Help with planning park days?

[bowling4dis]

Hi! This forum has been so great for planning, but I'm getting a little tripped up on which days to go to which parks. Could anyone offer advice? We are staying at CBR for 5 nights. We'll have 4 full days M-Th and a half day or so Friday, because our flight is at 5:30 and I'm guessing our ME will pick us up at around 2:30. HS is one of our top priorities. Three kids 15,12, 9 are huge Star Wars fans and loved TOT and RnR on our first trip. I'm torn on whether to have 1.5, 2, or 2.5 days at HS. I definitely want to go to MK and AK (MK because it's my fave and AK because we didn't spend much time there last time and haven't done FOP), and I'm feeling a little unsure about whether to include Epcot. I know we'd enjoy it, but it doesn't feel like a must do like the other three. I know park hopper is an option but not really wanting to spend the $ on it. So far, I have

Option A: 2.5 days at HS, Full day at AK, no Epcot
M-HS
T-MK
W-AK
Th-HS
Fr-HS (half day. Easy to get to and from HS w/skyliner, so good for departure day but have to drop Epcot. And maybe 2.5 days at HS is too much?)

Option B: 1.5 Days at HS, Full day at AK, Add Epcot
M-HS
T-MK
W-AK
Th-Epcot (drop second full day at HS. Possibly reduce our chance of ROR)
Fr-HS (easier to get back to CBR for 1/2 day, but reduces our chances to get ROR with just 1.5 days)

Option C: 2 full days at HS, Add Epcot, Reduce AK time
M-HS
T-MK
W-Epcot (switch from full AK day)
Th-HS
Fr-AK (Worried that we'll have to leave early to catch bus back to resort and may miss out on feeling like we got a full AK experience again.)

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated! And if this is the wrong forum, please let me know! Thanks!!

 

[olive]

This is so tricky. I know this isn't one of your listed options, but is there any way to add a park on your arrival day? Adding a day to your ticket is probably cheaper than adding park hoppers, and Epcot typically stays open late. That would let you keep Epcot in your schedule and free up the Epcot day on Option B or C. Epcot is great at night if your schedule allows it, and easy to get to from CBR.

 

[Marthasor]

I'm not sure when you are going or what park hours will be, but if EP changes its hours to open earlier in the day during your trip, I would do 2 DHS, 1 AK, 1 MK, 1/2 day EP on your final day. Otherwise, I would probably do option 1 and then, if you get ROTR on your first day, you could consider switching things around to do EP on day 4 and DHS on your final day. You can always change to a hopper once you are onsite and know what the ROTR situation is and decide you want to go to EP one afternoon.

 

[bowling4dis]

This is so tricky. I know this isn't one of your listed options, but is there any way to add a park on your arrival day? Adding a day to your ticket is probably cheaper than adding park hoppers, and Epcot typically stays open late. That would let you keep Epcot in your schedule and free up the Epcot day on Option B or C. Epcot is great at night if your schedule allows it, and easy to get to from CBR.

That's a great idea, but I should have mentioned that we are going to Universal on Sunday (arrival day). This trip is starting to sound exhausting! Thank you so much for taking the time to look!

 

[bowling4dis]

I'm not sure when you are going or what park hours will be, but if EP changes its hours to open earlier in the day during your trip, I would do 2 DHS, 1 AK, 1 MK, 1/2 day EP on your final day. Otherwise, I would probably do option 1 and then, if you get ROTR on your first day, you could consider switching things around to do EP on day 4 and DHS on your final day. You can always change to a hopper once you are onsite and know what the ROTR situation is and decide you want to go to EP one afternoon.

We are going the last week in May (right before Memorial Day). Right now, the hours for Epcot still start at 11:00. If they do open up early, that would be great for our last day! I do like the idea for Option one and then switching if we can. I'm getting a little worried that parks may book up, so I'm wondering if it would be easy to switch to Epcot on that Thursday if we do option 2. Thank you!

 

[olive]

Universal is wonderful! Our kids love it there (we do, too) - they are huge Harry Potter fans. RotR and Star Wars make it a lot harder these days. I am trying to make the same decision with park hoppers.

I would vote for Option B so you get a few chances at RotR but also plenty of time to enjoy the other parks. Have fun!!

 

[bowling4dis]

Universal is wonderful! Our kids love it there (we do, too) - they are huge Harry Potter fans. RotR and Star Wars make it a lot harder these days. I am trying to make the same decision with park hoppers.

I would vote for Option B so you get a few chances at RotR but also plenty of time to enjoy the other parks. Have fun!!

Thanks! Mine love HP, too! Good luck making your plans!