First Time I am Stumped about Park Choices!

[WDW Traveler]

So for the first time in FOREVER planning a trip, I am stumped as to what to do!

We are staying at Bay Lake Tower. We have 5 Day Hopper Passes. We have a rental car for Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. And we already have parks reservations booked for all of our days, so we won't be left out in the cold. lol

A little back store - Our immediate travel party qualified for the Military Salute tickets (my FIL is retired and was able to get 6 tickets), so very discounted/hopper included. Our friends, did not qualify and pondered back and forth about spending the extra $$ on the hopper or not. They kept asking us if we were going to use it or not. I honestly said, "we may, we may not, I don't know". In the end they ended up getting the hopper so now I feel almost obligated to hop. I know, dumb, but that's just me. lol

Here is my plan thus far (if the ADR's work out, but parks are set right now)

9/22 Arrival day around 8pm
9/23 Pool, Shopping, Exploring (waiting for the rest of our friends to arrive)
9/24 Hollywood Studios - Lunch at 50's Prime Time
9/25 Animal Kingdom - Hop to Hollywood Studios after AK closes?
9/26 Breakfast at Chef Mickey's - Later arrival to Epcot - Attend Extended Evening Hours
9/27 Day Off
9/28 Magic Kingdom - Dinner at Hoop Dee Doo Revue - Back to MK to attend EEH
9/29 Epcot
9/30 Departure day

So my dilemma is with 9/28 and 9/29. On 9/29 we were originally planning on staying at Epcot for a while (since it was our second day) then hop to MK since we are staying at Bay Lake and it was our last night. Easy in and out back to hotel. But they announced the Halloween parties and there is a party that night. So I'm thinking of maybe reversing those two days:

9/28 Epcot - Dinner at Hoop Dee Doo Revue - Hop to MK for EEH
9/29 Magic Kingdom - Leave before Party and Hop to Epcot (still fairly easy back to hotel)

What does everyone think? Normally we don't hop. Normally we buy basic tickets and do one park per day. Since we started staying at the monorail resorts and easy access to Epcot/HS resorts we started getting hoppers.

Am I over thinking the hoping because of my friends??

Thanks for your thoughts and advice!

 

[cjlong88]

Whenever I get stuck like this and I'm debating between two plans, I always ask someone I'm vacationing with, just to get their perspective. Sometimes their answers surprise me, and sometimes they use a reasoning that I didn't think of. As the planner, I also feel stressed about everyone having a great time, and if I make "wrong" plans people might not enjoy the trip as much. Maybe ask your friends and see what plan they like better?

Personally, I love visiting MK in the morning on party nights because the parks are typically less crowded and I could always get in more attractions and move at a more relaxed pace. Not sure if that is still the case, but we will find out in about a month! Your new plan also gives you 3 visits to EPCOT, which is great if you plan on exploring as many booths as possible at the F&W festival.

We have always park hopped and have absolutely loved it. It's great to start in one place and end somewhere else. And because we aren't able to do everything on our first visit, it excites us to return to that park the next day. We never feel burned out by one place. We also like enjoying rope dropping each park once and closing each park once, so that weighs heavily in our trip planning.

You might be overthinking it, but that's what us planners do! Honestly, I think either plan you have laid out for 9/28 and 9/29 looks great.

 

[WDW Traveler]

Whenever I get stuck like this and I'm debating between two plans, I always ask someone I'm vacationing with, just to get their perspective. Sometimes their answers surprise me, and sometimes they use a reasoning that I didn't think of. As the planner, I also feel stressed about everyone having a great time, and if I make "wrong" plans people might not enjoy the trip as much. Maybe ask your friends and see what plan they like better?

Personally, I love visiting MK in the morning on party nights because the parks are typically less crowded and I could always get in more attractions and move at a more relaxed pace. Not sure if that is still the case, but we will find out in about a month! Your new plan also gives you 3 visits to EPCOT, which is great if you plan on exploring as many booths as possible at the F&W festival.

We have always park hopped and have absolutely loved it. It's great to start in one place and end somewhere else. And because we aren't able to do everything on our first visit, it excites us to return to that park the next day. We never feel burned out by one place We also like enjoying rope dropping each park once and closing each park once, so that weighs heavily in our trip planning.

