What order would you do the parks in this scenario???

[matt clark]

We are giving the family annual passes to Disney For Christmas.
Then we are waking up early the day after Christmas and starting our Disney vacation.
Staying at art of animation from December 26th-29th... checking out morning of December 30th.
December 30th-31st we are doing the animal kingdom lodge Savannah View with bunk beds and arent doing the parks at all. We just plan to enjoy the Hotel those days. WOULD CONSIDER after checking out of animal kingdom lodge going to Disney springs or even Epcot to enjoy some new years eve stuff... BUT... to the CORE question....

what order should i do the parks the 4 days we are at art of animation studio???

Here is my thinking so far....

Day 1. (December 26th) Hollywood Studios... Its the least busy park.. we may show up a bit after opening since we are driving over that day from Hernando County. Least attractions... We wont get TOO tired. This is the day AFTER Christmas and its probably SUPER busy that day and we can do whatever wed like to do and catch perhaps some star wars etc. fireworks.

Day 2. (December 27th) Epcot.... Still super busy, but I think doing the larger busier parks every other day will let us rest a little bit. Time to throw in a big park and have some fun. I have a 6 year old going and it will be good to throw in a park in the middle he may be bored of some things there, but still be able to look forward to the next few days.

Day 3. (December 28th) Animal Kingdom... Last time we went it was a bit of a half day park... So I think it will be good to sandwich this one between Epcot and magic kingdom. Pandora etc. will be open by then and there will be more to do than last time we went, but i feel like this is a place we have a lot of show and sitting opps to rest up a bit before we hit magic kingdom the next day.

Day 4. ( December 29th) Magic Kingdom... Just go all out on this day/night. My 6 year old usually gets beat and barely makes it to fireworks. He usually sleeps during the fireworks.. so here is my next thought... IF he gets totally wiped out we can just head on back to the hotel... The night of the 30th that we are just cooling down and relaxing at animal kingdom lodge we COULD head on back to the magic kingdom and watch the SPECIAL new years eve fireworks celebration. This way he can take a mid day nap and we will make just one nice special trip on over to watch fireworks that night that we POSSIBLY miss the day before.
I know its going to be mega busy, but the bright side is that we will be going to mickeys not so scary in September for my sons birthday. So we really wont NEED to go nuts in the park. We can come through and do a few rides we may have just not gotten to in September and ride some AGAIN if we have time.

When we check out of animal kingdom lodge new years eve we can stay on site for a bit.. maybe head to Disney springs?? maybe head to Epcot?? maybe just head home if everyone is beat?? Im not even going to attempt to PLAN that day lol, but id also like to see if anyone has any ideas for the resort on the actual New Years Eve.

I absolutely KNOW that the parks are going to be SLAMMED. The bright side of the situation is we will have platinum annual passes and we can do whatever we miss at ANY time. I just want to get some other folks input and maybe get hip to something I may not have been thinking.

 

[larryz]

Clearly, you'll have at least your 3 FP+ attractions per day, so if you're in the relaxed, do-what-you-can mode, it'll be crowded but do-able.

To my mind, your discriminators will be deciding where to eat each day. Counter service is counter service, but the Table Service options make the parks for me.
1. DHS has some decent and fun food venues -- Sci-Fi might fit your bill. Prime Time Cafe can be fun, too, and I really enjoyed their meat loaf, pot roast and fried chicken. The Brown Derby is a good, although slightly more upscale, option.
2. Epcot has some great food options, and it all depends on how adventurous your family's food tastes are. I can recommend the San Angel Inn, Marrakesh, Tokyo Dining or Biergarten.
3. AK's hidden gem is the Yak 'N' Yeti.
4. MK's offerings are a bit thinner -- I personally like the Liberty Tree Tavern. I haven't yet tried the Skippers' Canteen.

 

[matt clark]

at DHS I am sort of set on trying out the brown derby because i have an odd diet going on and im dead set on trying the Famous Cobb Salad there.
Epcot there are sooooo many choices that i think im just going to wing it. See what the fam is in the mood for. I really DO want to sit down at Marraskesh because i LOVE Mediterranean food, but i may want to break away from the norm. Via Napoli really intrigues me, but my fiance isnt too much into italian unfortunately.
Animal Kingdom i am interested to either try the tusker house or the new offerings in pandora. Depends on what the family is in the mood for. I originally heard that harambe market chicken skewer is super good, but you only get one skewer
Magic Kingdom dining is where its going to be HARD. i really plan on snacking for the most part.. get a dohl whip... get the waffle and chicken at sleepy hollow. I LOVE liberty tree tavern, but again.. the folks in the fam wont agree. im looking at trying to snag be our guest, but i know those reservations go FAST... so my fall backs are going to probably be skipper canteen or pecos bill.. i LOVE fajitas... my fiance LOVES churros lol.

I anticipate running into problems getting ahold of reservations for be our guest, but i am going to try. I already have the reservations for art of animation done. I am going to do the reservations for animal kingdom lodge on May 2nd. The thing is that i have universal orlando a.p.'s right now and i dont plan on discontinuing them until Mid November. I am going to THEN put the down payment on the disney a.p.'s early December.. so i wont have any of the a.p. benefits until then.

 

[drwadadli]

LOL.....

