Need help from experts planning...pleeease

[bigsky]

This will be our first trip to WDW. Been to Disneyland many times since we used to live down there.
We will arrive the night before Thanksgiving. So I'm planning on taking advantage of that night just to do DTD since our passes don't start til the next day on Thanksgiving. We're doing the land/sea pkg, so we only have THurs-Sat at WDW til we go to the ship. Could u guys please help me out here?
THanksgiving- Stay away from MK??
Friday, EE for Ak...
Sat. EE for MGM..

Epcot on Thurs and ?...
So I hear you don't want to spend all day at Epcot. And AK doesn't take all day. Not sure what to do on Thanksgiving. IF we hit Ak early on Friday, suggest what the other part of the day? Sat. early at MGM..then what? That doesn't take all day either does it?
We def. want to do Fantasmic. I know that. We're not booking dinners either. So also knowing we've been to Disneyland so many times, we don't have to spend a whole day at MK..part of a day here or there is fine.

We're also taking our 13 and 15 yr. olds. So don't have to worry about naps. And we'll be on site.

Any suggestions from you experts would be greatly appreciated. If you have any ?'s for me to help you, please ask! We won't be doing any water parks either. I'm at my wits end trying to figure out where to go and when.

Thanks!!
Laura

 

[buckeye]

Hi Bigsky,
I don't know if I can help too much with your scheduling, but I disagree that you wouldn't want to spend a whole day at Epcot or MGM. Both parks have so much to do and see that even one whole day doesn't seem like enough---especially Epcot, in my opinion. The 2 years that we went to AK, we did actually leave after lunch because we'd done everything we wanted to do. I don't know where you are staying, but we loved switching parks a couple times a day. Epcot is wonderful in the evening!

Good luck!

 

[zcomic]

I agree with buckeye, MGM is at least one full day, Epcot two days and even with that you'll just be able to fit in the 'main' attractions. AK can be done in less than a day. You could easily do that in the morning and then hit MGM or Epcot from mid-afternoon through the evening show. By the way, spending the first night at DTD is a great idea. We've done that on our last 2 trips and it's a great way to get into the WDW mood without using up a day on your ticket.

 

[bigsky]

Ok..then if you say that we could spend the whole day at MGM and Epcot what about this...

Wed eve....DTD

Thursday..Spend the day at Epcot.
Friday- Ak in morning..stay til we're done..finish what's left at MK. (We've been to Disneyland so many times, isn't this pretty much other than a few rides like that?)

Sat- MGM allday. Fantasmic at night.

What other shows do you rec. a must see??
I know we won't have much time to do much, but want to take advantage of the time we do have.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

 

[Jackie H.]

I like this last schedule the best. I have never been to DL, so I can't compare the two. You might want to post that question over on the DL board (there is one, I think - I hope I am not confused there.....this is definately a sign of old age! LOL)

I do know this much. MK will probably be swamped every day you are there. I wish I could say differently, but I expect that will be the case.

EPCOT is a wonderful park! Do expect to spend a whole day there and not get to see all of it. I would try to get a ressie at Rose & Crown and sit out on the patio and watch Illuminations. MGM is another great park and your kids are going to LOVE the RnR Coaster and TofT. It is easily an all day park - but you will have time to re-ride some things here. AK is at best a 1/2 day park, you can do absolutely everything in 1/2 day (unless you are the type that likes to wander around slowly and soak in the sights - I guess a person like that could spend an unlimited amount of time anywhere and have a great time).

One more tip: you may want to try to schedule the Fantasmics! dinner package since the show will likely be very busy as well.

 

[vcasey]

I think your new plan will work better than your first. I must confess that I've never been there on Thanksgiving but my experience on other holidays seems to be that for some reason MK is always most crowded on holidays so avoiding it Thanksgiving day is smart in my opinion.

As far as other shows, I personally truly love Illuminations at Epcot almost as much as Fantasmic.

 

[zcomic]

I agree that Fantasmic & Illuminations are a must see. At MGM the Indiana Jones show is good but if you can see it at night, it's a lot better when it's dark. Beauty and the Beast is also nice.

At Epcot the shows are much smaller but great. If you're a Beatles fan you have to see "the British Invasion" in the UK area. Also "Off Kilter" in the Canada area is very good. They're a rock band with bagpipes (it sounds strange but they're great). There also a great vocal group called American Vybe at the American exhibit. All the entertainment schedules can be found at

http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/

It's updated weekly so make sure to check it before you go.

As for MK vs DL, I'd suggest going to the disney.com and printing out the attraction list from both parks and seeing what's different.

Hope you enjoy your trip!!!!

 

[donna in Oz]

I agree ... I think your second itinerary will serve you much better.

I think we all agree that the MK is where you will encounter your worst crowds, especially Fantasyland. I'd have a list of the attractions that you absolutely must-see, and aim for those. Don't forget that Mickey's Philharmagic will be open before your trip!!

. . . and don't waste your time on Pirates of the Caribbean. The one at Disneyland is SOOO much better.

 

[swilphil]

We just spend three days in the parks. We did spend a whole day at MGM (actually two 1/2 days), and we could have spent more time. We spent less than a 1/2 day at AK, and I wished we would have skipped it and spent a whole day at Epcot.

 

[bigsky]

THanks so much guys!! Knew I could count on this board to help me!

I am like so addicted to this board!

But has helped me soooooooo much planning our trip. Don't know what I'd do without it. Not go well equipped I guess.

Thanks again!
Laura