newbie help with 3 day park hopper offsite

[missangelalexis]

It will be summer day..every day will be crowded. What matters is how you plan your day. Sundays, however, aren't typically the worst day to go to MK. If you are worried about going to MK that day, why not do AK that day instead? I really suggest you take a look at this site: http://www.easywdw.com/easy/calendars/june-2016-walt-disney-world-crowd-calendar/ ...super helpful in planning your days.

 

[IrishNYC]

In all honesty, unless you're huge waterpark fans, I'd skip the water parks all together on a three day trip. Since you say you have the flexibility to add a 4th day to your stay, do as someone above said about going to guest services after your first entry, and drop the waterpark option and add a 4th day.

 

[neastguy]

In all honesty, unless you're huge waterpark fans, I'd skip the water parks all together on a three day trip. Since you say you have the flexibility to add a 4th day to your stay, do as someone above said about going to guest services after your first entry, and drop the waterpark option and add a 4th day.

I think my girls will enjoy at least one day at a waterpark... I will have to take a look at maybe keeping 3 day park hopper plus waterpark and just adding a single 4th day if possible... or just dropping waterparks and adding a 4th day and just paying individually for the water park... wife bought the tickets so I have no idea on pricing yet..

after looking at the crowd site.. its looking like rest on arrival day, the AK on Sunday (i'm guessing AK can be an all day park for us )

 

[tstidm1]

How about taking a break at a hotel restaurant for Lunch near a Park for an Air conditioned break from the parks? Here are some suggestions for Lunch near each Park:

Magic Kingdom: The Wave (Contemporary Resort) , Kona Cafe (Polynesian), Whispering Canyon Cafe (Wilderness Lodge) and grand Floridian Cafe (Grand Floridian)
DHS/Epcot: Boardwalk Bakery (Between Beach Club and Yacht Club), Garden Grove Cafe (Swan) and ESPN Club (Boardwalk)
Animal Kingdom: Sanaa (Animal kingdom Lodge)

This gets you an air conditioned break without going to your care because your either walking distance (Contemporary and Boardwalk) or short Disney Transportation ride away.

 

[neastguy]

How about taking a break at a hotel restaurant for Lunch near a Park for an Air conditioned break from the parks? Here are some suggestions for Lunch near each Park:

Magic Kingdom: The Wave (Contemporary Resort) , Kona Cafe (Polynesian), Trails End (Wilderness Lodge) and grand Floridian Cafe (Grand Floridian)
DHS/Epcot: Boardwalk Bakery (Between Beach Club and Yacht Club), Garden Grove Cafe (Swan) and ESPN Club (Boardwalk)
Animal Kingdom: Sanaa (Animal kingdom Lodge)

This gets you an air conditioned break without going to your care because your either walking distance (Contemporary and Boardwalk) or short Disney Transportation ride away.

thanks for these .. I will check them out... its looking more and more like we will not be hopping unless.. we decide to get a 4th day and do Ds and epcot split

 

[Happyinwonerland]

What time do you arrive on Saturday? I know you're planning to rest, but your kids may be wound up and ready to go.

I think you should add a 4th hopper day. All you have to do is go to guest services and tell them you'd like to add a day to each ticket, it will be thrilled cheapest way to go about it. It will have to be a day to your current ticket though.

Then I would do my days like this:
AK until lunch/HS until close
All day Magic Kingdom
Epcot until closing, then MK til close
Last day at MK, open to close

Then whatever water parks/Tampa days you choose.

I also agree with PP, doing some non disney things in there would be fun too. The swamp boat ride would be really fun. And definitely ride over to Tampa, see your family, splash in the ocean, maybe stop by and see Winter the Dolphin. While Disney is tons of fun and magic, life is more than Disney, and these other experiences are so wonderful.

 

[ArielSRL]

If you can get an AK night in there, you could see the new nighttime stuff that's debuting this spring.