For us, we would avoid WDW for the entire week between Christmas and New Year. I have done the time of year several times and the parks will be PACKED!!!!!! Good luck trying to do everything and see everything.

Just our opinion.

 

[JillC LI]

My decision on which park per day is heavily dependent on park hours including EMH. If that isn't a concern, then your reasons for choosing as you did are perfectly legitimate. You know you are going to get slammed with crowds so your expectations will be realistic.

 

[Jeff456]

at DHS I am sort of set on trying out the brown derby because i have an odd diet going on and im dead set on trying the Famous Cobb Salad there.
Epcot there are sooooo many choices that i think im just going to wing it. See what the fam is in the mood for. I really DO want to sit down at Marraskesh because i LOVE Mediterranean food, but i may want to break away from the norm. Via Napoli really intrigues me, but my fiance isnt too much into italian unfortunately.
Animal Kingdom i am interested to either try the tusker house or the new offerings in pandora. Depends on what the family is in the mood for. I originally heard that harambe market chicken skewer is super good, but you only get one skewer
Magic Kingdom dining is where its going to be HARD. i really plan on snacking for the most part.. get a dohl whip... get the waffle and chicken at sleepy hollow. I LOVE liberty tree tavern, but again.. the folks in the fam wont agree. im looking at trying to snag be our guest, but i know those reservations go FAST... so my fall backs are going to probably be skipper canteen or pecos bill.. i LOVE fajitas... my fiance LOVES churros lol.

I anticipate running into problems getting ahold of reservations for be our guest, but i am going to try. I already have the reservations for art of animation done. I am going to do the reservations for animal kingdom lodge on May 2nd. The thing is that i have universal orlando a.p.'s right now and i dont plan on discontinuing them until Mid November. I am going to THEN put the down payment on the disney a.p.'s early December.. so i wont have any of the a.p. benefits until then.

I know you mention about dining and possibly "winging it," at EPCOT, I really wouldn't do that at any of the parks, you will need ADRs as you say the parks will be rammed!

 

[disneygeek90]

LOL.....

For us, we would avoid WDW for the entire week between Christmas and New Year. I have done the time of year several times and the parks will be PACKED!!!!!! Good luck trying to do everything and see everything.

Just our opinion.

If you read the full post, the OP clearly stated they are AP and not worried about doing everything every day.

As a fellow AP that has been during this time in the past, just go into the mindset that it will be packed. Enjoy the decorations, take in the experience of the holidays, and don't worry about slamming into as many rides as possible. Definitely try to get some ADR's if you'd rather have table service.

 

[JIMINYCR]

We always start and end with MK days but thats our way of doing the parks. The week after Christmas will still be very buzy with holiday crowds so no matter what order you go in probably won't matter. With Pandora being the newest land connected with AK, expect that park to be busier than ever before. Crowds will be drawn to it in huge numbers. By having the luxury of being an AP and ability to visit at other times just focus on doing the major things your family is looking forward to doing most and let the other things come on future trips. Planning out a list of major wants along with dining wants will make your decisions easier. Go with the flow and realize the seasonal park time will be hectic and enjoy the beauty of the decorations. Enjoy your family time.

 

[drwadadli]

If you read the full post, the OP clearly stated they are AP and not worried about doing everything every day.

As a fellow AP that has been during this time in the past, just go into the mindset that it will be packed. Enjoy the decorations, take in the experience of the holidays, and don't worry about slamming into as many rides as possible. Definitely try to get some ADR's if you'd rather have table service.

I obviously read that since the first line reads..."We are giving the family annual passes to Disney For Christmas." Plus, I don't know what @matt clark mindset is as I am not a mind-reader and I just wanted him to understand that it will really busy during that time. And therefore, heading back from one park to another often times can't be done if they close the parks for admissions.

 

[matt clark]

Thats actually a really good point on making reservations because it will be packed. I will just have to go over the menus on the places i listed above and sort of narrow it down and set it all up. I wouldnt mind waiting 30 to 45 minutes for a sit down, but i dont want to wait over an hour.

 

[matt clark]

The time before last that we did the magic kingdom we had the local resident tickets and did two days of the magic kingdom and rode every ride and saw every show MINUS the astro orbitor... So im really not worried too much about doing everything on this trip.

We also did mickeys not so scary LAST year and did every ride we wanted to except for mine train and space mountain.... Only because my son knocked out lol. So the plan is to make sure we do those two FIRST in September for mickeys not so scary.

So thinking with that mindset we are going to do a "greatest hits" run at magic kingdom on the last day of the christmas trip because on day 4 we will probably be super tired. Probably do our 3-4 fast passes and perhaps a few other things if theres time. I most definitely dont anticipate doing everything during this busy week.

Neither of my kids have been to Epcot OR Hollywood Studios... Weve really done everything there is to do at animal kingdom and magic kingdom.. so those two parks are going to be VERY laid back experiences. Epcot is really going to be the x factor.. i cant pick where to eat and i BARELY remember much there besides innovations, original test track, and body wars! lol. I dont think ive been there since i was in 4th grade.

I also havent been to hollywood studios in a LONG while, but the majority of the things there i remember clearly. So it will be easy to pick and choose what to skip etc.

 

[Jeff456]

Remember when you link your resort stay you will be able to book your ADRs 180 days out for the length of your stay (it's +10 but that will cover you), if it was me I would do that, you can then get the best times at the table service places that you want