Yet another "Which park which day" question

[Shannon G]

Working on our schedule for our July trip. We fly to MCO on Thursday, 7/11, and are staying off site for one night, then checking into CSR on Friday morning. After dropping our bags at CSR, we are going to breakfast (either Kona or Trails End) and need to return the rental car. So, we are not planning on going to a park until early afternoon.

MK and AK are my DDs' favorite parks, so they want to start the trip at one of those. I have been tentatively planning Friday afternoon / evening at AK, and then MK on Saturday. I then started to wonder if we should go to MK on Friday instead. Here are what I see as the pros & cons:

Go to MK Friday afternoon, AK on Saturday: arriving later in the day crowds will be higher, but there are more attractions at MK that we should be able to get additional same day FPs for, and to help spread out the crowds. However, we would be at both parks on morning EMH days, and we are unable to take advantage of EMH on Friday, and don't really want to get up early enough to take advantage of it on Saturday either.

Go to AK on Friday afternoon, MK on Saturday: Fewer attractions at AK that we are likely to use FPs for, and less likelihood that we can get same day FPs for them after using our initial 3. But, avoids morning EMH crowds at MK on Friday (when we can't get to the park early) and avoids having to get up early for EMH at AK on Saturday. Even if lines are long for attractions at AK and we can't get the additional FPs, we could always focus on doing the shows and the animal trails, and focus more on the rides another day.

Thoughts?

 

[Tink_83]

AK and then MK - there is so much to do a MK that I can’t imagine showing up at 3 for that park. Plus it could be nice to start at AK with a more laid back, less go on rides approach and explore the trails, etc. (since you mentioned you plan on doing another AK park day anyway where you can focus on rides).

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

What are your plans the rest of the week? That might change my answer.

But, I would say AK on Friday. Except for Pandora, you can arrive at AK and still ride all the rides. Get FP for safari, Everest, and Kali. Dinosaur and Primeval whirl can bet gotten as a 4th FP, and even if you can't, stand by isn't that long for them (unless you hit it just after the Nemo show ends).

How many park days do you have total? Is your other AK day a full day? Do you have hoppers? Most people can see everything they are interested in at AK in one full day. I know you don't plan on EMH, but what about regular opening rope drops?

Without knowing your full plan, it's hard to give specific advice. Plans work best if they are considered as a whole.

I'm not sure why you'd be getting to the park that late on Friday. What rental company are you using? Could you use a company at the car care center? Shades of green also has a rental counter. Disney springs hotels also have a few rental counters you can use. I would drop the car off before breakfast, and then take an Uber to Breakfast.

 

[Klayfish]

You can get same day FP+ for both parks with no trouble (FoP excluded), so that's really a non-factor for me. I don't think it really matters which park you visit on which day from the crowd perspective either. MK is always the busiest park...doesn't matter if it's Monday, Thursday or Thurmonday. Go where you want to start your trip.

For me, it's MK all the way, but that's just my tradition.

 

[Shannon G]

AK and then MK - there is so much to do a MK that I can’t imagine showing up at 3 for that park. Plus it could be nice to start at AK with a more laid back, less go on rides approach and explore the trails, etc. (since you mentioned you plan on doing another AK park day anyway where you can focus on rides).

We will not be showing up at 3. We plan on arriving at a park early afternoon and staying into the evening.

What are your plans the rest of the week? That might change my answer.

But, I would say AK on Friday. Except for Pandora, you can arrive at AK and still ride all the rides. Get FP for safari, Everest, and Kali. Dinosaur and Primeval whirl can bet gotten as a 4th FP, and even if you can't, stand by isn't that long for them (unless you hit it just after the Nemo show ends).

How many park days do you have total? Is your other AK day a full day? Do you have hoppers? Most people can see everything they are interested in at AK in one full day. I know you don't plan on EMH, but what about regular opening rope drops?

Without knowing your full plan, it's hard to give specific advice. Plans work best if they are considered as a whole.

