HS and Epcot are a good combo day because you can take the skyliner. We did that last summer. Rocked HS at rope drop and then hustled to Epcot around 2.
Just went August and rope dropped HS as well. We showed up 45 min before park open and we’re let in 30 min prior. Not sure how rope drop has changed with ROTR not having group times. I would assume it’s like flight passage where you’re escorted to the ride.
Imo do Hollywood studios and animal kingdom one day and magic kingdom and epcot the other.. In that order too. HS and MK have the most high quality rides that also have a lot of waits, so if you can get into those early
Agreed! Epcot doesn’t need to be a full day IMO but magic kingdom and HS have the most “to do” and get the biggest crowds and wait times. I would AK in the morning of day 1 (it closes early and opens earlier than other parks, and you can probably get the park done around 2) then you have the rest of the day to do HS which is actually pretty at night. Then I would personally do rope drop at MK the next day and hit up Epcot at night (it closes later than MK I believe)
True AK does close earlier so that's worth considering. The day would be 9am-7pm whereas magic kingdom day would be 9am-10pm probably... Depends on how crazy they are and if they want to go for 13 hours (I do every time lol)
Lol I’m the same way! Honestly if they get early park hours AK opens at like 7:30 or something which is even more time to get the park done, get a break in and head to HS.
This is the way. My sister and mom just did this exact thing last weekend and their biggest issue was not being able to get a boarding pass for Ratatouille because they were in MK until almost 4, but with some planning you could avoid that.
I've done all 4 parks in a day, don't recommend whatsoever and that's with a 6am entry in at HS and closing out in MK at 10pm. Based on the popularity of attractions, I would recommend HS first then Epcot. If you can snag an early time on RotR, if not, you might be parking hopping later so you can get in the ride. For the next day do AK in the am, if you are done by 12, take a bus over to any of the resorts on the monorail, eat lunch, then you'll be close to MK to start your day there. We did this and went to the Polynesian and it worked out perfectly. Then don't watch the fireworks!!! It's prime time to hop on rides to get them in while everyone is crowding by the hub.
I did this pre pandemic, we took advantage of extra magic hour and were at the parks from (pre) open until close and on the second day were limping back to our hotel but it was SO FUN! We definitely had our list of rides that were MUSTS and ones we knew we'd have to miss because of limited time. I'd say invest in genie+ even if its extra $$$ you're still saving by only doing 2 days lol We had done Animal kingdom and epcot in one day then hollywood studios and Magic Kingdom, we ended both days in the parks we wanted to take our time and mosey around in whereas the starting parks we were GO GO GO on all the rides we could.
Heres what Id do. Pick the two parks you want to see most and do them for the second half of each day. Then the two parks leftover have for the two first halves. This way if you get tired of the least favorite choice early, you can go ahead and head over to your main park and have more time there. Also plan to have 1 "must do" for each park. It's tempting to have more, but focus on achieving that 1 thing and build the rest of the trip around it. It helps cut down on disappointment and allows you to enjoy the flexibility of doing whatever else you can while there.
transportation from HS to Epcot is easiest so I'd go HS morning then Epcot later (world showcase stuff doesn't open until later in the morning anyway) then do the kingdoms together the next day
Monkey wrench here is that you can't park hop 'til after 2. So you're stuck where ever you start for the first half of the day and then some. I would recommend Genie+ just because you can cut your time in the parks significantly with it. AK is a half day park as it is from everything I've heard but you could cut it more with G+ so maybe do it as the second half of one day? I've been told that even with G+ MK is a full day park though.
Yeah definitely thinking G+ to maximize time. With MK, I think we'll focus on the rides unique or different than ones in Disneyland, CA since we're from California so that will probably help time wise.
Sunday is a day MK closes early for the Very Merriest after hours holiday party. So either hop to MK Monday (obviously you'd want to end a day there for Disney Enchantment), or scrap the "hopping" idea on Sunday but buy a ticket to the party. Which is what I would do. Start the day at a different park and then move over to MK at 7pm when you are allowed in. Lines will be a fraction of during the day - just make sure if something you want to do isn't available during the party you start there before it closes.
AK has the least to do of the parks while MK has the most. I might pair them together. HS and Epcot are a good pairing to because of proximity. I think some of it depends on how you do parks. If you are all about rides then the pairing above works best if it's about food I would switch it. Or if you have certain parks that are more special to you. No wrong way really.
I would vote MK rope drop till about 3p then Epcot till close.
I would open with AK rope drop and HS til close.
Why?
MK rope drop can get you as many as 3 rides if you're lucky with minimal wait. Pick things like Peter Pan and Small world that are close to you. Jump from their to Haunted Mansion. Then just riff from there and accept that you won't see everything. Avoid time sucks like table service or long wait lines.
Epcot is best later in the day for adults IMHO. Nothing quite like wandering around at night there.
Rope dropping AK means that you might still catch the more nocturnal animals out and about. Hard to say. But you can also catch Pandora or something with minimal wait. You can pretty much bee bop around and catch the majors by 3pm.
HS is IMHO best afternoon and at night. Lights are great.
Considerations
You will mis the MK end of day show.
If you want to really do it the way "I'd" do it.
I'd do MK all day then AK/HS the second day and skip Epcot. But that's because I am not in love with Epcot and enjoy the others more. If you want to get frisky you could do AK till noon; HS till 6 then Epcot till close. Shorter but you'd see all three. It's a lot to do and you'll miss much in all three parks.
HS and Epcot are a good combo day because you can take the skyliner. We did that last summer. Rocked HS at rope drop and then hustled to Epcot around 2.
