Need help with August trip planning

[DC to Disney]

I just booked a WDW trip for mid-late August (8/16-8/26). Yay! It will be 2 adults and one 10-year old boy. We're staying at Yacht Club and plan to get park hopper plus tickets. We've been to Disney before, but not since 2016, so we haven't seen Pandora, Toy Story Land, or Star Wars Land. Those are top priorities for us, along with a few of our other favorite attractions. We definitely want to spend a morning at each of the parks, and I think we may need two mornings at HS so we can see both of the new lands without waiting in long lines. Because this isn't our first trip, and also because August weather is so hot, we hope to be a little more relaxed on this trip. Our general plan is to go to the parks in the morning, take a break from about 12-5 when it's hot and/or rainy, and if we have energy, go back to a park for dinner, a nighttime show, and fireworks. We also want to visit the water parks and play mini golf, which we've never done before. Because we'll be there for so long, I think we should have at least one (maybe two?) non-park days where we hang out at the pool, play mini golf, go to Disney Springs, and/or visit another resort. We also may want to try to go to Lego Land for a day, because my son loves it (I know that's logistically challenging because it's an hour away).

Based on all of this, I'm trying to figure out how to structure our trip. I'm assuming we won't go into a park on our travel days, so that leaves 10 days from 8/17-8/25. Which days would you choose for each park, the two water parks, and non-park days (and a possible day at Lego Land)? From reading through other posts, it seems like FP for SDD and FOP are the hardest to get, so we should plan to do those near the end of our trip. What other FP are difficult to get? I know I have a while before I need to reserve FP, but dining reservations will open up soon!

 

[sageandbelle]

Well currently, Hollywood Studios has a very bad FP tiering system with all big attractions being Tier 1 so keep that in mind, but if Star Wars rides are in the FP system by then (which could very well happen), then I would definitely do more than one day at HS so you are able to make the most out of both Toy Story Land FP and Star Wars FP. I do recommend pushing one day at HS or AK near the end of the trip since you will have a better chance of getting those FP's along with the FOP FP. I am going to highly suggest you do not plan an MK day for the weekend, crowds are usually peaked then so I would recommend doing a waterpark day and one of your non park days for the weekend but that is just my opinion. A Legoland trip sounds a little difficult. This is how I would plan it personally but this is completely up to you! I based this off of utilizing your last days to get available FP for HS and AK, keeping away from the big parks on the weekend, giving you a rest day after two days at the big parks, and making the most out of the middle days of the week that *usually* carry lower crowds. I hope you have a great trip!
8/17 - Epcot
8/18 - MK
8/19 - Non Park Day
8/20 - HS
8/21 - AK / MK Park Hop
8/22 - Non Park day
8/23 - Water Park
8/24 - HS
8/25 - AK

 

[TammyLynn33]

wonderful advise you have been given . Utiilize EMhs and EMMs if offered and you can budget them too.

Well currently, Hollywood Studios has a very bad FP tiering system with all big attractions being Tier 1 so keep that in mind, but if Star Wars rides are in the FP system by then (which could very well happen), then I would definitely do more than one day at HS so you are able to make the most out of both Toy Story Land FP and Star Wars FP. I do recommend pushing one day at HS or AK near the end of the trip since you will have a better chance of getting those FP's along with the FOP FP. I am going to highly suggest you do not plan an MK day for the weekend, crowds are usually peaked then so I would recommend doing a waterpark day and one of your non park days for the weekend but that is just my opinion. A Legoland trip sounds a little difficult. This is how I would plan it personally but this is completely up to you! I based this off of utilizing your last days to get available FP for HS and AK, keeping away from the big parks on the weekend, giving you a rest day after two days at the big parks, and making the most out of the middle days of the week that *usually* carry lower crowds. I hope you have a great trip!
8/17 - Epcot
8/18 - MK
8/19 - Non Park Day
8/20 - HS
8/21 - AK / MK Park Hop
8/22 - Non Park day
8/23 - Water Park
8/24 - HS
8/25 - AK