Help me with Park Hopper Plus Plans Please?

[whiporee]

I'm going to toss a couple of things in. Saturdays (because of locals) and Mondays (because most people travel on Sunday, so Monday is their first day in the parks) are the most crowded at MK. So if you can talk people into waiting until Sunday, you might have fewer crowd headaches to deal with.

I'd also backload your waterparks. The second day onsite is going to be too adrenaline-filled for a first-time crew to want to be anywhere but the parks. Epcot is popular with locals on Sunday, but either AK or HS would be a good choice (if you can't convince your crew to wait just a bit for MK).

 

[Kelly014]

Wow, truly thanks to everyone for the advice!

I’m blown away by the really great information here. You’re all so helpful and I can’t thank you enough.

Sorry for my dumb questions. There’s so much to think about I didn’t even realize I left out the big theme parks. I only recently learned there are four of them which is crazy. To answer things people have brought up:

I didn’t take into consideration how long it will take to travel from place to place. Now that I look at it, I realize how everything is so spread out. I can’t believe I didn’t catch that since it’s obvious now. Oops.

Not sure what hotel we will stay at yet. I am thinking of staying at Disney instead of in an outside hotel, but am not sure how much to spend yet. The Deluxe hotels are just so expensive especially for a whole week. I am narrowing down to maybe a value hotel or moderate hotel since I don’t know how much time we will spend actually in our room. It seems like the value and moderate hotels are pretty similar except the design.

I don’t really want to rent a car for the whole week since we probably won’t leave Disney world during the whole time. I hope the bus is okay. If there is Lyft and Uber that’s a good idea.

We definitely do want to try a water park. Not sure why I thought we could just make it an afternoon break. Of course they are exhausting!

Good news that water parks can be on days when we don't go to the theme parks. I’ll have to think about what kind of tickets I need.

I’m thinking of this new schedule then:

Saturday - Magic Kingdom (first since everyone seems to say this is the most disney park)
Sunday - Typhoon Lagoon in the morning and then go see fireworks at a park, or just go to dinner
Monday - Studios, then Disney Springs if we feel like it after it closes
Tuesday - Animal Kingdom
Wednesday - Epcot
Thursday - Blizzard Beach, then Boardwalk at night
Friday - Pick whatever park we want to repeat

Maybe we don't need to hop then. Now that I look at it, I thought we had so much time with seven days and now it doesn’t feel like it anymore.

I really don't think hopping is necessary for your first trip. There is just a ridiculous amount of stuff to do in the parks if you've never been, and traveling between parks definitely takes time. We are doing our first trip with park hoppers + more, but it's a quick 4 day trip and we will only hop so that we can do our favorites in a couple parks since we don't have time for full days in each park.

I love the water parks and completely recommend them, but they are an experience on their own. I wouldnt try to squeeze them in on a day with other stuff going on or use them as a break. Also work in some money for uber to the water parks as you have to travel to Disney springs and then catch another bus to get to them - uber is so worth it.

Plan your absolute must dos in each park and then make a list of extra rides or experiences. It's so easy to underestimate how big Disney World is and how much you can actually "accomplish." Get your fastpasses/must do shows/restaurants in and all the rest is just a bonus! And don't be afraid of having downtime. The resorts are beautiful and sometimes just strolling through the parks eating Mickey ice cream is a wonderful experience all on its own!