Help with deciding which park on which day

[kbvancouver]

We (my husband, daughter, son-in-law and their 3 kids, ages 9, 5, and 7) will arrive at the Beach Club Villa around 6:00 pm on Saturday, December 5. We leave Disney to go home bright and early on Saturday, December 12. We have purchased 6 day park hopper passes for everyone. I have been looking at the touring plans on Undercover Tourist and Easy WDW and am losing my mind trying to get things to work. If anyone has any suggestions, I would LOVE to hear them.

Here are a few things that I'm trying to fit in while trying to visit the parks that are recommended each day by the sites above. We are going to do MVMCP. My hope is to do that on Tuesday, Dec. 8 because I think that will be the least crowded date. My guess is we'll be out late at night, so if possible, I'd like to avoid an early morning entry the following morning. Since we do have hopper tickets, we can do another park the morning of the Christmas party and go to the Magic Kingdom when the party starts.

Since we're staying on site, we would like to take advantage of as many early entry days as possible,

We're only going to do one ADR, The Tusker House character meal at Animal Kingdom. From what I've read, a reservation around 11:00 am is good because we can hit breakfast, while they are changing to lunch.

Also, I know that from the Beach Club, we have a very short walk to Epcot, and a longer walk and/or boat ride to Hollywood Studios. Is the bus the only and/or best way to get to AK, Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney? And when we leave those places to get back to the Beach Club, do we need to wait for that bus only or can we take a different bus, with a short walk back to the hotel.

I realize this is a lot, but if anyone has any suggestions or information, it will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Kim

 

[sharonabe]

My advice is to look at the explanations each planning site gives you and choose which one fits you best. For us, it's easywdw, but you may resonate more with the math of Touringplans or the ideas behind Undercover. Once you choose which style you like best, stick with that website's recommendations. Be sure to read what their recommendations mean.

Your desire to use early EMH when offered means you'll need to do a little finagling with their recommendations. Go to the park with early EMH, then hop before or after lunch to the most recommended park for the rest of the day. The day after you do MVMCP, plan to sleep in and make your FP+ selections for later in the day at your park of choice. For that matter, I would probably make all my FP+ selections for the second park, but you may need to do them earlier for EP.

If possible, make one of your MK days on another party day. MK will be relatively less crowded on those days since people without hoppers don't want to waste a day with shorter hours.

As for the bus situation, you could take any of the EP resort buses that happen to come along first and then walk to the Beach Club.

 

[Disney Kidd]

A bus is the only way to get to MK, DD, and AK from the BC. However, if you're at Epcot, you can take a monorail from Epcot to the MK (you just have to transfer at the transportation and ticket center).

 

[soniam]

I am not sure if the crowd calendars on Touring Plans.com are accessible without an account. You can try the WDW site to see which days have EMH (extra magic hours). Keep in mind EMH days and park hours can change, especially as far out as December. Touring Plans tends to recommend EMH; we usually do the morning ones. Other sites, like Easy WDW, tend to discourage it. If you are going to do a morning EMH, you must get there before park opening; otherwise, it defeats the purpose.

 

[mgentry210]

If you are anything like me as a major planner, you just need to get organized. I have a spreadsheet (happy to email it to you, jus pm me). I use both josh and touring plans. Pick the best combo of the days and select my park days. I think you will find with both that extra hours will always conflict with their recommended parks. After I've got the parks, then I book the dining to correspond. After that it's just waiting for your fast pass window and creating a touring plan. That's the fun part!

 

[kbvancouver]

Thank you for all your suggestions. I am going to join Touring Plans to see what their crowd calendar and touring recommendations say.

I appreciate your offer to send me a copy of your spreadsheet. I have pm'd you my email address. If you could send it to me, I would love to use it. I'm hoping if I get organized, it will make the planning portion of our trip a little easier.

Thank you!
Kim

 

[Baklava]

Thank you for all your suggestions. I am going to join Touring Plans to see what their crowd calendar and touring recommendations say.

I appreciate your offer to send me a copy of your spreadsheet. I have pm'd you my email address. If you could send it to me, I would love to use it. I'm hoping if I get organized, it will make the planning portion of our trip a little easier.

Thank you!
Kim

Are you finding Touringplans to be worth the cost? We're taking our first WDW trip and I'm considering whether to buy it.

 

[maryandtyson]

I think the PP is correct. Your desire to use EMH. At odds with the crowd calendars. They usually advise AGAINST the park with EMHs. However, if you are willing to hop, you can visit morning EMH and then hop to the most recommended park. The children may not tolerate all that shifting around. So, decide what's more important to you: low crowds or an extra hour at a park.