How would I go about planning one day to see both parks?

[leeserw]

Obviously I'll miss alot of stuff. We only have one day and thought we'd have 12 hours of fun, seeing what we can. Question is - which park should we go to first? I was thinking get there early, use fast passes and spend 1/2 day in each park. We are a family of 5. We have 3 boys and they all love thrill rides. Which park should we start at? Which park should we stay at the longest or should we divide the day equally in half? I know its crazy but 1/2 day in each park is better than none at all. Thanks!

 

[figment_jii]

I think it depends a lot on which day you are going (i.e., which park has EMH) and which attractions are on your "must do" list. The general advice is to start the day in the park that is not having EMH/MM, but it also depends on what attractions you really want to do. For example, when DL has EMH/MM, only FL and TL are open, so it doesn't really impact Indy or BTMRR. On the other hand, if DCA is having EMH, then it impacts RSR and TSMM a lot. So, it helps to know which day you are going and which rides you really want to do.

 

[ludari]

I'm a local so I visit all the time and try to be efficient as possible. To do that I make sure I go as early as possible and if you purchase park-hopper tickets you can get in an hour early so that should help. I also tend to start with DCA first then head over to DLR but I don't get the MM. When the parade starts at DLR I jump back over to DCA and vice versa. I also use an app to check the wait times for rides and that helps as well. Enjoy your trip.

 

[figment_jii]

I'm a local so I visit all the time and try to be efficient as possible. To do that I make sure I go as early as possible and if you purchase park-hopper tickets you can get in an hour early so that should help.

If the OP is staying on-site, then they'll be eligible for Extra Magic Hour. However, only certain three-day or longer tickets give guests access to Magic Morning (MM) in DL. The OP indicated they're only going for one day, so I don't think they're going to have purchased three-day tickets.

 

[l4dyj8]

Agree with the above it may depend on what day of the week and what time of the year you are going.

DCA is good to hit first just for RSR face passes. And I'm sure the frozen stuff may not matter for your family. But other than that, we prefer to end at DCA because of the crowds. The afternoons on Main Street at DL can get pretty crowded with parades. (Ie hard to get out)

Overall, it's very easy to do both parks in one day if you skip shows and parades. It's easy to just go back and forth (if you can avoid parade times.)