Hi Folks, So first time in what is a busy period and first time staying in disney accomodation.
We are travelling from UK Me, DW and DS turns 6th on 19th Aug) on free DDP and staying in OKW from 18th Aug to 3rd Sept we will have a car whilst there.
Ok so general rules im following when working out what to do
EMH - we are planning to do these as much as possible as we are early risers have a busy AM using three fastpass have a brunch or lunch around 11:00 - 12:00 and then go back to OKW for a rest/swim. Then going to a different Park around 5pm till close.
DDP - most TS are being used for character meals and also Hoop de hoop revue(once) and Rivers of light package at Tusker (once).
We will generally have an evening QS meal on arriving to the park or parking say at a monorail redort eating there and using monorail into MK or Epcot.
Breakfast will be cereal in room or snack credit type food.
FPP - Book three best available aiming for 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, then book a 4th asap for afternoon/ evening. in 2nd week when low crowd prediction will book all three for afternoon park e.g morning EMH at AK on 28th Aug no FPP then MK afternoon/evening three FPP from 7-10PM.
Transport - Drive everywhere except Disney springs? we have car so would you use disney transport for anything?
Birthday celebrations - Ask at resort for phone call? arrange for cake at chef mickey? birthday button… anything else?
Transport: Drive to DS. The buses to and from were the worst for us on our last trip. I’d drive to all except MK unless you are dining at one of the monorail resorts as you mentioned.
Hi there!
We always have a car, it’s usually part of the package, and drive everywhere! We don’t use the buses at all, we always stay at a monorail resort, so can get to MK and Epcot fairly easily using boats/rail. Parking is well organised at the parks and we have never had a real problem. We drive to the water parks, DS and Universal.
Be prepared for the heat…August is very hot for us UKers, so I agree with your early mornings and late evenings. Hats, sunscreen, water and rests are absolute must do’s.
Get your DS to wear his birthday badge the whole holiday, not just on his birthday, for sprinklings of pixie dust, he will love it!
Your plans look good to me. We travel from the UK every August (this year from 14th Aug to 3rd Sept so we might bump into you) and I’d agree about the early mornings since jet lag works in your favour. Although the combination of August heat and the jet lag means we hardly ever manage to be there at park close, even with an afternoon break!
Overall, I think your plan looks solid; your touring strategies are very similar to mine.
I highly recommend using Disney transportation for your MK days. If you drive, you have to park, hike or take a tram to the TTC, wait for a mono or boat, then travel to the MK. If you take the bus, it will drop you off just outside the MK. For the other parks, I’m 50/50. When I go solo I almost always use the buses; I drive more than enough on a daily basis, and if I can just leave the car parked while on vacation, so much the better. When DW comes with me, she prefers to drive (probably because I drop her off at the entrance and then go park the car and meet up with her in the park).
One case when I do recommend driving is when you are going resort-to-resort. Using the bus means having to transfer either at a park or at DS, and you can figur it will take at least an hour (took me almost 90 min to get from the BW to the Poly on night).
As for DS, one of the nice things about OKW is that it has boat service directly to DS. I wouldn’t bother with either a car or a bus.
You run the risk of not having quality 4th fast passes available on high crowd days if you wait until noon to book them.
Even with a mid day break, the late nights and early mornings would get the better of me quickly. I much prefer splitting my time in 1/2 and doing sleep ins with late nights and then early nights to sleep with early rope drop mornings. To each their own though.
Car looks like a definite use for most all travel except boat to DS from OKW(assuming we are within walking distance in OKW)
I think realistically we will probably only make close once at each park and then MK on our last night. we will have a shorter day the day before we plan those.
4th fast pass yeh I guess it will be tough to get a good one but im generally pretty good at persevering and getting them 1by one and overlapping times to get us all in if needed.
if we want to be at MK for ‘rope drop’ whats earliest a bus will leave OKW on an EMH day? anyone know?
