Which days are best for each park?

[TracyMags]

Here I am, last minute planner. We are leaving on Friday, to arrive on Saturday, to begin our park adventures on Sunday. We have 5 days of tickets without parkhopper and seven days total offsite with no other plans- except a possible excursion to the Titanic Museum if time permits. Oh and I have a lunch with Cinderella on Monday. So where should I go on Sunday, AK, MGM or EPCOT? How early should I plan on getting to these parks? How long does one stay when they get there?

I know that there are books that suggest which days are best, I really don't have time read one right now as packing has become very time consuming with 5 kids.

My plan was to use the extra 5th day on the park that we liked the best.

TIA for any help or advice. I am getting a little nervous about the whole trip.

 

[PollyannaMom]

According to the crowd calendar I've used before, for the week you will be there - Sunday is good for MGM, Monday for MK (which fits perfectly for you), Tuesday lists MGM again, so maybe that is your offsite day, then Wednesday for EPCOT, Thursday for AK, and Friday is your repeat day. (EPCOT and AK are listed as least crowded that day, but I think most kids would choose to repeat MK, and that's fine - as it would be your second day there, you won't be trying to cram in everything anyway.)

When to arrive and how long to stay depends totally on your family. If you are early risers, get there before opening. Most advice I've read says to take a break mid-day and go back, but it sounds as if you are offsite, and that might be a hastle, especially with a big group - so it depends on your kids' stamina and whether you want to do the night-time stuff.

MK and Epcot are easlily big enough for more than one day. AK is a short day. MGM was also short for us, but my DS was only 5 at the time, and not into the movies as much. Your older ones (I read your other post) might want more time there.

The best advice I can give overall is to find out what one or two things are most important to each person in your group - make sure you do those, and treat everything else as bonus. It's ALL fun.

Have a great trip!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I think everyone has their own method of how they decide what parks to do on what days. We look and see what park has early/late hours for resort guests and then we avoid that park that day. That is our only rule of touring.

 

[beattyfamily]

I like doing early entry mornings so that is where I start my planning.

Then I also must do one showing of Fantasmic at MGM and Spectro/Wishes at MK so I fit those in.

Not to start any controversy but you might want to plan your days to avoid Gay Days to avoid extra crowds. Looks like the only day it might affect your trip is Sun. Epcot is the designated Gay Day park on Sunday, June 3.

Gay Days Schedule:
Thu, May 31 - Animal Kingdom
Fri, June 1 - Disney/MGM Studios
Sat, June 2 - Magic Kingdom
Sun, June 3 - Epcot

Tues and Thurs are early entry days at Mk so I'd do at least Thurs at MK if you are an early bird; you can get a lot done early on!

Wedneday is early entry day at AK. Friday is early entry day at MGM.

I think I would do it in this order:

MGM - Sun
MK - Mon (for your meal)
Epcot - Tues
AK - Wed (early entry)
MK - Thurs (early entry)
MGM - Fri (early entry)

But I do not know when you want to fit in your non-Disney days.

HERE are the park hours and early entry days for June.

 

[SnowWhite12]

Sunday may be the most crowded at Epcot, due to Gay Days and early entry morning.

 

[TracyMags]

Thanks for your replies. I will go on the days suggested.

BTW, what is a gay day? I have never heard of it.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Thanks for your replies. I will go on the days suggested.

BTW, what is a gay day? I have never heard of it.

It's not an official WDW thing, just a day when the gay and lesbian community decide to do Disney as a large group. Not a big deal IMO and no different than the Brazilian touring groups or high school bands that descend upon the parks in mass groups.

 

[Princess Roo]

By "offsite" do you mean staying in an offsite hotel? If so, you won't be able to go to early entry, so I'd definitely avoid those days.
On at least the Magic Kingdom day, I'd probably go right at opening. They have a little show ~15 minutes before the park opens which really adds to the excitement, in my opinion. And you can get a lot done in the first few hours before the crowds arrive. We usually get everything laid out the night before, and those that can shower at night can get that out of the way, too.
Also, some people don't know this, but if you decide you want to add a day to your tickets, you can do that at any time during your trip for just the incremental cost (which is about $2/day per ticket, assuming you bought regular tickets).

Have fun!

 

[TracyMags]

great info princess roo. Thanks

 

[AngieWin]

According to the crowd calendar I've used before,

Can you post a link to the crowd calendar please???

 

[bnsilly]

Also at MGM they are having Star Wars Weekends Fri-Sun, so you may want to avoid those days...
We too are last minute planners, and leaving Friday to arrive Sat!
Where ya from?? We are driving from north Texas

 

[jenrein]

http://www.*****************/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=14

This page gives you crowd levels for each day- we did not plan our trip by it but I did look at it and take a mental note. Let me tell you we had planned all good days according to it except for Animal Kingdom day and really it was waaayyyy busier than the other parks were!

 

[bnba2]

This page gives you crowd levels for each day- we did not plan our trip by it but I did look at it and take a mental note. Let me tell you we had planned all good days according to it except for Animal Kingdom day and really it was waaayyyy busier than the other parks were!

that link doesnt work...what are the *****s?

 

[jenrein]

http://www.*****************/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=14

 

[jenrein]

That is so lame hold on

 

[jenrein]

Replace the *********'s with www...


************.
com

 

[jenrein]

touring


plans

 

[AngieWin]

touring


plans

Still cant figure it out, can you pm me?

 

[PollyannaMom]

I don't know why the links aren't working either. But the site is the standard "www" opening, the standard "com" ending, and ************, as if it was one word, in the middle. Click on "crowd calendar" - in blue, along the left hand side.

 

[PollyannaMom]

OK, that didn't work either. The first word is "touring" and the second word is "plans". Does anyone know if there is something wrong with the site that it is getting blocked by our system?