Whirlwind trip - Help with some details for WDW noob

[Tomec]

I suddenly find myself with an opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do, and that is go to WDW. As a Cali Native I'm very familiar with DLR, however WDW is totally foreign to me. That said, due to the way things are working out, it's looking like I'm only going to have 2 days in the parks. I know this isn't enough time to do everything by any stretch, however I'm hoping that I can at least do the things there aren't really "analogs" to out here. For example Animal Kingdom and Epcot. I believe Animal Kingdom closes early so I could probably justify a park hopper to either Magic Kingdom (for Tron/Fireworks) or Hollywood Studios, however both those parks are lower in "value" to me due to similarities to DLR.

Obviously my first question is "am I right in my assumptions about MK/HS being similar enough to DL/DCA to focus on Epcot/AK." Again I know I'll be missing out, possibly even in Epcot/AK, however with only 2 days I definitely am limited in what I can do and want to make the most out of things. Which brings me nicely to my second question, should I even bother? I'm sure I can find other things to do in Orlando for those 2 days, however I'm a big Disney fan and don't find myself taking cross country trips often so when I learned I had 2 days free and there are the 2 parks we don't have "analogs" for (if I'm right there....) well easy choice.

Assuming the above is all good my next issue is hotels. I think I want to stay onsite due to not wanting to rent a car/deal with Lyft/Uber much, however these hotels and transport options kind of have my head spinning. I'm thinking about staying at Pop Century since it's a Skyliner hotel to get to Epcot easily, however then I guess I'm bussing to AK? How bad a ride is that? I'm also tempted by a couple other including the Port Orleans, however am confused by the boat/bus thing a little and again don't know how bad the busses really are. I frequently hear "leave an hour to get between places on the bus" however is it really that bad? What other hotels should I be looking at if ease of transport into the parks/Disney Springs is an "issue" for me?

I'm sure there will be more (like lightning lane selections are different in WDW than DLR) as time goes on, but these are the main things I'm looking at planning wise right now.

Thanks in advance

 

[gottalovepluto]

Do it!! I’m a DLR vet and have become a WDW fan over the last few years

EP & AK are SO different from CA. A day at AK gives you enough time to do rides and explore all the different animal exhibits. EP is so fun to explore and GOTG is the best theme park ride according to many of us, almost everyone ranks it above Tron.

Take a look at the price for adding a hopper option and then decide if fireworks are worth. And then add another $20 for a Tron LLSP. Personally I’d spend that night exploring the monorail resorts and watch fireworks from one of them.

 

[fla4fun]

I suddenly find myself with an opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do, and that is go to WDW. As a Cali Native I'm very familiar with DLR, however WDW is totally foreign to me. That said, due to the way things are working out, it's looking like I'm only going to have 2 days in the parks. I know this isn't enough time to do everything by any stretch, however I'm hoping that I can at least do the things there aren't really "analogs" to out here. For example Animal Kingdom and Epcot. I believe Animal Kingdom closes early so I could probably justify a park hopper to either Magic Kingdom (for Tron/Fireworks) or Hollywood Studios, however both those parks are lower in "value" to me due to similarities to DLR.

Obviously my first question is "am I right in my assumptions about MK/HS being similar enough to DL/DCA to focus on Epcot/AK." Again I know I'll be missing out, possibly even in Epcot/AK, however with only 2 days I definitely am limited in what I can do and want to make the most out of things. Which brings me nicely to my second question, should I even bother? I'm sure I can find other things to do in Orlando for those 2 days, however I'm a big Disney fan and don't find myself taking cross country trips often so when I learned I had 2 days free and there are the 2 parks we don't have "analogs" for (if I'm right there....) well easy choice.

Assuming the above is all good my next issue is hotels. I think I want to stay onsite due to not wanting to rent a car/deal with Lyft/Uber much, however these hotels and transport options kind of have my head spinning. I'm thinking about staying at Pop Century since it's a Skyliner hotel to get to Epcot easily, however then I guess I'm bussing to AK? How bad a ride is that? I'm also tempted by a couple other including the Port Orleans, however am confused by the boat/bus thing a little and again don't know how bad the busses really are. I frequently hear "leave an hour to get between places on the bus" however is it really that bad? What other hotels should I be looking at if ease of transport into the parks/Disney Springs is an "issue" for me?

