What Days to Visit the Parks?!

[Astrid]

Right, I've decided with only a few weeks to go I should start cobbling together some semblance of a plan and I'm getting into a bit of a pickle!!

How do you work out which days you visit the Parks? A few years back I stuck to Simon's 'Busiest Days' Planner in his book but since then EE has gone and then come back again and I'm now not sure how relevant his list is (as his latest book was out before EE was reinstated).

Do you just arrange to visit a Park and not take into account EE? is there some up to date list of busiest days? And does this thread make any sense at all?

Any suggestions gratefully received - Ta ever so!

BTW - I'll have APs which will make life easier and my last 3 days are on-site.

Astrid x

 

[Fantasia Sam]

'Bout time you started planning something

When I stayed off-site I would typically not venture into a park on the day it had EE - Magic Hour mornings are a little different in that they are only an hour where as EE was a little longer.

I've never done the EE/MH mornings but am looking forward to doing it this time and I've made sure that we go into the parks in the morning for EE and then head out around lunchtime.

Early Entry days normally mean that the park will fill up earlier because of all the on-site guests will be taking advantage - so that could either mean if you're on-site guest go to the park for Early Entry and leave by midday and go to another park or if you're an off-site guest go to another park full stop on an EE day:

Monday - AK
Tuesday - MGM
Wednesday - Epcot
Thursday - MK
Friday - AK
Saturday - MGM
Sunday - MK

HTH a little

Not sure how this affects Simon's plan

 

[Shropshire Saint]

I looked on the WDW site for opening hours & it does not mention the EE in April. When does it start? May? Or has it started?

 

[UKDEB]

Astrid,

The only 'rule' I have which is sacrosanct, is the one which states that we won't visit a park on an EE day. I have made the mistake of breaking my own rule twice in the past, for what seemed like perfectly valid reasons, and lived to regret it.

Now, I know twice isn't really a representative sample, but I can't begin to explain the difference in the crowds on those two occasions. We normally visit during 'quieter' times (which, even so, seem busy to me) and I found the crowds on these EE days to be overwhelming.

I don't know whether EE is affecting things in the same way since it was re-introduced, but you've got to think that the principle is the same. It will be interesting to hear what Sam has to say (or anyone else who has been to a park on an EE day recently).

Shropshire Saint - EE days were withdrawn post September 11 and re-introduced (on different days) some time last year.

 

[SidB]

And just as importantly, does EE mean that the other parks are lighter, and does this effect any park in particular.

 

[kazzie]

Astrid,

My only plan is as Deb's, it is a No-No to visit a park on an EE day,as we stay offsite.If you stick to that I don't think you can go far wrong.Although things can always go wrong like when we turned up at Epcot half hour before opening time in October 2001 (just after 9/11) to find they'd changed the opening to later.So we and hundreds of other people were held back behind a rope while behind us the crowd built up to fairly dangerous proportions.The best laid plans and all that....!

If you are onsite for your last three days you could use a parks EE then couldn't you?

Sid,

EE in a particular park should mean the other parks have lighter attendance early on I think.

 

[SpottyDog]

Can't argue with the avoid EE philosophy but , for what it's worth, you might like to bear in mind that when we've been onsite only a small proportion of Resort Guests have been up and about before 9am, never mind jumpin on buses to take advantage of EE. Maybe it's just coz we go March, which is quiet anyway, but EE is always dead for us and we get to do the parks by mid-day and then leave. Might this make the EE Park quieter in the afty?

When we do our Plan we start by addin in specific 'must be there then' days - like PS's and Cirque etc. When yer on-site, Astrid, I'd factor-in the EE Parks you qualify for on those days for obvious reasons. We then fill-in the remaining days.

Bear in mind some Parks ,particularly Epcot, don't perform every parade or street entertainment every day so you might want to be specific about which days will get the most out of yer Plan time. We use WDW Entertainment to see when and where everything's on in WDW.

Whether it's EE or not, our top tip is get to the park as early as yer can. We get most Parks 'done' by lunch time by makin the most of the time available and plannin where we need to be and get those likely to have longer queues out of the way as early as possible. Walk-in shows like Indiana, Tarzan and Sinbad etc can be done by arrivin late and acceptin less than best seats or by use of FPs etc.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[WDWfan uk]

Shropshire Saint, Early Entry aka Extra Magic Hour is operating every day - Disney do not include it on their site as it is only for resort guests, but they are as follows:

Sunday & Thursday - Magic Kingdom
Monday & Friday - Animal Kingdom
Tuesday & Saturday - MGM Studios
Wednesday - Epcot

If you are staying on-site, I think Extra Magic Hour is a great perk provided the attractions which are open are ones you are interested in!

There are only four attractions open for EE in MGM for example - Star Tours, TOT, RnR and the Muppets so if you have a family that doesn't like big rides, it isn't worth taking advatantage of it.

However, the Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom have several favorites open e.g. in AK Kilimanjaro Safari and ITTBAB and in MK Fantasyland attractions and Tomorrowland attractions.

If you are off-site, you might want to plan to go to a Disney park the day after EE - this used to work well in the past.

 

[Astrid]

Thanks everyone for all the tips.

I've started my plan and have decided to avoid EE except on the days I'm on site. I'm an early riser so will aim to get to the Parks on opening and do what I can in the first few hours.

Thanks for the great link Dave - never seen that site before, there are a few shows/parades we always seem to miss out on so that'll be a great help!

Astrid