I have one park hopping day. A Monday in September. At first I was thinking AK in the morning and then Epcot in the afternoon but now I’m wondering if it is better to do Epcot in the morning, hop to AK and then hop back to Epcot just for fireworks. I believe AK is busier in the morning and most people leave in the afternoon and I would assume with F&W that Epcot is busier in the evening? This way I could get a GOTG VQ as well as a LL and ride it twice.
AK is my fav park. I really wish I didn’t have to wait until 2 to hop. If I go to AK in the morning then I could hop whenever to Epcot and pay for the LL for GOTG and then watch the fireworks.
1:47 !!! I leave first park by bus to a resort 1pm, once at any resort I take bus to 2nd park, target to get to 2nd park by 1:45 and start hovering, can enter at 1:47
Don’t wait for a park to park bus because they won’t start running till 1:30
I don’t think you can go wrong with either choice, they both sound great.
But just as a first-hand report: our family did that Epcot-AK-Epcot hop on our last visit during third week of December and we loved it, though admittedly we were going full-steam for a short (3-day) trip. We may have gotten lucky with the buses, but the trips between parks really felt quick and painless (also not at all crowded around 2pm and around 7pm, despite high overall crowds that week). Our rationale for the order was largely based on 1.) wanting to get a VQ for GoTG (first time and a must-do for this trip) 2.) wanting to see AK in the dark (also first time and FoP being a must-do for our kids) and 3.) avoiding crowds (it was Festival of the Holidays time at Epcot, and most seasonal activities/food booths didn’t open until 11.00). The reason to hop back to Epcot was princess dinner at Akershus.
We got G+ for the day and bought an ILL for FoP. We were at IG for RD having booked an opening time LL for Remy, so we rope dropped Frozen, had a leisurely walk through a blissfully empty World Showcase, tapped into Remy and booked Soarin, saw Canada Far and Wide, rode GotG, visited Club Cool and the festival booths, rode Soarin and Nemo, and hopped over to AK right around 2pm. AK ended up being CL10 that day and it felt packed, but luckily we’d gotten a golden ticket and managed to ride KRR, EE, KS and NRJ with LLs, watch Nemo and Kingdom Takes Flight, ride FoP with the ILL, and see the Tree of Life Awakenings on our way out.
Two hours before our restaurant reservation we did a final check with the kids to see if they were still up for hopping back to Epcot, and happily they were. We rode LwtL on the way over to Akershus, strolled through WS on the way out and hopped on the Friendship boat back to the resort.
I will say that my husband’s Fitbit counted 35,000 steps that day, but we had so much fun that it didn’t feel tiring while we were doing it (the kids did pass out on the boat back to the Dolphin).
Thanks for the insight. It’s something to think about for sure. To keep keep the day more leisurely I will probably be doing AK to Epcot. Riding everything isn’t really priority this trip. At AK FoP, EE & Safari are my only must dos besides just taking in the beauty of the park walking around. I prefer the food at AK. I wish I could have more than 1 meal there lol. At Epcot my must dos are GOTG, SE, fireworks and some food booths. Anything else is a bonus.
I was mostly thinking of the benefit of VQ and fewer crowds by going against the grain.
Yea I’ve heard that GOTG VQ is sometimes available past 1:00. I might try for it but I think I’ve decided to have lunch at tiffins so I probably wont be leaving AK in time.
ETA moved my tiffins res earlier in case I want to try for it.
What is everyone’s top 3 must eat places for every trip? Also, has anyone had luck getting into cali grill bar\lounge? What is the wait usually like? I’m thinking of trying to get in around 7 to be able to come back for fireworks.
Mine are usually Boma, Tiffins and Jiko. I’ve never gotten an Ohana res. Is it as good as people talk it up? Cause I could either try to get a jiko walk up or an Ohana walk up one of our nights. Which would be better?
We got 3 seats at the bar around 8/8:30pm I think? This was on a Christmas party night so I believe the fireworks were at 10pm. It was perfect timing for us and I was shocked we got seats easily.
I haven’t been to homecomin’. The brunch never has an availability. I do think I will be going to Sanaa for lunch this trip. Probably before we go to hhn.
Raglan Road is my number 1 must do with DS18. I’m planning a solo trip and realising I don’t really have any must dos for myself except probably Boma and CP for breakfast.