I'm sure there will be more (like lightning lane selections are different in WDW than DLR) as time goes on, but these are the main things I'm looking at planning wise right now.

Thanks in advance

I understand your thinking, but I don’t think I would classify DHS as being similar to DCA, not the way DL park and MK are. Even those two parks have some significant differences. Focus on the differences.

If you are thinking about buying park hopper tickets, look at the park hours and spend more time at Epcot and AK, and plan to spend a few hours in MK and DHS visiting only those things you can’t get at DL/DCA, like the Peoplemover or the OG TOT. I would probably do an AK day/MK evening, and the group Epcot/DHS together since they are close geographically. In your case, I definitely recommend use of LLMP and the pre booking option.

 

[ak517]

For both the parks and resorts you should ask yourself what you really want to get out of this trip. Are you interested in rides? Ambiance? Food? Convenience? Are you solo or traveling with other adults? Kids?

I don't frequent DLR, but DHS is not DCA. The castle parks are similar enough that you could pop in to MK for Tron and fireworks. Epcot and DAK are obviously unique to WDW, so I think you're right to start there and then hop around to DHS and MK.

You'll see lots of complaints about buses but I don't find them terrible and I've stayed at Values, Mods, and Deluxes (including AKL which only has bus access). Sometimes you could be waiting for a while for a bus in the middle of the day (I don't think I've ever waited longer than 20 minutes), and if you need to transfer somewhere like from resort to park to resort, that can take a while particularly since it will be unfamiliar. But even if you stayed on the Monorail you might get passed up by two or three full ones during peak times before you can actually squeeze on. The longest bus ride you could be on is probably from AKL to MK, and that's always been less than 20 minutes of an actual ride for me. Check out the map in the MDE app or use Google Maps to mock up some rides from your hotel options and go from there.

 

[Tomec]

Thanks for all the responses and encouragement so far. Seems like I'm mostly on the right track and was thinking what several of you said already.

I do realize that the castle parks are going to be more similar to each other than the others, and kind of hesitate on calling DHS DCA as it were, so maybe I'm wrong there however in looking at the list of rides I'm not seeing much that really screams to me "must go here" that I can't get in DLR. Granted there is something to be said for the differences between Tower of Terror and there isn't a Toy Story Land so it may be worth it to add on some time there due to those.

Either way though, I think I'm going to pull the trigger on committing to the WDW trip over something else since I'm not hearing anything that is giving me red flags as it were. Now I guess I'll start looking at where to eat, if I want to do the dining plan, etc etc.

 

[Genie+]

I suddenly find myself with an opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do, and that is go to WDW. As a Cali Native I'm very familiar with DLR, however WDW is totally foreign to me. That said, due to the way things are working out, it's looking like I'm only going to have 2 days in the parks. I know this isn't enough time to do everything by any stretch, however I'm hoping that I can at least do the things there aren't really "analogs" to out here. For example Animal Kingdom and Epcot. I believe Animal Kingdom closes early so I could probably justify a park hopper to either Magic Kingdom (for Tron/Fireworks) or Hollywood Studios, however both those parks are lower in "value" to me due to similarities to DLR.

Obviously my first question is "am I right in my assumptions about MK/HS being similar enough to DL/DCA to focus on Epcot/AK." Again I know I'll be missing out, possibly even in Epcot/AK, however with only 2 days I definitely am limited in what I can do and want to make the most out of things. Which brings me nicely to my second question, should I even bother? I'm sure I can find other things to do in Orlando for those 2 days, however I'm a big Disney fan and don't find myself taking cross country trips often so when I learned I had 2 days free and there are the 2 parks we don't have "analogs" for (if I'm right there....) well easy choice.

