For all those park hoppers out there.....

[dbal]

....I have some ?s on your touring style?

Do you do your heavy touring in the mornings and tour light in the evenings and catch one of the night shows?

Do you sleep a little later and then tour hard for the rest of the day?

When do you get the most attractions under your belt?

Also for all those a.m. people; do you do all 4 parks on a different morning of your trip?

Just curious. thanks

 

[GarrettJD]

We arrive before opening for rope drop. We do most of our heavy "attraction" touring in the morning for at least the first 2 to 2 1/2 hours. We then break off for lunch in the park, followed by more touring with faster loading and/or less crowded attractions. We usually make use of our FPs around this time.

At about 1:30 or 2:00 we head back to the resort for a break. Our breaks usually aren't too long, since there are just two of us, both adults, and neither of us are swimmers. So if we get back to the resort at, say 2:00, we'll usually be heading back to the parks around 4:00.

For our evening park, we usually hop to a different park. We do a few attractions, but the evening is more focused on dinner and one of the evening shows. We're usually able to do a few attractions, too. It's actually easier to do some of the evening attractions if you don't park hop, because you can grab FastPasses before you break, and they'll be valid later when you return.

For us, park hopping is essential. We plan out which days/which parks, and my main planning philosophy is getting us to the evening shows as many times as possible during our trip, because those are our favorite part of WDW, especially Illuminations.

 

[Wendi2000]

We always try to get an early start... you can accomplish much more in the morning when the parks aren't busy. We talk about taking breaks, but aren't very good at actually taking them!!! But, our plan this year is to hit the parks early, take afternoon breaks at the hotel, then hit another park in the evening. Hopefully it'll happen this time!

 

[gems_smiling]

Do you do your heavy touring in the mornings and tour light in the evenings and catch one of the night shows? - Yes this is exactly what we do.

Do you sleep a little later and then tour hard for the rest of the day? - No

When do you get the most attractions under your belt? - In the early morning

Also for all those a.m. people; do you do all 4 parks on a different morning of your trip? - Yes

 

[dnoyes]

We never have a set plan. We do get up early every morning (because that's just the way we are) and hit a park while it's still cool enough to enjoy. We end up at EPCOT most nights for dinner and then walk it off around the showcase. I've been known to have a beer or two for the walk.lol

 

[goofydiz]

We do our heavy touring early in the morning because that is the only time you can - the crowds build up a couple of hours after opening.

We never sleep late - We are on the move from the moment the parks open till they close - We don't get much sleep - and Never go to the room to rest. I'm in Disney World - I need to take advantage of all the time I can while I'm there - I can rest when I get home!

We get a good bit done early in the morning - depending on what time of the year it is. It's kinda hard to do a lot in the busy times. You gotta take advantage of Fast Pass - that's the only way!

We always start off our day in a different park!

 

[daisyduck123]

Our is easy....here's our typical Disney day:

1) Hit a park early/we try for opening
2) stay there thru lunch
3) after lunch - hit a waterpark or back to the resort to swim
4) around 4:00 - head to room to shower & change
5) go to our character meal dinner
6) hit a different park after dinner (not the park we did in the a.m.)

*Note: we always stay 8 or 9 days, so we never feel rushed to see everything at one park all in one day. We know we'll usually be at each park at LEAST TWICE during our trip.

 

[Tsi2quick]

On our first trip we were wide open the entire day with no breaks. We were trying to do everything in the parks it seems as if that would be the last time we ever went to WDW.

On the 2nd trip we took a more relaxed (we are on vacation afterall) approach to things and started early in the day and then came back to the room for a little down time in the early afternoon and then hit a park that evening. We ALWAYS had our best days (in terms of how we felt) on days we were able to rest a little in the afternoon.

On this trip coming up in September we plan on following the similar plan of not trying to do it all and just slowing down to enjoy the time we are there. If we get to it, great! If not, that's an excuse for next year!

 

[wisbucky]

We sleep in each day. Since we are on vacation and want to enjoy it we find no reason to have to the commando style. We stay out late and spend just about each night wrapping it up at DTD. We catch every show at each park in the evening during our stay.

 

[traviesojmt]

I know that some of the touring plans do not recommend early entry parks, but we love them. We always hit the park with early entry as soon as it opens. We stay at that park until just after lunch. Then we usually head back to the resort for a swim/nap/rest. We usually go in the heat of the summer, so this also helps refresh us. Then in the afternoon we head to a different park. This usually depends where we have made our ADR for that night. This plan works really well for us.

 

[Mousema]

We are at the parks for rope drop. Tour until lunch. Eat lunch at the park. Go back to the resort for a couple of hours for swim/rest. Go to our evening ADR and see the fireworks/parade at that park. We are early risers so this works well with our family.

 

[gssmks]

I know that some of the touring plans do not recommend early entry parks, but we love them. We always hit the park with early entry as soon as it opens. We stay at that park until just after lunch. Then we usually head back to the resort for a swim/nap/rest. We usually go in the heat of the summer, so this also helps refresh us. Then in the afternoon we head to a different park. This usually depends where we have made our ADR for that night. This plan works really well for us.

We have only been to WDW twice, but this is exactly how we did it each time. I found that we were able to do at least three of the biggest attractions during that EMH. Then, the park opens and the major of those entering are heading to the rides we just finished, so for another hour and sometimes two, we are able to stay a step ahead of the "crowd". Sure there are people heading for the other attractions to, but the not nearly as many as there are for the major attractions that we have already done. In our experience, it is around 11:00 a.m. when we lose our advantage we gained from EMH. We grabbed lunch either at the park or at the resort. Rested for a couple hours and then headed back out to a different park (which ever one the Unofficial Guide said would be the least busy on that day).

Since our last trip, WDW has starting having the evening EMH. My question is, what do you think about heading to that park in the evening? I know that until the official closing, it would probably be very crowded. I thought if you used this time, to do the lesser attractions, enjoy the magic and eat dinner, once the park closed to non-resort guests, it would be well worth the 3 extra hours.