 

[LovePug]

As someone who has always stayed offsite, I agree with those who say to add another day to make it a 4 day ticket. I don't think you will need to hop since it is your first trip. You want to make sure you are avoiding each park on their EMH days. I always plan each park day by going to the one AFTER their EMH day and this has always worked well for us. We love the evenings in the parks, so we go later in the day and stay until close for the nighttime shows/fireworks (the only exception up until this point has been AK, but that looks like that'll be changing to fall in line with our touring style, too). I certainly wouldn't skip EPCOT and miss Illuminations if you like fireworks!

As someone who lived by the parks for a couple years and worked in Orlando...I'd completely rule out a midday break. I NEVER made a 20 minute commute to work. Traffic on I4 is brutal-especially during rush hour and if there's so much as a car on the shoulder, traffic slows to a crawl. My shortest commute was about 45 minutes and my longest was over 2 hours. Avoid, avoid, avoid that idea. I can't remember what you first post said....is there a reason you have to stay in Orlando? We always stayed in Kissimmee or LBV-MUCH closer to the parks.

 

[neastguy]

As someone who has always stayed offsite, I agree with those who say to add another day to make it a 4 day ticket. I don't think you will need to hop since it is your first trip. You want to make sure you are avoiding each park on their EMH days. I always plan each park day by going to the one AFTER their EMH day and this has always worked well for us. We love the evenings in the parks, so we go later in the day and stay until close for the nighttime shows/fireworks (the only exception up until this point has been AK, but that looks like that'll be changing to fall in line with our touring style, too). I certainly wouldn't skip EPCOT and miss Illuminations if you like fireworks!

As someone who lived by the parks for a couple years and worked in Orlando...I'd completely rule out a midday break. I NEVER made a 20 minute commute to work. Traffic on I4 is brutal-especially during rush hour and if there's so much as a car on the shoulder, traffic slows to a crawl. My shortest commute was about 45 minutes and my longest was over 2 hours. Avoid, avoid, avoid that idea. I can't remember what you first post said....is there a reason you have to stay in Orlando? We always stayed in Kissimmee or LBV-MUCH closer to the parks.

thanks.. we are getting the villa for free from a friend.. so we are saving on the cost of buying a room ... google maps says its 15 to 20 minutes away... I think we have ruled out going back to the resort.... sounds like finding a place for lunch nice cool is the idea....

still researching on what to do at night... I have no idea ... research research research

 

[Jake & Crew]

Totally agree that mid-day break should be on site, way too much time and frustration going back and forth.

We have been many times in the past 10 years and at this point I would say we have experienced 95 percent of the attractions, rides and shows. My point is make a realistic expectation for your family. Have each family member look at each park and list their top two must do's as well as next two would be nice to do. Build your days around that list and you will feel accomplished instead of frustrated. There will be some overlap so most likely instead of 16 things on each final list you will have 8-10 and then might be able to get in some more.

Just remember even if you had 7 days you would not get it all in as blisters happen....nice way of saying stuff happens but blisters can and those unplanned trips to first aid can cause stress if you have an itinerary that is overpacked to start.

I would keep the park hopper. Much less stressful if you know you can pop back in a park if you didn't get to something. Also nice to do morning one place, break then afternoon another.

Question for the veterans, am I mistaking or is the water park option a second entrance? We had an 8 day trip years ago with WP and added the non- expire as the WP was separate. We still use those when we go even though the park entrances are done. My point is could our friend do a water park day in the middle and it not count as one of the three days so he does not need to add a fourth? Also when I just bought them for a big family trip I was told they were 7 days, they way it was said made me think they were separate from the park tickets and my family could use them up to the expiration date.

If that is not the case than I would add the fourth day as it is very little more.

Finally, for groceries don't buy too much...if you are out of the condo all day you would only need breakfast, snacks and non-park day food. I would buy a case of bottled water though and freeze what you need the night before. We then take a frozen bottle for each with us in the morning. Nice cool ice pack that turns into cold water....way less than buying one in the park then can be refilled with free park water.

