In what order should we visit the parks?

Avatar for ldunx
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
In what order should we visit the parks?
12
Thu, 06-01-2006 - 3:41pm

It will be our first time this fall. Kids ages 4 and 7. We will arrive on Sat 9/30 and depart on Thurs 10/5, staying at All Star Sports (wanted the movie resort but it was booked up for the free dining plan so had to settle on the sports resort). We should be getting into Orlando early to mid afternnoon. We have a 5 day non-park hopper pass. I just can't decide what park to do which day. I prefer not to visit on the early entry days so avoid extra crowds. Dh absolutely hates crowds (I had to beg to do this trip-LOL).

I was thinking MK when we arrive Sat afternoon. Not certain if I should try to make an ADR for that day or not. Maybe we could just do counter service and snacks for the rest of that day. I plan on doing MK a second day. I know that The Crystal Palace is a must do for us at some point during the trip. My 4 yr old bully of a son loves Piglet!-go figure. Should we take in the fireworks this night or save them for another the 2nd MK visit.

Sunday: MGM Grand
Monday: AK
Tues: EPcot (although I'm still not certain how much this place will interest the kids. My gifted 7yr old dd might really enjoy the various worlds. I thought passport idea was a fun one. Maybe we'd only do a partial day there and just swim the rest of the day or visit DT Disney.
Wed: full day at MK.
Thurs: Big breakfast somewhere, swim or visit DT disney prior to departing. Not certain what time we will be leaving. Still up in the air if we will be flying or driving. If I can find airfare to less then $120 for each of us then we will fly. If we are driving I'm sure dh will be anxious to get going early.

Altough as I stated we need to avoid the crowds for dh, but it might be to our advantage to visit MK when they have a late night. I haven't been able to find info as to which day if any the MK will stay open late. That could change my park day plan too. Do they even have the late park closing during this slower season.
I'd appreciate and all input that you experts have for me! ~L

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 06-01-2006 - 4:00pm

Saturday is not a great day to do MK (although it is better than Monday, which is the busiest).

As far as order, some people like to do MK first and last. Others like to do the other parks first, leaving only MK for last.

Give Epcot a chance. 90-95% of people who visit Epcot with kids love it! There is sooooo much to do, plus it's a little more relaxed, too.

We usually arrive on a Sat, but don't do any parks. We usually go to Downtown Disney. One trip, we also went to Fort Wilderness campground for the pony rides, petting zoo (no longer there?), and horse stables, and to Grand Floridian to see the gingerbread house (it was December).

MK is open until 11pm (to the public) on Sat 9/30. Oct 1 (Sunday) is the only night on your trip that MK has EMH from 9-12. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/calendar/extraMagicHour?id=CalendarExtraMagicHoursPage

Alysha


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-11-2003
Thu, 06-01-2006 - 4:18pm
Check with the more experienced gals but we went the end of Sept 3 years ago and apparently the yearly passes expire the end of Sept.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 06-01-2006 - 4:53pm

Annual passes are good from 1 year of your first use, so they would only expire at the end of Sept if you bought them at the end of Sept or Oct 1. That's why if you like to go every year at the same time, you can buy the AP, use it the first year, and then go one week early the next year and still use them.

Alysha


Avatar for cl_ktbugsmom
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 06-01-2006 - 5:11pm

Annual Passes are good for one calendar year from the date of activation. Ours expire Dec 12 2006.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-11-2003
Thu, 06-01-2006 - 5:29pm
Hmmm, maybe it was a FL res program.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 06-01-2006 - 5:46pm

Looked it up...it was a special summer pass that Disney offered to Florida residents only:

(from Mouseplanet)

Play 4 Days pass

Florida residents can purchase a new four-day ticket for just $109, plus tax — that's almost 1/2 the price of a regular four-day park-hopper ticket. The ticket is valid for four admissions from now until September 30, 2003. These tickets are park-hoppers.

Residents can purchase just one ticket per person, per day, so your out-of-town relatives must buy their own, regular-priced admission. Tickets are non-transferable, and you must show a valid ID each time. These tickets can be applied towards the cost of any Annual Passport, as long as you upgrade by October 31, 2003. (Your annual pass expires one year from the date you first used your Play 4 Days Pass).

The Play 4 Days pass can be purchased at any WDW park ticket window, local AAA offices, Florida Disney Stores, by phone at (407) 939-4329 or on the WDW Web site


iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2005
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 11:49am

Ditto to everything the others said.

Val, Co-CL Disney Vacations

Avatar for lisab6899
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 3:42pm

Sundays are good days for MK

If we are only there for a few days we save MK for last

if we are there for a week or more we go to MK first and Last.

and in between we do epcot then MGM, than Animal Kingdom.

but I like saving MK for the last thing it's the original and the most magical to us.

Avatar for momtojoeybear
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 06-02-2006 - 9:50pm

Laura...

I am so glad to see you! It is so exciting that our pumpkins are old enough to take to Disney now, isn't it? My mom and I took Joey last September and we're off again this September (16 -20) and cannot wait...

Let me tell ya... first off, Joey loves eating with Pooh and Friends at the Crystal Palace... this years trip is a surprise, but when I asked him who he most wanted to eat with, he said with Pooh... so we're doing a breakfast there and I cannot wait (and neither could he if he knew!)...

As for Epcot, you might just be surprised... Joey adored it... of course, there is a fire truck in Innovations and he is Space Crazy, so Mission Space (even just the playground at the end, lit by black lights that includes a spaceship) was super cool for him... He just had a blast... A lot of people may say that Epcot is for adults but there are a lot of Epcot fans here and Joey and I are definitely among them...

The one we left out last year was MGM... so that's definitely on our list for this year! I know you'll have a blast! I can't wait till September comes!

Hope all is well with you and yours! Give your pumpkin a hug from me and JoeyBear!

*hugs*

Julie

Avatar for ldunx
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Sat, 06-03-2006 - 3:50pm

Hi Julie! So good to "see" you...I don't think I've been on i-village since Henry was more then a year old. How times flies. How kind of you (and smart) to remember me after all this time. I'm still not sure Henry really is old enough. He's quite the winer and bully so I might regret this. I'm mainly going since my dd Claudia is 7 and I don't want to wait any longer as I fear the magic of it all will be gone if she gets much older. Thanks for your input!

Val, thanks for the link to the hours of the parks. That helps alot. I didn't realize they had such different hours for days of week.

I so appriecate everyones input but now my head is spinning. Everytime I put a plan down on paper, I change it for one reason or another. I just can't pay the extra for a hopper. It would be another $140. I've pushed us to the limit already. The stress of planning this is getting me. I'm going to make another post about it.
Thanks ~Laura

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