Help do I have this right?! First time since 2018 - quick visit

[Jo-Anne]

Hi - we are heading to Disney for 3 nights prior to going to Cape Canaveral Time Share and will have 2 options for a day in the Parks on Friday Nov 5 or Saturday Nov 6. I used to be a Disney "expert" on planning our trips, but so much has changed! We will only do a park on one of those days and ideally we'd do Epcot which we thought would be least crowded, but its also Food and Wine during that time so looking for some help! We have park hopper passes that we bought previously that all 3 of us would use. We will be staying at Pop.
1) My son has to do some College class on line in the morning, so we couldn't hit park until around noon on Friday. Is it still better to use our park hopper on Friday and start out at noon vs a Saturday at Epcot - hear that is a crazy day with F&W?
2) I understand I have to make a park reservation now - is it easy to change if we decide last minute we want to change up our starting park? If we want to Park hop, we have to do that after 2pm -correct? Any we don't have to reserve that second park - just show up?
3) If we stay at Epcot for fireworks, how packed is it to catch the Skyliner back to POP?
4) Are there better/less crowded fireworks to see?
5) We have old FUN passes that I believe we can still use at water parks - think BB is only one open - have they been crowded recently?

Thanks for any help/insights!

 

[tline35]

1 - I'm not sure there is anything substantially different between a Friday and Saturday evenings in the parks. F&W would be better Friday during the day. Once 6pm hits, it does get busy on the weekends. Since your son is college age, you can head to the park earlier, and he can catch up later.
2 - yes you do need your first park reservation. It is easy to change ... as long as there are still reservations available for a park to change to. Nov 5 & 6 are still green for all parks.
3 - the Skyliner after Epcot FW is long. I've seen the line back to Beach Club ... maybe 30-40 mintues on a weekend after fireworks. if its storming or lightning, they have been shutting down the Skyliner, which leads you back to old-school Epcot, the looong walk up front to a bus.
4 - The only fireworks at WDW right now are MK Enchantment, or Epcot Harmonious. Both are brand new and busy. MK has great pyrotek fireworks. Epcot has very minimal pyrotek fireworks, a few bursts here and there, then nine minutes into the show, an actual fireworks display. Epcot Harmonious relies alot on the color fountains and images on the screens.
5 - I don't have any info on fun cards, but BB is the only water park open right now.

 

[Marthasor]

Hi - we are heading to Disney for 3 nights prior to going to Cape Canaveral Time Share and will have 2 options for a day in the Parks on Friday Nov 5 or Saturday Nov 6. I used to be a Disney "expert" on planning our trips, but so much has changed! We will only do a park on one of those days and ideally we'd do Epcot which we thought would be least crowded, but its also Food and Wine during that time so looking for some help! We have park hopper passes that we bought previously that all 3 of us would use. We will be staying at Pop.
1) My son has to do some College class on line in the morning, so we couldn't hit park until around noon on Friday. Is it still better to use our park hopper on Friday and start out at noon vs a Saturday at Epcot - hear that is a crazy day with F&W?
2) I understand I have to make a park reservation now - is it easy to change if we decide last minute we want to change up our starting park? If we want to Park hop, we have to do that after 2pm -correct? Any we don't have to reserve that second park - just show up?
3) If we stay at Epcot for fireworks, how packed is it to catch the Skyliner back to POP?
4) Are there better/less crowded fireworks to see?
5) We have old FUN passes that I believe we can still use at water parks - think BB is only one open - have they been crowded recently?

Thanks for any help/insights!

1&2). I wouldn't go anywhere near EP on a Saturday during F&W. Been there, done that, never again. If EP is your park of choice, just make a reservation for that park on Friday. You can always park hop elsewhere, after 2 pm without a reservation.
3). Packed
4). EP and MK will both be packed for fireworks
5). BB was not crowded when we went during the summer. YMMV