4 parks in two days?

U

ultraviolet

New Member
My daughter and a friend from college are going to WDW for their spring break in March. They will be staying off site and plan to buy two day tickets with hoppers so they can visit all 4 parks. I've told her about the many changes since we were there last as a family (7 years ago). We've always stayed onsite at the YC and she's used to walking to Epcot & DHS from there.

She's looked at the crowd calendars and believes that the best plan is to do AK & MK one day, and DHS & Epcot the other. I've informed her that with FP+, she will only be able to schedule FPs for one park per day, and as an offsite guest, she will have to do so the day of rather than in advance.

Does anyone think that she'll actually be able to ride any headliners at their second park of the day, particularly during the busy spring break season? A shuttle bus from their condo will drop them at the park, but getting from AK to MK could be rather time consuming.

She'll be spending a lot of money on the two day tix, especially for a college student...

Any thoughts / insights / suggestions regarding a touring plan that would work best?

Thanks.
 
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Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
For a college student, it is absolutely doable if she and her friend sacrifice sleep! The best plan is to be at park opening and plan to stay until park closing. On the AK/MK day, begin at AK. They should be able to ride Everest, Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids and the safari by lunchtime without long waits. Then they can take the bus from AK to MK. Upon arriving at MK, they should make their FP+ choices. There should be headliner attractions still available.

On the DHS/Epcot day, get to DHS prior to opening. Head to Toy Story first and ride. Then do TOT and RnR (single rider if the line is long). Should be able to do Movie Ride, Muppets and/or Star Tours without long waits. Upon arrival at Epcot, make FP+ for Soarin since they can do Test Track as single riders.

"Spring Break" is a very spread out time period and encompasses both March and April. Yes, the parks will be busy but not crazy crowded in March. (Crazy crowded will be the week before and after Easter, which is in April.)

College students tend to "go with the flow" and I'm sure they'll have a blast!
 
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ratherbeinwdw

ratherbeinwdw

Well-Known Member
ultraviolet said:
My daughter and a friend from college are going to WDW for their spring break in March. They will be staying off site and plan to buy two day tickets with hoppers so they can visit all 4 parks. I've told her about the many changes since we were there last as a family (7 years ago). We've always stayed onsite at the YC and she's used to walking to Epcot & DHS from there.

She's looked at the crowd calendars and believes that the best plan is to do AK & MK one day, and DHS & Epcot the other. I've informed her that with FP+, she will only be able to schedule FPs for one park per day, and as an offsite guest, she will have to do so the day of rather than in advance.

Does anyone think that she'll actually be able to ride any headliners at their second park of the day, particularly during the busy spring break season? A shuttle bus from their condo will drop them at the park, but getting from AK to MK could be rather time consuming.
She'll be spending a lot of money on the two day tix, especially for a college student...

Any thoughts / insights / suggestions regarding a touring plan that would work best?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
We did the week after Easter last year. It was a madhouse, but with fp we were able to get most things done. However, the legacy fp's will probably be gone by the time your daughter goes, so if she happens to be in one of those crazy busy weeks, she will have a hard time doing much at all at the second park of the day. If at all possible, she should make sure one of her days is a Sunday so they can use the EMHs at MK. Those couple of late hours really do help with getting on rides at MK. We did 2and 1/2 days in November in a non busy time, and it really was difficult to get all four parks in. We did it, but it was non-stop opening to closing. I made sure and get the fastpasses for the second park of the day and hit the big rides at the first park at opening. Also, she shouldn't make any adr's. Those ate up too much of our time. We stayed onsite and drove to the parks which saved us some time.
 
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jencor

jencor

Active Member
Tuvalu said:
For a college student, it is absolutely doable if she and her friend sacrifice sleep! The best plan is to be at park opening and plan to stay until park closing. On the AK/MK day, begin at AK. They should be able to ride Everest, Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids and the safari by lunchtime without long waits. Then they can take the bus from AK to MK. Upon arriving at MK, they should make their FP+ choices. There should be headliner attractions still available.

On the DHS/Epcot day, get to DHS prior to opening. Head to Toy Story first and ride. Then do TOT and RnR (single rider if the line is long). Should be able to do Movie Ride, Muppets and/or Star Tours without long waits. Upon arrival at Epcot, make FP+ for Soarin since they can do Test Track as single riders.

"Spring Break" is a very spread out time period and encompasses both March and April. Yes, the parks will be busy but not crazy crowded in March. (Crazy crowded will be the week before and after Easter, which is in April.)