Assuming the above is all good my next issue is hotels. I think I want to stay onsite due to not wanting to rent a car/deal with Lyft/Uber much, however these hotels and transport options kind of have my head spinning. I'm thinking about staying at Pop Century since it's a Skyliner hotel to get to Epcot easily, however then I guess I'm bussing to AK? How bad a ride is that? I'm also tempted by a couple other including the Port Orleans, however am confused by the boat/bus thing a little and again don't know how bad the busses really are. I frequently hear "leave an hour to get between places on the bus" however is it really that bad? What other hotels should I be looking at if ease of transport into the parks/Disney Springs is an "issue" for me?

I'm sure there will be more (like lightning lane selections are different in WDW than DLR) as time goes on, but these are the main things I'm looking at planning wise right now.

Thanks in advance

We’re kind of the opposite - repeat WDW visitors who visited DL for the first time last year. One big difference is just how huge WDW resort is. With 2 days I’d focus on the most enjoyable way to work in the unique WDW aspects rather than trying to cover all that is unique. Prioritize the attractions and experiences, then layout some basic itineraries to compare those.

Pop is a great choice for its combo of price, perks, and amenities. Being most of your time will be in parks, the only 2 other options I’d compare here would be ASMusic or Movies, or possible one of the cheaper DVC rentals like SSR, AKV, or BLT. Which of these is likely the better path depends on which week you’re going.

For park itinerary, one option I’d compare against others is doing a 2 day hopper. It may not win but it’ll help in ultimately deciding. For most of the year the DVC rental would get you extra night hours at EP/Mon and MK/Wed. The MK one is far more valuable imho (EP World Showcase is only partially open those hours). You could straddle both with a 2 night stay booked Mon-Wed. If you won’t be checking in or out on a Wed, then I’d recommend some combo of hopping to MK and EP, and starting your days in AK and HS. That will balance getting you the most park hours and seeing WDW 2 most unique shows from DL: HEA Fireworks and Luminous.

I’ll stop here for now. Let me know if you have more questions. Once you narrow down some of the above the rest will be easier.

 

[Skippyboo]

Where to eat, where to stay, dining plan - all depends on what you want to do. If you’re spending most of your time in the parks, probably don’t need to fork out for deluxes.

I would get park hoppers. Be aware of it’s holiday party season at MK and it will close early and Epcot during festivals like the upcoming Food and Wine gets crazy crowded on weekend nights.

A cool feature of the MDE app is if you go in to the hotel section you can click on bus times and it will show you the when the park buses and Disney Springs buses are coming to your hotel. The Skyliner gets shut down for lighting so summer storms season can be tricky. Also prepare for Florida heat and humidity if you are coming soon.

 

[Tomec]

We’re kind of the opposite - repeat WDW visitors who visited DL for the first time last year. One big difference is just how huge WDW resort is. With 2 days I’d focus on the most enjoyable way to work in the unique WDW aspects rather than trying to cover all that is unique. Prioritize the attractions and experiences, then layout some basic itineraries to compare those.

Pop is a great choice for its combo of price, perks, and amenities. Being most of your time will be in parks, the only 2 other options I’d compare here would be ASMusic or Movies, or possible one of the cheaper DVC rentals like SSR, AKV, or BLT. Which of these is likely the better path depends on which week you’re going.

For park itinerary, one option I’d compare against others is doing a 2 day hopper. It may not win but it’ll help in ultimately deciding. For most of the year the DVC rental would get you extra night hours at EP/Mon and MK/Wed. The MK one is far more valuable imho (EP World Showcase is only partially open those hours). You could straddle both with a 2 night stay booked Mon-Wed. If you won’t be checking in or out on a Wed, then I’d recommend some combo of hopping to MK and EP, and starting your days in AK and HS. That will balance getting you the most park hours and seeing WDW 2 most unique shows from DL: HEA Fireworks and Luminous.

I’ll stop here for now. Let me know if you have more questions. Once you narrow down some of the above the rest will be easier.

That is the one thing I always see, comparisons about size and just how much larger WDW is. Won't lie, it's kind of daunting in a sense to think about however I also know nothing can be really done about it so six of one.

