Feedback on park days?

[marisa in lake mohegan]

Hi everyone!

I’m looking for feedback on choices I need to make for my November trip. It will likely be only me and my then 10 year old daughter, and we’re staying at the Caribbean from November 4th-14th. (My longest Disney trip ever!) It's a surprise trip. I have a lot of questions so please feel free to ignore this post or only answer some questions. : )

Right now I have 9 day tickets. No hoppers. I had hoppers, but swapped them out and added an extra night last week. I'm not sure if I should just get the hoppers anyway. Partially, I swapped the hoppers because my daughter, in one of our million recent discussions of Disney, was like SUPER angry at the prospect of hoppers. "Unnecessary! No hopping! I like one park a day! It's a waste of money!" (For real she said this.) But I want to do one sit down meal per day and it seems less limiting to have the hopper them. What do you think? ,

For sit-down meals: I think I want to do CRT (never been), Be Our Guest (never been), Toppilinos (also never been), my daughter loves Coral Reef and the Ohana breakfast (she's a Stick girl) so we have to do that. I think I want to try Le Celier (we love a good steal), and as we’ve never been to the night shows at either AK or Hollywood, it might be smart to do one of those packages for that if they're back by then. (I don't think they will be....) So another question: I've surreptitiously asked her about trying CRT, and she was like ehhh. You know I'm not into princess stuff.... but should we do it anyway for the experience? It feels weird to be such big fans of Disney world, and to not have gone once.

I’m lucky to have been to Disney lots of times, and so has my daughter. I really like planning things out and have pretty strong knowledge of the general trends/crowds patterns. I also know that everything is up in the air (hours, fireworks, parades, dining, crowds...) I don’t want to be super intense about an itinerary this time- the last two trips I planned each day out in like 15 minute increments (too intense!), but for this trip we’ll have a little more time to take it easy, as long as I plan my park days well and the meals down. I think I want to do (and start at?) magic kingdom for 3 days, get to Epcot 3 times, and probably keep Animal Kingdom to 1 day. Then, obviously, HS twice. What do you think? If there’s a Christmas party, I for sure want to do that. Should I reduce my park days then? Once you get past a few days, I feel the cost is so much lower, so maybe I should keep the day...? Even if we decide to do a chill day, we can maybe catch a few rides if we're bored by nighttime. ?

Experienced planners— which days should I choose for the parks? What about the other stuff-- CRT, the hoppers? A concern of mine is that 3 of our days will be on the weekend (the crowds!) and 2 Fridays. (Crowds!) I was thinking hoppers might really help with that crowd situation

I TOTALLY get how lucky we are to get to take a trip with 9 park days, no matter which days of the week they are. I'm pulling her out of school and am trying to minimize how many days she'll miss. Even a day or two less feels better, education-wise.

I appreciate any feedback, thanks for your time!

 

[SarahC97]

Personally, I think for longer trips like yours that hoppers aren't really necessary. Going to one park per day allows you to kind of pace yourself and really take in what each park has to offer without rushing around. Believe me, by the last few days of a trip that long you're going to feel it and you may not find hopping even appealing. I'd stick with base tickets. Remember, you can always add hoppers later if you find you want to hop.

As far as park days go, the weekends are the busiest if you go with current crowd trends. We try to plan for Hollywood Studios on a weekend day simply because that park always seems to be at capacity no matter what day you go. So, I'd make HS on a weekend and then choose anything but MK for your other weekend day. Epcot also can get a little crazy on weekend nights back in World Showcase, but you probably already know that.

For restaurants, you cannot go wrong with Le Cellier. It's really good. Ohana has no open date yet. It's my opinion that everyone should eat at CRT once because eating in the castle is just so neat. The food has been good the times we've eaten there too, but I've not been back with the modified experience. Be Our Guest is cool for the atmosphere as well and the food isn't that bad. Both BOG and CRT are obviously super pricey, but hey -- YOLO!

 

[Shellyred8]

Here's my thoughts on a few of your items:
Sit-down meals: I think doing one sit down meal per day is a lot, especially for your length of trip. I would perhaps do one every-other day. For CRT, we went with this perspective in mind: we got to eat inside the Castle!!! We aren't really into the princesses either, but eating inside the castle was pretty awesome!

