Magic Kingdom/Animal kingdom days?

[AZMermaid]

We are going to be in the World the first week of June. I just can't decide how to plan our MK/AK days between Friday 6/9 and Sat 6/10. Kids are 5 and 6. These are days 9 and 10 of our vacation. We fly home 6/11. We are on site with no hoppers. On the MK day... we will likely leave after dinner. On the AK day, we will take a mid day break and return for ROL. Both days we will rope drop.

Option 1 (as planned now)
Fri 6/9 MK (3rd MK day)
Sat 6/10 AK (1st full day at Ak, also plan to do a half day 6/11 unless crowds are too much, then we'll prob switch to DHS)

These are both the morning EMH park days. So.... we have the extra hour. But... everything I've read says those days get super crowded. But... outlying opinions are if you can get there early enough (we can), they are worth it.

Option 2 switch em
Fri AK
Sat MK

Not EMH parks. MK could open at 8 on Sat anyway? I've also read Saturday's at MK are insane- maybe a wash with an EMH Friday's? Not sure... maybe Friday at AK would be slightly less busy than Saturday with locals coming to see Pandora. Maybe it will all be insane anyway?

What do you think? Go with the EMH park those days... or switch and risk MK on a Sat?

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

What are you doing on Thurs?

Thurs is probably the best day of the week to visit MK. Fri is a good AK day.

Personally, I avoid the EMH parks. I don't think that 1 hour in the park is worth getting up earlier, and then dealing with a busier park the rest of the day (we don't like to PH, just takes too long and too much energy, and too much extra $ for 5 people).

However, with Pandora being newly open then... either:
1. That hour to visit Pandora may make it worth all the extra aggravation
2. 3/4 of resort guests will think option (1) to be the case, making visiting Pandora in that hour a complete nightmare (with only 2 rides for all of them), plus the rest of the day at AK a bigger nightmare

Personally, I would do:
Thurs: MK
Fri: AK
Sat: HS, and end the trip with either Fantasmic or SW fireworks.

 

[AZMermaid]

Thurs is our off/resort swim day. We like to tour two days on, one day off.

We have never done the EMH park but originally thought "hey, kids are early risers, let's try it these two mornings and see what we think." Then the Pandora announcement came.... and is making me reevaluate! It's tricky because it's the third weekend it's open- so I gotta commit via fast passes before any reports start coming in.

My debate is exactly between those two options! I appreciate the feedback!

 

[hiroMYhero]

I'm choosing Option 1 because of EMH. Get to AK well before EMH begins and get 1 Pandora ride completed. Pre-book one of your FPs for the 2nd Pandora ride.

Because it'll be your 3rd MK day of your vacay, keep Modifying FPs up until and during the park day to ride your favored rides.

 

[maryj11]

I would switch them. Friday do AK and Saturday do MK. We always go to MK on Saturdays. I know the crowd calendars say not to but from our experience it has been less crowds than on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We usually go to MK 2 days once on Saturday and then on Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm choosing Option 1 because of EMH. Get to AK well before EMH begins and get 1 Pandora ride completed. Pre-book one of your FPs for the 2nd Pandora ride.

Because it'll be your 3rd MK day of your vacay, keep Modifying FPs up until and during the park day to ride your favored rides.

I agree with this. You will most likely have done all the headliners at MK by then and modifying FPs is easy to do.

 

[Klayfish]

I know my opinion won't be the same as most, but in reading it, I kind of think that you're overthinking it. Yes, I believe in planning, but I think there comes a point where you can overdo it. Sounds like you've got a nice long trip planned, which is awesome. 6/10 is your last day in the parks before you fly home. What do you want to end your trip with? And I don't mean from a crowds, EMH, etc...perspective. What does your heart want to do on your last day at WDW? What will give you that lasting image as you leave? Do whatever that is. Yeah, MK is a bit more crowded on Saturdays, but so what? It's not 4th of July or Christmas, it's not going to be a capacity day.

So this is just my $.02, but do what's best for you and your family. Forget worrying about if park A will have xxx number more people than park B. Just enjoy.

 

[AZMermaid]

I know my opinion won't be the same as most, but in reading it, I kind of think that you're overthinking it. Yes, I believe in planning, but I think there comes a point where you can overdo it. Sounds like you've got a nice long trip planned, which is awesome. 6/10 is your last day in the parks before you fly home. What do you want to end your trip with? And I don't mean from a crowds, EMH, etc...perspective. What does your heart want to do on your last day at WDW? What will give you that lasting image as you leave? Do whatever that is. Yeah, MK is a bit more crowded on Saturdays, but so what? It's not 4th of July or Christmas, it's not going to be a capacity day.

Yes- you are right, I am overthinking it for sure! I like the idea of how do we want to spend our last full day. We are doing the morning of 6/11 at AK before we leave... so that will be our last impression, but I still like the point.

Right now I am leaning towards switching.... mostly because it could be a wash either way... or Saturday could be totally insane at AK. It seems more likely to go "wrong" with AK on Saturday vs our 3rd day at MK being busier. If the days are comparable, nothing was made worse by switching them.

 

[hedge333]

When my girls were those ages, we took advantage of the EMH and then took a break in the middle of the day, then came back at night. I know that many of the gurus say to avoid EMH but we got so much done early with two early risers it was worth it. We also have had the best safaris early in the morning. We also liked the built in break at the end of our trip. There is so much stimulation at WDW that by the end of the trip, we needed a little more down time. I liked that we could ride several rides during EMH, burn a couple of fastpasses, and then rest and come back when it was cooler and less crowded to do more.

 

[Ambehnke]

I would do emh... and I've done both ways because I've stayed off and onsite. I feel like you get the most bang for your buck those morning hours.