Advice on Park options?

Walt Disney World
1

Splitting a week between UOR and WDW in May. Kids (ages 12 and 9) (and I) are big SW fans so planning on 2 days in HS and the last day in MK in some capacity. Kids are balls of energy and when we last went to WDW (2 yrs ago) they went nonstop from rope drop to park closing and had a blast.

Options are:

  1. Two days at HS (CL3) then a half day at AK (CL7) mostly to visit Pandora and ride AK headliners, then go back to resort to rest after lunch before going to MK at 7pm and staying for Villains After Hours.

  2. Two days at HS and one day at MK (CL5) with EMH from 9p-11p.

  3. Two days at HS and one day at MK (CL4) with EMM that morning.

Pros/Cons:

  1. This is the most expensive option because of VAH, also the most hectic, but it lets us see Avatar (which opened about a week after our last visit) and still have 6 hours in MK. Also, can’t come up with a TP for VAH (which shouldn’t be a problem, but I like my TP’s!). No one is an Avatar fan per se, but want to experience FOP and NRJ and Pandora just based on what I’ve heard. And as much as the kids are go-go-go, 4-5 hours in AK and then 6 in MK until 1am may be pushing their limit. We should be able to do all the headliners in MK, but I’ve heard inconsistent stories about wait times during VAH.

  2. This is the cheapest option, and still gives us a very long day in MK at a decent CL. Should be able to accomplish everything, but with the longest lines.

  3. We did EMM last trip and loved it, got to ride 7DMT 6 times in a row, twice by ourselves. This was probably the highlight of the trip for the boys and it’s about half the price of Villains After Hours. Of course, fewer rides are open, but knocking out a number of rides in the morning and having a TP for the rest of the day means we’d be able to cover everything we wanted to and duplicates (or more) of everyone’s favorites.

TIA for any thoughts/input!

2

If I had to choose I’d go with #3. I, too, am a big fan of EMM. #2 would be my back-up plan.

I like AK, but don’t love it. So I’d rather just stay at MK, even if the queues are longer.

3

Thank you.

4

I went to WDW a couple of years ago and was only there for two days. I chose to spend 1 day at AK so we could experience Pandora and the other at MK since it’s classic. I didn’t regret that choice. If you haven’t experienced Pandora, you have to figure out a way to go at least once.

At the time there was no SWGE but if there had been, it would have been a top priority for me as well, so I think your two days there are prudent, especially with RotR opening up soon.

5

Are you me? My kids are about the same age as yours, we were at WDW right before Pandora opened, and we’re headed back in April, doing both WDW and UOR, and thinking about VAH!! :slight_smile:

We love Star Wars too, but 2 full days at HS seems like a lot? Unless you are wanting to do multi-hour waits for SR and ROTR multiple times, I guess? I’d probably do 1.5 days at HS, and hit both AK and MK. Late start day for the HS 1/2 day (which would just be for re-rides), then VAH that night would be ideal for us. Late start AK day following (to recover a bit from late night VAH).

AK is one of our favorite parks and FOP is amazing (DH and I snuck a trip this year without the kids, they still don’t know), so I would definitely make time for AK. MK is the park that has the most “done it once, don’t need to do it again” rides for us, so we can hit what we’re most interested in at VAH.