Picking Park Days

[CanadianPrincess]

Hi Everyone!
Long term lurker, first time poster! I am going to Disney in November on my Disneymoon and we are trying to determine which parks go to each day! I have pulled predicted crowd calendars, predicted hours, all that fun jazz, but I am going to have to book our meals in a few weeks and I am getting stressed! Which restaurants on which days and which parks on which days!
Any help would be appreciated!

 

[mister morrow]

hello!

it depends on what you like to eat-- would you rather eat comfort food, sit in fine dining, or try adventurous food options!

 

[SG131]

I know there are mixed opinions, but I try to avoid parks with emh especially in the am. If you are staying onsite, but your harder to get restaurants toward the end of the trip to take advantage of the 180+10 booking. If you want to ride flight of passage Id put your animal kingdom day late in the trip.

Going in November your biggest problem will be scheduling around the Christmas party. MK is much busier on non-party nights. If you have hoppers you could do MK in the morning and then hop somewhere at night, or if not you can either brave the crowds on a non party night or get your mk night cut short and do Disney springs or something in the evening.

Honestly, I lay it all out on a spreadsheet by day. For me it’s easier to look at which park has magic hours or a party and fill things in to make sure things are balanced.

 

[CanadianPrincess]

hello!

it depends on what you like to eat-- would you rather eat comfort food, sit in fine dining, or try adventurous food options!

We already know where we want to eat! I have a list, but I am just struggling to figure out which park to do on which days of our trip!

 

[CanadianPrincess]

I know there are mixed opinions, but I try to avoid parks with emh especially in the am. If you are staying onsite, but your harder to get restaurants toward the end of the trip to take advantage of the 180+10 booking. If you want to ride flight of passage Id put your animal kingdom day late in the trip.

Going in November your biggest problem will be scheduling around the Christmas party. MK is much busier on non-party nights. If you have hoppers you could do MK in the morning and then hop somewhere at night, or if not you can either brave the crowds on a non party night or get your mk night cut short and do Disney springs or something in the evening.

Honestly, I lay it all out on a spreadsheet by day. For me it’s easier to look at which park has magic hours or a party and fill things in to make sure things are balanced.

We do have park hoppers, so I am planning to do MK on party day's and then just go for night shows on non party days! I really want to see HEA! We are going for 10 days, so we have lots of time to do everything, but I just want to make the most of our time!

 

[Haley R]

I always just try to use Undercover Tourist's crowd calendar mixed with park hours. We actually like the EMH at MK and Epcot so try to take advantage of those. I would say I make the majority of my choices by using their crowd calendar, though.

 

[LadyLion4life]

Hi Everyone!
Long term lurker, first time poster! I am going to Disney in November on my Disneymoon and we are trying to determine which parks go to each day! I have pulled predicted crowd calendars, predicted hours, all that fun jazz, but I am going to have to book our meals in a few weeks and I am getting stressed! Which restaurants on which days and which parks on which days!
Any help would be appreciated!

When we go, we go to the park we want each day/get FPs for. I have an itinerary and it changes depending on FPs, etc. I don't look at crowd calendars to determine where to go but just to get an idea of crowd predictions. As for ADRs, I just make them and change them when needed. IMO if you want to eat at a particular restaurant, book it then change it if need be. I've been able to book and change every reservation except for this trip this week (Haven't been able to book BOG dinner).

 

[Tksolomom]

MK is going to be the main park and day to decide on. Do you want to go on a party day and leave early and have lower crowds? Do you want to goon a non-party dat when it is busier and see HEA? You might want to book AK and HS later in your trip to ensure getting FP for FOP and the new Toy Story rides.

If you are onsite, you might want to go to morning EMH, if you are offsite, avoid those parks. There are a lot of different opinions on if the parks are busier on EMH days, I don’t really worry about the crowds, just make sure I am there for EMH if it is offered. To me it is more important to spread my Park days out.

I am goin in Dec and here is my park schedule. EMH is based on current schedule
Sun, Dec 2 Epcot
Mon, Discovery Cove
Tue, AK
Wed, MK non party day, evening EMH
Thus, Disney Springs
Fri, SeaWorld
Sat, Epcot
Sun, HS, morning EMH
Mon, AK, morning EMH
Tue, MVMCP, DS/sleep in during the day.

I hope this helps. Have a great trip! Whatever you do you will have fun!