Unfortunately my days are set as Friday/Saturday for park days, so I don't think the extra hours in the evening will extend to me and I fully expect it to be more crowded due to that. Won't lie and say AKV isn't tempting, though I think I'd really want a Savannah view and that is not cheap even in DVC land sadly. Plus I don't think that I'll spend much time in the room/at the resort given the whirlwind nature so do question spending too much more on a hotel due to that. I think that ASMusic/Movie is only like $50 less for the days I'm going, and I'm kind of digging the idea of the Skyliner for EP/HS as it seems quicker than the bus (assuming it's running)?

Where to eat, where to stay, dining plan - all depends on what you want to do. If you’re spending most of your time in the parks, probably don’t need to fork out for deluxes.

I would get park hoppers. Be aware of it’s holiday party season at MK and it will close early and Epcot during festivals like the upcoming Food and Wine gets crazy crowded on weekend nights.

A cool feature of the MDE app is if you go in to the hotel section you can click on bus times and it will show you the when the park buses and Disney Springs buses are coming to your hotel. The Skyliner gets shut down for lighting so summer storms season can be tricky. Also prepare for Florida heat and humidity if you are coming soon.

Definitely thinking about Park Hopper for sure, not sure on the exact parks/order still however for 90 bucks more and to be able to see all 4 parks in some capacity I think it's probably worthwhile. Thankfully this is all for next year in April so I don't think there are many parties/things around then. Probably some festival at Epcot (I think this year it was Flower and Garden which I don't think is a bigger one?) however on the whole I think it'll be (comparatively) "light". Not sure on weather though lol.

 

[Skippyboo]

April is Flower and Garden at Epcot, food booths plus character topiaries.

I think the Skyliner is worth the extra money for Pop over all stars. The buses at the beginning and end of the day can be sardine like.

April can be warm but not usually the jungle level of summer. Also in 2025 you get free water park access on your arrival day.

Animal Kingdom Lodge is a short bus ride from AK. There are multiple viewing area that you can look at the animals. Boma the table service buffet at AKL Jambo has a great breakfast.

 

[Tomec]

Hmmmm.... You're making some good points about AKL that I hadn't thought about. Like the food situation is not something I've given any thought to yet, and maybe I should be. I'm just not sure how much time I'll spend at the hotel itself still as I want to maximize time in parks and don't mind doing some sitting for people watching/resting in the parks if needed. It'll be a long couple days I'm sure, and I don't know my travel companion's level of "enthusiam" for that (though they really really want to ride Tron lol) so will need to confer with them, but on the whole I'm just not sure if I'll be spending a lot of time in the hotel so does food selection and stuff really matter as much....

 

[Genie+]

Yeah April Fri and Sat will be high DVC points. Rental options will start at ~$300/nt. Some times of the year can be close to ~$200, then worth comparing against Pop.

Pop gets the Wow factor for the skyliner. That is pretty cool! Especially with hopper to both EP and HS. I’d plan that and keep an eye on room discounts. If at some point ASMs save enough to buy ubers everywhere, depending on park plans it might work better.

Like if your end up doing EP and HS same day you’ll get a taste of Skyliner without even staying Pop. Then money saved at ASM/M could buy rideshare, more convenient and time saving than busses. With rideshare, walking to/from BLT is the best way to handle MK (because it saves the ~30 minutes crossing the lagoon). MK is the one park where bussing from resort has an advantage over all other transportation since the bus drops you right in front of MK (Exception Minnie Van but $$$), the others do not.

With hopper AK/MK on Fri and HS/EP on Sat. Sat is usually busier than Fri at MK. Sat will have FL AP blockouts that help make a dent in MK crowd levels. Pairing HS/EP is good logistically, with the Skyliner benefit if you don’t end up at Pop. You’ll get to see both big firework shows.

Without the hopper, that’s tricky. I can see AK/EP winning here. They are unique! Chances are Fri will be less crowded than Sat for both parks. I’d go with EP on Fri as that’ll probably make more of a difference.