You might be overthinking it, but that's what us planners do! Honestly, I think either plan is great you have laid out for 9/28 and 9/29 looks great.

Thank you for your perspective!! You are so right about being the planner and wanting everyone to have a good time. Lots of pressure! lol

I have an itinerary laid out on my computer. I am currently drafting out Plan B to chat with our travel friends this weekend to see what they think. (I think we are going at a good time and won't be too concerned with hurrying up to change the parks if need be, but will make the necessary changes as soon as I can.)

Your comments about Epcot are accurate - going a few times to sample all the food!!

Cheers to being overthinkers and planners!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

So we like to hop and if you have the tix, you should def use them. It would be a waste to not hop. I think your plan to switch your days is good so you can get MK EEH however, a day at MK when a party is booked is typically pretty low attended. You can really go either way on this.

I don't know what your park plans are with your friends, if you plan to cruise the parks all together or not but if you do plan to enjoy time with them, I'd give them the low down on your plans and tell them they can join or do their own thing/whatever you all decided from the beginning. I personally don't like being tethered to other families/groups since you're then stuck doing things you may not want to do.

 

[WDW Traveler]

So we like to hop and if you have the tix, you should def use them. It would be a waste to not hop. I think your plan to switch your days is good so you can get MK EEH however, a day at MK when a party is booked is typically pretty low attended. You can really go either way on this.

I don't know what your park plans are with your friends, if you plan to cruise the parks all together or not but if you do plan to enjoy time with them, I'd give them the low down on your plans and tell them they can join or do their own thing/whatever you all decided from the beginning. I personally don't like being tethered to other families/groups since you're then stuck doing things you may not want to do.

Thank you for you thoughts! Definitely going to run all the scenarios by our friends this weekend.

These are pretty "needy" friends. lol I have a feeling they will be tethered to me and my husbands hips the entire trip (we have been many times, them once for one travel party and only a couple times for another lol). But it's ok. We will manage that. We are going alone next March so we will consider this a tour trip. lol

 

[RoseGold]

HS is finicky and down a lot. Right before park open today, Mickey, Slinky Dog, and ROTR were down. ROTR is still down. This could make HS a disaster, because you have one day there. You have to decide how important these rides are to you. You can use the hopper later in the trip, because close is one of the only good line times. You might think about where you want to hop from HS, because it could be a complete mess.

I'd also hop on 9/25 because I consider AK a half day park and don't care about Pandora at night. I'd rather see fireworks.

You could also do 9/26 as a morning/Epcot hop if you missed anything at AK/HS. The G+ stacking strategy into afternoon can work well at HS, if you are willing to use G+ for a partial day and start stacking up all morning at HS. You might at least be able to get a headliner if you book for afternoon in the morning. Heck, even the double hop is possible if you wanted to see one thing at AK and one at HS, then over to Epcot for late hours.

 

[GBRforWDW]

I think your park plan sounds great with the suggestion of seeing what the friends want to do. My only suggestion of question is, Would you consider Hoop de doo on your off day? Seems like a big out of park dinner that would take up a ton of time. That's just me though, I like to do something fun and big on a non park day. I also get wanting a long break before EEH, which the dinner would in a way provide, but if I were going to rest, would probably prefer the hotel.

Anyway, just a thought. Enjoy your trip, sounds like a lot of fun in the making!

 

[CarolynFH]

9/28 Magic Kingdom - Dinner at Hoop Dee Doo Revue - Back to MK to attend EEH

9/28 Epcot - Dinner at Hoop Dee Doo Revue - Hop to MK for EEH

Having just attended the late show for HDD last week, I’ll say that Plan A makes more sense to me than Plan B - but having HDD on your rest day makes even more sense.

No matter which HDD showtime you book - 4:30, 6:15, 8:30 - you’ll have to travel from where you are to Pioneer Hall in the Settlement area of FW in time to arrive about 30 minutes before your scheduled showtime. From Epcot you take the FW bus to the Outpost area of FW and then the internal bus to the Settlement. From MK you take the boat to the FW Settlement. Rideshare or private car drops you off at the FW Outpost, so again you take the internal bus. Minnie Vans can take you directly to the Settlement. In any case, you need to allow an hour to an hour and a half as travel time, since there may be delays, you might have to wait for the next bus/boat, etc. Because of the transportation issues, I’d recommend MK, if you’re going to a park that day, because then you just walk out of MK onto the FW/WL boat dock, and it drops you off a very short walk from Pioneer Hall. Be aware that the boat can stop running if there’s lightning in the area - we barely made it before a bad storm!

