1st time @ WDW / Park Hopper

[Zoe]

Hi! I am new to this forum and will be going to Disney World for the first time this weekend! I received a park hopper ticket for my graduation/birthday, and I am in the process of planning a very ambitious day of park hopping at least 3 of theparks (AK, MK, HS). I plan to visit on Friday, May 25; however, I am unsure of my plans since Star Wars Weekend changes the game a bit. I was thinking of visiting AK first thing in the morning and doing only the Safari, Expedition Everest, and DINOSAUR, then making my way to MK, then HS, then back to MK for Wishes and MSEP. I can see from your site that HS is not recommended due to crowds, but could I instead visit HS when the park opens to see the main attractions, then go to AK and MK? Or should I leave HS for last and hope for the best with Fastpasses?

Can anyone suggest a plan of action for the order I should visit those 3 parks ... and maybe some advice about the best timing to make the transition between the three parks easiest?

Thanks!

[JulieC]

Is this a one day hopper? Or multiple days? Is it just you, or you and others?

[Zoe]

This is a one day hopper, and it will be two people. We are both very fast walkers!

[vicki_c]

If you're not interested in SWW, I would skip DHS altogether. The additional crowds there for SWW will make it a painful park to be in, and arriving late you will most likely be out of luck on FPs for at least 2 of the big 3 (Toy Story & Rock n Roller Coaster).

[JulieC]

You won't have much luck with FPs for HS on a SWW. Assuming you are going full-out commando, trying to maximize your day, not interested in SWW in particular ...

HS
Arrive an hour before RD (@8am, so 7am), stand at the farthest right turnstile
Grab TSMM FPs (est. 8:40-9:40 RT)
Ride TSMM Stand-By
EE
ToT
-- What else do you want to do here? --
TSMM with FPs (done around 9am if you don't want to do anything else)

I'd head to AK next and plan to eat CS lunch there. It will be way less crazy than HS and there are better CS choices there. Get to AK around 11-12... (it's a lot of walking, but your three attractions are far apart, so what can you do?)
Grab FPs for Safari
CS lunch (maybe Flame Tree BBQ)
Grab FPs for EE
Ride Safari with FP
Ride Dinosaur standby (wait rarely exceeds 20-30 minutes)
Ride EE with FPs

When done, head to MK. "Main attractions" at MK varies widely by person, so it depends on what you want to do there.

[pfalcioni]

Keep in mind that traveling to each park takes about an hour from the time you're ready to go to the time you walk through the gates at the other park. You'll have more time in the parks if you could just focus on two parks - morning in MK, then hop to Epcot around 3pm for the rest of the day and night. I definitely wouldn't do Hollywood Studios, navigating that place with all the SWW craziness is tough even for seasoned veterans, and would just be a frustrating waste of time for your only day.

If you really want to do 3 parks, this is how I'd do it:

I'd start at Epcot, stay until noon and then hop to Animal Kingdom.

I would personally bring sandwiches and drinks and eat lunch on the bus on the way to AK. You're not supposed to eat on the bus, but as long as you don't spread out a massive feast on the benches or have something that's messy to eat, they won't bother you about it.

When you arrive at AK I would go and grab FP for Safari, then go ride Expedition Everest either using the Single Rider line or do standby if it's under a 15 minute wait. From there you can head do a show or head to Dinoland for rides. As soon as your FP opportunity is open again, grab FP for Dinosaur if the standby line is too long before walking back to do Safari using your FP.

I'd stay at AK until at least 4pm, and I'd try to at least catch one of the shows, they are all really good.

Hop to MK to finish off your night, it's open until 11pm, and most rides with the exception of Peter Pan and a few others will still have Fast Passes available, or will have short lines in the last hour the park is open.

[annie415]

if your going to AK I would no bother getting EE fastpass and ride it in the single line....perhaps this:

FP Safari
CS lunch
Dinosaur
EE single rider line
Safari with FP

out

[blyday]

I actually think that you'll be fine doing HS however......you can't save it for later in the day or you will pay dearly!!! Arrive at the gates no later then 7 AM (that is AT the gates......not leaving your room or parking your car, etc but actually standing in front of a gate ready to enter the park!!!) They have been opening them early (around 7:30ish) and this is a very good thing. Hit HS first, then ST, then ToT and RnR. That will get you on the 3 biggies. You can grab FP for TSM before riding it standby, if you'd like to do it twice. Oh and the reason I'd do ST2 first is that many of the SWW fans will want to head there. The lines will never get crazy long but will probably start of a little busier then ToT and RnR (although those 2 will have longer waits then ST later in the day.) And I'd then do ToT first and RnR because that early in the day.....the single rider line at RnR is very easy to do if the regular line is more then 20 minutes long.

You should easily get those 4 major attractions done plus maybe one or two minor attractions and be out of the park before 11 AM. Then hit AK and then end the day with MK staying as late as you can. If you do HS later in the day......those 4 major attractions will have waits of 30-90+ minutes each......so will easily take you 4 times as long to do and the only one you could even hope to find a FP for is ST.

[JulieC]

I would personally bring sandwiches and drinks and eat lunch on the bus on the way to AK. You're not supposed to eat on the bus, but as long as you don't spread out a massive feast on the benches or have something that's messy to eat, they won't bother you about it.

Busses are for resort guests. She didn't say, but I was assuming she was semi-local with a car, not staying onsite.

[annie415]

even if buses are for resort guest, no one will check this... I was there for 7 days and took more than 20 buses, I was never ask to show my key to the world.... the same is true on monorail....

[JulieC]

even if buses are for resort guest, no one will check this... I was there for 7 days and took more than 20 buses, I was never ask to show my key to the world.... the same is true on monorail....