 

[Tomec]

With hopper AK/MK on Fri and HS/EP on Sat. Sat is usually busier than Fri at MK. Sat will have FL AP blockouts that help make a dent in MK crowd levels. Pairing HS/EP is good logistically, with the Skyliner benefit if you don’t end up at Pop. You’ll get to see both big firework shows.

Thanks for the idea/insight into crowds with that. That basically matches what I was thinking with some initial planning/thoughts.
Won't lie I'm still torn on HS vs full day of EP, however that's a problem for future me and I do really do enjoy Galaxy's Edge....

That does make me have a question about the new LL options though, specifically the (I guess now) Single Pass attractions. I think in the past/some cases you could only book the next available/current window, however if I'm park hoping over from AK to MK and want to hit Tron through the LL than I'd definitely need one later in the day. Can you select your arrival window or is just first available?

 

[Genie+]

Thanks for the idea/insight into crowds with that. That basically matches what I was thinking with some initial planning/thoughts.
Won't lie I'm still torn on HS vs full day of EP, however that's a problem for future me and I do really do enjoy Galaxy's Edge....

That does make me have a question about the new LL options though, specifically the (I guess now) Single Pass attractions. I think in the past/some cases you could only book the next available/current window, however if I'm park hoping over from AK to MK and want to hit Tron through the LL than I'd definitely need one later in the day. Can you select your arrival window or is just first available?

WDW just changed LLs again and they can now be reserved up to 7 days out for onsite guests (which you will be). For a Single LL (like TRON), you will be able to pick your time before paying. You can pick 2 different Single LL in different parks with a hopper.

Technically for your trip, you’ll be able to book Fri at 7 days out and Sat at 8 days out, because you’re onsite.

For the Multi LL system, you can now book up to 3 in one park. However, once you use the first one from inside the park, the other 2 selections can be changed to another park, plus you’re no longer limited to one Tier 1 selection like the pre-selects are. You actually get 3 rolling selections.

 

[nyy]

I agree that you should buy PH for the flexibility, but I would focus most of your time on EP/AK, as they are so unique.
AK is definitely a smaller footprint, while EP is huge. They each have much fewer rides than you will be used to but the theming, atmosphere, and the rides they do have are well worth it. With the new LL system, you can preselect rides which will help you. You might enjoy Guardians (it is an inside coaster, not at all like at DLR), Ratatouille, Spaceship Earth at EP and Kilimanjaro Safari, Everest, Dinosaur (same ride vehicle/system as Indy) and The Lion King Show at AK.

If you stay at Pop or Movies, you could still visit AKL on AK day or even the BW/YC/BC on EPCOT day for lunch or dinner to enjoy some WDW resorts. Or when you go to MK for Tron, visit a monorail resort. We find the transportation very efficient for the amount of people they are moving on a daily basis. (I will say the Skyliner scares the crap out of me, though!)

We are headed to DLR for the first time in June 2025 and I cannot wait to see DL and CA!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hmmmm.... You're making some good points about AKL that I hadn't thought about. Like the food situation is not something I've given any thought to yet, and maybe I should be. I'm just not sure how much time I'll spend at the hotel itself still as I want to maximize time in parks and don't mind doing some sitting for people watching/resting in the parks if needed. It'll be a long couple days I'm sure, and I don't know my travel companion's level of "enthusiam" for that (though they really really want to ride Tron lol) so will need to confer with them, but on the whole I'm just not sure if I'll be spending a lot of time in the hotel so does food selection and stuff really matter as much....

My first foray to WDW was a 2 day trip, EP & MVMCP. Stayed AKL, definitely regretted it. Pain in the behind for transport, limited food options, looooong walk to rooms, no resort time so no chance to enjoy what we were paying for. Don’t do it.

You can Uber to AK easily. My preferred way to get there without kids as the drop off area is closer than buses (unlike all other parks) and no waiting for buses. I think Pop would be great for EP access.

If your goal is new I still vote AK>DHS. DL has TSMM, SWGE and versions of Fantasmic (sitting on a bench at DHS) and ToT. DL has nothing AK has.