Would you do the parks like this??

[HauntedMansionFreak]

I'm so excited! We are leaving in one week! Yayyyyy!

Anyway, I've made a 'kind of, sort of' itinerary (sp) and am getting a little nervous about it. Can some of you experts tell me how it looks to you? I am trying to hit the parks on the days they are the least crowded.

Friday August 13 - Arrival - rest up from the drive

Saturday Aug. 14th - Magic Kingdom

Sunday Aug. 15th - Animal Kingdom 9AM-12PM, MGM 12PM-4:30PM then back to AK for PS at 5PM then back to MGM for Fantasmic.

Monday Aug 16th - Epcot

Tuesday Aug 17th - Rest day

Wednesday Aug 18th - IOA

Thursday Aug 19th - Head to Daytona Beach!

My biggest concern is the 15th. I was hoping to hit AK when they opened because most of their rides are outside and wanted to do them before it got too hot. Then go to MGM. We have a PS at AK at 5PM which means we'd have to go back. Grrrrr! If it helps - at AK we wanted to do: Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safari, Tough to be a bug and Tarzan Rocks. At MGM we wanted to do: RnR, Star Tours Tower of Terror Great Movie Ride, Backlot Tour.

Is this do-able? Maybe we should just do AK on Sunday and rest up that evening and then do MGM on Tuesday and rest up that evening also.

I don't know whay I'm spazzing so bad all of a sudden!

 

[Slartibartfast]

We'll be there at the same time, celebrating my 40th birthday! Our first day isn't till the 15th though. Sunday is great for AK, we'll be there. Everyday is good for Epcot - and we'll be ther Monday for my birthday (Brats and Beck's at Biergarten!) Tuesday, we rest (With a waterpark).

Only difference is we're doing MK on Wednesday and Friday (18th & 20th). Saturday might be nuts for you, but then again, that looks like the only day you can do MK.

I know a lot of people prefer to park-hop, but we find it's LESS tiresome to spend the whole day at a park (hectic morning, restful lunch, LEISURELY spent afternoon). The trick is to find a quiet, cool spot to catch your second wind.

Anyway, hope to see you there!

 

[TiggMan]

HMF,

If this is your first time for AK, then I think it would be a shame not to take your time and enjoy the park for the full day, ending with your PS. There is SO much to see there. Of course, I love AK, so I may be a little biased. But honestly, I think you'll enjoy your trip more by just taking your time at whatever park you go to, including MGM, and not rushing around. Remember, you're on vacation - leave the rushing feeling at home.

Have a magical trip!

 

[sartello]

I would think about doing AK only on Sunday and then doing MGM on your rest day. Although, we have young kids (well, not so young anymore) so we prefer to do something everyday even if it's for a half day. Plus, I don't think I would like the bussing back and forth between the parks - but that's just me.

Where's you PS? Is it a must do? Maybe think about doing dinner at MGM. If it's a must do ressie, I would put MGM onto Tuesday morning. My 5 and 6 year old have not needed a full "rest day". An afternoon may be plenty.

Shelly

 

[Lucky4me]

That is a lot of back and forth in one day. If it were me I'd stay in AK until 2pm, eat at the last lunch seating (2:45pm?) and then go over to MGM. The buffet should hold everyone over till later in the evening then you could get a snack at Fantasmic.

 

[swilphil]

If you are staying onsite, you could easily take advantage of EE at MGM Sat., MK Sun., and AK Monday. I found PS's pretty easy to change, so that shouldn't be a problem--unless it's a princess breakfast, etc. I've always avoided MK on Saturday. Tuesday and Wednesday are supposed to be better days, but on the other hand that has to be the first park I go to.

If you're staying off-site, your plan is probably doable, but I still would limit your back and forth on the 15th to AK in the very early morning, and MGM in the afternoon and evening. AK gets unbearably hot in the afternoon--I can't think of a restaurant there that would be worth the return trip. Could you change your PS that evening to MGM or even one of the Boardwalk area restaurants? Brown Derby and Flying Fish are very good. There's also a Fantasmic dinner buffet at Hollywood and Vine, but I don't know how available that will be.

 

[BluesTravlr00]

rest day?!?! what???