I kind of thought, but personally if I had a car, I'd not want to hop away on a bus unless I was absolutely positive I would hop back.

[DoctorK]

Buses are NOT just for resort guests. Anyone can ride. You don't even need a park ticket.

[pfalcioni]

Doc is right - the only thing that is restricted to resort guests (or people with restaurant reservations) is parking at the resorts. Once you park at TTC, you are welcome to use all the Disney transportation.

You will never, ever, ever be asked for any kind of identification while using Disney Transportation.

[Stephanie]

If I had a car for this itinerary I would probably plan to drive between parks. (I would definitely bring a cooler and tailgate between stops, not only will you save a lot of money, but you'll save more in terms of time.) If driving between parks is not an option you will need to give careful thought to what you are doing with your car. Since HS closes before MK you may have a hard time getting back there at the end of the night. I'd park at MK in the morning and take the bus from the TTC to HS, but you'll have to get there even earlier to do that.

Also, since it is Memorial Day weekend, be sure to keep an eye out for any last minute schedule changes.

[pfalcioni]

There's no parking at MK, so you mean TTC?

I'd park at TTC and use internal transport. Monorail to Epcot first, then bus to AK, then bus to MK and boat or monorail back to TTC at the end of the night. I think this will be quicker than getting to the car (maybe having to take a tram), driving to the next parking lot, getting parked, taking another tram, etc...

I agree with bringing your own food definitely - we always do and it is a huge time and money saver.

[JulieC]

Would that work, since she wanted to go to HS, not Epcot? HS opens at 8, is the Epcot monorail going to be running that early?

[off2neverland]

DS opens 5/25 at 8 for all
It would help if we knew if Zoe was driving or not?
Onsite or not?

Anyway- to get those 3 parks done with the least amount of pain, I'd want to drive between parks

DHS- be there by 7- thru the gates maybe 7:30
Ride TSM, RnRC, ToT- and leave- I would not bother with FPs for anything there- just get the thrillers done and get the heck out!

To AK- arriving maybe even by 9:30? if you were quick/early at DHS and have a car-
AK- FPV Safari
Ride EE singles or standby, ride Dino
Ride EE singles again if time then use Safari FP- should have a RT by 11 if you got there at 9:30

Leave AK by 11:30ish and go to MK for the remainder of the day. Start with a FP for Space or Splash then work around as best you can- FPVing at every opportunity.

[pfalcioni]

You're right, if she wanted to go to HS with Brenda's (and others) plans, then I'd park at HS (no monorail there), then either drive to TTC and take the bus to AK, or drive to AK, then drive to TTC for MK.

I just think they'll get more done without HS for this single day trip. It seems to me like the flow of Epcot/AK/MK works better with the currently posted park hours, Memorial Day Crowds, and Star Wars Weekends going on.

The major problem is this will be their very first time at DW, so everything will be new, navigating to each park if you're driving, then getting into the park and then navigating through the park itself will all be new and a little overwhelming. I can remember our first day at DW and how completely blown away I was at the size of the place, even though I'd done tons of pre-trip research - it's just different once you're actually there. I really think I'd personally stick to just two most recommended parks (MK and AK) and make the day much less crazy.

[Zoe]

Thank you for all of this great information! After reading all of it, we have have decided to visit only two parks: AK first then MK. We are semi-local and will be driving in early that morning. We plan on arriving an hour early, and want to park at MK since it stays open the latest and take transportation other than our car to AK. Any recommendations based on this information? Should we take the bus or monorail? What exactly is TTC?

Thanks!

[pfalcioni]

I think that's a good plan - an since you're nearby, you'll have other opportunities to explore HS and Epcot some other time.

You'll want to drive to Animal Kingdom and park there, if you arrive an hour before park opens, you'll get a close spot and probably won't have to deal with trams so that's great.

After you're done at Animal Kingdom, you'll drive to Ticket and Transportation Center. This is the parking lot for Magic Kingdom. From there, you can take the boat or monorail to Magic Kingdom, there is no way to park your car and walk directly to MK. Walt Disney wanted people to feel like they were arriving on a fairytale island when they entered Magic Kingdom, that's why you don't just park in a big lot and then walk to the gates - I guess he wanted it to be more magical than Disneyland :)

Be sure to read the signs because there is more than one monorail station at TTC - make sure to get on the Express to Magic Kingdom.

[vicki_c]

I agree on driving to AK if you're going for rope drop, then move the car to the TTC for the Magic Kingdom.

[blyday]

Another vote for driving to AK and then the TTC. And not only for convenience but because there are no buses from the TTC to AK so you'd either have to walk over to the Poly or monorail to one of the other resorts to even get to a bus that will take you to AK. If you were doing Epcot, this plan would work okay since you can take the monorail but buses are the only way to get to AK.

[vicki_c]

I thought there were still DHS and AK buses that come to the TTC, but honestly, that's not something I ever needed, so I don't keep up on the changes in bus situations.

[blyday]

I thought there were still DHS and AK buses that come to the TTC, but honestly, that's not something I ever needed, so I don't keep up on the changes in bus situations.

Oh wait.....your right. Never mind!!!!

[MichaelColey]

SWW or not, if I were hopping between parks and HS was one of the parks, it would HAVE to be first. Doing HS first (and getting there well before rope drop), you should be able to do all of the major rides at least once. I would:

FPV TSMM, then ride it standby if you want a second.
Ride RnR (twice if you want)
Ride ToT
Use the TSMM FP
Ride Star Tours

Then head for the second park.

I would aim to be in AK during the afternoon.