I'm not sure why you'd be getting to the park that late on Friday. What rental company are you using? Could you use a company at the car care center? Shades of green also has a rental counter. Disney springs hotels also have a few rental counters you can use. I would drop the car off before breakfast, and then take an Uber to Breakfast.

We plan on arriving early afternoon. We don't want to be super-rushed that first morning, so I am planning a 10:30 breakfast. Before that we would drop our bags at CSR and then return the rental car. We are renting from National (I have a free day available). Right now I am scheduled to return it at the Dolphin, but I may change that to the CCC now that we have decided to have breakfast at Kona. Originally I was going to drive to breakfast and then return the rental car (then take a bus to AK if returning to the Dolphin, or a shuttle if returning to CCC), but now I am thinking it may make more sense to return the car at the CCC before breakfast, take the shuttle to the Poly, and then get a bus to the park from the Poly after breakfast. I read that Alamo / National have a location at Shades of Green, and would love to return the car there since we could then simply walk to the Poly for breakfast, but I have also read that you cannot even enter the grounds if you are not military, which I am not.

We will visit AK at least 2 other days later in the trip, and will likely be there at or close to park opening for those. We also have multiple other visits to MK planned, including the DAH Villians event. We have 10 day hoppers, but are not planning on using a day off our hopper tickets on the day of the MK DAH event, so we will be visiting the parks on 11 days in total.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Given all this, I would say MK that first day.

2 full days at AK is plenty. You'll easily be able to plan and see the entire park. MK can't have enough days. Also, much more fun to jump on the monorail from Kona (which is literally steps away) and taken right to MK.

Make your 3 MK FPs. Even if you can't get a FP for anytime soon, there's still tons to do.

 

[teach22180]

MK is open later usually than AK. When I go on arrival day around 4 or 5, I choose the park open the latest. It just gives you more time. Plus, there is more to do in general in MK.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Oh, I would also ask in the shades of green thread and ask there if you can drive in to return a car there and walk over to poly for breakfast.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

Working on our schedule for our July trip. We fly to MCO on Thursday, 7/11, and are staying off site for one night, then checking into CSR on Friday morning. After dropping our bags at CSR, we are going to breakfast (either Kona or Trails End) and need to return the rental car. So, we are not planning on going to a park until early afternoon.

MK and AK are my DDs' favorite parks, so they want to start the trip at one of those. I have been tentatively planning Friday afternoon / evening at AK, and then MK on Saturday. I then started to wonder if we should go to MK on Friday instead. Here are what I see as the pros & cons:

Go to MK Friday afternoon, AK on Saturday: arriving later in the day crowds will be higher, but there are more attractions at MK that we should be able to get additional same day FPs for, and to help spread out the crowds. However, we would be at both parks on morning EMH days, and we are unable to take advantage of EMH on Friday, and don't really want to get up early enough to take advantage of it on Saturday either.

Go to AK on Friday afternoon, MK on Saturday: Fewer attractions at AK that we are likely to use FPs for, and less likelihood that we can get same day FPs for them after using our initial 3. But, avoids morning EMH crowds at MK on Friday (when we can't get to the park early) and avoids having to get up early for EMH at AK on Saturday. Even if lines are long for attractions at AK and we can't get the additional FPs, we could always focus on doing the shows and the animal trails, and focus more on the rides another day.

Thoughts?

First, go to Kona cafe, haha. I'm guessing there's no way to avoid this rental car return? I would definitely do the half day at AK and then MK on Saturday. You will get more done rope dropping MK and leaving that park at noon than if you show up at 3pm, IMO. You don't need to worry about morning EMH crowds at AK on Friday. People will be sprinting to FOP and staying there for 3 hours. Evening EMH are the ones that really make the parks worse. There aren't as many rides at AK, which means you need fewer fastpasses overall. It also means that once you use your initial three you won't have to wait standby for too many rides since there aren't that many to begin with. And like you said, there are a ton of non-ride things to do at AK.