I am planning a daughter/daddy trip August 9th - August 17th. I need help with planning which park to do on which days and if I should purchase Park Hopper or not ? We are not planning to do water parks as we are going to favor the pools.
Tuesday August 9th (Arrival day - Landing MCO ~10AM) - MK in the afternoon with stacked Genie+.
Wednesday August 10th - HS (Park Hopper to Epcot in the evening ???)
Thursday August 11th - Universal Studios with Unlimited express pass
Friday August 12th - MK during the day (low crowd) and MK in the evening for MNSSHP ??
Saturday August 13th - Epcot with a break back to hotel mid-way
Sunday August 14th - Animal Kingdom (with Park Hopper to MK or Epcot)
Monday August 15th - HS (Park Hopper to MK or Epcot in the evening ??)
Tuesday August 16th - MK during the day (low crowd) and MK in the evening for MNSSHP ??
What do you guys think and should I buy park hopper ?
Your schedule seems fine to me. Your usage of the Park Hopper is a bit limited, but enough that it would justify the cost. When going so many days, I think Park Hopper is worth the added cost because you have more flexibility to be, well…flexible! Things don’t feel as rushed, etc.
Where are you staying? I presume on-site. (If you are staying off site, I’m not sure I WOULD do Park hopping.)
In order to fully determine if it will be effective, you might want to detail out what PARTS of each park you plan to tackle. For example, on Tuesday, Aug. 10, you plan to start at HS then park hop to EP. You won’t get everything done at HS (but you have another HS day later in the trip). So, what DO you want to get done at HS before you hop? If you plan to get too much done, you might find hopping to be a nuisance rather than a help because you’ll end up feeling rushed, or staying too late at HS to make hopping to EP worth it. That kind of thing.
The cost of hoppers really isn’t that much, however, for 7 days in the parks, so I’d probably pay for them even if I’m not entirely sure if I’ll end up using them simply because it gives you options you wouldn’t otherwise have.
I’m planning to purchase my tickets on boardwalkticketing.com which will save me ~150$ on my tickets. I am thinking of using those savings to purchase park hopper.
I will be staying on site at All-Stars Music… This trip (August 9-17) is a daddy/daughter’s trip and we have another one planned in March with the whole family at Caribbean Beach.
I agree I will have a limited use of park hopper but since there are no fireworks show at HS or AK, I was thinking to HOP on those days to Epcot or MK.
Being the two of us, I think we will manage to get things done much quicker than usual and perhaps we could benefit a bit more from park hopping. That being said, it’s hard to predict how tired we will be and perhaps after HS we might choose to go back to resort instead of finishing the night always at another park…
I think it looks good. I would probably save the expense and not use a park ticket on the party day at MK and use that time for a little break in your trip. Sleep late, brunch somewhere, pool time, etc. You can still buy G+ and stack MK rides tobuse between 4 and 7pm to really start your party off with a bang.
One other thing to consider if you are open to buying G+ - is stacking at HS for the evening. It worked out great for us in May. We were able to do everything from about 5p-8p (with the exception of RotR - we left before the line went down at park close) after a late start from deluxe evening hours the night before, we went to lunch at Disney Springs and had everything lined up. I got Slinky at 6:30p as my first choice at 7a and went from there. Then you could always do another morning for RotR and other re-rides. I feel like HS has the least in the way of atmosphere/eating/shopping so we always treat that one like a typical amusement park - ride after ride, but that’s just my personal opinion.
Is the question mark on Aug 12 about MNSSHP? If so, given that it is the first party I would make up my mind sooner than later about that at the first one often sells out (largely thanks to the number of tickets provided for bloggers/vloggers/influencers).
I’m debating between Aug 12 and Aug 16th for MNSSHP. I’m afraid Aug 12 might be over crowded because it is the first event. But at the same time if Aug 16 is raining I’m leaving the next day so no backup options.
I’m really debating if I should go Aug 12, Aug 16 or both lol.
I just wanted to mention that your days/dates don’t match up. August 12 is a Friday, not a Thursday. In the grand scheme of things I don’t think it matters, but it might make a difference in your planning for MNSSHP.
It depends on what you are looking to do, but in general I think with G+ it is better to start at Epcot while stacking rides for a late afternoon or evening hop to HS. HS is a really tough park for a morning/afternoon because it gets crowded fast and the lines get very long. However, if you said it is much more important that you get a dinner res somewhere you really want to eat at Epcot or Harmonious is a must-do for you, then I could understand the reasoning for starting at HS.