newbie help with 3 day park hopper offsite

[neastguy]

we will be staying in Orlando about 20 minutes away.. we have park hopper for 3days with water parks.. I'm new to all of this so I am totally overwhelmed.. my wife planned the trip on her own and did this as a surprise.. with that being said.. we are flying down at the end of june and renting a car.. our resort is about 20 minutes from Disney.. we have a 7 and 9 year old girls.. I'm not going to lie, Im worried about the heat.. the oldest girl easily overheats .. ugh.. anyhow. I need suggestions on how to plan... the kids love water.. is it realistic to cruise back to our hotel midday and relax and drive back? I know you only pay for parking once a day... I've been reading that the water parks are miserable in the summer.. all the kids out of school... trying not to get to depressed about this trip because we never get to do this.. any tips on what places are a must see? I know I'm asking a lot of questions.. but the more I"m reading these threads the more I'm getting confused.. thanks... this is our first time.. obviously

 

[IrishNYC]

I'd do the waterpark first thing in the morning, go back to the hotel around noon-1, then hit a park or two starting at 3 each afternoon until closing.

 

[ngm]

We were at Blizzard Beach during the summer and absolutely loved it! It was busy, but not overwhelmingly so. It was hot, for sure, but we kept cool with personal misters, cooling towels, water rides, splash pads, ice creams and breaks.

 

[neastguy]

we are arriving on a saturday... planning on just hanging at the hotel that day.. grocery shopping ect.. and then we have a 3 day hopper... should we start right off with Magic Kingdom on Sunday or Monday... ? or just do a water park on Sunday and maybe use a park day later in the day? we have to spend one day in Tampa.. so that leaves us with 5 full days of choices.. I'm starting to think we may need to add another park day without hopper.... I'm just not sure if a 3 day park hopper will be enough

 

[seashoreCM]

A 3 day park hopper with water park fun is probably enough for 5 days -- do theme parks on 3 days, water parks and/or other things* on two days.

It is advantageous to get to the theme park when it opens in the morning. Since you are staying offsite, you should choose one of the parks that is not open that morning earlier still for Disney's resort guests only.

Adding a 4'th day to the existing park hopper at the end of the third theme park day will cost a hell of a lot less than buying a separate one day nonhopper.

Driving 20 minutes each way not including time waiting at red lights, just for a siesta, will seem like a humongous chunk taken out of your midday. Surely you can find shady spots in the park if not air conditioned areas to rest briefly.

* Ripley's Believe It Or Not, anyone?
Air boat ride through an alligator infested swamp, anyone?

 

[neastguy]

hmmm... so you think staying the whole day at the park is the way go... that's a long day if we do fireworks at MK.. and we have to do that. with a 7 and 9 year old girls.. should we even bother with epcot and just do 2 days and MK and one a Animal?

 

[seashoreCM]

If staying for the fireworks followed by the slow exodus from the park at closing forces you to not be a morning person during this vacation then the advantage of shorter lines when the parks first open becomes academic. In which case no harm getting a late start. Hmmmm. A stress of a long drive getting back to your hotel midday can nullify the relaxation of being back at your hotel. Slog is a better word than cruise!

 

[DaisyFoote]

There's a good chance your trip will take longer than 20 minutes to get there with traffic - especially if you're travelling up 4. We stayed offsite recently and was only like 5 minutes from the front gate, but it still took us an hour to get to the Magic Kingdom, 20 minutes for the other parks. Magic Kingdom takes so much longer cause once you park you have to walk a long ways (even if you park close) and then take the monorail.
I'd take a mid day break but leave property and go to a nice air conditioned restaurant for it, not all the way back to your place. You really need to be at rope drop to get the most out of your ticket. It's less crowded then and you can do so much more. If you can make rope drop, you can save all your fast pass selections for the afternoon, after your mid day break. Make sure you plan your fast passes wisely!.
As far as the heat, the good thing about Disney is there are plenty of places to cool off. Several in door attractions and gift shops. We also got endure towels before we went. You can get them wet at any fountain, snap them, and hang them around your neck. They work great. To me AK seems the hottest place. They don't seem to have as many places to cool down as the rest. At AK go to Planet Watch during the hottest part of the day - that seems the coolest. or plan to watch Nemo or the Lion King. Both of those shows are in air condition - and must see shows too by the way.
As far as itinerary - I'd suggest going to all 4 parks since you have park hoppers. You can go to a different park after your mid day break. I'd suggest MK, AK, and HS for your 3 evenings. You gotta go to Epcot though so do that one morning for rope drop so you can ride Soaring. Do your girls love Frozen? If so they'll have the new ride in Norway for Frozen. Be at the World Showcase for rope drop (World Showcase opens an hour after Epcot opens so you'll have time to get Soaring in first) and hit the new ride and meet Anna and Elsa. There's other princesses around the showcase to meet as well and their lines seem shorter than the Magic Kingdom. I'd suggest going to the parks all day on M, W, and F then the water parks on Tues and Thurs. (IF your Tampa day is relaxing do that in the middle) The water parks aren't an all day event so you can perhaps take it easier on those 2 days. You actually could go to BB in the morning one of those days and TL after a mid day break. That day would wear you out though.
Happy planning! Planning is almost as fun as going for me.

 

[neastguy]

Since we get there on Saturday... what about Sunday.. should we just avoid all theme parks on that day.. or maybe do Epcot and HS? ( what is HS..? lol )

 

[starjazz]

I agree with all of the PP's. I'd stay at the parks rather than drive to and fro. I also agree that rope drop is necessary.

