Please help me plan Park days accordingly!

[punkinsmomma]

We will be at WDW 12/6-12/10. We will only have the 7-9 in the parks due to travel times though. I was planning on going to MK on Thursday, 12/7, EPCOT on Friday, 12/8 and MGM/AK on Saturday 12/9. I figured that MK will be less crowded on a thurs than either fri or sat, and same with EPCOT. Does this make sense or am I crazy for thinking this way?

Then I read on here to go to the park that had EMH evening the day before for less crowds that next morning. Well, that doesn't work out with my plans. MK is scheduled for EMH morning on the thursday that I planned on going. Does this mean it is going to be crazy paked that day? We are staying offsite so can't go to EMH. It also shows the other parks to have EMH the same days I had planned to be in that park.

Sorry this is prob very confusing. I have only been to WDW 1 time and the others in our group have never been. So of course I'm stuck doing all the planning!

Thanks for any advise or tips you may have for a rookie!!!!!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Well, you don't have much time, but I would do Epcot on the 7th, MK on the 8th and MGM/AK on the 9th. The reason for this is that Epcot is the most educational and if you went to Mk first and you have kids, they'll think to expect the same from the other parks, not to mention you don't want to be there(MK) on an EMH day since it will be busy. I would tell you to save MK for last, but of course, It wouldn't work out so well with crowds on a Saturday. Finally, I would do AK in the morning on Saturday, and stay until about 1pm. You'll be able to do the highlights of the park (you won't be able to do everything) and then still be able to see most of MGM. I wouldn't go to MGM first because AK closes earlier and MGM stays open later. Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[learnhome]

Well, you don't have much time, but I would do Epcot on the 7th, MK on the 8th and MGM/AK on the 9th. The reason for this is that Epcot is the most educational and if you went to Mk first and you have kids, they'll think to expect the same from the other parks, not to mention you don't want to be there(MK) on an EMH day since it will be busy. I would tell you to save MK for last

WOW!! I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT!! I just booked our first ever family trip, for this January , and I just thought- Magic Kingdom FIRST!! But, you are right!! Perhaps I have to rethink the whole thing! Great tip, Thanks!!

Chris

 

[KrazyKowboy]

Here's another suggestion to maximize your time while you're there for just 3 days.
I agree with mickeysgirl17 to see Epcot on Thurs 12/07 and by all means, be sure to see Illuminations Reflections of Earth at end of the day.

On Friday 12/08 I'd hit Animal Kingdom when the gates open and spend most of the day there. You'll love the Jingle Jangle Parade at 3:45. Our family got to ride on the Goofy float in the very first one on 12/01/2004, the highlight of our vacation !

End Friday night with Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party if you can work tickets for it into your budget. You won't need the park hopper option if you use this strategy and it may help offset the cost for the MVMCP. And the Magic Kingdom will be open for the party until 1 am.

On Saturday 12/09 see MGM with plans for Fantasmic at 7:00pm and do the walk through of the Osbourne Lights afterward. You might even want to wait to hit MGM later in the morning or right after lunch and do a bit of shopping in DTD first.

Whatever you end up doing, take your time and have a great trip. You already know you won't have time to see it all this trip, so when you get home start planning your trip for next year.

 

[disneydancer1969]

go to ***************** and click crowd calendar on the side and scroll down to the date your going to dis. it is by unnoficial guide to wdw.

 

[disneydancer1969]

go to touring plans website and follow directions above

 

[KrazyKowboy]

Crowd levels from touringplans for the days in questions show a 5 for Thursday and Friday, and a 6 on that Saturday. That is on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most crowded. Those ratings would be considered moderate with waits at major attractions running an average of 45 - 60 minutes.

 

[ajleone]

Well, you don't have much time, but I would do Epcot on the 7th, MK on the 8th and MGM/AK on the 9th. The reason for this is that Epcot is the most educational and if you went to Mk first and you have kids, they'll think to expect the same from the other parks,

I really disagree with this- My kids love EPCOT, and to them just being at WDW is all that matters.
Also that time of year is usually slow so you shouldn't have many if any problems.

 

[punkinsmomma]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm thinking that mickeysgirl may be on the right track considering the EMH days. The only "kids" we will have will be 21, 16 and 15 mos., so I don't think they would really mind doing MK first. I would love to end the trip with MK and Wishes, but not very feasible for a Saturday.

KrazyKowboy- I'm a little confused by your suggestion. So if we buy MVMCP tickets, that will automatically get us into MK without having a park ticket as well for that day? I think we will really want to spend most of our time at MK so I think we want to be there all day, not just during MVMCP, especially since we will have my 15 mo DS with us.

We are not sure we are going to worry about AK at all, but figured we could prob do half MGM half AK if some really want to see that park.

Thank you for all your help...hopefully someday I will be a veteran at this!