 

[The Sweetness]

Festival of the Lion King is the best AK's got. Other than that, Id be tempted to skip it all together. Are you sure you and your fam dont want to check it out?

 

[jann1033]

that's a lot of hopping and a fair amount of wasted time ( you really can kill an hr every trip!) if you are going to rfc , i thought they served straight through till dinner...so either go earlier for big lunch /early dinner then head to mgm or go to mgm another day. we listened to some who said they only go to ak for a partial day and wished we hadn't ..we spent one whole day and most of a second( that's all we had to spend) ! it really depends on what you like but we enjoyed all the shows there( pochahontas soso but little kids might enjoy it more) and loved the animal exhibits. a lot of your "must dos" are inside or wet anyway so i don't think the heat would be "that" much worse for them, i mean you are going to fl in august.....expect HOT weather!!!!( course we usually go in dec./jan. so if we make the quick trip we might at the end of this month i might be eating my words !)

 

[HauntedMansionFreak]

We are staying off site (about 10 mins away). I like the thought of going to AK on Sun then MGM on Tues. I think that would be better than going back and fourth. Our PS is at RFC which we are dying to do. We've never eaten there. Also, we'ven never even been to AK. I just kind of gathered from alot of posts that it could be dont in half a day. I'm not big on 'zoo's' and thats how I kind of picture it to be - just a large zoo. We were really only going for the rides and a few shows. I could care less about MGM - just not enough there for me, but hubby and son have never been.

BTW, I am flexible on all of my days. I didn't want to do MK on Saturday either but I wanted it to be the first park we went to and I had read somewhere that Sun and Mon were horrible days and that (ironically) Saturday was one of the best.


Ahhhhhhhhhhh.......decisions......decisions.......lol

Thanks everyone

 

[jann1033]

the reason i think Sat. is not particularly good for mk is you have locals and tourists...at least that is the case in the winter. maybe it evens out in summer & more local people go during the week since kids are out of school, don't know. but in Jan. Sat was the only busy day at mk.( and i mean much much busier than any other day at any other park ...fantasy land in particular was hard to get around in for the otherwise dead time of year, we went to mickey's philharmagic & then left!)

we like zoos and animals in general so we loved it (ak) it does have animal exhibits ( a great gorilla one, never saw them climb way up in trees before) and the cms at them are a real wealth of info. .but the atmosphere was so fantastic,,,Africa especially..we found it to be very well done and set the"mood" very well.. like the musicians, drums...if you don't like it you can always leave but the lion king show is wonderful, i think kids would love the boneyard and dinoland in general. i think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you give it a chance and don't run through. it is a park to snoop around in in order to really "get it" I think.

 

[debkorb1]

Originally posted by HauntedMansionFreak
Our PS is at RFC which we are dying to do.

You could always sample the RFC at Down town Disney - when I was there this July, lunchtime was never too busy and you could eat there on your rest day.

I have to say I agree with posters about AK - it is a great park and you should spend at leat 5 hours there, especially if you've never been before! The best way to hop IMHO would be AK, short afternoon break and then MGM evening. I think trying to leave MGM at 4.30 to be back at AK for 5 will be pushing it, as will leaving AK at 12 and trying to arrive at MGM at 12 - would need a little bit of help from Scotty on the Enterprise

As regards your rest day you could leave the plan as it is and just see how you feel Monday night/Tuesday morning. If you have some energy you could finish MGM or AK depending on how much you get done. An Unofficial Guide touring plan will help there!

Good luck.

 

[sartello]

I would consider doing RFC at Downtown Disney. It's the same as the one at AK, but surrounded by wonderful shopping! LOL

If you do the RFC at DD, then you could play the day by ear. If you get everything done at AK that you wanted to then hop over to MGM before dinner. If not, spend the day there and go to DD for dinner.

Shelly

 

[4thof52003]

I wouldn't do the AK/MGM day personally. I have waited for the bus from AK to MGM twice and remember both times being incredibly LONG!!! I even thought several times about just hitching the next bus to Epcot and walking to MGM out through the International Gateway. The only thing that stopped me was that I had already waited 15 minutes both times and at that point it wouldn't have saved time. If I ever need to go from AK to MGM again, I am hopping onto an Epcot bus instead unless the MGM bus is RIGHT THERE.