Help 4 adult first timers pick which parks to visit each day of our stay please!

[NuMystic]

4 Adults visiting for the first time.

We'll be checking into Port Orleans French Quarter on the 14th of Jan and then leaving on the 18th.

Non park-hopper park tickets for 5 days so we've got:

14th - Should be all checked in at POFQ by around 4-4:30pm
15th, 16th, 17th - All day/night
18th - Only until 4pm (6pm flight)

Have access to TouringPlans crowd calendar but being that it's completely different than EasyWDW's I could use some guidance from the experts here!

Definitely want to visit all four parks.

Any help, insight, and advice would be appreciated!

 

[JasonDeyoung]

Ak & HS are both half day parks as of now and MK & Epcot Id try to plan two days at each. So Id maybe do AK arrival day or HS, same thing departure day and get two days at MK & Epcot in between.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Non park-hopper park tickets for 5 days so we've got:

14th - Should be all checked in at POFQ by around 4-4:30pm
15th, 16th, 17th - All day/night
18th - Only until 4pm (6pm flight)

14th - Dinner at DownTown Disney, or dinner at MK and a few hours in MK as its a two day park
15th - MK get there for the Extra Magic Hours first thing
16th - EPCOT - you've got two extra EMH hours tonight to take advantage of
17th - DHS today - then perhaps revisit DownTown Disney tonight
18th - AK for morning EMH, lunch and off to the airport

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

So Id maybe do AK arrival day or HS,

AK closes at 5pm and DHS closes at 7pm on the 14th. No time to visit these parks on arrival day

 

[NuMystic]

Thanks so much for the feedback! Another piece of info I left out of the original post, we have the Dining plan (1 table, 1 counter, 1 snack) and will likely be doing a table service Dinner on on the 14th-17th to get the most value out of it.

One question regarding the EMH, most itinerary articles I've seen (and the crowd calendars) strongly suggest avoiding EMH park days as the crowds are supposedly much heavier at those parks for this reason?

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

One question regarding the EMH, most itinerary articles I've seen (and the crowd calendars) strongly suggest avoiding EMH park days as the crowds are supposedly much heavier at those parks for this reason?

They do - but you will find that a good proportion of Resort guests will have a hopper ticket and will go elsewhere after they've taken advantage of the EMH.
My suggestion of visiting MK and AK on EMH mornings gives you an extra hour in those parks, as does visiting EPCOT on the EMH evening.

 

[Kosmo1986]

I would avoid the days that have EMH. While the extra hour is great the extra crowds are not and since you do not have a park hopper I would avoid it, especially if you do not plan on arriving BEFORE the park opens. Overall you are going during a relatively slow time of year so it might not matter much.

The last day I would use for Animal Kingdom since this truly is a 1/2 day park.
the other 3 deserve a full day each. Most people think that HS is a 1/2 day park, but their are 4 shows (Beauty and the beast, Indiana Jones, the stunt show and FANTASMIC) all worth seeing. Also its fun to visit the animation academy and draw a character and this can take a while.

For Dining:
your first night there you should try out one of the hotel restaurants. O'hana, Sanaa, jiko- these hotels are great and they have great food too! Eat at a country in EPCOT (I ate a via Napoli a few weeks ago and it was great), and Yak & yeti at AK. Truthfully I never really get ADRs for Magic Kingdom, there is nothing there that interests me. HS has some great themed restaurants like the sci-fi dinner and 50's prime time café.

 

[harryk]

Depending on what your interests are - the Animal Kingdom is more than a half-day park. If you take the time to explore the side trails and take in Flights of Wonder and Legend of the Lion King shows - you quickly take more than a half day.

 

[NuMystic]

Thanks to everyone for all the invaluable insights!

So after doing a bit more reading morning EMH are just not going to work for us because if being at the gate for Rope Drop is as much of an advantage as everyone says it is, then being out of bed, showered, having coffee and getting to the park by 8:30 is already going to be a big enough feat for us! Trying to accomplish that by 7:30 am is wading deep into this-doesn't-feel-like-a-vaction-at-all territory.

So with that in mind I'm currently considering this plan:

14 MK 4-8pm
15 EP 8:30am-9pm
16 MK 8:30am-11pm
17 AK 8:30am-7pm
18 HS 8:30am-3pm

Pros:
- Some have said the MK is the park that will most benefit from extra time so we could catch Wishes and a few things on the night we arrive then have dinner at one of the resort restaurants after it closes.
- All of the above are "recommended" on the EWDW Crowd calendar with three being their 1st choice and also either ideal or not too bad according to TouringPlans Crowd Calendar.
- I've heard HS is considered by many to be a half day park this time of year so it seems well suited for our last day which is cut short?
- None of the above are EMH days which we wouldn't be taking advantage of anyway so we're spared any extra crowds that brings, and will instead aim for rope drop at the regular opening time every day while getting a bit more sleep.