 

[mrzrich]

How about taking a break at a hotel restaurant for Lunch near a Park for an Air conditioned break from the parks? Here are some suggestions for Lunch near each Park:

Magic Kingdom: The Wave (Contemporary Resort) , Kona Cafe (Polynesian), Trails End (Wilderness Lodge) and grand Floridian Cafe (Grand Floridian)
DHS/Epcot: Boardwalk Bakery (Between Beach Club and Yacht Club), Garden Grove Cafe (Swan) and ESPN Club (Boardwalk)
Animal Kingdom: Sanaa (Animal kingdom Lodge)

This gets you an air conditioned break without going to your care because your either walking distance (Contemporary and Boardwalk) or short Disney Transportation ride away.

If I may add to this and critique a little....

MK day, yes consider a break at the Contemporary, the Poly or the Grand Floridian (All accessible by Monorail from MK, as well as boat for Poly and GF). Trail's End is not at the Wilderness Lodge, it is at Fort Wilderness Campground. Since it is at the campground there is no cozy lobby to relax in like there are at other parks. There is a nice lobby at the Wilderness Lodge (accessible by boat from MK), the restaurant there is Whispering Canyon Cafe.

DHS- Captain's Grill at the Yacht club was the most relaxing lunch I have ever had at Walt Disney World. An the food was excellent. The Fountain at the Dolphin is great for Burgers and Ice Cream. (Both accessible by boat from DHS)

Epcot, truthfully, I wouldn't leave Epcot to eat. There are too many great restaurants there. There are also lots of places to relax.

In Future World- Inventions, the Land, the Living Seas, the test track exit.
In World Showcase- Movies in China, Canada, France. The American Adventure. Little Alcoves in Morroco, Japan, Mexico, China, England.


Animal Kingdom-

I personally never felt the need to leave AK. There are some nice places to eat right in the park. There are 2 Air Conditioned shows that are not to be missed. Between getting seated and the shows themselves, that is 2 hours sitting in air conditioning right there. Also has nice walking paths to see animals, and a relaxing train ride to see some more animals. Plenty of opportunities to relax.

 

[mrzrich]

Since you are researching, I second the suggestions to give the easywdw.com website a good long look.

 

[ellie05]

Mid day breaks staying somewhere that far away is an awful idea, but 4 straight days of parks with kids from RD to close is just asking for meltdowns. I would try to schedule long park day follow by late start, no park day maybe a couple hours in the water park that day towards the afternoon.

My best suggestion wil be to change for a 4 day ticket. Don't over plan or expect to see everything, schedule plenty of down time, do rope drop to make the most out of the day. Prioritize what you must see. If at all possible change resorts to somewhere closer.

I personally feel even if your kids don't take naps in everyday life they might still need them at Disney. There is a lot of stimulation and add heat to that it is exhausting.

 

[CuseWazowski]

I agree with checking easywdw.com - especially the planning calendar to check which parks are recommended for which days. I would also add at least a 4th day to the ticket.

You can look at park hopping in different ways. It will take an hour out of your day to hop to a different park. But if you think you'll need a break, which is wise in that heat, you could plan your hop as a midday break to sit in the air conditioning on the bus or monorails. If you hop, get to your first park early and do as much as you can in the morning. Make your fastpasses for your second park because the standby lines will be long by the time you get there. We usually don't hop and will just stay in one park for the day. There are plenty of dining and show options in each park that are cool for taking breaks.

 

[neastguy]

if parks are busiest in the afternoon.. isnt it wise to do all my fast passes in the afternoon?

 

[ArielSRL]

if parks are busiest in the afternoon.. isnt it wise to do all my fast passes in the afternoon?

People have different theories on this, but yes, this is the theory we are subscribing to for our June trip.

 

[neastguy]

People have different theories on this, but yes, this is the theory we are subscribing to for our June trip.

I wonder how hard it will be to get another fast pass after say 4pm? are you only allowed to grab one more fast pass after your 3rd is used ?

 

[mesaboy2]

I wonder how hard it will be to get another fast pass after say 4pm? are you only allowed to grab one more fast pass after your 3rd is used ?

Your questions are addressed here.

FP availability is addressed here.