How do you decide which parks to do on which days?

[ChrisAlli]

Tour Guide Mike-----Don't leave home without him!!

His best days alone are worth the money!!!!

 

[Sorsha]

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/common/helpFAQ?id=HelpFAQOtherPage
From the Disney website:
During regular attendance periods the Theme Parks tend to be the busiest on the following days:
Magic Kingdom® Park: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday
Epcot®: Tuesday and Friday
Disney-MGM Studios: Sunday and Wednesday
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

This info contradicts a PP on a few of the park days though. I am also interested in scheduling least busy parks during July trip to minimize as much stress as possible. We will hit MK our arrival day regardless of attendance #s because I know kids will not be able to handle not doing so.

I dunno - a few of the days are different, but the info I posted seems to correspond with at least one of the days for each park. As I stated, I got my info from the Unofficial Guide, I believe *they* got their info by conducting a survey of readers. I think i would go with the above info as being more reliable though, my guess would be that Disney knows their own parks.
YMMV!

 

[SLDL]

But doesn't it just *kill you* not to see the castle first? Wait....I bet you're one of those people who licks their ice cream cones and sucks on suckers instead of taking big impatient bites. Sorry.....this whole disney world thing is making me a little . LOL!

Yeah, it is hard to not see the castle first thing, but if I only have one day in the MK, I want to spend all day there! Now, if you are planning on going there more than once, you could go in the afternoon when you arrive & then go again the next day giving you more time to see everything.

 

[kangareaux]

You guys are great! Thanks!

One more question....although it might should be a question all on it's own.... Do they still do the Electrical Water Pageant?

 

[CampbellScot]

we always do our parks in the same order cuz that's how we like it!

Arrival day-Downtown Disney for Lunch and then MK for the evening.
1rst full day-MK
2nd day-Epcot
3rd day-Animal Kingdom/typhoon lagoon
4th day-MGM/Blizzard beach

After that, depending on how many more days we have, we usually do one park in the day and a different one in the evenings. We usually throw in a "resort rest day" with some DTD thrown in. We try to make it back MK for Wishes each night. It's our all time favorite thing at Disneyworld. We love us some Wishes!

We always end our vacation with Magic Kingdom b/c it's our favorite park! I plan my ADR's around our park schedule.

 

[GoinToDisney]

Tour Guide Mike!!!!! By the way, TGM is about as ANTI-commando as you can get. He just lets you know how to do it without all the stress of crowds lines and wearing yourself out. The forums over there are so helpful and people will look at your planning and give you great feedback. My dh is the skeptical type, and tells everyone about TGM after our last trip. We don't even follow what he says to a tee, and it is soooo worth it!

 

[beattyfamily]

You guys are great! Thanks!

One more question....although it might should be a question all on it's own.... Do they still do the Electrical Water Pageant?

Yes, they still do it, weather permitting.

Although the pageant generally follows the schedule below, check with the Guest Services Desk at your Magic Kingdom Resort for times during your stay. Inclement weather can cause cancellation of the pageant.

Polynesian Resort -- 9 p.m.
Grand Floridian -- 9:15 p.m.
Wilderness Lodge -- 9:35 p.m.
Fort Wilderness -- 9:45 p.m.
Contemporary Resort -- 10:05 p.m.
Magic Kingdom -- 10:20 p.m. (only during extended MK park
hours)

Note that when the Magic Kingdom Fireworks are scheduled for 9 p.m., the Electrical Water Pageant runs about 7-20 minutes later.

 

[beattyfamily]

The first thing I do is check the park hours and the EMH days. Since you are staying offsite, you should probably avoid EMH mornings and do a different park than the EMH park. I've heard that going to the park that had the EMH the following day is a good idea as it's less crowded.

Then I'd check on when Spectro and Wishes are shown. Looks like you can see Spectro on Sat, Sun and Wed, Nov 14. Wishes should be shown every night.

Since you are going in November, I'd also check and see if MVMCP will be going on on any of my nights and I would definitely do that. It will be held on Nov 12, 15, and 16 so you might want to go to one. You should know what nights the parties are being held at MK so you don't mistakenly plan to go to MK for an evening on those nights thinking they are open late, as the park will close at 7:00p those nights for folks not attending.

You could always book a VERY early ADR at MK at CRT or CP and get in before the park opens and enjoy your meal and get some great Castle photos with no crowds.

Then I'd see which night Fantasmic show at MGM fits into my schedule.

Have fun planning!!

 

[jenn-]

Thanks for posting this. I think the advice is very helpful.

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

subscribing for future reference!

 

[DLBDS]

TGM!

 

[kileybeth]

Oh dear! If I spend one more penny on "planning" this trip my DH is going to flip.
so the dates and attendance level and all that stuff from UG isn't enough info? What does TGM do over and above that? I mean like does he tell you which direction to walk when you enter a park (left works for us) what time to be at rope drop? Which fast pass to get when? And isn't it kind of slow in Sept anyway so not much wait time anyway?

I'm bordering on TMI very quickly here. . .

so far, countless hours on the dis. . .
unofficial guide
passporter
few other fun Disney books/guides for kids
countless more hours on the dis. . .

 

[southcarolina4]

We pan our parks by simply which parks have EMH and when and where we are eating if we have a TS meal in the am or pm....

we do 2 parks a day..one in the morning and one at night(sometimes this is one in the afternoon and one at night....with the understanding if we show up to AK and it is just packed beyond belief then get on the bus and go to another...we made the decision that we would not walk around in misery when there may be a perfectly less crowded park....

But for example we have diner one night at Chef Mickeys...the same night is EMH at MK....so we'll do a park that morning..go back to the resort...leave for MK at 5:30..get our EMH bracelets go to chef mickeys diner at 7:00..then be back to MK for EMH....

I guess its whatever plan works best for you....

 

[Brook1099]

We vacation same time every year Nov. 11 -Nov 18

Nov. 11 MGM Soap Stars Night at MK Spectro and Wishes
Nov 12 MK night pool
Nov 13 Animal Kingdom Night open
Nov 14 Epcot night Fantasmic
Nov 15 MK night open
Nov 16 Pool night Christmas Parade
Nov 17 Open night MK

I usually seem to plan around our dining and like to keep thing open because you never know with two little ones when your going to be hanging out! or going full steam ahead! Have a great trip see ya there! Also depending on fireworks show times and parades.