Theme Park Strategy Needed

[mebedisney]

Can anyone help with a 7 dayTheme Park Strategy?

This planning is so exciting, yet so overwhelming since we've never been before! I am a person that definitely needs a plan. The problem is, I don't know where to begin. What park on what day? We'll (DH, DD-5, DD-8) be arriving late Friday, Oct. 27 and departing on Friday, Nov. 3. We definitely want to go to the Not So Scary Halloween Party and I've heard that's on the 29th. Other than that, I don't know where to begin.

I have an idea regarding ADR's but want to hold off on those until I come up with a theme park itinitery. I will book the ADR's around that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[camillatin]

Hi! We'll be down there right around the same time (10/25-11/03). It's hard to tell you what parks you should do on each day (it depends on your family's preferences), but I can tell you how I decide that for our vacation, and then you can hopefully use some of this info to help you.

I usually look at the EMH hours (these won't be out officially until the October hours come out, which should be around April 1, but since you're going in later October, you won't be able to make your ADRs until late April anyway - and the November hours won't be out until May). I personally try and hit morning EMH hours because we're early risers, and we're staying on property. If you're not early risers or you're staying off property, the general rule of thumb is to avoid whichever park has EMH hours that day. As for the evening EMH hours, it depends on what your preferences are about crowds. I haven't been in October before, so I can't tell you exactly how crowded they'll be, but again the general rule is to avoid that park. So that narrows down your choices for each day if you eliminate the EMH park(s).

The next thing I do is try and estimate how much time we'll want in each park. For us (2 adults - one of whom goes to WDW for the food ), we spend a little more time in Epcot and a little less in the water parks than I think the average family does. So I try and guess at that, and then allot the days accordingly (avoiding EMH parks), with some flexibility - I like to leave 1/2 to a whole day open to hit whatever park we decide we'd like to see again. This also can be used in case there is torrential rain, or a personal issue (like, say, being pooped on by a bird - but I'm not bitter) which cuts short your time in a particular park - you can make it up at the end.

Also, you're going during the Food and Wine festival, so I've been told to avoid Epcot on Saturday nights (and possibly Friday nights) - apparently many locals come for the festival on the weekends.

So while I've done the second part (try and guess how much time we'll need in each park), I haven't really planned out our exact schedule yet, because I'm waiting to see the hours and EMH parks. I can take a guess at what those will be based on September's schedule, but with MNSSHP, they may change. Disney's unpredictable like that

If you have any other planning questions I can help with, please feel free to PM me - I'm not an expert, but I am an overplanner.

 

[SueRS]

The other thing you can do is sign up for Tour Guide Mike. I am using him and all is info is great. Check him out.

 

[Goofy Rulz]

You definitely need to start by looking at the calendar and determine EMH. You'll either want to take advantage of those if you are staying on property or avoid them all together if you are staying off property. Then figure out which rides/attractions everyone in your party would like to hit and which restaurants you would like to use. From there you can form your plan of attack. I would strongly suggest subscribing to Tour Guide Mike. We have been there 5x before, but I still signed up for our upcoming trip and I couldn't believe the stuff I learned. Your kids are the same ages mine were when we went last year. You'll want at least 2 days for MK. There is a nice character lunch/dinner @ Crystal Palace w/Winnie & his friends. The kids enjoyed that. If your kids will want to go on Dumbo try to hit that as early as possible. I'm not familiar w/crowd levels at the time of year you are going, but that ride always gets crowded. My kids also enjoyed MGM. Yours will love Star Tours, Muppetvision, the Backlot Tour, Fantasmic and Tower of Terror. We had dinner at the Sci-Fi Theatre, where you sit in cars like at a drive-in. We didn't take them to Epcot, so I can't help you there. And we'll be hitting AK for the first time this June. But from what I've read, they'll love Dino-Land, the safari & Tough to be a Bug. This park closes earlier than the others, so this well give the kids a head start on some much needed rest at the end of the day. Perhaps you can schedule this park either the day before or after MK. Don't know if any of this info is helpful to you, but if you have any other questions, feel free to PM me. I've read so many planning books on WDW for our trip, it would be nice to put that wasted knowledge to work for someone else's benefit.

 

[MouseWorshipin]

The Unofficial Guide has a list of which park to go to on which day, and everything else you want to know, plus, plus, plus...

 

[airtime]

You can get "best" and "worst" park days info for free at TouringPlans.com, which is the Unofficial Guide to WDW's website.

 

[drakester]

I would recommend a dinner show. The Luao at the Poly or the Hoop-Dee-Doo review. My girls 7 and 10 loved the Hoop-Dee-Doo. Also try Boma's over at Animal Kingdom Lodge. The girls also enjoyed the Pirate Cruise at the GF. And one last piece of advise Fast Pass, Fast Pass, Fast Pass!

 

[drteeth3]

The best advise I can give is, don’t over plan. I think you need to set the priorities for what everyone HAS/WANTS to see and work your plan around that. We go to the park hours part of the WDW site and print out the calendars for each park and see when the EMH are and use that as a guide. We plan are meals that need reservations when we have a better idea of when we will go to each park. Don’t forget to plan relaxing time about the middle of the trip. Nothing will ruin a trip faster than everyone being tired and mad because of not enough down time.

 

[mebedisney]

Thanks for your advice. I will definitely subscribe to Tour Guide Mike!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

From Touring Plans .com, site of the UG.
It is free info so I can repeat it.

Fri Oct 27
Best Park. AK
Worst. MK, Ep MNSSHP.

Sat Oct 28
Best Park. MK,EP
Worst MGM

Sun Oct 29
Best EP
Worst MK, MNSSHP

Mon Oct 30
Best MGM
Worst AK

Tues Oct 31 Halloween.
Best MK
Worst MGM, EP

Wed Nov 1
Best EP
Worst AK

Thurs Nov 2
Best EP, AK
Worst MK

Fri Nov 3
Best MK,AK
Worst EP

Keep in mind these could change.

You're going to have
Saturday-thursday to see the parks which amounts to about 5 days. How early do you leave Friday?

If you've never been there before, you won't have time to do everything. 5 days is just enough for a decent tour of the 4 main parks.

Of course you will have your own priorities. But given the age of the kids, I'd do 2 days in MK, and 1 each in AK, MGM, and EP.

 

[Amyg]

Thanks for your advice. I will definitely subscribe to Tour Guide Mike!

Woohoo for TourGuideMike!