Strategy Questions

[writersblock]

We will be in WDW in November, as first timers. We’ve got 10 nights in Disney then four in Universal. I’m trying to figure out how many days I should devote specifically to the parks and how many to other things (if any). Our plan, if it works out, will include EMH at HS for TSL if it’s available, and tickets to MVMCP one evening. We should hit the tail end of F&W at the start of our trip. One Sunday, if we can get the ADR, will involve a leisurely brunch at CG. We are in Disney across two weekends. We aren’t bothered about the water parks.

I’m thinking that as there are lots of 1am closes for MK when we are there, apart from one day where we are doing a CP early breakfast, we don’t need to include much more for MK. So most of one whole day, the Xmas party, plus late closes should see us good, right? For Epcot we are mostly interested in WS which we will do in two day blocks near the start for F&W and hit most of the rides we are interested in then. We are staying at AKL and have a whole day and evening plus an extra morning and extra evening there. HS feels like a “once and done” for us though we’ve allowed a second extra day if we want it. We’ve also got an afternoon and two evenings planned for DS.

I’d like to go to one of the premium outlets (which?!) and also build in relaxation/pool time but DH isn’t sure if we would want more park time. I personally can’t see us keeping up park momentum without the rest times.

For background: it’s just the two of us, no kids. Mid-30s, pretty healthy. We are on the DDP so we have some nice meals booked in.

 

[LSUfan4444]

We will be in WDW in November, as first timers. We’ve got 10 nights in Disney then four in Universal. I’m trying to figure out how many days I should devote specifically to the parks and how many to other things (if any). Our plan, if it works out, will include EMH at HS for TSL if it’s available, and tickets to MVMCP one evening. We should hit the tail end of F&W at the start of our trip. One Sunday, if we can get the ADR, will involve a leisurely brunch at CG. We are in Disney across two weekends. We aren’t bothered about the water parks.

Out of curiosity, have you considered dedicating 1/2 days to the parks and maximizing your FP+ selections. What I mean is, rather than saying (for example) Monday will be a park day and you're going to rope drop Hollywood Studios then hop over to Magic Kingdom where you will have your FP+ and do a mid day lunch at Geysar Point in transition from one park to the next. Then Tuesday will be a relaxed pool/resort day.

Why not do a late arriving day on both days, spend both mornings and afternoons doing non park stuff, resort lunches, etc. Mix it up a bit. Do some rope drops, some mid morning arrivals and some afternoon arrivals with plans to stay to park close?

We have a 10 day trip over the summer planned and thats what our strategy usually is for longer trips.

(the yellow are our scheduled park times...we know we will be in the park more than that but are purposely leaving time open for flexibility)

 

[lvcourtneyy]

AKL is a gorgeous resort with tons of activities. I would definitely plan extra time to enjoy the resort and the restaurants at the resort.

How many day park tickets do you have and do you have park hoppers?

If you're interested in SWGE, you may want more than one day in HS or at least a day and a half.

I'm not sure what you mean by lots of 1 am closes for MK. The park hours for Nov aren't released yet and the parks aren't typically open that late that time of year. MK will close at 6 pm a few nights a week for MVMCP. The days with no party are usually pretty crowded since it's the only opportunity to see the regular fireworks, Happily Ever After. If you have parkhoppers, I would try to plan a day to spend a morning in another park and hop to MK at night on a non-party night for fireworks.

 

[jo-jo]

AKL is a gorgeous resort with tons of activities. I would definitely plan extra time to enjoy the resort and the restaurants at the resort.

How many day park tickets do you have and do you have park hoppers?

If you're interested in SWGE, you may want more than one day in HS or at least a day and a half.

I'm not sure what you mean by lots of 1 am closes for MK. The park hours for Nov aren't released yet and the parks aren't typically open that late that time of year. MK will close at 6 pm a few nights a week for MVMCP. The days with no party are usually pretty crowded since it's the only opportunity to see the regular fireworks, Happily Ever After. If you have parkhoppers, I would try to plan a day to spend a morning in another park and hop to MK at night on a non-party night for fireworks.

I believe last year there were 4 parties a week. We had a room at BLT so we could at least see the fireworks but I was pretty bummed how many nights we missed at the MK. I love just sitting and watching the castle and the castle just about turns on and it's time to leave on party nights.