I like the idea of not doing park-hopping. I agree that I think you can get AK done in one day. HS twice for sure, just in case you don't get a boarding group for RotR the first day, you have another day to try for one. HS is pretty much always busy so it might be best to put those days on the weekends. The last couple of times we were there (post-covid) the crowds at HS really dropped off in the evenings. So, you might want to make sure to plan to be there in the evenings to get more done.

Sounds like a great trip!!!

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

9 days I think you can skip the hoppers, though I would never do so myself. I love the option of hopping. CRT is a must at least once. So beautiful in the castle. Unfortunately so much depends on what if anything else they bring back in November. Also, you can always change park reservations if needed and if available. Very exciting enjoy!

 

[marisa in lake mohegan]

Personally, I think for longer trips like yours that hoppers aren't really necessary. Going to one park per day allows you to kind of pace yourself and really take in what each park has to offer without rushing around. Believe me, by the last few days of a trip that long you're going to feel it and you may not find hopping even appealing. I'd stick with base tickets. Remember, you can always add hoppers later if you find you want to hop.

As far as park days go, the weekends are the busiest if you go with current crowd trends. We try to plan for Hollywood Studios on a weekend day simply because that park always seems to be at capacity no matter what day you go. So, I'd make HS on a weekend and then choose anything but MK for your other weekend day. Epcot also can get a little crazy on weekend nights back in World Showcase, but you probably already know that.

For restaurants, you cannot go wrong with Le Cellier. It's really good. Ohana has no open date yet. It's my opinion that everyone should eat at CRT once because eating in the castle is just so neat. The food has been good the times we've eaten there too, but I've not been back with the modified experience. Be Our Guest is cool for the atmosphere as well and the food isn't that bad. Both BOG and CRT are obviously super pricey, but hey -- YOLO!

Thanks for the feedback! The meal thing is where I'm getting stuck on the hoppers, and wanting to have the option to dash over to EPCOT. But staying at the Caribbean isn't like Boardwalk or Beach/Yacht. It's still an investment of time and energy to go back and forth. I don't want to be miserable and exhausted. And if I have the hoppers, I'm going to feel that I should use them. I really hope Ohana re-opens soon. I think I'm going to do CRT even if we skip BOG. Anyway! Thanks again!

 

[marisa in lake mohegan]

Here's my thoughts on a few of your items:
Sit-down meals: I think doing one sit down meal per day is a lot, especially for your length of trip. I would perhaps do one every-other day. For CRT, we went with this perspective in mind: we got to eat inside the Castle!!! We aren't really into the princesses either, but eating inside the castle was pretty awesome!

I like the idea of not doing park-hopping. I agree that I think you can get AK done in one day. HS twice for sure, just in case you don't get a boarding group for RotR the first day, you have another day to try for one. HS is pretty much always busy so it might be best to put those days on the weekends. The last couple of times we were there (post-covid) the crowds at HS really dropped off in the evenings. So, you might want to make sure to plan to be there in the evenings to get more done.

Sounds like a great trip!!!

Thanks, I'm so excited and trying to focus on real life in the meantime (November is far...) but it's not easy. : )

I think you're right on the sit-downs. They're nice but I love snacking. Maybe I'll make the reservations because I can always modify/cancel if it's just feeling like too much. In the past one on most days has worked for me. But now I'm pretty sure we just have to do CRT. it's just too special to not (to me, even if not to my daughter!)

Thanks for the advice! Oh! One more thing-- a long thing! With Hollywood, I was so frustrated with and unprepared for the immediate crowds at opening which was naive of me (I was last there in February 2020, right before Covid hit). We had a late start (not our fault-- we took a car and they driver got lost and we had a communication issue) and it REALLY set us back. So many people were in the parks right away, trying to get boarding passes, and then they all needed somewhere to go, and every line was immediately hours long. We waited more than 2 hours for TOT. I was not my best self on that line. Being at the back of that rope drop crowd killed us. ANYWAY, how's that morning crowd lately? Still terrible? A little better now that people can try for their boarding passes outside of the park? It might be best for me to go early, leave for like Beaches and Cream mid-day, and then return when the crowd has thinned out a little.

 

[marisa in lake mohegan]

9 days I think you can skip the hoppers, though I would never do so myself. I love the option of hopping. CRT is a must at least once. So beautiful in the castle. Unfortunately so much depends on what if anything else they bring back in November. Also, you can always change park reservations if needed and if available. Very exciting enjoy!

