Planning Parks per Day

[basicprincess24]

Hi there! I'm starting to plan out which parks we'll be in each day for our upcoming visit, and I'm looking for some tips on how to structure a week-long trip. We are planning on 7 nights, no parks on arrival or departure days, 5 days in parks, one free day. If it helps, its just me and DH, its been over 20 years since either of us has been WDW, so I'm sort of treating this trip as if we were first timers.

I know the obvious answer is to look at which parks will be least busy, and choose those. But will I feel "disappointed" if our final day is AK or HS? Should we start/end in MK since its the "most Disney" even if its busier that day? Will we feel like we aren't really there til we see the castle?

How do you all go about choosing which parks - crowds only, or something else? (Am I crazy? )

 

[siskaren]

easywdw.com

 

[Alesia]

I follow the crowd calendar at easywdw.com

To be honest, I've never really understood the idea that MK is somehow "better" than the other parks. Each park has something different to offer.

 

[ALittleWhistle]

What month are you going? And do you have park hopper? Staying on property?

I look at crowds and which days have Extra Magic Hours. So even if a park is really crowded, we take advantage of early morning or late nights. I hate crowds, I hate heat. We've been to MK on high crowd days, we just avoid the park between 1pm and 6pm and make sure we have a good touring plan.

I think personally I would end with MK, but we can never choose so we always try to do two days there.

 

[tobikaye]

... But will I feel "disappointed" if our final day is AK or HS? Should we start/end in MK since its the "most Disney" even if its busier that day? Will we feel like we aren't really there til we see the castle?

How do you all go about choosing which parks - crowds only, or something else?

I usually look first to see if there is any event only on specific days, such as the Electrical parade at WDW. Then I check the park hours and when EMH AM and/or PM is taking place. Then I check crowd calendars just to get an idea of if I need to take that into consideration or if the entire time is about the same for the week.

Now, I get park hoppers and usually only plan half of each day about 1-2 months before a trip. Then I am free to make changes or do as I please the other half of that day. I usually leave the entire last day free so I can go where I feel that day.

I have not been since FP+ began so I know this will change some, but I probably will only plan the PM part of my day and leave the morning free to do as I please.

 

[mcgill93]

Hello!
I think that looking at the crowd calendars is helpful, but I agree that there are other factors. I like to end with MK too, so I "get" it. If you are going to be in the parks 5 days, I would plan on MK for 2 of those and one day for each of the other parks. We love EPCOT, and with all the changes going on at DHS, I personally might consider skipping that park and doing 2 EPCOT days unless you are big Star Wars fans. It really depends what time of year you are going, also. Personally, as someone who has been every year for the last 11 years, I like to skip the parks on the Extra Magic Hours days, because it makes the parks so much busier. I prefer to also avoid MK on the weekends at all costs. I personally feel like ending at MK is more important than starting there. In fact, our first day at Disney (the travelling day), we usually head to EPCOT for dinner and then try to have MK be the following day, unless it's a weekend day, in which case we avoid that park like the plague. If you want to share when you are going, I would be happy to give my $0.02 on which parks I would go to when. Also, are you on the dining plan? That makes a difference too.

 

[AshleeH]

I know the obvious answer is to look at which parks will be least busy, and choose those. But will I feel "disappointed" if our final day is AK or HS? Should we start/end in MK since its the "most Disney" even if its busier that day? Will we feel like we aren't really there til we see the castle?

I don't think we have ever started or finished arrival/departure day at MK. Reason-being, we always get there and leave on Saturdays and I stay away from MK because it's swamped. We generally do Epcot or AK on those days - AK is only a half day park for us, so it's good for the travel days. We all love Epcot and it's the biggest park for people (AK is bigger per acre, but it's for the animals), so the weekend crowds are dispersed better.

On our first trip, we did Epcot first because all the information I read said that it can bore younger kids, so it's disappointing after MK. My kids loved it since they didn't know what to expect and five years later, they still love it.

This year we're traveling with friends and starting out at AK our first night to get it out of the way - freeing up the rest of the week for MK, EP, and HS multiple times. Then ending the vacation with MK for the first time ever. That's because we have a CRT and BOG reservation and it was the only day I could get BOG for dinner, so it has to be that park for the departure day. If that hadn't worked out the way it did, I would've ended with Epcot, as is typical for us.

