EE or not?

[DisneyFan09]

I'm having the most horrible time trying to finalize my itinerary and I need advice!! We will be there 10/17 - 10/25/03 and I originally had worked our schedule to include early entry at a park for each day, but I read a post yesterday that says to stay away from specific parks on these days. In my "Unofficial Guide" book it says that the following days are the least busy: AK- Mon, Tues, Sun; MGM - Mon & Tues; MK - Fri. & Wed; Epcot - Sat & Sun (in October). Should I follow those days or should I use EE? I know that once EE is over the parks will be busy but if I switch to a different park that late in the day are my chances of accomplishing anything in a different park any good?

If we leave EE park and go back to the resort what time is good to go back to another park to have crowds be thinner?

Please please advise me what to do!!

 

[StampMom]

I think EE makes sense if you can actually motivate your whole group to wake up and get there early, to take advantage of the "pre-opening" time. If you're not morning people, or if it just takes a while to get everyone out the door, you're better off going to one of the non-EE parks, on the theory that the park with EE will be the most crowded that day.

For those people who DO get there early enough to take advantage of EE, I think the "rule of thumb" is then to try to park-hop to a different park by around 11:00. Or, if you're staying on-site, you could go back to your resort for lunch and maybe a quick swim, and then go to a different park. (Depends on the park hours during your stay -- we tend to go when there are shorter hours, so there's not enough time to break up the day by going back to the resort.)

I'm not sure about the recommended days in the Unofficial Guide, but I'm sure someone else will comment on that.

HTH!

 

[DisneyFan09]

Thanks for the quick response stamp mom but I'm worried that if I show up at any park at 11:00 I've lost the opportunity to really do anything. Aren't most parks pretty crowded by that time? If using EE is my best way to accomplish all of the popular attractions then by all means my group will be motivated!! I'll see to that !

 

[apagano]

As a Disney Resort guest, you're paying extra for EE privileges, so you might as well use them. You can use the extra hour to hit the major attractions in each park, so that by the time the crowds hit you will have all the big stuff behind you. Then when things get hairy in the afternoon, you can go back to your hotel, take a nap, go for a swim, and rest up for evening activities. You don't have to leave the EE park early because you will be ahead of the crowds. In other words, when the crowds peak in the late morning/ early afternoon, you will have already done all the important stuff, so the crowd level will not affect you as much.

Another thing to note is that since October is one of the lighter months, park hours are cut shorter. Using EE gives you an extra hour to get everything done.

I would suggest using EE and following the touring plans in the Unofficial Guide, which are written to take advantage of EE. Since you are there for a whole week, use the two-day touring plans for MK and Epcot. You will see absolutely everything that way and have more time for relaxation.

 

[DisneyFan09]

apagano - thanks for the advice, I'm feeling better!! You sound like you know what your talking about!! What time do you think is a good time to return to the parks in the afternoon? I suppose it's not going to matter if the parks close early, but if we want to see Fantasmic or Illuminations what time is safe to return?

 

[WDWfanatic288]

I would suggest going to EE and then heading to another park at like 10-11 so then you can use the advantage of EE and also go to the "least crowded park of the day" or you could take a break

when we take breaks we get to the hotel around 12-2 and then take a break and then go back around 5 when lots of people are leaving

pretty much what I've noticed over the past few trips is MK is busier than any other park so definately do EE there(that's pretty much all we did on our christmas trip...EE and then a bit of time more and then it was crowded and we left!)

 

[lentesta]

Hi DisneyFan09,

I work for the Unofficial Guide. As far as recommended days go, I think the use of EE would have a bigger impact on your overall waiting in line than recommended/non-recommended days. If you're willing to use EE, it's to your advantage to do so most of the time (see note below for the one exception we're aware of).

Also, note that the touring plans in the 2003 Unofficial Guide have been updated for the return of Early Entry, and can be found here: www.TouringPlans.com/tp_update.html.

Hope this helps,

Sincerely,

Len Testa

Note: Using EE at the Animal Kingdom during peak times (e.g., Christmas, possibly Easter) may result in longer waits than non-EE days.

