Itinerary dilemma

[mickeymom629]

I'm rying to come up with a good itinerary for my group for our December trip. One person has a 3 day ticket and is missing HS. Some have 4 days to do each park once. Grandkids (9,9,6), DH, one of the moms and I have 5 days. Without going into all the details, I'm curious if you would choose the itinerary with "lower" crowds and miss MK night parade and fireworks but see E fireworks and F! or choose the one that will be more crowded but see all night shows. I'm inclined to go with the lower crowds option because we went 2 years ago and hope to go in another 2 or 3 years with everyone. Also, I'm hoping not to have to buy LL or $LL. The other thing good about Plan 2, besides seeing all the night shows, is that we don't have to wake up Thurs and Fri too early.

Plan 1
Tues - ee MK on a party day
Wed - ee AK
Thurs - ee E and stay for fireworks
Fri - sleep in and go to MK midday on a party day or E midday (just me, grandkids and one mom)
Sat - ee HS F! dining package - leave after F! (Jollywood party that we won't have tickets for)

Plan 2
Tues - ee AK
Wed - ee MK and stay all day for parade and fireworks (maybe buy LL)
Thurs - midday to E and stay for fireworks (maybe buy LL)
Fri - sleep in and go to MK midday on a party day or E midday (just me, grandkids and one mom)
Sat - ee HS F! dining package - leave after F! (Jollywood party that we won't have tickets for)

 

[gottalovepluto]

I don’t think MK fireworks and the new night parade are worth buying LL and dealing with bigger crowds for but are the other adults ok with missing the MK fireworks? For some it is the quintessential moment of a Disney vacation.

 

[juxtapose]

I love MK fireworks, but I agree I'd rather have a long day of lower waits than the fireworks. Especially because the fireworks on non-party days are uncomfortably packed. A few years ago, we did a MK party day and non-party day back-to-back and the crowd difference was significant. We only came for the afternoon/evening on the non-party day to see fireworks and do a few rides and wished we'd gone somewhere else.

 

[NickC]

Personally I love the fireworks at WDW---because the rides are less crowded during the fireworks.
I think avoiding crowds is more beneficial, but I guess it depends on how badly you want to see the show.

 

[mickeymom629]

Thanks for the replies! I prefer the plan missing the MK fireworks, also, because I think it will be less stressful.
I'm going to suggest that, for those who want to catch the MK fireworks, we can maybe try to watch them from somewhere outside of the MK after Fantasmic! on Saturday, the night before we leave.