May trip plan - looking for input and wondering if park hours will change

[ewasilau]

Our 60 day FP+ booking day is coming up and so I've been trying to come up with a good park plan with my family (we are 2 adults, 3 kids ages 14, 12 and 10, and have PH, staying at Yacht Club). Here's what we are thinking below, but since it's been 5 years since we've been to WDW and we haven't used FP+ before, I'm curious about whether I'm making any strategic errors here. (I know making plans like this can be personal preference, but maybe there's just something I haven't thought of ...)

Also - will park hours change for non-peak periods such as early/mid May? Right now, the parks are open from 9 - 9/9:30 while we are there, with only morning EMH. Will that change? It could effect our FP+ plans (and then ADRs) ...

Proposed plan so we can book FP+ in a few days...

Wed. May 9 (arriving at MCO at 9:53 am) - walk to HS after arrival, planning afternoon FP+ at HS
Thurs. May 10 - AK (RD, FP+ at AK for late morning/early afternoon) - planning to spend bulk of day at AK
Fri. May 11 - MK (morning EMH starting at 8:00, arriving by 7:30) - is doing EMH a bad idea? planning FP+ at MK for late morning/early afternoon at latest, then break or park hop in afternoon
Sat. May 12 - sleep in, character breakfast at 9 or later. Epcot in afternoon with pm FP+, hop in evening if crowded
Sun May 13 - RD whichever park we want to (likely EP, depending on how Sat pm goes, or HS except then we have to go at 8:00 for EMH, or could do MK), then planning to hop to AK and have afternoon FP+ at AK
Mon May 14 - RD MK, FP+ for mid-late morning, likely hop to EP or HS for lunch or a ride or two and to be close to resort (it's departure day, but flight not til 9:15 pm)

We are leaving our evenings pretty flexible, with some ADRs, but most are earlier (late lunch or early dinner), hoping to take advantage of being close to 2 parks in evening.

Should we reverse the FP+ on Thurs/Fri of our trip to avoid EMH? Or since AK seems to be the busiest park lately, should we stick to having that on a Thurs since it will likely be our least crowded day? (And we have Sanaa booked at 5:10 pm on Thurs, though maybe could move).

Thanks for any input!!

 

[AngiTN]

I can only address that yes, there is a greater than 90% chance the park hours will change.

 

[ewasilau]

How do they typically change? Will the EMH change - either which park or from morning to evening? Or will park hours just get longer or shorter? Have never planned FP+ before so not sure how to take potentially changing hours into account....

 

[AngiTN]

How do they typically change? Will the EMH change - either which park or from morning to evening? Or will park hours just get longer or shorter? Have never planned FP+ before so not sure how to take potentially changing hours into account....

All of the above in bold are possible. EMH changes happen but not as often. You can pretty much count on park hours being extended. It's really rare for them to be reduced
Bottom line, consider the schedule written in pencil.
Your target for schedule changing are about a month out but they do still extend hours right up till that day

 

[unrequited23]

We went last May (6-14) , EMH did not change, but the parks stayed open later than originally scheduled on Fridays and Saturdays. I believe the change happened around 3 weeks before we were arriving. I was a bit obsessed since we had a PPO BOG ADR that I would have canceled if the opening time shifted. No clue what will happen this year, but that is how it went last year.

 

[NJ Goofy]

Usually, the revisions are just extensions of the hours, but not always. I've planned around EMH's only to have them change two or three weeks before our trip. It's a little frustrating that Disney asks all of us to plan months in advance, but they make changes weeks or even days before a specific date. We usually just go with the flow and just make minor changes to our plans.

 

[whiporee]

Plan for what's published with the understanding that if hours change, they'll be expanded instead of reduced. While anything can happen, I've not head to more than one or two anecdotes about hours being reduced after they were published.

That said, be careful of making plans based on an expected/hoped for advantage -- ie, a BOG PPO reservation. If you want to do the meal, great, but don't bank on it giving you an line advantage. It might, but WDW's more than willing to extend hours when they feel the need. I don't know of many times where EMH have changed after they've been published, but that would happen a lot more often than actual park hours being reduced.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

The hours will likely change, but they will probably be open later. They're not going to go from like a 9pm close to 7pm unless something major happens. I can't ever think of a time I actually experienced that happening, whereas nearly every trip I've taken the past 5 years or so has had extended park hours. In October of last year they extended the hours twice, about a month or two out and then again a couple weeks out. I've even heard of them extending hours of the day of. If that happens just go with the flow!

 

[disneylover102]

Whenever we’ve gone, they extended the park hours about a month ahead of time. I would use EMH especially if you have a park hopper- the park can be extra crowded because of EMH but the EMH themselves are pretty nice. Sounds like a pretty good plan.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We’ve been in early May the last two years and AK and DHS extended by about an hour but that was it. It’s probably more likely that parks will stay open later than it is that parks will open earlier.

 

[Surgie2]

We are going early May this year and I looked at last year's May hours as a guide. Not that it means a repeat for 2018. http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hours/may17.cfm

But I did notice they had opening hours (not EMH) at MK on Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th. Saturday was open until 11:00 pm. So far those hours are still listed as a 9:00 open and close on May 5 and 6. So we'll see...