College students tend to "go with the flow" and I'm sure they'll have a blast!
Click to expand...

this is the way I would do it also. What I might add is take one night at a value hotel and that way they should be able to maximize the hours with EMH on both days. Could be wrong on this, but might be worth looking into
 
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samantha_cheri

samantha_cheri

New Member
I'm a college student and I recently went with a friend in mid-December and we were able to do three parks in one day. It was my friends first time at WDW (I'm a passholder and live nearby) and she only had one day so she bought a parkhopper and we woke up really early and drove up before the park opened. As other people stated, I think the best tip is to just know which things you need to do first in the parks to avoid lines. We went to Hollywood just as it opened and were able to do everything we wanted to do without fastpasses because we rushed to ToT and RRC just as the park opened and were able to walk right on. After that we rode some of the smaller rides (also short lines) and walked around the park. Next, we took a bus to EPCOT and got a fastpass for Test Track and waited in an OK line for mission space. We walked around the world showcase and explored until our fastpass was up, and after that took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. By that point the Magic Kingdom was super crowded (it always seems crowded to me, not to mention it was Christmas time) and there wasn't much of a chance for any of the rides, but it was still nice to walk around and see the castle lit up. We hung out there until the 8pm parade and then headed out, it had been a long day.

I have another friend coming down for her spring break in March and we will be going for a few days and she will probably buy a similar two day park hopper ticket and will definitely be doing all four parks. It shouldn't be an issue, I have no trouble waking up early and going until late at night, the only thing is that I get really tired usually around 3pm, but that fades. I find that a sugary drink or snack can help me get the energy I need around dinner time. I don't think your daughter will have any problem, even with FP+.
 
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U

ultraviolet

New Member
Original Poster
Thank you all for the replies. She's fortunate that she won't have to pay for lodging (friends' family has a timeshare in Kissimmee) Based on the crowd calendar, it looks like Tues & Wed March 11 & 12 will be the best days for them to go that week (parks are at an 8). Unfortunately for her, she does not like to rise early, so I'll have to stress to her just how important it is to be at the first park of the day for rope drop.
 
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SMS55

SMS55

Well-Known Member
Definitely doable. That's usually what we do, but you have to be a Disney veteran for it. We know how to navigate the parks. We get there early and use the fast passes. Know that you won't get to do everything. there might be some things you might have to pass on. There are certain things that we will pass up on.
 
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JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
SMS55 said:
Definitely doable. That's usually what we do, but you have to be a Disney veteran for it. We know how to navigate the parks. We get there early and use the fast passes. Know that you won't get to do everything. there might be some things you might have to pass on. There are certain things that we will pass up on.
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Ah, there's the rub. No more legacy FP. For your two days, I could be mistaken but, as others in this thread have referred to getting FP+ in MK, currently the only park that allows FP+ for outside guests is AK. You'll be in standby in the other three parks. On your AK day, I would advise going there first and maxmizing your FP+ as soon as possible since it closes earlier than any other park, then hop over to, say, MK which usually stays open the longest. Split Epcot and HS as those two parks are separated by a boat ride. Good luck!
 
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Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
JohnD said:
Ah, there's the rub. No more legacy FP. For your two days, I could be mistaken but, as others in this thread have referred to getting FP+ in MK, currently the only park that allows FP+ for outside guests is AK. You'll be in standby in the other three parks. On your AK day, I would advise going there first and maxmizing your FP+ as soon as possible since it closes earlier than any other park, then hop over to, say, MK which usually stays open the longest. Split Epcot and HS as those two parks are separated by a boat ride. Good luck!
Click to expand...
By the OP's daughter's trip in March, it is highly likely there will not be legacy FP in any park. Thus my recommendations above on park touring. I assumed there would be no more paper fastpasses, only same day FP+ for non resort guests.
 
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U

ultraviolet

New Member
Original Poster
Tuvalu said:
By the OP's daughter's trip in March, it is highly likely there will not be legacy FP in any park. Thus my recommendations above on park touring. I assumed there would be no more paper fastpasses, only same day FP+ for non resort guests.
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That's precisely what I assumed as well. I suppose it might be possible that they roll out FP+ only to each park one at a time, but since my daughter's trip is 8 weeks away, there's a very strong chance that legacy FP will be gone from all 4.

Thanks again to all for the responses. I've told her that she needs to get there early and she realizes that she might not be able to do every attraction that she wants.
 
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