How do I find out which park to go to which day for upcoming trip?????

[jason586]

We are going to WDW Feb 07-14 (8 days) and plan on going to each of the four parks for 2 days.

Is there a place/link/site/DIS thread I should look at to know which parks to go to which days for lesser crowds that does not cost extra money? I read here at DIS that Tour Guide Mike's or touringplans.com seems to be a good place to choose which park for which day, but I was hoping there was a good way to find out this info without spending more money.

I read a few threads that said most that type info can be found here on DIS, but I am having a hard time finding it. What search words should I be using????

Also, is there a good thread that tells you when to ride which attractions/rides for the shortest lines, etc???


I don't mind doing the searches or spending the time looking and reading, but I must be using the wrong words or searches......

 

[CaFeeney]

www.easywdw.com

 

[jason586]

Thank you!

Our shuttle from the hotel has us getting to Disney by 10:00am and leaving at 7:00pm. Based on that, I looked over the easywdw site suggested above and put together this:

Feb 07 - HS
Feb 08 - EPCOT (HAVE TO GO to Epcot for YES Program)
Feb 09 - HS
Feb 10 - MK
Feb 11 - AK (closes at 8pm instead of 6pm)
Feb 12 - AK (closes at 8pm instead of 6pm)
Feb 13 - EPCOT
Feb 14 - MK


Does this look good to the experts out there???
Anything I should change???

 

[AshleeH]

I have no idea about the itinerary or February hours, but just wanted to point out that Animal Kingdom evening hours aren't worth it if you're wanting to see the animals (they tend to go to bed early - most places say feeding time is around 5:00 so they disappear from view for that). However, if you were wanting to go on Expedition Everest a few more times, that might be a good plan .

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Personally, our least favorite park is Animal Kingdom. In an eleven day trip we only go one time. We get very hot at that park and my mother and I have nearly killed each other twice there due to heat! See my pre-trip title in my signature? Yeah......Anyway, we would absolutely NEVER do it two days in a row. To each their own, and some people love Animal Kingdom. We like it, we just have enough of it after one day. This is what I like to do b/c we use the dining plan...I leave 1-2 days as "Open Schedule" days with no reservations on them. That way if we decide we want to go to say Mk for an extra day, we can. You could do the same with any of the parks b/c once you visit them you will know which ones you want to spend more time in. I wasn't a huge fan of MK until our last trip when we did extra magic hours there. Now I LOVE it! It has become my favorite park. Some people don't care for HS though, and we love it. So...if you aren't doing the dining plan, which it seems like you are offsite, so you won't have it, then you can make a tentative schedule and then change it on any given day if you would like. If you love AK, do it twice! That is up to you. It's just us onsite lovers of the dining plan that have to sort of stick to a plan except on days without reservations. Have fun!

 

[jason586]

AK was also our least favorite park when we went in 2010, but since we have 4 younger children it takes a little longer to do the parks (ages - 1, 2.5, 4, 6).
I just got off the phone with the shuttle service for the hotel, and the pick up at Disney TTC is 8:00pm, not 7:00pm. So, if we end up doing AK for 2 days, we definitely need to do AK on only those 2 days. Otherwise, we will be sitting and waiting for the shuttle for well over an hour by the time we would get back to the TTC if we go to AK on a 6:00pm closing day.

Our kids loved MK and HS the most in 2010 when the oldest were 2.5 and 4. Last time we did 10 days with 3 days at MK, 3 days at HS, 2 days at Epcot, and 2 days at AK.

 

[k3chantal]

Do you have a smart phone? There are apps for ride wait times for all of the parks and they tend to be reasonably accurate and are also free to download.

I always go on the actual Disney World website and look up the extra magic hours and follow that schedule, however, it doesn't sound like you are staying onsite.

The only thing I would change is that your first visit to the parks is HS; not exactly the most thrilling, "magical" experience for the younger kids but perhaps 'getting it out of the way' would work.

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

AK was also our least favorite park when we went in 2010, but since we have 4 younger children it takes a little longer to do the parks (ages - 1, 2.5, 4, 6).
I just got off the phone with the shuttle service for the hotel, and the pick up at Disney TTC is 8:00pm, not 7:00pm. So, if we end up doing AK for 2 days, we definitely need to do AK on only those 2 days. Otherwise, we will be sitting and waiting for the shuttle for well over an hour by the time we would get back to the TTC if we go to AK on a 6:00pm closing day.

Our kids loved MK and HS the most in 2010 when the oldest were 2.5 and 4. Last time we did 10 days with 3 days at MK, 3 days at HS, 2 days at Epcot, and 2 days at AK.

Ok. So you have been to the parks then. I looked at your "earning my ears" and post and assumed you had not been to WDW before. You gotta do what you gotta do. I personally find that I can do all of AK in a day even with 5 kids and my niece and nephew, so it really depends on whether you feel like you will want to do it two days in a row. Of course, we don't like the whole Rafiki's planet watch and conservation station section, so we avoid it like the plague. The best part of that section for us was the train ride. If I did it again I wouldn't get off the train. I would just head back to where I came from. We just felt like we could do that at our local zoo and nature centers, so it was sort of hum drum for us. We won't do it again. I guess that may be why we can do the whole park in a day???? To be honest, we've never even spent a whole day there! We do what we need to do and get out. It is best that way b/c I like leaving Disney with my face intact. My mother tries to murder me every time. Maybe I should start a thread about mother melt down at Animal Kingdom and see if anyone can give me pointers on how to avoid her heat mania! Haha! Anyway, I guess you are right about the shuttle issue though. I wouldn't want to wait that long for a shuttle back. I would not handle it well. If you get there and decide that two days is too long for AK, you can always change your park b/c of not having ADR's. Good luck!

 

[MHSweb79]

Depending on how far away you're staying, you might want to look into taking a cab now & then. The shuttles can be very crowded and often stop at more than one hotel which can chew up time. I know it's probably not in your budget, but you may also want to consider renting a car.

Most touring plans recommend arriving at the parks at or before park opening, which will definitely not happen if you're taking a hotel shuttle. These early morning hours are your best chance of hitting the headliners with minimal wait times.

Otherwise, definitely use the crowd calendars at easywdw.com - they are ideal for off-site guests, as they steer you away from parks with Extra Magic Hours (only available to Disney resort guests, which tend to draw larger crowds). You're doing the right thing by getting prepared in advance!

And, finally, since you have a little time- you may want to pick up The Unofficial Guide to Disney, which will give touring plans and also tell you everything you need to know about which attractions to hit when.

Have fun!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I'm going to second that last poster and suggest a taxi here and there. The shuttle service sounds a bit limiting. Here is the mears taxi fare estimater. I know my time on vacation is valuable too. I once let my DH talk me into taking the bus system to seaworld from our room at POR. Yes it was only a couple bucks each but it took over two and a half hours. That was a big chunk of my day wasted. We took a taxi home. Now we sometimes take a taxi.

http://www.mearstransportation.com/services/taxi-fare-estimator.asp

Or maybe since you mentioned the shuttle picks you up at 7pm at the TTC you could perhaps spend the morning at AK and then the afternoon at Downtown Disney or even visiting a resort like the AK resort before returning to the TTC? We like the AK park too but I don't think we could find enough to do for two full days in a row.