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We are going early May this year and I looked at last year's May hours as a guide. Not that it means a repeat for 2018. http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hours/may17.cfm

But I did notice they had opening hours (not EMH) at MK on Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th. Saturday was open until 11:00 pm. So far those hours are still listed as a 9:00 open and close on May 5 and 6. So we'll see...

Interesting. I know that's not right for May 6th. I know MK opened at 9 because we RDed and were right up front and headed toward 7DMT and we did not do any 8 am days. I think they have that confused with EMM. I'm pretty sure that was an EMM morning.

I can't speak to Sun the 7th though. That could have been an earlier open.

 

[vicb]

We went last May (6-14) , EMH did not change, but the parks stayed open later than originally scheduled on Fridays and Saturdays. I believe the change happened around 3 weeks before we were arriving. I was a bit obsessed since we had a PPO BOG ADR that I would have canceled if the opening time shifted. No clue what will happen this year, but that is how it went last year.

I have hoppers and my "kids" are young adults now so we would be thrilled with later hours. Does anyone know if HS or AK might extend closing hours or just MK?

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I have hoppers and my "kids" are young adults now so we would be thrilled with later hours. Does anyone know if HS or AK might extend closing hours or just MK?

I’ve seen both DHS and AK extend hours by an hour or so. It’s definitely a possibility.

 

[vicb]

I would love to see MK extend hours then we could hop over there after HS or AK if we wanted. Or if AK extended hours perhaps they would add a second ROL show. I am all planned for the hours as posted so any changes will be bonus. Mostly I am so relieved that there is not EMM at MK on my Sunday in May!

 

[exnihilio13]

The

Our 60 day FP+ booking day is coming up and so I've been trying to come up with a good park plan with my family (we are 2 adults, 3 kids ages 14, 12 and 10, and have PH, staying at Yacht Club). Here's what we are thinking below, but since it's been 5 years since we've been to WDW and we haven't used FP+ before, I'm curious about whether I'm making any strategic errors here. (I know making plans like this can be personal preference, but maybe there's just something I haven't thought of ...)

Also - will park hours change for non-peak periods such as early/mid May? Right now, the parks are open from 9 - 9/9:30 while we are there, with only morning EMH. Will that change? It could effect our FP+ plans (and then ADRs) ...

Proposed plan so we can book FP+ in a few days...

Wed. May 9 (arriving at MCO at 9:53 am) - walk to HS after arrival, planning afternoon FP+ at HS
Thurs. May 10 - AK (RD, FP+ at AK for late morning/early afternoon) - planning to spend bulk of day at AK
Fri. May 11 - MK (morning EMH starting at 8:00, arriving by 7:30) - is doing EMH a bad idea? planning FP+ at MK for late morning/early afternoon at latest, then break or park hop in afternoon
Sat. May 12 - sleep in, character breakfast at 9 or later. Epcot in afternoon with pm FP+, hop in evening if crowded
Sun May 13 - RD whichever park we want to (likely EP, depending on how Sat pm goes, or HS except then we have to go at 8:00 for EMH, or could do MK), then planning to hop to AK and have afternoon FP+ at AK
Mon May 14 - RD MK, FP+ for mid-late morning, likely hop to EP or HS for lunch or a ride or two and to be close to resort (it's departure day, but flight not til 9:15 pm)

We are leaving our evenings pretty flexible, with some ADRs, but most are earlier (late lunch or early dinner), hoping to take advantage of being close to 2 parks in evening.

Should we reverse the FP+ on Thurs/Fri of our trip to avoid EMH? Or since AK seems to be the busiest park lately, should we stick to having that on a Thurs since it will likely be our least crowded day? (And we have Sanaa booked at 5:10 pm on Thurs, though maybe could move).

Thanks for any input!!

One piece of advise, since we were first time fastpass+ users last year, that we'll be changing this time around in May:
One you use all 3 of our fastpasses for a particular park then you can book single fastpasses on he fly as well as at ANY park (since you mentioned the possibility of park hopping).
But again..only after you've used the first THREE.

We made the mistake of booking 2 per morning and then another after lunch but we couldn't book any others until that afternoon one was completed. Of course the exception maybe being something like Magic Kingdom where the afternoon may be the only time you can get on certain rides like Peter Pan or Seven Dwarves. There's lots of good Fastpass+ sites out there to let you know which ones should be locked in ahead of time.

So optimally you try and book 2-3 fastpasses for morning (or late afternoon if there's not enough of interest). As soon as you've used the 3rd pass (like we're talking the moment you magicband at the ride entrance) you can then book a new fastpass+ using the phone app in the same park or in another park you plan to hop to.
Then once you've used THAT 4th fastpass+ you can immediately book another fastpass+, etc. And if you plan on closing out with a sit down fireworks/stage show then it can be a good final fastpass+ to use for the day to get better seating if you wish.
But if you booked something like Fantasmic with a fastpass in the evening before your trip then you will only have 2 other fastpasses for the entire rest of the day.

And having fastpasses for rides is frickin' amazing. It almost feels like you're cheating when you're walking by hundreds of people waiting in line in the heat and you basically get to walk right on. It's an amazing feature and can really make a huge difference in energy level and mood for the day.