 

[OpieDoodle]

Here's what has worked best for us, especially with kids but even without it worked too. We planned every day to get up and get into a park as quick as we could. You can usually get a few rides in before the lines get TOO long, now I doubt this will be the case for like SWGE but like MK and such. Then I always booked fast passes for late morning starting about 1030, grabbed lunch, went back to the room to relax. This can be a nap, pool, etc. The parks can be crazy so its good to have a mental break. Then we'd have dinner reservations, take off there then after we'd go back to the parks. Often it wasn't the same park and we'd go ride a couple things and try to catch the fireworks/night show for the park that day.

We have found when planning our trip for Jan 2020 that a lot of parks are turning into 2 day parks. MK is always a 2 day park for us, previous years HS was always a one day or maybe even a half day, now with Toy Story Land and SWGE this is going to be a 2 day park for us. We have enough days to make it to all of the parks twice except 1. We ended up opting for AK to be the park we only get once this trip. Start looking at rides and such you want to book FP for and the tiers they're in. For us a couple BIG rides we wanted were in the same tier so we either had to run and fight our way to ride them in line (I'm not a line person lol) or make a second day and book a fast pass then.

Hope that helps

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I'm not sure what you mean by lots of 1 am closes for MK. The park hours for Nov aren't released yet and the parks aren't typically open that late that time of year. MK will close at 6 pm a few nights a week for MVMCP. The days with no party are usually pretty crowded since it's the only opportunity to see the regular fireworks, Happily Ever After. If you have parkhoppers, I would try to plan a day to spend a morning in another park and hop to MK at night on a non-party night for fireworks.

I'm wondering if she meant 11pm? Although she's got an AM typed after it, so I just don't know. There are several 11PM closes for MK in November.

I’m thinking that as there are lots of 1am closes for MK when we are there, apart from one day where we are doing a CP early breakfast, we don’t need to include much more for MK.

There are no 1am closes for MK in November. Unless you are seeing an EMH evening and basing your info off of that, but still I only see 3 EMH evenings for MK in November.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I didn’t see AK on your list, are you going there? That’s about a 2 day park to us. Epcot is a 2 day park, we split it up 1 full day in WS and 1 in FW. We spend 4 days in MK, there’s just so much to see and do there we like to take our time. Remember on party days it’s only open til 6, so non party days will be very crowded. Agree DHS is a 1 day park. Unless you really love shopping, that seems like a lot of time to devote to DS, unless you’re going there to eat. AKL is beautiful, have fun!

 

[writersblock]

Thanks everyone. Touring Plans was predicting the 1am hours for the week we are there so we’ve based our days and parks around their predictions at this point. They have got some days in for the party and therefore early close. If there are no lates then that’s disappointing!

 

[writersblock]

Out of curiosity, have you considered dedicating 1/2 days to the parks and maximizing your FP+ selections. What I mean is, rather than saying (for example) Monday will be a park day and you're going to rope drop Hollywood Studios then hop over to Magic Kingdom where you will have your FP+ and do a mid day lunch at Geysar Point in transition from one park to the next. Then Tuesday will be a relaxed pool/resort day.

Why not do a late arriving day on both days, spend both mornings and afternoons doing non park stuff, resort lunches, etc. Mix it up a bit. Do some rope drops, some mid morning arrivals and some afternoon arrivals with plans to stay to park close?

We have a 10 day trip over the summer planned and thats what our strategy usually is for longer trips.

(the yellow are our scheduled park times...we know we will be in the park more than that but are purposely leaving time open for flexibility)

This is so so so helpful, thank you

 

[focusondisney]

Thanks everyone. Touring Plans was predicting the 1am hours for the week we are there so we’ve based our days and parks around their predictions at this point. They have got some days in for the party and therefore early close. If there are no lates then that’s disappointing!

Not sure where you are seeing 1 am closures predicted in TP. I just checked, they have 11 pm predictions with Extra Magic Hours til 1 am on 11/ 9, 10 , 16 & 27. The 9th & 16th are Saturdays, 10th is a Sunday. That week includes Veterans Day. The 27th is the day before Thanksgiving. Typically EMH is Wednesday evening at MK. Might they add an extra one on weekend? maybe. But I wouldn’t count on it.

 

[writersblock]

Not sure where you are seeing 1 am closures predicted in TP. I just checked, they have 11 pm predictions with Extra Magic Hours til 1 am on 11/ 9, 10 , 16 & 27. The 9th & 16th are Saturdays, 10th is a Sunday. That week includes Veterans Day. The 27th is the day before Thanksgiving. Typically EMH is Wednesday evening at MK. Might they add an extra one on weekend? maybe. But I wouldn’t count on it.

That’s exactly what I meant - EMH 1am. They’re also predicting midnight on the 13th. We are there across three 1am and one midnight for MK according to TP.