 

[Nancyg56]

I agree that MK planning is going to be your first hurdle. No matter how you look at it, catching the evening entertainment is going to be tight with only three days in a week to choose from. I choose those days before any deciding park days for any park.

I also look at the EPcot schedule because I love Illuminations, and I try to see the Candlelight Processional when we go during the Holiday season. I am not sure when in November you will be there, so I do not know if you will have a chance for either, but if so consider that as well.

Personally, if you have the time, I would also consider the Party. The fireworks display is awesome, and the parade is really fun as well.

 

[Klayfish]

We already know where we want to eat! I have a list, but I am just struggling to figure out which park to do on which days of our trip!

Honestly, my opinion is just go to the parks you want on the days you want. Crowd calendars have no accuracy value, so don't waste your time with them. I'm being tongue-in-cheek here, but I think some of the theories get crazy as for what parks to avoid on what day..."Don't go to MK on a Thursday after a full moon if there was EMH the previous Sunday and it was raining in the morning". Forget it. Just do what you and your family want. We stay offsite, so we can't even participate in EMH if we wanted to. But we find it makes absolutely no difference as far as what parks we visit. We couldn't even tell you what park has EMH, because we don't look. We just go where we want. I truly don't think you'd notice the difference...in other words, I don't think you'd be standing in MK one day and saying "Gee, I wish we had done AK instead". It's Disney, it's crowded, it always is. MK is the busiest park, always will be. I'm not sure you'd notice the nuance differences in specific days in specific parks, and there's no way to predict that stuff anyway.

I know many may disagree with me. However, if this is your first trip, my suggestion is to ditch all the fuss over what park on what day and just go where you want. Enjoy yourselves, relax, soak it in, have fun.

 

[KittyKitty]

Long term lurker, first time poster! I am going to Disney in November on my Disneymoon and we are trying to determine which parks go to each day!

A couple of questions.
1. 1st time?
2. When in Nov.?
3.Staying onsite?
4. Early riser or late night person?
5. Restaurants in parks or somewhere else?
6. Interested in doing fireworks dessert party for HEA?

 

[Disnsyncey]

I think what the most helpful part about crowd calendars is the WHY they name certain parks bad and good....EMH, entertainment schedules, holidays, etc...

I usually do the AM EMH park, and then hop over to the park that had the EMH the previous day, or has special entertainment in the nighttime, or something like that. If there is a big event going on like F&W, I usually avoid Epcot on Saturdays....party days in MK are good for AM visits (though last time we went on a Friday of a party it was a 7am EMH and it was NUTS almost all day)

 

[CanadianPrincess]

A couple of questions.
1. 1st time?
2. When in Nov.?
3.Staying onsite?
4. Early riser or late night person?
5. Restaurants in parks or somewhere else?
6. Interested in doing fireworks dessert party for HEA?

1- I have been before, but hubby has not!
2-3- Yes, staying at Pop Nov 8th-18th, have christmas party booked on the 12th
4. Both? I am a total morning person at Disney, when we went 4 years ago, I would do park opening to close every day... But this time I am going longer so we are open to splitting the day with a break if needed
5. a bit of both?
6. Perhaps? We havent decided yet.

 

[CanadianPrincess]

Honestly, my opinion is just go to the parks you want on the days you want. Crowd calendars have no accuracy value, so don't waste your time with them. I'm being tongue-in-cheek here, but I think some of the theories get crazy as for what parks to avoid on what day..."Don't go to MK on a Thursday after a full moon if there was EMH the previous Sunday and it was raining in the morning". Forget it. Just do what you and your family want. We stay offsite, so we can't even participate in EMH if we wanted to. But we find it makes absolutely no difference as far as what parks we visit. We couldn't even tell you what park has EMH, because we don't look. We just go where we want. I truly don't think you'd notice the difference...in other words, I don't think you'd be standing in MK one day and saying "Gee, I wish we had done AK instead". It's Disney, it's crowded, it always is. MK is the busiest park, always will be. I'm not sure you'd notice the nuance differences in specific days in specific parks, and there's no way to predict that stuff anyway.

I know many may disagree with me. However, if this is your first trip, my suggestion is to ditch all the fuss over what park on what day and just go where you want. Enjoy yourselves, relax, soak it in, have fun.

I really appreciate this! I wonder about the accuracy of these calendars!

