Short Trip....need advice!

[junebug21981]

We are taking a short trip to the World and we have always had the luxury for taking 7-8 day trips in the past. I know we aren't going to get everything in and was thinking we would only go to MK and EPCOT for flower & garden.

What are your best planning tips for a short trip?
What parks are the best right now to go to and/or which ones are okay to skip right now?
Do you plan differently for a short trip vs. a longer trip?

 

[tinabina919]

We are doing a short trip in January, only 3 park days. We are skipping HS because so much has closed there recently and doing AK just one night.

 

[Accident]

My short trips are usually for 1 of 2 reasons. 1 is I just need a getaway or find myself in the area so why not go. 2 is something going on that is bringing me there. I think these have different styles you need to consider and plan different.

If your doing the getaway (I don't think you are since you mentioned f&g) then it's really gonig to come down to where are you happiest when there, what relaxes you, what is your very short must do list. For me, I would wander around MK getting in line for things I want to enjoy. I may not actually go to another park unless there is a specific night show or rides calling my name. mk is the park I hop back too when the others didn't do it for me but it's also the park I can do absolutely nothing and have the time of my life and leave feeling better than when I started. I probably would get in 1 ADR at somewhere I can't get a home just to round out the experience and it would probably be at some resort. I'd probably go for lunch. I'd also probably get in a couple hours at a second park just so it doesn't feel like I missed something.

Now when you have a goal or reason to be there, your plan is already made. What else besides that goal do you want to squeeze in before you head home? Where is that other spot on property that you would better your trip because you did it? Where is the place that if you didn't get to it wouldn't feel like you even just went? again, mk is that I made it place so even if I just take 2-3 hours (including getting ot the park) to walk around, poke my head into a couple rides, get some snack that feels like disney to me then I'm here, i'm ready for this other reason that was worth my weekend to be here. Also where do you need to go to say goodbye? Is there anything that disney is about to remove and you want 1 more ride on or view of it?

The biggest tip I have works for long or short trips. The parks is not a goal, it's where your goals happen. Get as narrow as possible on what you want to get out of stepping foot into any specific park and then you leave having done it plus some other thigns you find along the way. Your just discover more about the place, you'll see things that have been under your nose every other trip. Take it all in, you have limited time, you have to have a limited goal and whatever else happens, happens.

 

[phillymummer]

I have only done short trips (I wouldn't know how to plan a week or more!). It's a matter of prioritizing and figuring out what is important to YOU! Only you can decide which park is worth skipping. For me, AK is worth skipping (I have only been there once in 2010, and haven't had the desire to go back) but I know many people love it. I love DHS and could not imagine skipping it, but plenty of other people would have no trouble skipping it. Looking at your sig, it seems you go frequently, so whatever you don't do this trip you can do on the next one. So.... ask yourself= what is the purpose of this short trip? Plan from there.

I think park hoppers help. You can do what you want in one park and then hop over to another one. Like DHS.... you could go at RD, go on your favorite rides, then hop over to Epcot.

 

[Mome Rath]

We are taking a short trip to the World and we have always had the luxury for taking 7-8 day trips in the past. I know we aren't going to get everything in and was thinking we would only go to MK and EPCOT for flower & garden.

What are your best planning tips for a short trip?
What parks are the best right now to go to and/or which ones are okay to skip right now?
Do you plan differently for a short trip vs. a longer trip?

I only go for 2/3 day trips now and they are different than long trips (which I used to do), but I actually prefer them. If it's F&G and that is your focus, that makes it easier to really feel you've done what you want. I always do hoppers, esp. on short trips because if I go to a park and it's too crowded or I just "feel" the want to pop over to a different park, I can. With only a few days I don't want to be stuck somewhere I don't want to be, and I don't want to be forced to go hotel hopping or back to my own. lol

If I want to go to just MK/EPCOT and I'm there for just 2 days, I Rope drop one park one day, hop to the other and reverse it the next day. So, if I want to Rope drop MK the first day, I stay til early afternoon, then hop to EPCOT and finish out the day. The next day I Rope Drop EPCOT and hop to MK and finish the day. Every great once in awhile I want to just see Studios so I'll do EPCOT for a bit, and ride the boat over to Studios, and then go from there, most of the time coming back to EPCOT to finish up (yes, that means I hit 3 parks in 1 day).