 

[StampMom]

Disneyfan09,
I just re-read your post and noticed that your trip is going to be in October. We were there last October, the week after your week, and the crowds were VERY manageable. As I mentioned in my previous reply, we are not "morning people," so we didn't take advantage of EE. We went to a non-EE park each day, and probably arrived at around 9:30 a.m. (except the morning we had an early character breakfast in MK). We were able to do/see everything we wanted to without much of a problem. (We don't really follow a touring plan, except just to go "land by land," and we also make as much use as possible of FastPass -- my DH runs ahead to get FP for everyone while I wait in line and/or do another ride with the kids.) So, if you DO take advantage of EE, and then go to a different park around 10 or 11, that should still allow you plenty of time to do/see things in the second park.

They haven't announced the dates yet, but there should be at least one night of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) while you're there -- it costs extra, but I highly recommend it if you can afford the extra $$.

For Fantasmic, I'd recommend doing the Fantasmic dinner package. I know some people will disagree, but for us, the convenience of not having to wait in line for 90 minutes to get into Fantasmic is WELL worth the cost of the dinner package. We went to Mama Melrose's, and liked it a lot. Our PS for "dinner" was at 3:30, so we did Epcot that morning and then park-hopped over to MGM in time for our PS. We'll probably do the same this year -- our DS isn't really old enough to appreciate MGM, so the time between dinner and Fantasmic is plenty of MGM-time for us.

I don't think Illuminations starts until 9 p.m., and if last year's hours are any indication, the other parks will have closed hours earlier, so you won't have a problem getting to Epcot in time. I suggest leaving whatever park you spend the day in a bit early, to allow for some "down time," heading over to Epcot in time for dinner in the World Showcase, and then staking out your spot to watch Illuminations.

 

[StampMom]

Disneyfan09, do you have your countdown clock set for the last day of your trip? We'll be arriving on the 26th -- I'm wondering why our countdown clocks are so close to each other.

 

[MinnieGi]

We like doing EE especially for the MK!!!!! We head right to Fantasyland and walk onto rides that have long lines later in the morning. Even at parks like Epcot where there are only a few attractions open for EE it is great being ahead of the crowds for when all the attractions open. We have a toddler who rises early so EE was not a problem for us to get there. We have always stayed in the EE park until early afternoon when we head back to our resort for a break. I wouldn't bother taking time to park hop if you plan to take an afternoon break as well. Just stay in the EE park and hit the less crowded attractions while the crowds are in line for the ones you already hit!!

Also you may want to hold off on really finalizing any park day itenerary until the park hours for October are published. Entertainment schedules like the Spectro parade etc. may factor into your plans. Unfortunetly the park hours will not be published for a while still.

 

[apagano]

I suppose it's not going to matter if the parks close early, but if we want to see Fantasmic or Illuminations what time is safe to return?

Those might be good days to make Priority Seatings for restaurants in conjunction with plans to see the evening shows. StampMom suggested the Fantasmic Dinner Package, which I think is a great idea. Example: You can hit EE at MK or Epcot, spend a few hours, take a break and head to Disney Studios in time for your Fantasmic Dinner Package.

With Epcot, you might be able to time your Priority Seating to coincide with Illuminations (check the Unofficial Guide for Details.) That way you can keep time based on your PS as opposed to worrying about what is a "good" time to go to the next park.

 

[DisneyFan09]

Thanks for all of the help everyone!! Stampmom - I changed my dates after I did my countdown and I don't want to go through the hassle of changing it (I had a hard time getting on there in the first place!). We were originally scheduled for Oct. 25 - Nov. 2 and I had heard that the closer to Halloween it gets, the more crowded the parks become, so I just moved the trip up a week!! We were able to get better flight times for that week anyway so it worked out great!!

I think what I've decided on is to for sure use EE for MK and MGM and just work the other parks in around that. We're still trying to figure out where to fit in our trip to the beach (either our first day and night in Orlando and then start our WDW stay on day 2 or just going for the day on Mon). When I get closer to making some final decisions I'd love to have some of you take a look at my itinerary and let me know how it looks.