Help! Scheduling Park Days-strategies/advice needed!

Which Park Plan seems best for a weekday trip in January?

  • Mon=DHS 1/2 day only, Tues=MK, Wed=EPCOT, Thurs=MK

    Votes: 4 28.6%
  • Mon=MK 1/2 day only, Tues=EPCOT (with PM EMH), Wed=MK (with PM EMH), Thurs=DHS

    Votes: 8 57.1%
  • Mon=DHS 1/2 day only, Tues=Epcot (with PM EMH), Wed=MK (with PM EMH), Thurs=MK

    Votes: 2 14.3%

  • Total voters
    14

aristocatz

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Aah! I just realized tomorrow morning is ADR making day and I feel so unprepared!

We are going in January, during a low crowd time, with:
DH
My parents
My DD age 7
My DD age 5

We arrive on a Monday probably around noon & staying till Friday (no park day on Friday). We are staying at BLT.

We are planning the following parks:
Epcot=1 day
MK-2 days
DHS-1 day

My DH is excited for Star Wars, but my youngest daughter gets scared easily. My kids love Toy Story. I'm not sure if DHS is a full day park for a 5 & 7 year old who are not Star Wars obsessed.

My parents are planning to watch the kids at night a few nights so DH & I can sneak away to the park on our own at night for a bit. DH & I are not night owls, we typically get tired out by 9:30 or 10 lol. We tend to eat dinner by 5:15ish.

I noticed EMH PM are:
Tuesday Epcot
Wednesday MK
but we are not dead set on EMH?

I'm not sure if going to MK 2 days in a row would be the best plan

But I also read that Tuesdays & Thursdays are the best days to go to MK.

Which park plan seems best? Thanks!
 
DH & I are not night owls, we typically get tired out by 9:30 or 10 lol. We tend to eat dinner by 5:15ish.

I noticed EMH PM are:
Tuesday Epcot
Wednesday MK
but we are not dead set on EMH?

If you're going to be tired out by 10, I wouldn't plan any P.M. EMH days.

I'd make HS your last day so you have a chance to get FP+ for one of the Toy Story rides. Will you have park hoppers or are you doing one park per day?
 
What ADRs do you want? It might not even matter if you schedule ADRs at 180.

For me which day is which park is probably the biggest decision of the trip.

Others can comment but if it's a slower time then outside of like Cali Grill, V+A, and BOG you might have plenty of time still to schedule your dinners. Again we would need to know where you want to eat.

Also have you though about MK EMH and doing AK?

Also another big thing doing HS on the 1/2 makes sense but Star Wars may make it so you need to arrive in the AM and not at noon.
 
Last edited:


Was wondering the same thing as the previous poster. Is there a reason for skipping AK?

Either way I would not plan for evening EMHs if your family gets tired out by 10pm.
 
I would do MK your first day. IMHO, traveling is tiring and it will be so easy to simply walk to MK that day as opposed to arriving and then having to travel, yet again, to another park. Personally, I would make EP your second day, DHS your third day (if your kids aren't interested in Star Wars, perhaps have grandparents babysit them this evening and go back to DHS to see SWGE) and make MK your last day.
 
Are any of the restaurants really worth getting anxious about? Our last trip I made no ADRs at 180 and we eventually got everything we wanted.
 


Since Hollywood Studios have the hardest to get fast passes, I would make them the last day of my visit.
 
Agree with moving HS to end of trip, those are tough fast passes. Also you might need more than a half day if you do plan to check out GE.

Our first day is always MK. Maybe not the best planning strategy, but it just starts our trip off right to see the castle and ride the mountains.

Also curious about no AK day, I think it is such an awesome park for kids!
 
With your kids ages, I understand the appeal of 2 days at MK, but with only 4 park days - are you sure you want to skip AK? Have you been before? Do your kids know the parks - meaning can they have an educated opinion? My niece - would be very unhappy without an AK day. She'd give up a second MK day for it; or maybe opt against EP.

SDD at HS - its unlikely you'll get a FP for that on day one..... If SWGE is not a big deal for you - its okay you have HS as a half day - just realize that park is likely going to be crowded.
 
Just a heads up, not sure how long it will be for but HS is moving to that tiered fastpass system starting 9/1, where every ride (besides star tours and some shows) is in Tier 1 and you can only choose one.
 