 

[WDW Traveler]

I think your park plan sounds great with the suggestion of seeing what the friends want to do. My only suggestion of question is, Would you consider Hoop de doo on your off day? Seems like a big out of park dinner that would take up a ton of time. That's just me though, I like to do something fun and big on a non park day. I also get wanting a long break before EEH, which the dinner would in a way provide, but if I were going to rest, would probably prefer the hotel.

Anyway, just a thought. Enjoy your trip, sounds like a lot of fun in the making!

Thank you for the thoughts/suggestions. We weren't quite sure what we were doing on our day off. We were thinking about possibly heading over to Cape Canaveral so we didn't want the pressure of rushing back for an ADR. It for sure will take time out of our day to get there, eat, get back to where ever it is we end up. Honestly, I think the rest of our party will like the long break (not walkers, not long day people - long story lol). (We have been there so much and will continue to go back again and again, it's not a huge deal from us to miss several hours of park time.)

Having just attended the late show for HDD last week, I’ll say that Plan A makes more sense to me than Plan B - but having HDD on your rest day makes even more sense.

No matter which HDD showtime you book - 4:30, 6:15, 8:30 - you’ll have to travel from where you are to Pioneer Hall in the Settlement area of FW in time to arrive about 30 minutes before your scheduled showtime. From Epcot you take the FW bus to the Outpost area of FW and then the internal bus to the Settlement. From MK you take the boat to the FW Settlement. Rideshare or private car drops you off at the FW Outpost, so again you take the internal bus. Minnie Vans can take you directly to the Settlement. In any case, you need to allow an hour to an hour and a half as travel time, since there may be delays, you might have to wait for the next bus/boat, etc. Because of the transportation issues, I’d recommend MK, if you’re going to a park that day, because then you just walk out of MK onto the FW/WL boat dock, and it drops you off a very short walk from Pioneer Hall. Be aware that the boat can stop running if there’s lightning in the area - we barely made it before a bad storm!

Thank you for your thoughts and advise on transportation there. I ended up booking the 4:30pm show (only one available when it opened for me). We were hoping to monorail from Epcot, to TTC, to MK. Then boat over to the Fort. Hoping that having two days at Epcot (one with EEH) and possibly one hopping evening, deducting a few hours should be ok. (See above about the rest in our travel party embracing breaks lol).

 

[GBRforWDW]

Honestly, I think the rest of our party will like the long break (not walkers, not long day people - long story lol).

Totally get it! Some people like the casual experience. . Sounds like a fun trip, enjoy!

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you for your thoughts and advise on transportation there. I ended up booking the 4:30pm show (only one available when it opened for me). We were hoping to monorail from Epcot, to TTC, to MK. Then boat over to the Fort. Hoping that having two days at Epcot (one with EEH) and possibly one hopping evening, deducting a few hours should be ok. (See above about the rest in our travel party embracing breaks lol).

If taking the monorail from Epcot to TTC and then transferring to MK monorail followed by the FW boat, I’d leave Epcot by 2 PM to allow plenty of time, since you need to check in at Pioneer Hall around 4:00. If you arrive at the Settlement early, Crockett’s Tavern is right there next to Pioneer Hall and is a lovely place to get a cool drink (adult or otherwise). You might even be able to score seats in the rocking chairs on the covered porch - very relaxing! - although there’s indoor seating as well.

 

[WDW Traveler]

If taking the monorail from Epcot to TTC and then transferring to MK monorail followed by the FW boat, I’d leave Epcot by 2 PM to allow plenty of time, since you need to check in at Pioneer Hall around 4:00. If you arrive at the Settlement early, Crockett’s Tavern is right there next to Pioneer Hall and is a lovely place to get a cool drink (adult or otherwise). You might even be able to score seats in the rocking chairs on the covered porch - very relaxing! - although there’s indoor seating as well.

Good advice! Thank you. We are all campers so even if we are early, exploring a little will be fun! 2PM departure time is on my schedule!