 

[CanadianPrincess]

I think what the most helpful part about crowd calendars is the WHY they name certain parks bad and good....EMH, entertainment schedules, holidays, etc...

I usually do the AM EMH park, and then hop over to the park that had the EMH the previous day, or has special entertainment in the nighttime, or something like that. If there is a big event going on like F&W, I usually avoid Epcot on Saturdays....party days in MK are good for AM visits (though last time we went on a Friday of a party it was a 7am EMH and it was NUTS almost all day)

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Disnsyncey]

Thanks for the advice!

you're welcome! You got me thinking about that, and then I decided to plan my September trip!

But to go off on what I said earlier, the WHYs....

EMHs....I utilize them, but then I get out of there as soon as it gets busy (because the people without hoppers are stuck there)
Nighttime Entertainment.....when it is scarce, it will draw a lot of crowds. So I try for another park until later in the afternoon, and THEN hop over there.
Epcot on weekends in festival seasons, just because it can draw a lot of locals with APs

 

[Delirium]

- Decide MK first. It appears you will be around enough days that you'll have the opportunity to visit all parks multiple times. Plan at least one rope drop day (on a party date when crowds will be lower) and one late night at MK first. Build around that.
- Make liberal use of your hoppers.
- I would plan AK next. Like MK, you'll need at least one rope drop day and an evening day. You'll want to experience both. One of your AK visits needs to be late in your trip to ensure you get a FOP fastpass.
- HS would be the third park I would plan. It's a tough one because there are usually two competing nighttime shows. If you want to see both, you'll need to plan two nights. Toy Story land will add a new dynamic to the park, but if you FP well and attend multiple days, it should not extend your time spent in that park by much. A big factor is if you decide you want to see all of the shows (I recommend most of them).
- Epcot is the last day I would plan. Fill in Epcot when you are not attending the other parks. I personally don't like to rope drop Epcot. There are too few attractions and things are so far away, you don't get as much benefit from rope drop there as you do in other parks. FP Epcot twice in order to grab 2 of the 3 tier one rides (the tier 2 choices at Epcot are horrible FP options). All that said, Epcot is a great park to hop to in the afternoons and evenings for street performers, dining, working your way through the World Showcase, and when you are going, there will be the Eat to the Beat concerts, which are fantastic.

 

[KittyKitty]

Since you have been there, you know how huge WDW is. So you know it takes time to get to those restaurants that are not in a park.

5. a bit of both?

Pick the park that the restaurant is in or nearby.

Food and Wine festival will be going on till 12th, so stay away on the weekends if possible, and probably last day.

 

[CanadianPrincess]

Since you have been there, you know how huge WDW is. So you know it takes time to get to those restaurants that are not in a park.



Pick the park that the restaurant is in or nearby.

Food and Wine festival will be going on till 12th, so stay away on the weekends if possible, and probably last day.

For sure... The ones not in a park are o'hana at the Poly and Homecoming in DS, so 8/10 are in park, o'hana is super close to MK and then Homecoming will be when we do DS.

 

[CanadianPrincess]

- Decide MK first. It appears you will be around enough days that you'll have the opportunity to visit all parks multiple times. Plan at least one rope drop day (on a party date when crowds will be lower) and one late night at MK first. Build around that.
- Make liberal use of your hoppers.
- I would plan AK next. Like MK, you'll need at least one rope drop day and an evening day. You'll want to experience both. One of your AK visits needs to be late in your trip to ensure you get a FOP fastpass.
- HS would be the third park I would plan. It's a tough one because there are usually two competing nighttime shows. If you want to see both, you'll need to plan two nights. Toy Story land will add a new dynamic to the park, but if you FP well and attend multiple days, it should not extend your time spent in that park by much. A big factor is if you decide you want to see all of the shows (I recommend most of them).
- Epcot is the last day I would plan. Fill in Epcot when you are not attending the other parks. I personally don't like to rope drop Epcot. There are too few attractions and things are so far away, you don't get as much benefit from rope drop there as you do in other parks. FP Epcot twice in order to grab 2 of the 3 tier one rides (the tier 2 choices at Epcot are horrible FP options). All that said, Epcot is a great park to hop to in the afternoons and evenings for street performers, dining, working your way through the World Showcase, and when you are going, there will be the Eat to the Beat concerts, which are fantastic.

This is a really good way of doing it... HS is higher on our priority list then AK, so I think I might swap those two!
Thanks!