Help planning which parks which days (December 2022)

[chris1212]

We are going to Disney next week for the first time since February 2020! I have been doing tonnes of research to understand all the changes that have happened since then, but can't settle on which parks to go to which day yet.

We are staying off-site, so no early entry's. We will more than likely be purchasing Genie+ and probably ILL's as well. We usually rope drop, how much before entry should we be there, an hour? Is everyone let through the tapstiles before opening?

We usually go for rope drop until late afternoon and call it a day. Kids are still younger and if we want to rope drop the next day, they can't be up at the parks late. Planning for 5 park days, each park once and MK twice.

Any feedback on this schedule will be much appreciated!

Friday December 2 - MK (Christmas Party Night, okay with early close)
Saturday December 3 - AK?
Sunday December 4 - Day off
Monday December 5 - HS?
Tuesday December 6 - EP?
Wednesday December 7 - MK

 

[scrappinginontario]

Your days look fine to me, especially choosing to go to MK on a party day. This generally lowers crowds so is always my suggestion.

I would recommend booking your park reservations ASAP as it will be a busier week and this is quite late to be booking. Mon, Dec 5th already has MK full fir park reservations in the MK.

I know MK allows all guests to enter the park and non-resort guests are held to the left side of the hub during ETPE. I’m not positive about the other parks. You may wish to read recent entries of the ‘Here Now and Just Back’ thread to see if recent experiences are shared there while waiting to see if someone answers here.

 

[coasternut22]

Rope drop procedures:

MK - All guests are let in, non-resort guests are held in the hub until park opening.
AK - All guests are let in, non-resort guests are held in the right side of the fork between the tapstiles and discovery island.
HS - Only resort guests are let in through the tapstiles prior to official park opening. Non-resort guests queue at the tapstiles and are let in party by party as they scan in at official park opening. This would be the park you would want to get to early so you are not in the back of this crowd.
Epcot - All guests are let in, non-resort guests are held in the front plaza until park opening.

Some other tips:
MK - Tomorrowland and Fantasyland will fill up during early entry. You have an equal shot at all of the attractions on the Adventureland, Frontierland side of the park at official park opening. When using G+ with little kids, try booking return times for lower tier rides like Dumbo, Buzz, Little Mermaid, etc. in the middle of the day. They will generally have immediate return times while standby will have 20-40 minute waits. You can knock 4-5 lower tier rides out in a row with G+ simply by refreshing for immediate return times and avoid those longer waits. Then stack or 2-hour rule for some of the bigger rides at other times.
AK - The rides in Pandora will fill up during early entry. The Safari doesn't open until official park opening or a few minutes afterwards. However, there will be people from early entry waiting in line, so it will still fill up early.
HS - Pretty much everything fills up at HS during early entry. However, MMRR, TSM, *** will have their lowest waits the first hour after official park opening.
Epcot - Big rides will fill up during early entry, however Land, Seas, and Figment will have very reasonable waits the first two hours. Try to knock those out early, especially with little kids. Or use the strategy I explained for MK and lower tier rides for figment, nemo, crush, land, etc.

The best G+ tip I can provide is to watch the Youtube channel Earscouts. He has the best G+ strategy and tutorial videos out there. Well worth a watch.

 

[chris1212]

Rope drop procedures:

MK - All guests are let in, non-resort guests are held in the hub until park opening.
AK - All guests are let in, non-resort guests are held in the right side of the fork between the tapstiles and discovery island.
HS - Only resort guests are let in through the tapstiles prior to official park opening. Non-resort guests queue at the tapstiles and are let in party by party as they scan in at official park opening. This would be the park you would want to get to early so you are not in the back of this crowd.
Epcot - All guests are let in, non-resort guests are held in the front plaza until park opening.

Some other tips:
MK - Tomorrowland and Fantasyland will fill up during early entry. You have an equal shot at all of the attractions on the Adventureland, Frontierland side of the park at official park opening. When using G+ with little kids, try booking return times for lower tier rides like Dumbo, Buzz, Little Mermaid, etc. in the middle of the day. They will generally have immediate return times while standby will have 20-40 minute waits. You can knock 4-5 lower tier rides out in a row with G+ simply by refreshing for immediate return times and avoid those longer waits. Then stack or 2-hour rule for some of the bigger rides at other times.
AK - The rides in Pandora will fill up during early entry. The Safari doesn't open until official park opening or a few minutes afterwards. However, there will be people from early entry waiting in line, so it will still fill up early.
HS - Pretty much everything fills up at HS during early entry. However, MMRR, TSM, *** will have their lowest waits the first hour after official park opening.
Epcot - Big rides will fill up during early entry, however Land, Seas, and Figment will have very reasonable waits the first two hours. Try to knock those out early, especially with little kids. Or use the strategy I explained for MK and lower tier rides for figment, nemo, crush, land, etc.

The best G+ tip I can provide is to watch the Youtube channel Earscouts. He has the best G+ strategy and tutorial videos out there. Well worth a watch.

Thanks so much for the detailed info, much appreciated! How much before rope drop should we aim to arrive at parks, would an hour be too early?

At HS, if we can't tap in until park opening, how does that work with people trying to buy ILL at the same time?

 

[coasternut22]

Thanks so much for the detailed info, much appreciated! How much before rope drop should we aim to arrive at parks, would an hour be too early?

At HS, if we can't tap in until park opening, how does that work with people trying to buy ILL at the same time?

For MK, keep in mind you have to take a boat or monorail to the park, so add an extra 20 minutes at least. For all other parks, if you arrive an hour before official park opening, you will be fine. I always recommend being at the rope, even for non-resort guests, but that is my personal touring style.

Regarding ILL, you cannot purchase it until official park opening, so it does not matter when you scan in. For Rise, it will be sold out by park opening. Your only chance to get it is by refreshing throughout the day and getting a lucky drop. Don’t rely on this happening.

 

[chris1212]

For MK, keep in mind you have to take a boat or monorail to the park, so add an extra 20 minutes at least. For all other parks, if you arrive an hour before official park opening, you will be fine. I always recommend being at the rope, even for non-resort guests, but that is my personal touring style.

Regarding ILL, you cannot purchase it until official park opening, so it does not matter when you scan in. For Rise, it will be sold out by park opening. Your only chance to get it is by refreshing throughout the day and getting a lucky drop. Don’t rely on this happening.

Thanks again! What happens if you are tapping into the park exactly at opening when also trying to book ILL? Are there people stopped trying to book ILL while also scanning into the park?