I would definitely NOT be depressed about a Disney trip! I'd be thrilled. Plan your days well, and you'll do great! Use those cooling towels and drink plenty of water. Hit the air conditioned things once the heat of day sets in - there's lots of them in MK.

I also agree with you that if you're doing 3 park days, do two MK and one AK.

Have a great time - keep asking questions - and plan your days. enjoy!

 

[msp2mco]

It sounds like you have a great trip coming up! Since it is your first trip, be mindful that you can't do it all. Our Disney trips are never relaxing, but they are always fun. I agree with pp's who advise not leaving the world at midday to go back to your resort. Rather, cool off at a restaurant on the Boardwalk, take the boats to OKW and walk around, or some other out-of-the-park activity. Sitting in traffic in midday would deflate the magic of a morning in the parks.

It's been awhile since I've been in the waterparks, but if your girls love water, that should be a lot of fun for them.

 

[missangelalexis]

First of all- don't stress! No matter, you will have fun

As others have said, rope drop will be very advantageous. Also, having a plan will be very helpful, especially when dealing with summer crowds. Going all the way back to your hotel for a break will definitely not be the best use of your time. I agree with others- make a lunch reservation at one of the monorail hotels! You'll be able to have a nice meal and explore the hotels

HS is Hollywood Studios 2 days at MK and 1 day at AK sound great. There's A LOT to do at MK and one day definitely isn't enough! Also, with the new nighttime show coming to AK, I'm sure you all would love checking that out. You will also have the park hopper though, so you can always plan one day to do Epcot or HS in the morning before hopping to MK.

Then you have the 2 days at the water parks. You can do one each day and plan to do a meal at one of the resorts at night. There certainly are lots to choose from!

Check out easwdw's site. His crowd calendars are very helpful in planning what parks to do/avoid on which days.

 

[alliecat523]

I definitely agree with Rope Drop not only for crowds, but for your daughter that overheats. I have a lot of trouble with this at Disney too. Definitely take breaks and drink LOTS of water (you can get a cup of water for free at quick service locations). I would highly suggest a mid day break somewhere indoors. Maybe a lunch at a resort? You can explore and eat and remain cool. Worse case scenario, the first aid stations are great.

 

[ArielSRL]

If you can, I would definitely add a day. You would probably be able to spend a little time in all the parks, if you do.

 

[neastguy]

this one day trip to Tampa is kinda throwing a wrench our plans... if we didn't have to do that ( my uncle lives there and we have never been to his house.. kids have never seen the ocean so that might be nice too ) what about Sunday? should I waste a park day on that day? or maybe just hang out at the water park.. Also, I figure on the Friday night before we come back, we will probably by then just want to have a nice final meal and be back in the room by 8ish to pack up and be ready for our morning flight... I guess I need to research some restuarants.. I believe we have $400 in disney gift cards for food and ect.. to start

 

[cruisingtwins]

Do your kids nap? I feel that is the only reason to take a midday break otherwise you will still be exhausted and probably not want to return to the parks but I don't think 20 minutes is a lot even some of the onsite hotels it takes about an hour to get to. For a first time trip I would get rid of hoppers since hopping is very time consuming and there should be enough to do in one park in a day.

 

[neastguy]

Do your kids nap? I feel that is the only reason to take a midday break otherwise you will still be exhausted and probably not want to return to the parks but I don't think 20 minutes is a lot even some of the onsite hotels it takes about an hour to get to. For a first time trip I would get rid of hoppers since hopping is very time consuming and there should be enough to do in one park in a day.

well the wife made this trip and she picked hoppers... is cheaper to get get non hopper tickets for each place? can we change our tickets after they have been purchased already?

kids do not nap

 

[seashoreCM]

After entering a park, you could go to Guest Relations inside or go to a ticket booth on the way out, delete the hopping, and substitute a fourth park day. You will have to add a few more dollars to the mix. (Not possible if you park hopped that day or earlier using that ticket.)

Note: This is uniquely not a bad deal going from 3 days with hopping and water park fun to 4 days with water park fun and no hopping. For others eavesdropping, some substitutions are quite unfavorable so you need to compare ticket prices and do some math.

No change is returned if the kind of ticket you end up with costs less than the kind of ticket you started with. So it won't do any good to delete the hopping and not add another day.

 

[missangelalexis]

You said you arrive Saturday, right? So I'm not sure why you're saying "waste a park day" on Sunday when you would have a full day to spend at the park? Yes, I would say go to a park on that day.

You could break it down something like this..or obviously switch them around to your convenience.
Sunday- Park
Monday- Park
Tuesday- Tampa
Wednesday- Water Park
Thursday - Park
Friday- since you want a more relaxing day before you leave, I would suggest doing one of the water parks that morning/early afternoon..you can go back to your hotel to change/relax and then do a dinner at one of the resorts

 

[neastguy]

You said you arrive Saturday, right? So I'm not sure why you're saying "waste a park day" on Sunday when you would have a full day to spend at the park? Yes, I would say go to a park on that day.

You could break it down something like this..or obviously switch them around to your convenience.
Sunday- Park
Monday- Park
Tuesday- Tampa
Wednesday- Water Park
Thursday - Park
Friday- since you want a more relaxing day before you leave, I would suggest doing one of the water parks that morning/early afternoon..you can go back to your hotel to change/relax and then do a dinner at one of the resorts

my concern is that it being a Sunday.. the park may really be extra packed.... but I'm sure we will be itching to get to MK