First time staying on property

[myers2170]

We have been to wdw several times and have become very acquainted with choosing which park to attend on which days etc. We have always avoided the parks with the EMHs and opened and closed the parks down oftentimes with breaks in between.

This time, we are traveling with a large party and our sons will be participating in a baseball Trny at EWWOS. we have park hopper tickets and staying at CBR.

My primary question...how should we choose which parks to attend on which day?? Staying on property and having the park hopper passes makes me want to utilize the EMH times and set fastpasses up for those parks on those days. However, my prior way of thinking and touring the parks is at conflict with my new thoughts. LOL

WHAT suggestions do you have?? How should we go about this?? Several in our party have never been to disney or haven't been in a very long time. I look forward to your input. Thanks!!

 

[agavegirl1]

Are you early risers or night owls? If so, getting some headliners in using hopping would work very well for your party.

 

[CAS239]

I would take advantage of the EMH. Hit the parks with AM EMH and do as much as you can, take a midday break to eat and relax, then hit a park up in the afternoon (possibly one with PM EMH's) and have Fast Passes set up in the second park when it'll be busier instead of using them in the first park

 

[myers2170]

Are you early risers or night owls? If so, getting some headliners in using hopping would work very well for your party.

We are early risers and night owls when it comes to Disney. Our primary issue is we don't know our baseball schedule just yet but that's ok. We do know games will be played in the mornings or midday so we can set up fast passes for the evenings. Will hit early EMHs as long as they don't interfere w our game schedule. How much more crowded will the parks with EMHs be than other parks. Even with avoiding EMH parks in the past they were still pretty crowded!!

 

[agavegirl1]

The early EMHs are my best bets for DHS and AK. We can knock out a lot of headliners then hop to another park. With the baseball schedule, this might be trickier. A midday break followed by a solid FP+ touring plan for an afternoon/evening and then evening EMH may allow you some lower wait times. Ride during parades and fireworks instead of watching them. When EMH hours begin, catch some of the more popular attractions. Unfortunately, WDW may reduce capacity by half for EMH, adding to wait times as part of a cost cutting measure. One nice thing about hoppers is the ability to change your mind.

 

[cassie58]

We have been to wdw several times and have become very acquainted with choosing which park to attend on which days etc. We have always avoided the parks with the EMHs and opened and closed the parks down oftentimes with breaks in between.

This time, we are traveling with a large party and our sons will be participating in a baseball Trny at EWWOS. we have park hopper tickets and staying at CBR.

My primary question...how should we choose which parks to attend on which day?? Staying on property and having the park hopper passes makes me want to utilize the EMH times and set fastpasses up for those parks on those days. However, my prior way of thinking and touring the parks is at conflict with my new thoughts. LOL

WHAT suggestions do you have?? How should we go about this?? Several in our party have never been to disney or haven't been in a very long time. I look forward to your input. Thanks!!

We have always found EMH a.m. time to be great. It is the only time the parks are going to start out empty, and even though many people can come early, many do not want to get up that early on vacation, and capacity is definitely low, for that hour, plus for the next hour or so, while people start to filter in. If it hot, it also helps out to do things earlier. You can get several things done if you have to leave late morning/early afternoon for games. The hoppers will give you great flexibility for this type of situation, with an unknown schedule. Evening EMH can be good too, but you never know how many people will stay, some do clear out after fireworks/parades. When it's been late hrs. we have walked on rides at 11:00 at nt. of course it also depends on how early you have to get up!

If you don't mind me asking, are your teams going through the Anthony Travel Co. for the tourney? My DS may be doing a soccer tourney at ESPN during Christmas week, and I saw that everything has to be booked through them, and I don't know yet what resort that would be and if it would be on property, and if we'd stay with them or the boys just stay together(16 yr. olds), etc. The info. is not up yet since registration starts in a few weeks. I know they did have discounted tickets, which were good prices even compared to UT, but it made it sound like you get them at 30 days, which would be late to make FP for a week like that(we are used to 60 having stayed on property). We may also want to see about DVC points through a friend for a room for us since there will not be FD or discounts that week. I am just trying to get some budgeting started with preplanning, and I'm not used to having so many unknowns.

 

[Sevey13]

I don't tend to do morning EMH, but night EMH is my favorite time to be in the parks. They are often longer so I feel like I get more bang for my buck (the park has already cleared out by hour 2, and there's no chance of letting in the 'riff-raff' before the posted rope-drop time for non-resort guests. Plus the parks at night are awesome! Lets us sleep in a little bit, too.

 

[Pkltm]

If you don't mind me asking, are your teams going through the Anthony Travel Co. for the tourney? My DS may be doing a soccer tourney at ESPN during Christmas week, and I saw that everything has to be booked through them, and I don't know yet what resort that would be and if it would be on property, and if we'd stay with them or the boys just stay together(16 yr. olds), etc. The info. is not up yet since registration starts in a few weeks. I know they did have discounted tickets, which were good prices even compared to UT, but it made it sound like you get them at 30 days, which would be late to make FP for a week like that(we are used to 60 having stayed on property). We may also want to see about DVC points through a friend for a room for us since there will not be FD or discounts that week. I am just trying to get some budgeting started with preplanning, and I'm not used to having so many unknowns.

