Help! What would you do?

[Maude4Disney]

We arrive 3/15 at WDW We should be checked in at the resort and able to get to MK by noon. My dilemma is this. Do we really want to arrive at MK at noon on a Monday? The hours are good, open til 11:00, but I'm concerned what the crowds will be like. I know it is going to be busy no matter what, but I'm wondering if we should do something else on our arrival day and hit MK on Tuesday. What would you do? We are thinking about doing TL, depending on weather... would it be ok to arrive at TL mid-day? We've never done the water parks before so I have no idea what to expect for crowds Wednesday is our EPCOT day (set in stone for DH ) and Thursday is an off day (possibly Sea World) and Friday we head home I wish we had more time...but we'll be back at Christmas My main concern is the first 2 days of our trip....what would you suggest? Am I nuts for attempting MK mid-day on Monday? Thanks for any input!

 

[jaysue]

Are you staying onsite or offsite?

thanks
jaysue

 

[disney4us2002]

I have always read that MK was a no-no on Mondays, but lately with the addition of EMH on Sundays for MK, now there are some guides suggesting Monday since the crowds were there Sunday. Why not try it and then hop out if it's bad? I have no idea about the water park attendance in March - seems cold to me but we've been in summertime and early Sept so not sure on that one. Does your dh realize Wed is Epcot's EMH day? Is that why he wants to go there Wed? If you like thrillers, why not do EMH at MGM on Tuesday? Personally, I could spend the first two hours just riding RnRC!

I recognized your name from the Christmas discussions. At least you get to go now AND Christmas. I've got a loooooong wait til Dec 19th!!!! Have a terrific time.

 

[dcmbshafe]

Mondays are usually considered one of the more crowded days at MK. If you are staying on-site, I would consider doing Sea World on Monday and doing MK on Thursday, which is EMH day there. There are two problems with TL on Monday. First, if it is really crowded that day, you might not be able to get in (although this is probably a minor concern). Second, it is only open until 5, leaving you with something else to do that evening (= a lot of running around your first day).

If you do opt for MK on Monday and if you have an effective touring plan and use Fastpass, you will have a lot of time there and should be able to do most of what you want to do. If you do this, you might consider buying a personalized touring plan from www.touringplans.com (from the folks that produce the Unofficial Guide).

 

[Maude4Disney]

jaysue - we're staying on-site... PC.

disney4us2002 - we hadn't planned on buying the PH (um...make that DH) but I'm beginning to think that we will and if we don't use all the days, that's just less days to buy at Christmas. Still can't talk DH into AP's Yes, DH knows that Wed. is EPCOTs EMH...but no changing his mind. As for the water park... I personally have no desire to go there...but DS10 is wanting to go there badly. So far the weather is calling for 80's. But that could all change before we get there. I never could've made the wait until Christmas. This was supposed to be an adult get away, but MIL backed out on watching the kiddos...so they get to go along.

dcmbshafe - I forgot to consider TL's hours on Monday Guess that option is out.

The more I think of things...maybe we ought to just chill out on Monday, do EPCOT Tuesday (DH won't have a choice if he wants to go) and MK Wednesday... Then that still leaves Thursday open if we decide to do Sea World (still not convinced on this one) We definitely don't have to try to cram everything in...our Christmas trip will be longer...we'll do the cramming then

 

[dcmbshafe]

gosh, depending on the length of your stay in December, I would think it might be a slam dunk for you to do AP...how many park days do you expect you will try to do total between both trips?

 

[shortbun]

I'd do Quest and Downtown Disney on Monday-DS10 will
love Quest and there's a big variety of other activity. Get a
PS for House of Blues for dinner or Planet Hollywood(DH and I
both love the Asian Salad!) Then MK on Tuesday and you're
all happy! Plan on at least 4hours for Quest-we spent 8,
I left DH and DS there and did 2 hours of shopping and got an
ice cream. They made 3 rollercoasters and got to be experts in
Buzz Lightyears ride! Once was enuf on both for me. This trip
was the first time I had spent lots of time in DWTNDIS. I thought
it was great. Last trip we didn't even get over to the west side,
it is my favorite!

 

[Maude4Disney]

dcmbshafe - I've tried telling DH that we'd be better off w/ AP's, but he's not going for it. I've got a few days before we leave...I haven't given up yet. We are going for 8 nights in December.

Shortbun- I hadn't thought about DQ. DS10 would love it, but I'd be the one going w/ him. Not DH's thing...especially since he gets motion sickness very easily. Plus we have DS3 to consider.

 

[dcmbshafe]

In case you haven't presented him with the numbers, but assuming you do 8 park visits, they are as follows:

Cost of 2 4-day PH passes = $254.54 * 2 = $509.08
Cost of 1 AP = $392.99

So, you would save over $100 per pass assuming you were going 8 days. Obviously, the less dedicated days you go to the theme parks, the less savings for an AP. I don't know if you have your reservations for December already, but AP holders also get a lot of other benefits including discounts on Disney resort rooms.

Of course, there are some other ways you could package it up to make it less expensive than buying 2 4-day PH passes. For instance, you could do a 7-day PHP and a 1-day/1-park pass for a total of $405.78. The advantage to this would be that you get 4 "pluses" on your PHP (good for water parks & pleasure island).

Anyway, good luck. We were there last September and hadn't originally planned on going back this May - if we had, we would have definitely bought APs. It would be sooooo nice to just be able to head over to Epcot just for lunch, or one of the other parks just for a parade...ultimate flexibility.