New Strategy for Deciding Which Park on Which Days?

[disland7]

Well I am assuming for APs it will be one reservation per week (possibly one reservation per park per week?) possibly with an added quota if on site and there was mentioned of added block outs so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if all AP tiers follow the Florida resident select calendar (no magic kingdom on Saturday, no Epcot on weekends during food & wine...)

I sure hope that’s not true and if you are staying onsite you get 1 park per day.

 

[SJSloan]

We always start and end with MK, second day is usually Epcot because FastPasses are easier to get there and then choose between HS or AK, rest day and then go to HS or AK (whichever we didn’t do already). We avoid EMHs usually too.

But now I’m more focused on park hours. MK first as usual. Then probably HS, then Epcot so we can sleep in after 2 long and hot days, close the park and then have a rest day to again sleep in. After 2 days of sleeping in we should be good for an early morning at AK and then last day will be MK.

We never sleep in at Disney and almost always rope drop so by the end of the week we are exhausted but I’m taking this opportunity to have a slightly relaxed trip.

 

[mcurran]

This thread was a fun read. I really am looking forward to a FastPass-less trip with lower crowds. Sure we have been able to “game” the system and ride lots of rides - but walking from one end to the other of the park to avoid a line in the heat to ride what you could snag a fp+ for instead of perhaps what you might have wanted to ride... I imagine it will feel very much like a trip from 20 or 30 years ago. Go where you want when you want and throw the detailed scheduled trip out the window.

 

[MimiDee905]

Our end-of-July trip is 6 days, with Day 1 and Day 6 as our flight travel days. With the new park hours, I've tried to think about what parks make sense during our trip based on travel times. Since we are traveling to Orlando on Day 1 on an early AM flight, we'd like to choose EPCOT for our park that day since it stays open the latest and we will most likely arrive early afternoon. We will be flying home on Day 6 on a late afternoon flight, so our plan is to visit AK that day since it is the park that opens the earliest to maximize our time. Day 2,3,4,and 5 in between will be split between MK and HS.
That is our current "plan" for as much as you can plan during these times!

 

[KrissyD715]

I’m just hoping we’re guaranteed to get in all the parks. We have 7 day tickets which began as park hoppers. What happens if we can only get in 3 days? And they’re all animal kingdom?

 

[polynor]

we have 8 full days and 2 part days (travel days) with APs. the most planning, Ive done is, talk with the fam and decide ideally we‘ll see if we can get 3HS, 3MK, 2 AK, 2EP. With the exception of the the Departure day, don’t care what order. Even a late 9pm Epcot night means more sleep than usual. I’d imagine no rope dropping madness, which is good as I don’t want the kids to rush with masks in august. Just made ressies for DS restaurants and it was nice thinking, meh, everything is completely adjustable...
not all the rides might be open, but with low crowds and a long resort stay, I would imagine it will be enough to make it enjoyable and perhaps maybe even relaxing...

 

[nkereina]

I think it will be dependent on how the reservations are going. Will they be timed? Will getting a reservation for MK be akin to getting a FP+ for FOP where you'll have to strategize and book your MK days first for later in your trip? Will park reservations be available for every day of your trip or will you have to log on several days in a row to book the reservations? I think there's too many variables at this point to know if park order will matter.

 

[Indio]

We have 7 day hoppers for July 18-25. We're hoping they refund the hopping portion if that's not offered. If not a money refund - surely a credit on our account that we can use for dining. Hopping for 9 people is ridiculously expensive. As for days, we're hoping to get Epcot on arrival day then the others are just whatever - just gonna try to space them out so no 2 parks back to back..

 

[2letterwords]

We never bother park hopping with our kids, so I'm fine with one park a day. I hope we can get the amount of days we want... order doesn't matter too much but AK while we're staying in AKL would be ideal. We have a split stay and based our initial schedule on the resorts and their proximity to parks. I just hope we will be reimbursed for ticket days we can't use if it comes to that.

 

[imjustafatkid]

Am I the only that loves that all the planning of a Disney vacation is going away for the time being? I kind of hope DP+ disappears and they make it more like MaxPass. Pick your FP the day you arrive at the park.

Not me. I hate this.

 

[joyjoy]

Iand on the day I need to start driving back home (AK).

You DRIVE from Alaska? Holy cow. THAT, my friends, is Disney Love.

 

[Helvetica]

You DRIVE from Alaska? Holy cow. THAT, my friends, is Disney Love.

AK is also Animal Kingdom. They close at 6 pm.

I'm driving 1100+ miles from Missouri. Not short, but not Alaska. I just don't feel safe flying right now.

 

[Bullseye]

I wondered the same thing. I usually use park hours, extra magic hours, and crowd calendars to guide my decision. Now, will we just be reserving whatever park is available or has openings that day?
Vacation lottery

This is exactly where I start my planning process every year! Park Hours and EHM. Now, I am actually just worried about somehow missing the email when it's my turn to reserve even though it's probably months away and what to expect will be well documented by then. I've already seen one set of FP's and two sets of ADR's go down the drain so I just want to salvage what I can in this new system. I do hope the OP is right that you will be able to get a park visit for each for day of your ticket.

 

[FatBambi]

This exactly where I start my planning process every year! Park Hours and EHM. Now, I am actually just worried about somehow missing the email when it's my turn to reserve even though it's probably months away and what to expect will be well documented by then. I've already seen one set of FP's and two sets of ADR's go down the drain so I just want to salvage what I can in this new system. I do hope the OP is right that you will be able to get a park visit for each for day of your ticket.

Legit, a couple of nights ago I swear I woke up every half an hour because I would dream of them opening the reservation window immediately and only leaving it open for half an hour so in my sleep deprived delirium I'd open my phone to Disney Parks Blog every time I woke up just to make sure I didn't miss it. The paranoia is real.

Guys, we need an announcement soon. I'm losing it.

 

[PamNC]

Am I the only that loves that all the planning of a Disney vacation is going away for the time being? I kind of hope DP+ disappears and they make it more like MaxPass. Pick your FP the day you arrive at the park.

I understand what you're saying - I really do - planning is fun. BUT, I'm looking forward to going with with the flow like back in the old days. Call me crazy.

 

[maryj11]

My problem is we planned to do 5 days in the parks. I bought us 4 park magic tickets because we planned to buy an After Hour’s ticket for one day. Now I want to upgrade to 5 day tickets and can’t. Our 60 day mark is tomorrow, but the system isn’t even open yet so I guess it doesn’t matter.

 

[SwirlTheCitrus]

I’m just hoping we’re guaranteed to get in all the parks. We have 7 day tickets which began as park hoppers. What happens if we can only get in 3 days? And they’re all animal kingdom?

You will be naming the animals by then. "Oh look! There's Frederick the springbok! I hope his leg is better, he hurt it two days ago and hasn't jumped as high since..."

 

[PortieOwner]

Based on what the Touring Plans website is showing on the crowd calendar, I am expecting very light crowds, like day after Labor Day but quieter. I don't think it will matter much which park you go to on which day.

 

[Bullseye]

I’m just hoping we’re guaranteed to get in all the parks. We have 7 day tickets which began as park hoppers. What happens if we can only get in 3 days? And they’re all animal kingdom?

That's funny, kind of epitomizes what we're all wondering

 

[joyjoy]

AK is also Animal Kingdom. They close at 6 pm.

I'm driving 1100+ miles from Missouri. Not short, but not Alaska. I just don't feel safe flying right now.

I know. I was just joking. You've still got a pretty horrendous drive.