Maybe...planning a short trip in 2023 with the Happily Ever After news - need advice for a three day trip

[notatallmagic]

We've been taking a Disney break - former out of state Annual Passholders missing what used to be. But we just heard the news on the return of Happily Ever After in 2023 (our absolute favorite). and we also had a family friend who "gifted" us 2 day Park Hopper tickets that need to be used (I think) by August. I am thinking of scheduling a three day trip (2 park days and a resort/Disney Springs day).

I have two teenagers with school and activities, so scheduling is tricky. We could do late December, but I don't think HEA will be back yet. Spring Breaks are at different times, so I was thinking late May for a long weekend? Or maybe early June? We've gone often in July and it's just wicked hot.

We've never used Park Hopper tickets, so I was also thinking of going to a Park that opened early, and ending with one that closed late (so Animal Kingdom to Magic; then Hollywood to Epcot) - does that make sense? Are we still only allowed to hop after 2pm?

Are we likely to find resort discounts for May or early June? When might we start looking for those?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[farfaraway]

Discounts seem to be all over the place. If you're going in May/June, keep an eye out starting in December. We went in mid May and it was close to 100 almost every day. We carried water and went into AC building to get out of the hear. We also went back to hotel for a noon break (of course we were there for 5 days).

 

[notatallmagic]

Discounts seem to be all over the place. If you're going in May/June, keep an eye out starting in December. We went in mid May and it was close to 100 almost every day. We carried water and went into AC building to get out of the hear. We also went back to hotel for a noon break (of course we were there for 5 days).

Thank you! We have gone several times in June and July and it's very warm...lol. Even if May is comparable that would be ok; just hoping for slightly lower crowd levels.

 

[lyric_rains]

We've been taking a Disney break - former out of state Annual Passholders missing what used to be. But we just heard the news on the return of Happily Ever After in 2023 (our absolute favorite). and we also had a family friend who "gifted" us 2 day Park Hopper tickets that need to be used (I think) by August. I am thinking of scheduling a three day trip (2 park days and a resort/Disney Springs day).

I have two teenagers with school and activities, so scheduling is tricky. We could do late December, but I don't think HEA will be back yet. Spring Breaks are at different times, so I was thinking late May for a long weekend? Or maybe early June? We've gone often in July and it's just wicked hot.

We've never used Park Hopper tickets, so I was also thinking of going to a Park that opened early, and ending with one that closed late (so Animal Kingdom to Magic; then Hollywood to Epcot) - does that make sense? Are we still only allowed to hop after 2pm?

Are we likely to find resort discounts for May or early June? When might we start looking for those?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Wondering how early the park hours are posted for 2023. It seems that knowing which park will have early or late hours would impact when to book.

 

[notatallmagic]

Wondering how early the park hours are posted for 2023. It seems that knowing which park will have early or late hours would impact when to book.

Absolutely! Also our decision on where to stay - for a short trip, it might be worth the extra night hours. Great idea and thought - thank you!

 

[EmilyGahr]

As of right now, you are correct that you can't park hop until 2pm.

Does the Tron opening impact your decisions at all? If so, the later the better next year as we were only given "spring 2023" - who knows what that means.

 

[notatallmagic]

As of right now, you are correct that you can't park hop until 2pm.

Does the Tron opening impact your decisions at all? If so, the later the better next year as we were only given "spring 2023" - who knows what that means.

I was thinking the same - we are actually very excited about Moana - so that opening date, and the return of Happily Ever After are our two "must haves". Actually, I'm not quite sure Tron will EVER open , so I'd just be excited if they start running the train again!

 

[aronny]

We just did a short trip like this, but with a young child so our night hours were extremely limited. For us because we didn’t have a lot of time we prioritized purchasing and making the most of Genie+. We also decided to just do 3 parks and cut AK because of its location compared to everything else and where we were staying, but I don’t think that is necessary in your circumstances. My biggest advice would be to have a good sense of your priorities and what you can be flexible on. I felt a lot of pressure to make the most of our time but once I had a good understanding of how to make our priorities happen w/o too much of a wait (combo of rope dropping and Genie+) it was much more relaxing.

