Strategy question for second timers

[MommaRN]

Hi there! I am knee deep in Disney planning for our upcoming trip April 25- May 3 and am having trouble deciding on a solid touring plan. I was hoping some of you Disney pro's could lend me your opinions..

A little background. It is me, DH, DD9 and Nephew 15. We're also traveling with my parents, but they won't be with us most of the time. All of us staying at ASmo with park hopper tickets.

Arrival day we plan to go as a group to MK in the evening and have dinner and use at least the FPs we will have. Originally I was planning on going to EMH's AK that sunday morning (8-9am) but I am wondering if staying later at MK (open til 2am) would be better. When we went last June we found that MK was amazing at night. Do you think that crowds would be lighter in MK at night or EMH's AK? I don't know if we would be able to do the whole night (maybe 12am or so before DD melts down) but either way it will be too late to make it to EMH's with a good nights sleep. The following Wednesday of our stay also has EMH's at AK..

As a general strategy, I am thinking I will plan to utilize the EMH's either in the AM or PM (and RD when there are no EMHs in AM or late nights the night before) while were there, and than switch to the most recommended park according to easywdw and touring plans. I thought I would schedule our FPs in the EMH parks from the 11-2pm time frame and hope for decent FP availability at the second park of the day. I feel like scheduling FP at the first parks would allow us some flexibility in planning our afternoons.. but I also am going a little crazy trying to fit all the awesome stuff in our itinerary. Does anyone else use a similar strategy? How does it work?

Crowd calendars put us at 4-6 level for our entire stay. During our trip last June, I feel like we were completely under prepared and missed out on a lot of stuff. We also only had 3.5 park days and crowds were 7-9 that week. I want this trip to be a smoother experience.. hope we can pull it off!

Thanks in advance! Love Disboards

 

[lroger01]

With 9 days, you'll have plenty of time - so relax!

I suggest you keep your arrival day to just a taste of MK. Do you're 3 FP+ rides, eat dinner, and get out before the end of the evening parade. Starting your trip with a late night will just put you behind the curve the entire week. This plan also helps reduce the chance that you'll end the night overly footsore.

Then for the next 4 days go to each park once in the morning using EMH or rope drop as available. Stay until you've had enough (probably 5pm-ish) and spend the late afternoon/evenings at your resort OR doing whatever you FEEL like doing at the time (park hop, or shop, or watch a movie by the pool, etc.).

On day 5 -8, sleep in and take your time getting up and ready - even go for a morning swim if you want. If you do resort character breakfasts go for late seatings. Head to the parks whenever you're ready and stay until closing. Since you've already had 3/4 of a day in the park, you can focus what you missed, re-ride favorites, and those that are different after dark and of course the nighttime shows. If AK doesn't have evening hours, do a second night at a favorite park.

This plan gives you plenty of time in each park, lets you enjoy them during the day and at night, and still gives you time to enjoy your resort and relax a bit.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We prefer to stay out as late as possible then sleep in the next morning. For us, the only thing better than MK at 2 am is MK at 3 am. Crowds dwindle significantly and the lines can be very short. Keep in mind that posted wait times are often greatly exaggerated which can be used to your advantage.

My plan would then be to make AK fastpasses starting at about noon the next day. The majority of guests will leave by mid-afternoon and you'll find lots of walkon attractions during the last few hours of operation. My kids like to spend this time riding Everest over and over until they can't stand it anymore.

Our visit are generally during the early summer on crowd level 8-9 days.