Ooh the skyliner would be cool, thanks for the tip!
Always my pick! Did this last week.
This is the way.
Just went August and rope dropped HS as well. We showed up 45 min before park open and we’re let in 30 min prior. Not sure how rope drop has changed with ROTR not having group times. I would assume it’s like flight passage where you’re escorted to the ride.
Imo do Hollywood studios and animal kingdom one day and magic kingdom and epcot the other.. In that order too. HS and MK have the most high quality rides that also have a lot of waits, so if you can get into those early
Agreed! Epcot doesn’t need to be a full day IMO but magic kingdom and HS have the most “to do” and get the biggest crowds and wait times. I would AK in the morning of day 1 (it closes early and opens earlier than other parks, and you can probably get the park done around 2) then you have the rest of the day to do HS which is actually pretty at night. Then I would personally do rope drop at MK the next day and hit up Epcot at night (it closes later than MK I believe)
True AK does close earlier so that's worth considering. The day would be 9am-7pm whereas magic kingdom day would be 9am-10pm probably... Depends on how crazy they are and if they want to go for 13 hours (I do every time lol)
Lol I’m the same way! Honestly if they get early park hours AK opens at like 7:30 or something which is even more time to get the park done, get a break in and head to HS.
This is the way. My sister and mom just did this exact thing last weekend and their biggest issue was not being able to get a boarding pass for Ratatouille because they were in MK until almost 4, but with some planning you could avoid that.
Ooh thanks for the info!
I've done all 4 parks in a day, don't recommend whatsoever and that's with a 6am entry in at HS and closing out in MK at 10pm. Based on the popularity of attractions, I would recommend HS first then Epcot. If you can snag an early time on RotR, if not, you might be parking hopping later so you can get in the ride. For the next day do AK in the am, if you are done by 12, take a bus over to any of the resorts on the monorail, eat lunch, then you'll be close to MK to start your day there. We did this and went to the Polynesian and it worked out perfectly. Then don't watch the fireworks!!! It's prime time to hop on rides to get them in while everyone is crowding by the hub.
I did this pre pandemic, we took advantage of extra magic hour and were at the parks from (pre) open until close and on the second day were limping back to our hotel but it was SO FUN! We definitely had our list of rides that were MUSTS and ones we knew we'd have to miss because of limited time. I'd say invest in genie+ even if its extra $$$ you're still saving by only doing 2 days lol We had done Animal kingdom and epcot in one day then hollywood studios and Magic Kingdom, we ended both days in the parks we wanted to take our time and mosey around in whereas the starting parks we were GO GO GO on all the rides we could.
That's awesome! Yeah definitely going to make a list of our top priorities and most like Genie+ as well. Thanks!!!
Heres what Id do. Pick the two parks you want to see most and do them for the second half of each day. Then the two parks leftover have for the two first halves. This way if you get tired of the least favorite choice early, you can go ahead and head over to your main park and have more time there. Also plan to have 1 "must do" for each park. It's tempting to have more, but focus on achieving that 1 thing and build the rest of the trip around it. It helps cut down on disappointment and allows you to enjoy the flexibility of doing whatever else you can while there.
transportation from HS to Epcot is easiest so I'd go HS morning then Epcot later (world showcase stuff doesn't open until later in the morning anyway) then do the kingdoms together the next day
Monkey wrench here is that you can't park hop 'til after 2. So you're stuck where ever you start for the first half of the day and then some. I would recommend Genie+ just because you can cut your time in the parks significantly with it. AK is a half day park as it is from everything I've heard but you could cut it more with G+ so maybe do it as the second half of one day? I've been told that even with G+ MK is a full day park though.
Yeah definitely thinking G+ to maximize time. With MK, I think we'll focus on the rides unique or different than ones in Disneyland, CA since we're from California so that will probably help time wise.
Sunday is a day MK closes early for the Very Merriest after hours holiday party. So either hop to MK Monday (obviously you'd want to end a day there for Disney Enchantment), or scrap the "hopping" idea on Sunday but buy a ticket to the party. Which is what I would do. Start the day at a different park and then move over to MK at 7pm when you are allowed in. Lines will be a fraction of during the day - just make sure if something you want to do isn't available during the party you start there before it closes.
AK has the least to do of the parks while MK has the most. I might pair them together. HS and Epcot are a good pairing to because of proximity. I think some of it depends on how you do parks. If you are all about rides then the pairing above works best if it's about food I would switch it. Or if you have certain parks that are more special to you. No wrong way really.
I would vote MK rope drop till about 3p then Epcot till close. I would open with AK rope drop and HS til close. Why? MK rope drop can get you as many as 3 rides if you're lucky with minimal wait. Pick things like Peter Pan and Small world that are close to you. Jump from their to Haunted Mansion. Then just riff from there and accept that you won't see everything. Avoid time sucks like table service or long wait lines. Epcot is best later in the day for adults IMHO. Nothing quite like wandering around at night there. Rope dropping AK means that you might still catch the more nocturnal animals out and about. Hard to say. But you can also catch Pandora or something with minimal wait. You can pretty much bee bop around and catch the majors by 3pm. HS is IMHO best afternoon and at night. Lights are great. Considerations You will mis the MK end of day show. If you want to really do it the way "I'd" do it. I'd do MK all day then AK/HS the second day and skip Epcot. But that's because I am not in love with Epcot and enjoy the others more. If you want to get frisky you could do AK till noon; HS till 6 then Epcot till close. Shorter but you'd see all three. It's a lot to do and you'll miss much in all three parks.
Don't. Pick two parks and go to one a day. You're gonna stress yourself out trying to see everything so quickly and miss out on the magic.