WWYD - park visits

[musika]

This is all hypothetical at this stage for our family, but if anyone has any thoughts would love some opinions.

If we go to MNSSHP, it's because my kid will have a thing on Fri Sept 26, so we absolutely have to be checked into that hotel by Thurs Sept 25. I wouldn't want to do the Thursday party (if there is one) because I need them to be well rested for their thing.

I'm leaning towards the party on Tues Sept 23 (assuming that's when it will be based on past schedules). That would mean us flying in on Monday, resort/rest day Tuesday, party Tuesday night, rest day Wednesday, and something on Thursday + hotel transfer. Potentially 3 nights in Disney with the rest of our time in Universal (though, we might switch hotels Wednesday night depending on price).

WWYD on Wednesday and/or Thursday? Our last trip to Disney was in early 2020 so there are a fair number of new things in all parks. Our plan is Universal on Mon/Tues/Wed of the week following.

 

[hes122]

What about Epcot for F&W and also to check out the new things since you were there last? Have you been there since MMRR at HS opened?

 

[Mouse Tracker]

Where is your kids "thing" on Friday?

What time is the possible flight for the Monday?

 

[musika]

What about Epcot for F&W and also to check out the new things since you were there last? Have you been there since MMRR at HS opened?

F&W isn't a huge draw for us, but good point to check the event out to see if there's anything compelling. MMRR opened the month after we visited, so haven't seen it! I think at most I'd want to do one other park. Given the state of AK I'd rule that out. So I guess I'm really asking whether Epcot or HS is the better choice if we do decide to do a park day. Could in theory hop I suppose, but I'm not sure the whole famjam would be up for that kind of marathon day.

 

[hes122]

Remy & Guardians (plus the whole front of Epcot has been reimagined) are new at Epcot since 2020. Once the Eat to the Beat concert list gets published there may be someone you're interested in seeing.

We were expecting F&W to be open during our August visit when we booked, but we ended up missing it by 4-5 days. We still managed to find plenty to keep ourselves occupied with no festival, so I wouldn't write off Epcot as an option. A one-day PH ticket just to see MMRR might be pricey even though transportation between the two parks is easy.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Adding PH to short tickets is expensive so do the math before even considering it.

I'd be more inclined to do a park Wed afternoon and night, then sleep in Thurs and enjoying resort time at whatever hotel you prefer transferring before/after as is appropriate. A park day + WDW/UOR hotel trans on Thurs will result in kinda tired on Fri no matter how much resting you do on Wed.

 

[musika]

Adding PH to short tickets is expensive so do the math before even considering it.

I'd be more inclined to do a park Wed afternoon and night, then sleep in Thurs and enjoying resort time at whatever hotel you prefer transferring before/after as is appropriate. A park day + WDW/UOR hotel trans on Thurs will result in kinda tired on Fri no matter how much resting you do on Wed.

Yeah, agree with that. Especially being CDN, the exchange rate is killer. I'm leaning towards Epcot because of Remy and GOTG which are both new from our last visit. I love HS more, but I don't think the new stage shows and MMRR would trump GOTG for our family.

Ordinarily we would stay at Pop but may need to cheap out on this trip depending on how hotel rates trend in the next couple of months and go for the All Stars. I think anything else is likely out of budget right now, but TBH we love Pop so it's not a super hardship.

Any ideas on what the hours would normally be at Epcot in late September? Or historical resources I could check?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Ordinarily we would stay at Pop but may need to cheap out on this trip depending on how hotel rates trend in the next couple of months and go for the All Stars. I think anything else is likely out of budget right now, but TBH we love Pop so it's not a super hardship.

Any ideas on what the hours would normally be at Epcot in late September? Or historical resources I could check?

Current and historical hours link

Disney World doesn't have dynamic rates for their hotels right now. So, the price you see now is what it is unless another deal comes out (deals for Sept are already out) or availability changes (like the room is only available at rack rate now but a room at a discounted rates becomes available later).

 

[musika]

Current and historical hours link

Disney World doesn't have dynamic rates for their hotels right now. So, the price you see now is what it is unless another deal comes out (deals for Sept are already out) or availability changes (like the room is only available at rack rate now but a room at a discounted rates becomes available later).

That link is really helpful, thanks! Forgot that about Disney hotels. Pondering whether I should book now in case the rate goes away. I'm between Pop @ 185/nt and the All stars at $137/nt (sports) or 145/nt (music/movies). It doesn't seem like a huge difference, but $40USD over three nights = $165 CDN which is a little gross on a trip we're trying not to splurge too much on.

 

[gottalovepluto]

That link is really helpful, thanks! Forgot that about Disney hotels. Pondering whether I should book now in case the rate goes away. I'm between Pop @ 185/nt and the All stars at $137/nt (sports) or 145/nt (music/movies). It doesn't seem like a huge difference, but $40USD over three nights = $165 CDN which is a little gross on a trip we're trying not to splurge too much on.

Yes you should book now. Availability can change at any time and Disney allows cancellations until 8 days out if you’re doing room only so what is there to lose?

Fwiw- AS may not be that bad of a choice considering you are traveling during storm season (any lightening in the area shuts down the Skyliner)

 

[musika]

Coming back to update... we officially are going! Here's our current (very tentative) Disney leg of our plans. The only thing I don't love is it involves a lot of hotel switching, but more than one night in a deluxe hotel is way (way) out of our budget.

Monday Sep 22 - fly in, arrive late afternoon. Chill at hotel. (All Star Sports, booked)
Tuesday Sep 23 - no concrete day plans (disney springs, maybe?) MNSSHP this night. Stay at Sports again.
Wednesday Sep 24 - switch hotels to YC/BC (haven't decided which yet, same price @528/nt - I cannot convert this to Canadian it makes me ill to think of it hahah.)
Thinking about a PH for Epcot and DHS, starting at Epcot (priority being new things since our last visit, really just a taste of this park), then finishing our night at DHS. Reallllly hoping for EEH at DHS (The link above for historical hours shows they take over that last week of Sept from MK EEH so hoping for the same this year).
Thurs Sep 25 - No parks, pool day at SAB (can do this after checkout until midnight, I think?). Whenever we're ready, transfer to our next hotel in the Universal area via Uber/Lyft.

Part of me thinks a two day ticket would be better, but I equally want to limit some of the walking on Thursday for my kiddo who's got a competition thing on Friday that they need to be well rested for. We've never park hopped before - I'm hoping this isn't *too* ambitious? My kids are 10 and 13 so not little so we're trying the late night route this trip for our park days.