son do not care either way, your DD could use the single rider line at TT while you and your son rode Nemo. This would save you and your son a lot of walking across the park, and could also save up to 40 minutes at Epcot.

In summary, I think that your plan is doable, but you may not arrive back to your resort right at 1:00 PM depending on how long transportation takes, slight variation in line length, whether you decide to ride TT/ Nemo, and what times your fp's are scheduled for at DHS.

I hope that this was helpful, and that you have a great trip! It may be a tiring day, but also certainly a fun one

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Ari37-WOW THANK YOU for all the info!!!!
Very awesome!
I plan on checking waits at Epcot tomorrow, just for an idea since it's an EMH am.
Really, the only ride at Epcot that we'd want to do if we needed to prioritize and went with this plan, is Soarin. We just did TT and Nemo, and IF we did this plan, it'd be just to hit a few rides and get in and out so we could have some down time b4 the party. Just thought it'd be kind of fun to give us a challenge for the morning. We have only done hoppers once, wayyyy back when... Thought it'd give us a chance to have a little variety of Disney on this short trip.
Still not sold, don't want to make it work!
Thank you so much!!!!