I always think of about two things I really want to see or do, and know that if I only get to see/do those things, I'll feel like I had a fun trip. As for eating; with Flower and Garden going on, and the food booths, I usually want to eat there. If I'm over in MK, then I grab a QS meal. If I'm there for 3 days instead of 4 I will do one Table Service ADR, such as Via Napoli over in EPCOT. The other aspect that changes; I don't go back to my hotel for any sort of a "break."

 

[csjordan]

One thing that usually works for us is to go to an early opening park and then hop to a late closing park. We've done several short trips and have never had to skip any park.

 

[BlueFairy]

Short trips -

We've done one that focused on WL (arrival day), MK rope drop rest break, and back for nighttime (day 2), and then a day at FW with lunch and trail ride (day 3). Hyper-focusing for that trip really allowed us to take in all of the features of our resort and get our money's worth from that high room rate.

This past spring we arrived early morning at the Dolphin and spent the day at Epcot (day 1), rope drop DHS, break at the pool and nighttime at DHS (day 2), AK and dinner at AKL (day 3) and a LONG day in Epcot (day 4). That was really a longer trip than it should have been. Could have skipped the AK day in favor of resort time.

Coming up - an early arrival and time in my resort, followed by MVMCP (day 1), convention with evenings in the parks, probably just MK (day 2 and 3) and then a day at MK (day 4) is on the agenda.

Lessons I've learned: Avoiding the temptation of overdoing it with park hopping and also just doing the area of property close to our hotel is very successful for us. Building in lots of time at the resort to really take it in is wonderful. You can do that when you know you'll have time in the parks on another trip. Have some "bucket list" or "first" items on the agenda for your short trip too. That keeps away the feeling that you might be missing out. Take the area of property where you are staying and build your trip around there. Choose places that have the best access with transportation to make the most of your short time. We don't do AK on short trips when we are at MK hotels.

Differently - I make fewer ADRs for short trips. I can handle eating QS for those few days more easily than on a long trip.

Going into this time of year, I think MK and Epcot are at their best. I would not plan lots of time at HS unless you are big Star Wars fans. We are and easily filled a whole day. Pick either a rope drop or afternoon/evening and save the rest for another trip. Or skip it. AK is ho-hum for me. I always feel like we got it wrong. Maybe when night time and Pandora is fleshed out that will change. It just doesn't have the magic that Epcot and MK have for me. And it's just too big and the shows are too long for me to squeeze it into a half day.

 

[No.1000]

We always do short trips. Usually only do 1 park. We plan resort hopping/adr for our travel day. Then we commando a park-rope drop to goodnight kiss. Last day we sleep in and just hang out until we head home. (Of course, we have the luxury of living in Florida).

Whatever you choose, have fun!

 

[BlueFairy]

Oh, you are talking F&G! Yes, focus on Epcot. You can easily do 2 full days there if you are doing more than just the highlights. Stay at a hotel near the International Gateway and take your time soaking it all up. The new food kiosks are great.

 

[junebug21981]

Thanks for all the great advice. I think our main focus is going to be MK 2 1/2 days, but give 1 day to EPCOT since we can take the monorail and it is F &G.

 

[vicb]

Last time we did a short trip we went into HS on arrival night. We were able to get in about 1.5 hours before park close on an eve emh night. So we were able to hit two FP+rides (TSM and RnRC) then during the eve emh we got on so many rides, including ToT twice (once right at midnight, pretty cool).

We always have hoppers so on that short trip one afternoon we got on the bus from Epcot and hopped to AK just to ride Everest twice then took a cab back to our hotel. Once Pandora opens I think we will spend more time at AK.

With hoppers we also eat dinner in Epcot atleast twice.

 

[Jennasis]

Short trips have become an unexpected delight to us. We drive in on a Thursday and get in around 3:30pm. Hit a park for the evening, then we get 2 days of park time and leave on the 4th day. When we did a F&G trip in May, we arrived at BWV, and went to MK for the evening. The next day we rope dropped Epcot, took a midday swim break and then went back to Epcot in evening. Day 3 we rope dropped DHS then took a midday break, then went back to Epcot in evening. On day 4 we packed up had lunch in Epcot and left. Bliss.