How do YOU decide what parks to hit on different days?

[NH-to-FL]

Another vote for easywdw! I resonate with Josh's logic and have found his recommendation to be accurate.

Also a vote for park hoppers. When we stayed on site we always got hoppers. But then we stayed at an Epcot resort which made it easy to hop over to the World Showcase in the evenings.

If you are willing and able, get to rope drop. This gives you a real leg up on getting everything you want done. Having a hopper allows you to take a break later in the day and then have the flexibility to head to whatever evening activity you want. For instance, AK during the day then Illuminations or Fantasmic in the evening.

Wishing you a magical trip!

 

[loves to dive]

I will be there the same time but a little longer. Flower and Garden will be going on at Epcot, which is the reason for the trip for us so park hoppers are a must since we will spend every afternoon or evening at Epcot enjoying the booths. We decide where we are going based on where we are staying. We do split stays, staying arrival night and maybe the second, depending on how long the trip is going to be at a value or moderate then bump up to an Epcot resort for the rest of the trip. Since arrival day and possibly the second day will have to be done with buses, we tend to do AK and MK on those days and do Epcot and HS on the days we move to the Epcot resort since we can walk to both parks. I don't look at any calendars, rarely even know when EMH are before we actually arrive. Sometimes my park selections are based on what day I can get tea at the GF, that is the day we will do MK. Since we are two adults (mother and son) MK is a half day park for us and the other three are full days. With PHs when the park gets too crowded or we get bored, we just hop on over to another park. If you haven't bought your tickets yet, check parksavers.com. They are running some pretty good specials on tickets right now.

 

[nilla]

We wing it, mostly, though we do tend to avoid MK on Mondays, and hit AK on the weekend.

 

[DanInMN]

My strategies for our upcoming trip include:

- No park hoppers, as it takes too much time and walking to go from one park to another. (Last year we had Annual Passes, which include hopping. Nice, but not essential)
- Arrival and departure days, no parks. We will swim at the resort, enjoy a carriage ride, and visit Disney Springs.
- First full day - Magic Kingdom, because our newly adopted twin teen girls have never been to WDW before and the castle is iconic
- We then visit each park on two different days (except Disney Studios, because there isn't much left to see there).
- I choose which park on what day by crowd calendars, which avoids EMH days.
- I plan a resort day in the middle to relax, swim, Boardwalk, Yehaa Bob, boat from POR to DS, etc.

 

[beachfan]

We are very early risers so EMH works great for us. Last year we got so much done at MK during that first hour that we are using this plan again this year in March. That being said, we love spending time at the hotel pool too and leave in the early afternoon, which is probably why we don't feel we need park hoppers. Having been to Disney many times we don't worry too much about rides we don't get to do This year we are planning on returning in the late afternoon for the evening shows. We haven't done them in quite a while. I think first timers probably would come up with more of a full day plan for MK. beachfan

 

[W.E.D.]

We always hop. And my wife loves to sleep in. So I visit whatever park has a.m. EMHs, head back to the resort to meet up with my wife, and she picks our afternoon park.

 

[Flamingeaux]

I check with Josh before deciding my park rotation. Sometimes you have to pick a non-recommended park.

 

[sarahann77]

I usually start with looking at the crowd calendars on easywdw. Then base it on any special reasonings I have: the longest hours park on my arrival day, special events I want to make sure I attend (my April trip making sure I go to Epcot on a festival center open day as I missed during Flower and Garden last year), avoiding special events. After that I'll look at the EMHs to see if any coincide with initial plans. Usually after that I make up a plan on touring plans and see how their crowd calendars shape up and how much of a day is filled based on the plan created. If I'm expected to be done by early afternoon and a park is open late I'll then add a plan to park hop to that. I've been fine without using park hoppers but like that confirmed after seeing it planned out. It has been handy during a festival but not necessary for me. If I didn't go to a second park on a short day I'd plan for a dinner at a deluxe hotel I hadn't been to yet or go to Disney Springs.

 

[Hiitsme]

I follow Kenny the Pirate. His info is pretty good and he has some cool info on characters. If you walk the trails and do the rides at AK it can be a full day. AK doesn't stay open very late, so park hop to Epcot. Use the boats for this one. Very pretty ride and the gate at the dock isn't super busy. Have a magical trip!

 

[PeasandCarrots]

I pick which park to go to which day based on easywdw.com crowd calendars. I go to one of his most recommended parks if at all possible. That means they will NOT have extra magic hours as that ups the crowd level. I find I can get more done so I don't need the EMH.

 

[Cinderelli16]

What everyone else said, easywdw.com!

 

[pannm]

I've heard of other 'park planning' sites, but never been to easywdw until today! I have to say, I like the site. We go to Disney every 2 or 3 years and we've used other planning sites as a guideline. Some 'recommended park' days on different sites don't seem to match up, which can be confusing...is easywdw quite close to getting it right the majority of the time? Two other sites I've looked at say Magic Kingdom is a good park to go to on a day we plan to go there, while easywdw as it as a 'park in the red'/do not go there day...

We follow the days as recommended if we can, but honestly, we go during 'slow season.' Even the parks that are 'in the red'/try to avoid/ are still not as bad as regular or peak season. Our day at Magic Kingdom is technically 'in the red'/avoid this park on this day/ is listed as a 4 on one site and a 5 on the other site. Compared to other parks at a 2-3, it's not that bad of a jump...AND the hours are GREATLY extended that evening, so we're getting 3 hours extra there. I love late nights at Magic Kingdom!!! Our family tries to plan around them. We know that later night means more people in the parks, but to us, having those extra hours past parades and fireworks- the park is almost empty and the lines are usually very short.

So, I guess, over all planning for us depends on #1 Magic Kingdom later hours and the least busiest day for those later hours #2 the crowd calendar predictions.

 

[DVC-Don]

The only rules we have now that we live nearby are to never go to the parks around a holiday and weekends.

 

[lustergirl]

I try and coordinate my park days around the adr's that I have. I also look at the park hours for each one on each day.

 

[EricInPA]

No matter what any crowd calendar says, our first and last days in the parks are in the Magic Kingdom. The rest of the days we'll use a crowd calendar as a guide, but sometimes we'll go against the crowd calendar if we're eating at an out-of-park restaurant or something.

ETA: Even when our days line up as the busiest day for a park, we never have a problem doing everything we want to do (multiple times).

 

[texasroni75]

I first decide how many days I want to spend in each park (such as, on my last trip I had 6 day park hoppers and wanted to do 2 days in MK, 2 days at Epcot, and 1 day each for DHS and AK).

From there, I choose which park to head to each day using easywdw calendars and park recommendation. I don't always go with the Most recommended park, but generally use the guide to avoid the LEAST recommended park of the day. I also try to alternate park days - so I'm not going to the same park two days in a row.

I choose ADRs after I have chosen my park for the day.

If you do decide to get hoppers: we use hoppers to enjoy evening EMH hours at another park, mainly arriving dinnertime, having dinner/dessert there, watching the fireworks, and then riding a few rides.

 

[mindeola]

Park Hoppers are a must for us- especially with AK closing earlier in the day and HS being a 3/4 day ( for us) park right now.

We start with MK on Day one - no matter the crowds. For the rest of the days I use crowd calendars to start the day in each park that has the lowest crowds projected. We don't generally do EMH parks in the mornings but sometimes close out at a park that has evening EMH.