Cons:
- HS on the day we leave means we couldn't do Fantasmic (if we go against the crowd calendars we could swap HS and AK)
- For the first night since we're arriving late Epcot would get us one more full park hour before closing.
- Some have suggested starting and ending with MK is a great thing for first timers, though I'm concerned that with the early closing on the 14th and having to check out in the morning and leave the park on the 18th by 3pm we're not even getting a full combined day to experience MK.

On swapping AK and HS for the last two days, AK on the 18th and HS on the 17th are predicted to be heavier attended parks at both TouringPlans AND EWDW Crowd Calendars. Even being the slow season since these are our weekend days that may still be a significant consideration? (Touring Plans rates AK 9/10 crowd heaviness on the 18th and HS on the 17th is marked 7 vs 6 at all the others... EWDW lists them both as 2nd to worst in red those days)


Thoughts? Critique? Things I'm missing? Improvements to be made? I'm All Ears!

 

[officialtom]

Are you taking Disney's Magical Express to the airport on your last day? If yes, you'll need to give yourself more time than 2 hours.

 

[Mouse_Trap]

Are you taking Disney's Magical Express to the airport on your last day? If yes, you'll need to give yourself more time than 2 hours.

Heck, I'd give myself quite a bit more than 2 hours before the flight departs even if I was driving!

 

[EOD K9]

Don't be a park commando. Take time at the hotel to relax or slow down at one of the hotels near the park. Also, go to Earl of Sandwich in Downtown for some reasonably priced food. Have fun!

 

[NuMystic]

Definitely won't be doing anything commando style! Would much rather be selective and enjoy what we do than run ourselves ragged.

We will be using the Resort Airline Check-In Service in the morning before we head out to the park that day. If we want to be at the airport at 5:15pm using Magical Express what time should we plan on leaving?

 

[menkupalme]

Thanks to everyone for all the invaluable insights!

 

[harryk]

Definitely won't be doing anything commando style! Would much rather be selective and enjoy what we do than run ourselves ragged.

We will be using the Resort Airline Check-In Service in the morning before we head out to the park that day. If we want to be at the airport at 5:15pm using Magical Express what time should we plan on leaving?

Magical Express picks you up 3 hours prior to flight time - so plan on being on the coach NLT 2:15 P.M.

 

[NuMystic]

Magical Express picks you up 3 hours prior to flight time - so plan on being on the coach NLT 2:15 P.M.

Was saying that we'd like to arrive at the airport at 5:15, actual flight time is 6pm.

So it sounds like we'll have to be on the coach at 3pm. Really starting to regret not keeping our car rental for the extra days. #firstworldproblems

 

[R W B]

I like the schedule you have now minus a few things.

Since you will be visiting one park per day I wouldn't wory about getting there at rope drop each day on the 15, 16, & 17th unless that's one of the things you want to see. I'm on my 8th trip and still haven't seen a rope drop at any park lol.

Also, I'd also look into the different shows at AK and HS and see which ones you are more interested in and then go to that park on the 17th. If you make it close to opening you'll be able to do all the rides at either of these parks on your last half day easily so keep the last full day for the park you wanna experience more.

One more thing, you know you can leave the parks mid day and then come back if needed? Just as long as its the same park you started with you can exit and then return.

Spend some time at downtown Disney/Disney springs. They have a lot of construction going on right now but its still a good spot to enjoy a few night caps.

Most of all have fun and it sounds like you already know this but remember this is a vacation, don't rush. (Unless you like that then so be it lol)

 

[Tuvalu]

Definitely won't be doing anything commando style! Would much rather be selective and enjoy what we do than run ourselves ragged.

We will be using the Resort Airline Check-In Service in the morning before we head out to the park that day. If we want to be at the airport at 5:15pm using Magical Express what time should we plan on leaving?

This is important ~ make sure you call Disney and add Magical Express to your reservation, even if you only plan to use it to return to the airport. You cannot simply board a DME bus at your resort and ride back to the airport. If the info is on your reservation, you will receive a DME notice on your door the day before your departure. The notice will state your DME pick-up time (as @harryk said it is 3 hour prior to your flight time) and you must give this notice to the bus driver before you board. With a 6 pm flight, your pick-up will be 3 pm and you will arrive (barring any unusual circumstances) well before 5:15 pm.

 

[harryk]

Don't be surprised if you are sitting at the terminal building 1-1/2 to 2 hours waiting to board your flight.
My family, even with priority boarding, takes 15 to 30 minutes to pass through the TSA check-point at MCO.
The lines there can be extremely long. ME takes that into account to be sure that you do not miss your flight.
Before we started using priority boarding we have been in line at TSA for as long as 1-1/4 hours in the past. Of course that may be due to the time of the year we travel.

 

[Nemo14]

Was saying that we'd like to arrive at the airport at 5:15, actual flight time is 6pm.

So it sounds like we'll have to be on the coach at 3pm. Really starting to regret not keeping our car rental for the extra days. #firstworldproblems

As others have said, if you have a 6:00 flight, you'll need to be at the airport no later than 4, which means that ME will pick you up at your resort around 3. Security lines can be quite long at MCO, and even with ME, we've had a couple of really close calls.