Is there a reason you're skipping Animal Kingdom?

Would love to do DAK, but we are only able to do parks for 4 days. My kids voted for 2 MK days (plus we are staying at BLT, so super convenient), my husband is dying to see Star Wars Land, and my heart belongs to Epcot lol. We will do DAK for our next trip.
 
Aah! I just realized tomorrow morning is ADR making day and I feel so unprepared!

We are going in January, during a low crowd time, with:
DH
My parents
My DD age 7
My DD age 5

We arrive on a Monday probably around noon & staying till Friday (no park day on Friday). We are staying at BLT.

We are planning the following parks:
Epcot=1 day
MK-2 days
DHS-1 day

My DH is excited for Star Wars, but my youngest daughter gets scared easily. My kids love Toy Story. I'm not sure if DHS is a full day park for a 5 & 7 year old who are not Star Wars obsessed.

My parents are planning to watch the kids at night a few nights so DH & I can sneak away to the park on our own at night for a bit. DH & I are not night owls, we typically get tired out by 9:30 or 10 lol. We tend to eat dinner by 5:15ish.

I noticed EMH PM are:
Tuesday Epcot
Wednesday MK
but we are not dead set on EMH?

I'm not sure if going to MK 2 days in a row would be the best plan

But I also read that Tuesdays & Thursdays are the best days to go to MK.

Which park plan seems best? Thanks!
First off, hope you have an awesome trip with your family. Thought I would share my experience since you said your daughter is more reserved with the rides..Last year we went with my son for the first time who was 5.5 yrs old. We didn't realize how he would react to some of the rides and lands. He loves Toy Story and was so excited we had FP for SDD but took one look at Slinky Dog when we got there and refused to get on. He loved the Aliens ride and TSMM. He liked the Star Tours Ride and the Muppet show. In short, it was definitely a half day park for us.

Interestingly enough, he LOVED Animal Kingdom so much. He went on almost every ride except Everest and the Primeval Whirl. He loved the Boneyard Playground and meeting all of the characters. Tusker House was his favorite character meal. Just thought I would mention it, you might want to consider it for your kids! You will have a great time no matter what you decide!!
 
First off, hope you have an awesome trip with your family. Thought I would share my experience since you said your daughter is more reserved with the rides..Last year we went with my son for the first time who was 5.5 yrs old. We didn't realize how he would react to some of the rides and lands. He loves Toy Story and was so excited we had FP for SDD but took one look at Slinky Dog when we got there and refused to get on. He loved the Aliens ride and TSMM. He liked the Star Tours Ride and the Muppet show. In short, it was definitely a half day park for us.

Interestingly enough, he LOVED Animal Kingdom so much. He went on almost every ride except Everest and the Primeval Whirl. He loved the Boneyard Playground and meeting all of the characters. Tusker House was his favorite character meal. Just thought I would mention it, you might want to consider it for your kids! You will have a great time no matter what you decide!!

Thanks so much for this feedback!! We waivered back and forth with DAK for this trip, but my kids definitely get the most out of MK and with being so close to MK & Epcot this trip (staying at BLT) & my DH so excited about SW, we decided to save DAK for our next trip.

We did DAK 2 trips, when we stayed at Kidani and unfortunately, we set my then 2 year old up for failure. Her first trip to WDW and very very first attraction was Tough to be a Bug. She FREAKED out!!! Along with several other kids her age in the room lol. We had to exit out the chicken doors and she spent the rest of the trip afraid of all rides that were a little bit dark. We are planning to go back to DAK for our trip after this one and I'm hoping she will have outgrown her fears lol ;)

They are also Toy Story Mania fantatics! Can you tell me a little about the other Toy Story rides? Slink and Aliens? What ages are they meant for? My kids are definitely not thrill riders, but they love rides like Dumbo.
 
The Aliens ride was very cute...Not scary at all. I don't really do well on the teacups in terms of dizziness but was totally fine on this ride. My son loved it and we rode it twice (we hit up Toy Story Land in the evening and there wasn't much line last July). I would put Slinky somewhere between Mine Train and Big Thunder in terms of intensity. The track is more exposed so you see the dips more and seems a bit scarier lol. I think its fine for kids if they do roller coasters, my son apparently isn't there yet lol....Have fun!!
 

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