Thank you! Any hopping tips or advice? : )

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

Thank you! Any hopping tips or advice? : )

We were there Thanksgiving week 2020, it was not too busy at all, so we would have loved to have gone to a different park at the end of the day; change of atmosphere, grab another ride on "this or that" but at that time no park hopping was allowed. On our AK day, we were completely done with everything we wanted to do by 3pm, would have loved have been able to go to another park that evening, we couldn't so we went to DS which is fine. Also, we did a relatively short trip only 5 days. I believe November 2021 will definitely be busier than 2020 and you may not feel you need to hit a different park at the end of the day. I think some of us just like having the opportunity to go MK in the morning til early afternoon and then the ability to go to EPCOT for evening, etc. I like the flexibility but that is us.

We went Feb 2020 and then again Nov 2020 and I must say even though it was only 9 months totally different experience. At first I wasn't a fan of the mobile ordering, I like to "view the choices" even though you can view them on the app, I wanted to see "actual" food samples. After a day, I have to say I liked mobile ordering, very easy but I would still rather have the option to do either or, hopefully that will come back. Loved the fact of no OVER-CROWDING on buses. That was AMAZING, did not miss having to smell sweaty armpits or nether regions 2 inches from me . I hope they can continue that in some way, shape or form. I missed walking around stuffing some form of snack in my mouth, fireworks, parades. Those weren't obviously deal breakers for us but things that are missed. All in all still had a great time but can't wait to get some normalcy back including with Disney.

 

[marisa in lake mohegan]

We were there Thanksgiving week 2020, it was not too busy at all, so we would have loved to have gone to a different park at the end of the day; change of atmosphere, grab another ride on "this or that" but at that time no park hopping was allowed. On our AK day, we were completely done with everything we wanted to do by 3pm, would have loved have been able to go to another park that evening, we couldn't so we went to DS which is fine. Also, we did a relatively short trip only 5 days. I believe November 2021 will definitely be busier than 2020 and you may not feel you need to hit a different park at the end of the day. I think some of us just like having the opportunity to go MK in the morning til early afternoon and then the ability to go to EPCOT for evening, etc. I like the flexibility but that is us.

We went Feb 2020 and then again Nov 2020 and I must say even though it was only 9 months totally different experience. At first I wasn't a fan of the mobile ordering, I like to "view the choices" even though you can view them on the app, I wanted to see "actual" food samples. After a day, I have to say I liked mobile ordering, very easy but I would still rather have the option to do either or, hopefully that will come back. Loved the fact of no OVER-CROWDING on buses. That was AMAZING, did not miss having to smell sweaty armpits or nether regions 2 inches from me . I hope they can continue that in some way, shape or form. I missed walking around stuffing some form of snack in my mouth, fireworks, parades. Those weren't obviously deal breakers for us but things that are missed. All in all still had a great time but can't wait to get some normalcy back including with Disney.

Thank you for all this! Hoping for a not--too-busy November!

 

[Shellyred8]

Thanks, I'm so excited and trying to focus on real life in the meantime (November is far...) but it's not easy. : )

I think you're right on the sit-downs. They're nice but I love snacking. Maybe I'll make the reservations because I can always modify/cancel if it's just feeling like too much. In the past one on most days has worked for me. But now I'm pretty sure we just have to do CRT. it's just too special to not (to me, even if not to my daughter!)

Thanks for the advice! Oh! One more thing-- a long thing! With Hollywood, I was so frustrated with and unprepared for the immediate crowds at opening which was naive of me (I was last there in February 2020, right before Covid hit). We had a late start (not our fault-- we took a car and they driver got lost and we had a communication issue) and it REALLY set us back. So many people were in the parks right away, trying to get boarding passes, and then they all needed somewhere to go, and every line was immediately hours long. We waited more than 2 hours for TOT. I was not my best self on that line. Being at the back of that rope drop crowd killed us. ANYWAY, how's that morning crowd lately? Still terrible? A little better now that people can try for their boarding passes outside of the park? It might be best for me to go early, leave for like Beaches and Cream mid-day, and then return when the crowd has thinned out a little.

I think implementing the "7am boarding pass" helped with the rope-drop crowds. That's not to say it's dead at that time. But just back to more "normal" rope-drop levels.
When we were there in early December, we found the rope-drop crowds were much less than the October rope-drop crowds. In December, we got there right around rope-drop time and there wasn't any line to get into the park. The lines had started forming for the other rides, but they weren't horrible. As time allows, you might want to check your MDE app on your phone around HS opening time to get a feel for how long the lines are at park-opening times.