WDW “zombie” looking for guidance for June 2023 trip (last WDW visit in 2016)

[ChloesDaddy]

We just decided to plan a trip for early June 2023 after a 7-year hiatus (went to DLR in 2019), and I’m looking for some guidance about where to start. We’re a family of five (kids will be 12, 15, and 17) and plan to stay offsite and do one day at each park over the course if a week, with no park hopping.

We are mostly late risers now, so rope drop is likely only a find memory for us, but we’ll have no problem closing down parks with late hours. We like fireworks but don’t plan to stake out a spot; we’ll just watch from wherever we can get out of traffic at the time. We also don’t plan to do more than a couple dining reservations in the parks (will do some outside parks on “off” days).

We plan to get Genie+ for all days, and we’ll have a few priorities at each park - mainly anything new since 2016 (Pandora, Tron, Guardians, Ratatouille, Toy Story Land, Galaxy’s Edge - although we got to do everything but RotR on our DLR trip) and favorites (BTMR, HM, POTC, TT, Soarin, ToT, RnR, EE, Safari). We’ll fill in with other things as we feel it and as opportunities arise.

My philosophy on planning is to be prepared but not regimented. This will be our last vacation before my oldest goes off to college, so we want it to be fun but mostly relaxed. We are also planning a 2-night stay onsite at US at the start of the trip.

I’ve looked through threads and watched a few videos, and I know already there are quite a few new wrinkles: reservations, Genie+, paid lightning lanes, boarding groups, etc. Anyway, whatever advice I can get will be appreciated.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would recommend the ‘Planning Tips’ thread.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

I would recommend the ‘Planning Tips’ thread.

Thanks! As you can see, it’s been awhile.

 

[RoseGold]

Without rope drop, this will be a tough schedule at HS. I would skip Slinky Dog if something needs to go. You've been on better coasters, the wait is bananas, and you need to G+ other things. You can see it as you walk by and get the gist.

Someone is going to need to read a lot and plan for everyone at 7AM.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

Without rope drop, this will be a tough schedule at HS. I would skip Slinky Dog if something needs to go. You've been on better coasters, the wait is bananas, and you need to G+ other things. You can see it as you walk by and get the gist.

Someone is going to need to read a lot and plan for everyone at 7AM.

Yeah, there may be some things that get skipped. OR… I may be able to convince everyone to get up early for ONE day. We'll see. I’ll be the one reading up and booking G+ and ILL$. Already have some experience with the “stacking” concept when we used Maxpass at DLR. I had actually done a version of that at MK with paper FP while the rest of my party was standing in character M&G lines, which I detest.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

I would recommend looking at historical park hours. It has been consistent that MK seems to close at 10-11 and EP and HS close at 9. I think AK closes even earlier between 6-7. Sadly, closing down the parks doesn’t really mean what it did before, so later starts can really set you behind if you have a lot of things you’d like to experience and only one day to do it.

I also think your HS list is pretty aggressive if you are trying to have a more relaxed trip. For that park, I’d say you either need to have one early and planned day if you want to see it all or you need to pick your top priorities and know that anything beyond those few will be a bonus.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think your strategy for a slower paced and relaxed trip is a good one, but I also think with only one day for each park, and a late start, you will really have to scale back your expectations on the amount of rides at each park you can do. I personally don’t think you can have it both ways. Better to be pleasantly surprised with what you did beyond a few rides than to be disappointed that you missed something.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

I would recommend looking at historical park hours. It has been consistent that MK seems to close at 10-11 and EP and HS close at 9. I think AK closes even earlier between 6-7. Sadly, closing down the parks doesn’t really mean what it did before, so later starts can really set you behind if you have a lot of things you’d like to experience and only one day to do it.

I also think your HS list is pretty aggressive if you are trying to have a more relaxed trip. For that park, I’d say you either need to have one early and planned day if you want to see it all or you need to pick your top priorities and know that anything beyond those few will be a bonus.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think your strategy for a slower paced and relaxed trip is a good one, but I also think with only one day for each park, and a late start, you will really have to scale back your expectations on the amount of rides at each park you can do. I personally don’t think you can have it both ways. Better to be pleasantly surprised with what you did beyond a few rides than to be disappointed that you missed something.

Thanks. I’ve started working on the late risers already about getting up early on our HS day. We’ve got some down days to use, so we’ll plan to do HS after one of those. We also have a flex day at the end of our stay, so we can add a day to our tickets if needed (I assume that can still be done).

Where is the best place to see historical park hours? (Nvm, I found them)