how to split the day and get around

[hockey mom 94]

2 questions: I want to split the day since we have two young children 4 an 8. When we went a few years back we went to one park for 1/2 the day, returned to the hotel to rest and then back at night to the parks. This time we want to see the 3pm parade at MK and 4pm at MGM and AK but have a hard time figuring out when to leave parks and go back since we are staying off sight ant Marriott World Conv. Any suggestions on how much time to get to and from hotel get an hour or so rest and get back.

Also, I forget how the monorail works for off site visitors. What parks are connected by them if I remember you can't get to and from each park with out driving?

 

[angey77]

Can't help you with the hotel, but you catch the monorail at Ticket and Transportation, basically the parking lot for MK. The only parks connected to it are EPCOT and MK. You can take buses between the parks, but they sometimes take a long time, so your best bet may be driving between the parks.

 

[hockey mom 94]

I often hear people refering to taking the monarail to and from hotels. Is this only for on site guests. If we had time some day I would like to check out on site hotels. Would love to stay on site someday but DH gets free Marriott stays so we ar kind of crazy not to use it.

 

[susy]

We still haven't figured this one out yet!!!!

IF you stayed onsite, you could utilize EE and do it this way:

be at parks half hour before opening (7:30)-
do all EE attractions
some other attractions
back to resort around 11 or noon (depending on crowds, wait time, how much you got done)

swim/nap
head back to parks around 2 or 3 (depending on the start time for that parade)



think it 's a lot of running around just to see a parade. We usually skip these and just enjoy the night time parades and activities.
Remember... the kids won't be little forever and will eventually see all of WDW!

 

[susy]

Another plan that would probably work well in the off season-

head to the parks late (around lunch time) . Have a nice lunch and do what you can before the parade. See the parade and do whatever attractions you can while the heavy crowds are heading out. You can do quite a bit in the evenings. This would not work in summer-unless you want to suffocate to death!

I do not suggest the obvious- arrive early and stay at the parks all day. The kids will be so tired and cranky, they won't care about a parade! We did this my son't first time at MK- he fell asleep in the stroller before the parade. He hadn't taken a nap in a year!

 

[jessiesue]

That is hard to do. We never made it back for the parades. Now we do something different. If we go when park opens, then we leave around 2 or 3 and stay at our room for the rest of the day. We nap, eat, swim, etc. We go late some days around 1. Put the kids down for an early nap. After a couple of days there they are ready for an early nap. Those are the days we see the parades. We have AP and go for 7 nights so we don't have to make every hour count. We find it to be more relaxing for us. On the days you leave early you could always go back later to Epcot if the other parks are closed. Just some suggestions. I hope they help.

 

[Steffi]

I often hear people refering to taking the monarail to and from hotels. Is this only for on site guests. If we had time some day I would like to check out on site hotels. Would love to stay on site someday but DH gets free Marriott stays so we ar kind of crazy not to use it.

The monorail resorts are the Contemporary, The Grand Floridian, and the Polynesian.

You don't have to be an on-site guest to visit the on-site resorts.

Maybe instead of heading back to your resort for a rest from the parks, you could have a nice sit-down lunch at one of the WDW resort restaurants. That would be a great time to check out the resorts...and start planning for your next trip.

 

[tjkraz]

I think susy is on the right track. Early to the parks--return to hotel around noon--back to the park about an hour before the parade begins. You'll see quite a few people leaving the parks after the parades, which should give you shorter wait times through dinnertime.

I'll also agree that you should be open to forgetting the parades if your kids really aren't responding to them. If you're visiting when park hours are short, you may want that parade time back. Even in non-peak times, you need to start lining up at least 30 minutes before the parade. Unless you're right at the start of the route, you're losing 60-90 minutes of your day for the parade. As expected, lines are also short when immediately before and during a parade.

From my POV, the current Animal Kingdom parade isn't bad, but the MK parade was a real bore. The snowglobes are a cute idea, but they seem to really isolate the characters.

Our son really liked the Tapestry of Dreams at EPCOT, and fortunately it's much later in the evening so it won't disrupt your schedule so much.