 

[EmilyGahr]

I was thinking the same - we are actually very excited about Moana - so that opening date, and the return of Happily Ever After are our two "must haves". Actually, I'm not quite sure Tron will EVER open , so I'd just be excited if they start running the train again!

Moana is "late 2023" - so anytime over the summer is very unlikely unfortunately!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

So we live within driving distance and often, many of our trips are pretty short. May will definitely be better crowd wise except maybe around Memorial day weekend. We've gone before Memorial day and right after and I never find crowds those weeks to be that bad since most states kids are still in school.

I'd just keep your eyes peeled for discounts, subscribe to a few disney bloggers that update when discounts come out. I find disney tourist blog is pretty efficient with notifications on this subject, but of course, they update on other news too which may not be of interest to you. I'm not a hopper fan especially with the Genie plus so if you've not hopped and not used G+ before, it will throw you a little bit of a curve ball. Yes, hopping is still after 2pm. If you go that route and do want to use G+, be sure you've studied it before your trip and understand the current rules for G+, which do change fairly often.

If you decide not to hop, I would just prioritize what you'd like to do in each park and maybe skip that park that doesn't offer you all much. Even with SW in DHS, it's still a half day park for our family, as is AK. We love both of these parks but we can't ever spend a whole day there even if we lallygag.

I would also pick my parks based on hours and if there will be any extended eve hours. I know DHS announced they'll have some next year but don't think they go into summer time just yet. We like the EEH at Epcot and MK and when they're offered, we plan our trips and resort around that benefit. However, hours are usually announced less than 3 months out so that can put a damper on your park reservations some as we usually switch up our days the closer we get to our trips.

 

[notatallmagic]

Moana is "late 2023" - so anytime over the summer is very unlikely unfortunately!

OH no! I had heard 2023 and had hoped for by summer!!! So maybe 2025...lol.

 

[notatallmagic]

So we live within driving distance and often, many of our trips are pretty short. May will definitely be better crowd wise except maybe around Memorial day weekend. We've gone before Memorial day and right after and I never find crowds those weeks to be that bad since most states kids are still in school.

I'd just keep your eyes peeled for discounts, subscribe to a few disney bloggers that update when discounts come out. I find disney tourist blog is pretty efficient with notifications on this subject, but of course, they update on other news too which may not be of interest to you. I'm not a hopper fan especially with the Genie plus so if you've not hopped and not used G+ before, it will throw you a little bit of a curve ball. Yes, hopping is still after 2pm. If you go that route and do want to use G+, be sure you've studied it before your trip and understand the current rules for G+, which do change fairly often.

If you decide not to hop, I would just prioritize what you'd like to do in each park and maybe skip that park that doesn't offer you all much. Even with SW in DHS, it's still a half day park for our family, as is AK. We love both of these parks but we can't ever spend a whole day there even if we lallygag.

I would also pick my parks based on hours and if there will be any extended eve hours. I know DHS announced they'll have some next year but don't think they go into summer time just yet. We like the EEH at Epcot and MK and when they're offered, we plan our trips and resort around that benefit. However, hours are usually announced less than 3 months out so that can put a damper on your park reservations some as we usually switch up our days the closer we get to our trips.

Great ideas! I agree with both Hollywood and Animal being less than a full day park; but both are my son's favorites, so we can't really skip either and maintain peace in the family

I was hoping for late hours and either/or Magic and Epcot, so start at Hollywood one day and hop to Epcot (proximity); then start at Animal the other day and hop to Magic. I also wish park hours came out sooner, but we're out of state, so will also be looking at airfare and flight times...

This is so helpful! Thank you!

 

[notatallmagic]

Update - we have cheap flights and just book rooms! First week of June, so HOPING for Happily Ever After and maybe Tron? I also looks like the Magic Kingdom Railroad is back, so that's wonderful!

We were fortunate to book a split stay between Pop (for our Epcot/Hollywood day) and Wilderness Lodge for our Magic Kingdom/relaxing days at a decent discount. Here's hoping for a good experience again!