November Trip Advice

[Homer fan]

I am heading to WDW with my family in November for 4 nights. My wife and I have three kids (age 8, 5 and 1 at the time of the trip). We will be using park-hopper tickets for two days, that we recieved from Disney on our last trip. Since we don't want to spend full price for just a one-day ticket to any of the parks, we are just going to use these two day park hopper tickets.

What do you suggest would be the best park combinations to best utilize the hopper? We are staying at Beach Club, so i was thinking we could to DHS in the morning one day, then maybe dinner at Epcot that night and walk back to our room. Does that sound realistic? I'm hoping the gondolas will be easy to use, to make the park hopping realistic (we have never hopped before b/c we always have gone with little kids).

The second day, we may just do Magic Kingdom, as obviously given my kids' ages, it would be better for them, but i would hate to miss out on Animal Kingdom (i.e. Padora, Safari and Everest, although we did all these when we went in 2017).

Is there a better combination that anyone can think of?

Also, is MK and AK in the same day realistic at all (Minnie Vans maybe?)? Or is it better to hop between Epcot/HS one and just do MK the other?

TIA for any help/advice!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I wouldn't do any sit down dining, so don't hop to Epcot just for dinner. Do your sit down dining on the resort days when you're not in a park to maximize your park hours.

Is your five year old tall and/or brave (i.e. will he or she ride things like Tower, Space, Splash, etc.)?

 

[Homer fan]

I wouldn't do any sit down dining, so don't hop to Epcot just for dinner. Do your sit down dining on the resort days when you're not in a park to maximize your park hours.

Is your five year old tall and/or brave (i.e. will he or she ride things like Tower, Space, Splash, etc.)?

She's on the shorter side..may be tall enough for Splash by the time we go.

Probably no chance we get to ride Frozen without a long wait if we end the day at Epcot, right?

 

[aliceismad]

MK has way more attractions than any other park. Honestly, I would go with whatever attractions your kids (and you and your wife) seem most excited about and plan around those. In your case, I'd skip AK if I were only going for two park days. (Even though I LOVE AK.) It seems most convenient to hop HS to EP and then save the other day for MK. Unless maybe you did EMH at AK and then hopped to MK via Uber. I just can't imagine missing fireworks at the castle.

Keep in mind that Star Wars might be newly opened, and HS might be crazy pants. In that case (despite Toy Story Land), maybe skip HS and hop AK to EP?

(ETA: My 4 year old just crossed the 40-inch threshold for Splash, ToT, BTMRR, etc. It's 44 inches for EE, FOP, and Space. Given that only the adults and 8 year old could ride FOP and EE - and FOP is a tough FP to get - AK still seems like the lowest reward park unless you really love the animals, scenery, etc.)

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Probably no chance we get to ride Frozen without a long wait if we end the day at Epcot, right?

You could rope drop Studios without FastPass and try to get in a few rides with minimal standby wait, then use your FastPasses for the day in Epcot afternoon.

 

[Homer fan]

MK has way more attractions than any other park. Honestly, I would go with whatever attractions your kids (and you and your wife) seem most excited about and plan around those. In your case, I'd skip AK if I were only going for two park days. (Even though I LOVE AK.) It seems most convenient to hop HS to EP and then save the other day for MK. Unless maybe you did EMH at AK and then hopped to MK via Uber. I just can't imagine missing fireworks at the castle.

Keep in mind that Star Wars might be newly opened, and HS might be crazy pants. In that case (despite Toy Story Land), maybe skip HS and hop AK to EP?

(ETA: My 4 year old just crossed the 40-inch threshold for Splash, ToT, BTMRR, etc. It's 44 inches for EE, FOP, and Space. Given that only the adults and 8 year old could ride FOP and EE - and FOP is a tough FP to get - AK still seems like the lowest reward park unless you really love the animals, scenery, etc.)

Thx! That's make sense. I am hoping SWGE isnt open yet so the parks will be manageable

 

[Homer fan]

You could rope drop Studios without FastPass and try to get in a few rides with minimal standby wait, then use your FastPasses for the day in Epcot afternoon.

That's a great idea! I know HS has more big rides, so I was assuming using FP for there, but it right, my proximity to HS should allow us to rope drop! Thx!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

That's a great idea! I know HS has more big rides, so I was assuming using FP for there, but it right, my proximity to HS should allow us to rope drop! Thx!

HS is the "better" park to FastPass than Epcot, but if Frozen Ever After is a must-do, that's probably your best bet.

You could also do it in reverse... rope drop Frozen Ever After and then hop to Studios to use your FastPasses there. That might actually be better, especially since there won't be a night show at Epcot when you're there.

 

[aliceismad]

HS is the "better" park to FastPass than Epcot, but if Frozen Ever After is a must-do, that's probably your best bet.

You could also do it in reverse... rope drop Frozen Ever After and then hop to Studios to use your FastPasses there. That might actually be better, especially since there won't be a night show at Epcot when you're there.

I'd be interested to see how difficult Slinky FPs are to get before the trip, assuming that's on the kids' wish list. I imagine it'll be the hardest to get, especially for such a short trip, so rope dropping Toy Story Land might be the way to go.

 

[Homer fan]

I'd be interested to see how difficult Slinky FPs are to get before the trip, assuming that's on the kids' wish list. I imagine it'll be the hardest to get, especially for such a short trip, so rope dropping Toy Story Land might be the way to go.

It's a MUST! When my daughter found out her friend didnt go on it because of the line, she started balling her eyes out! Lol

 

[Homer fan]

HS is the "better" park to FastPass than Epcot, but if Frozen Ever After is a must-do, that's probably your best bet.

You could also do it in reverse... rope drop Frozen Ever After and then hop to Studios to use your FastPasses there. That might actually be better, especially since there won't be a night show at Epcot when you're there.

I thought Epcot had the replacement show starting right after Illuminatons is over?

 

[Homer fan]

Does anyone know if Beach Club is closer to Epcot or HS?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Does anyone know if Beach Club is closer to Epcot or HS?

Epcot, much. DHS is a bit of a hike.

 

[JohnD]

Does anyone know if Beach Club is closer to Epcot or HS?

Epcot. It's pretty much right outside the Int'l Gateway.

 

[JillC LI]

I agree with the advice above. I'd do EP and DHS in one day (fastpassing the afternoon choice), but I'd give MK its own day. That said, Pandora Land is incredible, but you couldn't do much there in the afternoon unless you saved all your FPs for it and did MK on standby.

 

[kwoodfan1]

Only thing to add to above is watch for the After hours nights in regards to AK and MK. If one of those is avail during your stay it allows you a full day at the other one. Its pricey, but its also fantastic.

 

[JenDud]

The walk from Beach Club to Epcot is shorter than to DHS. You can take a boat to DHS if you don’t want to walk. Your kids will probably enjoy that too.

 

[aliceismad]

Slinky was the first FP I tried to get on our recent Jan/Feb trip. Even with the "lower" crowds, booking 60 days in advance at 7am, and going to HS on our third day (ie 63 days out), I could not get an FP for Slinky.

I've still got almost a month to go before I can get FPs, but I'm planning to look for Slinky FP first and for the last day of our weeklong trip. I've read similar difficulties getting Slinky FP elsewhere.

 

[Homer fan]

Slinky was the first FP I tried to get on our recent Jan/Feb trip. Even with the "lower" crowds, booking 60 days in advance at 7am, and going to HS on our third day (ie 63 days out), I could not get an FP for Slinky.

My kids will be extremely disappointed if we can't get Slinky! Hopefully it's not as crazy in November