Deposit on vacation, now what?

[kybred72]

Put down my deposit on our Disney trip for this Sept w/ free dining but now what? :shrug:

I realize I need to get some ADRs made and it all depends on which parks you do on which days. Experienced Disney travelers, what's your method for choosing which parks you'll do on which days?

I've got 8 days and 5 day park hoppers. And I'd like to do the MK twice. When do you do the MK, first park of the trip or last park before you go home?

I've been to Disney 6x before but I guess I don't remember having to put that much thought into what we did and when...

THanks! :wave:

 

[New2WDW]

We look at the calendar to see what special events like MNSSHP or EMH times are and work around those. We also always begin and end with MK! So it seems to work itself out for us.

 

[mouselvrmom]

WE usually do MK as our first park and our last park (and a couple in between). So you could do that, then you have a day left over for each park. Since AK is an early close park, you could use your dinner that night in Epcot and have two dinners there. Are you doing the dining plan? That should help you figure out where you want to have your meals. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun!

 

[coltow]

On our past few trips we have done AK (day) and EPCOT (night) on our first day. We basically have gone over to EPCOT for dinner and make it a somewhat early night. We follow that with an entire day at MK. We also ALWAYS end our trip with MK. We usually schedule 1 "free" day on the middle to sleep in and hang at the pool. We use this day to eat dinner at another resort and visit Downtown Disney. We only schedule 1 meal per day so that the entire day isn't structured, only a direction as to where to start/end the day.

If there are any restaurants that you are interested in going to, you will need to make your ADRs immediately so that you don't get shut out. I suggest you at least make a few now you can always cancel them if you change your mind. With the free dining alot of the restaurants will fill up with ADRs extremely fast.

 

[figment1985]

It just depends on what parks you like the best. My fiancee and I love Epcot, so most of our dinner reservations are there. We love eating lunch at MGM, so most of our lunch ADRs are there. We never tend to make ressies at AK, and only MK if we are doing a character meal like Cinderellas Royal Table. Just think in your head where you will probably head to at night.. during the day can be tricky though!

 

[sbkline]

Put down my deposit on our Disney trip for this Sept w/ free dining but now what? :shrug:

I realize I need to get some ADRs made and it all depends on which parks you do on which days. Experienced Disney travelers, what's your method for choosing which parks you'll do on which days?

I've got 8 days and 5 day park hoppers. And I'd like to do the MK twice. When do you do the MK, first park of the trip or last park before you go home?

My method of choosing the parks is twofold: I like to start out with EPCOT, just because it has become tradition. When the wife and I went on our honeymoon, I remembered it as being incredibly boring, as the only other time I went, was back in 1987 when I was 11 going on 12. So I thought we'd do it first and "get it out of the way". Turned out, we loved it. And I guess based on that precedent, we still do Epcot first. But that and MK are my favorites and I like to do my favorites first and last and do the others in between. That way, with AK and MGM, I don't do them first and then feel like I won't see them again the rest of the trip. But, since they aren't my favorites, then I won't come to the end of the trip, depressed that my last day is not being spent at my favorite ones. So, I do one of my favorites, then my least favorites, then one of my favorites again.

Second part of my method is something out of my control: park closing times. I don't want my MK days both being the days they close at 7 PM, for example. So I have to factor that into my planning as well.

And if you are doing two days at the MK, then you can do it the first day as well as the last.

 

[bayoutinkbelle]

My method is different. We'll decide what park we want to go to on that day or shortly before and just take transportation to wherever we have our ADRs when it's time to go. Sometimes it's the same park; sometimes it's not. I'll plan my dining months ahead, but kinda go with the flow as to what parks we hit when.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyMusician2]

I always love Epcot s a first day park. It really helps me relax into the DIsney experience after a long morning on planes and busses. Lots to simply walk and see, and it makes for a great evening/morning park.

 

[nibblesandbits]

I do the same thing. I will look at Disney's calendar and then I will pick the park that had EMH's the previous day. The reason being?

With Disney doing the MYW tickets and not offering PH automatically anymore, a lot of people simply purchase the base ticket. When they do their planning, since they can't park hop, they usually go to the park that has the longest hours...meaning they will visit the park with EMHs. Therefore, the parks that have EMHs are always more crowded than the other parks.

The reason I go to the park that had EMHs the day before is because since the majority of people will have gone to the park with EMHs the previous day, it seems that less people end up visiting the next day. So that park then will have less crowds then the other parks.

Now, I have no idea if this has any scientific bearing to it, but I do know that this is part of how touringplans and the Unofficial Guide figure out which parks for which days. But I definitely like my little system.

 

[Joepic]

MK is always the first stop for me and my family, it brings back the Disney 'feeling' and really places your mind in such a different location. It doesn't matter the order after that, just as long as MK is the last park we visit.

 

[eroyee]

:wave: MK first day and last day and in the middle!! Get those ADR's made now. a zillion people signed up for the free dining plan!

 

[DisneyChik17]

MK is always the first stop for me and my family, it brings back the Disney 'feeling' and really places your mind in such a different location. It doesn't matter the order after that, just as long as MK is the last park we visit.

I always want to go to MK first. It makes me feel like I'm in WDW more than any other park.

 

[wannabeBelle]

UUUmmm Well I Am a little different. I plan out the hours at each park factoring in EMH. I then go back and find out where my favorite acts/ attractions will be on what days, for example Off Kilter is usually dark Friday and Saturday so I dont schedule EPCOT for those days unless we are there for something else!!! Then once I have a basic idea of that Ill select the restaurants I want to eat at and call to see when they are available in the days that are open for a park on any of the days I have selected as OK for that park. Belle

 

[disneymaddog]

I agree with that!

I've bad experience without proper planning.

I queued 2 or 3 hours each ride under the hot sun during my last year holiday visit to Disneyland HongKong... My family hate me for not having proper planning!

I take it as a lesson and I will plan properly for the next visit!