Planning which park to visit which day

[ratfam]

Trying to lay out our trip for March/April to make those dining reservations I'm already behind on but having trouble figuring our which park to visit which day. How do you decide--EMH, guidebook selection, other ways? Got some good advice on both sides but leaning against park hoppers, just don't think we would really make good use of the feature. Thanks!

 

[WDW LOVR]

Looks like you'll be going during at least some area of the countries spring break so it will be busy. The week after Easter will be very busy.

That being said, we avoid the park that has EMH that day. The only way I would come close to one of those parks is if you went right at opening, rode/saw everything you could and then hop to a different park around 11:00 or so when the park begins to really fill up.

Most of the guide books also show attendance levels in the parks. When we make our plan out we list the EMH parks and the historical attendance levels and go to a different park from either of those. That seems to work well. Even when we've gone Easter week, using that plan the park crowds are manageable.

And just my opinion, but I would rethink the park hopper option. It's not a whole lot more money and having the option of going to a different park if the one you choose for the day is exceptionally busy is a nice feature. We've done that a number of times (yes, even with planning there are times when a park will be busier than you'd like and it's great to just head to a different park). It could really make for a miserable day if you had no choice whether to leave a park or not.

 

[ratfam]

Thanks, I wasn't sure how good the guidebook info was, and I wouldn't necessarily have avoided EMH parks, so glad to know your approach has worked. We actually leave Disney World two weeks before Good Friday, so I'm hoping we miss the worst of the Easter crush, but I'm sure it will still be crowded.

 

[amylevan]

http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm has a list of what the writers of the Unofficial Guide think will be the best and worst days to visit each park as well as a crowd estimate. (scroll down)

And if you want to pay the $20, tourguidemike.com will give you a summary of projected attendances and best/worst parks on his site as well.

I am using a combination of those.
Good luck planning!

 

[Shelby5514]

I look at the parade and fireworks schedule. Since we go in the 'off season', Spectro is only on a few nights so that is what we usually plan around. The other days I just pick randomly but we some how always end up at MGM on our last day. Since you are going at a 'peak' time you shouldn't have to work around any specific events. Have fun planning!

 

[jonestavern]

We like to go at the park's opening & do utilize the early extra magic hrs, just go early enough to get up near the rope & enjoy a nice chat with other visitors or get some tips from CMs. Plan to do the most popular rides first & make that all important dash. I would say have a plan on how to do each park & be flexible enough to take a golden opportunity when you see one.
I will say we try to avoid MK on Saturdays, prefering AK for that day. We do get Park Hoppers, as the OP noted, if one park seems too crowded there's alternatives
we use UG & DIS mostly-
We do tend to go at the less busy times, but we have always been able to make ADRs for an early or late lunch, the morning of. Even for Boma we were able to do 5 pm ADRs that morning. We like to do big lunches & lighter dinners
have a wonderful trip!

Jean