My sons team did the Disney cup soccer tournament in July a couple of years ago, we got no confirmation numbers until 30 days before? They got the meal portion on a gc, and the tickets were a great price, but they cannot be upgraded or have days added. We had to buy him another pass for the extra time we spent there after the tournament.

Teams were at ASSp, Pop and CSR.

 

[myers2170]

I would take advantage of the EMH. Hit the parks with AM EMH and do as much as you can, take a midday break to eat and relax, then hit a park up in the afternoon (possibly one with PM EMH's) and have Fast Passes set up in the second park when it'll be busier instead of using them in the first park

This is kinda the plan I had in mind. I just feel tha utilizing the park hoppers and taking advantage of the extra time in the parks with the EMHs will help us get the most bang for the buck but had always shied away from the EMH parks in the past. Looking forward to a change in approach....cautiously optimistic I guess. LOL

 

[myers2170]

We have always found EMH a.m. time to be great. It is the only time the parks are going to start out empty, and even though many people can come early, many do not want to get up that early on vacation, and capacity is definitely low, for that hour, plus for the next hour or so, while people start to filter in. If it hot, it also helps out to do things earlier. You can get several things done if you have to leave late morning/early afternoon for games. The hoppers will give you great flexibility for this type of situation, with an unknown schedule. Evening EMH can be good too, but you never know how many people will stay, some do clear out after fireworks/parades. When it's been late hrs. we have walked on rides at 11:00 at nt. of course it also depends on how early you have to get up!

If you don't mind me asking, are your teams going through the Anthony Travel Co. for the tourney? My DS may be doing a soccer tourney at ESPN during Christmas week, and I saw that everything has to be booked through them, and I don't know yet what resort that would be and if it would be on property, and if we'd stay with them or the boys just stay together(16 yr. olds), etc. The info. is not up yet since registration starts in a few weeks. I know they did have discounted tickets, which were good prices even compared to UT, but it made it sound like you get them at 30 days, which would be late to make FP for a week like that(we are used to 60 having stayed on property). We may also want to see about DVC points through a friend for a room for us since there will not be FD or discounts that week. I am just trying to get some budgeting started with preplanning, and I'm not used to having so many unknowns.

No, we are going through Disney Sports Travel. I am not familiar with Anthony's. We are really looking forward to the trip and I wish you guys the best on yours.

We are going to start out trying to take advantage of the EMHs and out park hopper passes. We will go ahead and book fast passes in advance and make park touring plans etc knowing we may have to adjust once we get our game schedule.

Several in our group have never been and I am more excited for them than us. I want them to have a great experience and trying to make sure they get to your the parks with as few hiccups as possible.

 

[NH-to-FL]

When we stayed on site we always took advantage of AM EMH. Since we stayed at the BWI we would hop over to Epcot most evenings.

Now that we have AP's and are off site we usually follow easyWDW's advice and avoid EMH parks.

If your family can deal with getting up early on vacation then AM EMH is worth it.

The on site/off site choice, in my opinion, leads to two different planning styles.

Wishing you a magical on site visit!

 

[myers2170]

When we stayed on site we always took advantage of AM EMH. Since we stayed at the BWI we would hop over to Epcot most evenings.

Now that we have AP's and are off site we usually follow easyWDW's advice and avoid EMH parks.

If your family can deal with getting up early on vacation then AM EMH is worth it.

The on site/off site choice, in my opinion, leads to two different planning styles.

Wishing you a magical on site visit!

I completely agree regarding staying on or off site. We prefer off site due to cost effectiveness and we have a couple of timeshares close by that allow us to stay close and cheap. But this trip we are onsite and looking forward to the change in approach and other opportunities we haven't had before.

 

[cassie58]

My sons team did the Disney cup soccer tournament in July a couple of years ago, we got no confirmation numbers until 30 days before? They got the meal portion on a gc, and the tickets were a great price, but they cannot be upgraded or have days added. We had to buy him another pass for the extra time we spent there after the tournament.

Teams were at ASSp, Pop and CSR.

Thanks for the info. Do you happen to know if it was this same company? I know they had a long list of tourn. throughout the yr. It is good to know about the tickets, will keep that in mind.

No, we are going through Disney Sports Travel. I am not familiar with Anthony's. We are really looking forward to the trip and I wish you guys the best on yours.

We are going to start out trying to take advantage of the EMHs and out park hopper passes. We will go ahead and book fast passes in advance and make park touring plans etc knowing we may have to adjust once we get our game schedule.

Several in our group have never been and I am more excited for them than us. I want them to have a great experience and trying to make sure they get to your the parks with as few hiccups as possible.

Thanks! Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Pkltm]

Thanks for the info. Do you happen to know if it was this same company? I know they had a long list of tourn. throughout the yr. It is good to know about the tickets, will keep that in mind.



Thanks! Good luck and enjoy!

I checked last night at our records, and it was Anthony Travel that we dealt with, they never communicated the ticket issue.

 

[cassie58]

I checked last night at our records, and it was Anthony Travel that we dealt with, they never communicated the ticket issue.

Thanks for checking! I will be aware and know what to ask beforehand. We may just book seperatly, if DS has to book with team, and see what options there are for him.

 

[Pkltm]

We booked separately too, except that all members of the team had to stay together, so DS was part of the team package, and we booked our own and added him in, as we stayed additional time after the tournament.