 

[loves to dive]

I never look at crowd calendars but I do have an AP so I can hop around, we always get my son a PH when he goes. I love Epcot and HS so tend to stay at the Epcot resorts. Lately, I've started doing split stays with the first two nights at a moderate then moving over to the Epcot resort. Doing that I tend to go to MK on the day I arrive (I drive and usually get there around 3) just because I know I'm going to spend most of my time at Epcot and HS and MK tends to be a 1/2 day to 3/4 day park for me. I go to AK my second day because no matter where you stay you have to take a bus there so it makes sense to go on a day I'm at a moderate resort that requires taking a bus to everywhere. If I'm done with AK mid day, I'll usually head on over to MK to finish out anything I still might want to do or to watch the FWs. The rest of the time is normally split between Epcot and HS since both are within walking/boating distance of YC/BW or Swan, which is where I tend to stay. I always hit a park my last day before I drive home, normally HS so I can get one more ToT ride in and sometimes I'll run over to MK one more time to get some shopping in if there is something I know I want. That is the extent of my planning. Normally the night before I'll book a few FPs and am looking forward to being able to book one or two now instead of having to book 3 in one park. I normally book any ADRs I make either night before, morning of or during the day when I'm walking around. All very scientific.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I follow the crowd calendar at easywdw.com

To be honest, I've never really understood the idea that MK is somehow "better" than the other parks. Each park has something different to offer.

This. I use easywdw's calendar as a guide but we have used the second recommended parks when it fits our other plans.

We avoid EMH altogether (no desire to get up even earlier) and don't go to MK on Saturday or Monday and usually not on Sunday. Typically, we are at AK on Sunday, HS on Monday, MK Tuesday, Epcot Wednesday, MK Thursday, Epcot Friday, and HS Saturday. Not always, but that has been where we have ended up the last few trips. Our trips are usually 8 nights/9 days, but the last one we only had 7 days.

 

[basicprincess24]

Thank you all for your advice! It really helps me to get different ideas and then choose what works best for us.

What month are you going? And do you have park hopper? Staying on property?

We're going Jan 21-28 2017, and we're planning no park hoppers for now, staying at PO French Quarter. Ideally, I'd like two days at MK, but I sort of think that we might feel like doing another Epcot day, since World Showcase will appeal to us as adults w/o kids.

This. I use easywdw's calendar as a guide but we have used the second recommended parks when it fits our other plans.

When do the easywdw calendars usually come out? I don't think I see one for Jan 17 yet.

 

[wishinitwas]

Hello!
I think that looking at the crowd calendars is helpful, but I agree that there are other factors. I like to end with MK too, so I "get" it. If you are going to be in the parks 5 days, I would plan on MK for 2 of those and one day for each of the other parks. We love EPCOT, and with all the changes going on at DHS, I personally might consider skipping that park and doing 2 EPCOT days unless you are big Star Wars fans. It really depends what time of year you are going, also. Personally, as someone who has been every year for the last 11 years, I like to skip the parks on the Extra Magic Hours days, because it makes the parks so much busier. I prefer to also avoid MK on the weekends at all costs. I personally feel like ending at MK is more important than starting there. In fact, our first day at Disney (the travelling day), we usually head to EPCOT for dinner and then try to have MK be the following day, unless it's a weekend day, in which case we avoid that park like the plague. If you want to share when you are going, I would be happy to give my $0.02 on which parks I would go to when. Also, are you on the dining plan? That makes a difference too.

I am going 11/27-12/2. I would love advice on my park days esp MK days even though I have my ADRs set. I am worried about going to MK on a Sunday even though crowds should be less due to Christmas Party. Esp since our other MK day there is no CP so I am afraid it will be extra busy. On DP and we have park hoppers too. Thanks!
11/27- MK (MVMCP day)
11/28- Epcot
11/29- HS
11/30- MK (no CP)
12/1- AK
12/2- Open for kids to choose

 

[SaintsManiac]

We follow crowd calendars, but we always spend our last night at the MK. We like to end our trip with Wishes.

 

[ALittleWhistle]

Thank you all for your advice! It really helps me to get different ideas and then choose what works best for us.


We're going Jan 21-28 2017, and we're planning no park hoppers for now, staying at PO French Quarter. Ideally, I'd like two days at MK, but I sort of think that we might feel like doing another Epcot day, since World Showcase will appeal to us as adults w/o kids.

Different crowd calendars are going to give you different results (Dad's guide says your week will have very light crowds, Touring Plans says your highest days will be 7's on a scale of 1-10). EMH days will bring high crowds that usually die down quite a bit by the time the evening EMH hours actually start because people get tired. That's been our experience, anyway. In case you can't tell, I'm a huge fan of evening touring.

I think you're probably right about Epcot. And 2 days of eating in Epcot is never a bad idea!!

 

[aebeauregard]

I also loosely follow the crowd calendar. Like a PP said though if there is a certain event only available one night I want to see I'll break the crowd calendar rules. I also let any important ADRs help guide me if I can only get a certain day.

 

[Parker Clan]

Depends on the time of year you go I think. We have never followed crowd calendars in August. For us it's a personal thing which parks we like to do. We have park hoppers.. And we always start our first day with MK.. There's nothing like the first view of the castle! But on our first night we always do Epcot. Same thing with our last night. We happen to like Illuminations better and Epcot is far less crowded. So it definitely depends on who is going and what you all want to see