Need help finishing my plan

[rubysapphire]

We will be going to WDW in October. It will be me, DH, DD(5) and DS(3). This is how I've currently divided the parks:
Arrival day-just check in, explore resort (BLT), dinner at 1900 Park Fare
Mon-EPCOT
Tues-MK in the morning, back to hotel to rest from about noon to 4, and then back for the Halloween party
Wednesday - rest day, although we may go over to MK for a short while because it's so inexpensive to add another park day and it's so close to our hotel
Thursday-MK
Friday - this is the day I can't decide what to do with. I've never been to AK or HS, so I kind of want to at least see both. Right now I have a PPO breakfast at Tusker House, and have booked the Fantasmic! package at Hollywood and Vine for dinner that night. I can't decide if I should keep this plan so we can at least see both parks, or if I should scrap one of them. For some reason AK doesn't excite me that much when I read about it, but like I said I've never been there...
Saturday- we leave

I'd love any input!

[ribollita]

Do you have hoppers? If not I'd do HS the morning of the Halloween party.

[rubysapphire]

May 10, 2016 8:48:38 GMT -5 ribollita said:

Do you have hoppers? If not I'd do HS the morning of the Halloween party.

We do have five day hoppers, and I'm not as concerned with budget as I am with a plan that's feasible and allows us to do as much as possible while still accounting for our kids ages, if that makes sense.

[curbsideprophet]

I would make Tues morning a relaxing/rest morning since you have party tickets. In the past you could get in at 4 with a party ticket. I have not heard otherwise for this year yet. Then you can use your other day on Wed.

[pinkpeony6210]

This is how I would divide it, but then you'd only need 4 days of park tickets + the party ticket. 

Monday - Epcot 
Tuesday - rest day/halloween party
Wednesday - MK
Thursday - MK
Friday - AK/HS


What time do you get there on arrival day?

[lala]

May 10, 2016 11:14:08 GMT -5 pinkpeony6210 said:

This is how I would divide it, but then you'd only need 4 days of park tickets + the party ticket. 

Monday - Epcot 
Tuesday - rest day/halloween party
Wednesday - MK
Thursday - MK
Friday - AK/HS


What time do you get there on arrival day?

I would do this but flip AK & HS so that we could see the new ROL & night stuff at AK. But I'm not a fan of fantasmic. 

Another idea, ditch the park hopper and add another day or 2 to the ticket and do a few hours of a park on check in and/or check out day, too. 

[rubysapphire]

I really want Wednesday to be the rest day because my kids are so little and we're planning on trying to stay at the Halloween party at least through the fireworks. I figure if we can get them to nap Tuesday afternoon they should be ok with staying up later, so long as they can recuperate the next day. Plus my parents will be there with us just for Monday and Tuesday morning and I'd like for them to get to see the kids in MK for at least a little while.

[lala]

May 10, 2016 12:15:20 GMT -5 rubysapphire said:

I really want Wednesday to be the rest day because my kids are so little and we're planning on trying to stay at the Halloween party at least through the fireworks. I figure if we can get them to nap Tuesday afternoon they should be ok with staying up later, so long as they can recuperate the next day. Plus my parents will be there with us just for Monday and Tuesday morning and I'd like for them to get to see the kids in MK for at least a little while.

Did you already buy your tickets for the halloween party?

[rubysapphire]

May 10, 2016 11:59:40 GMT -5 lala said:

May 10, 2016 11:14:08 GMT -5 pinkpeony6210 said:

This is how I would divide it, but then you'd only need 4 days of park tickets + the party ticket. 

Monday - Epcot 
Tuesday - rest day/halloween party
Wednesday - MK
Thursday - MK
Friday - AK/HS


What time do you get there on arrival day?

I would do this but flip AK & HS so that we could see the new ROL & night stuff at AK. But I'm not a fan of fantasmic. 

Another idea, ditch the park hopper and add another day or 2 to the ticket and do a few hours of a park on check in and/or check out day, too. 

Is Fantasmic not that great, especially for young kids? I was thinking of scrapping it anyway because Hollywood and Vine gets such bad reviews and we already have several other character meals scheduled. If we went to HS in the morning and then AK at night, what would you do about FPs? Save them for the evening?

[rubysapphire]

May 10, 2016 12:17:49 GMT -5 lala said:

May 10, 2016 12:15:20 GMT -5 rubysapphire said:

I really want Wednesday to be the rest day because my kids are so little and we're planning on trying to stay at the Halloween party at least through the fireworks. I figure if we can get them to nap Tuesday afternoon they should be ok with staying up later, so long as they can recuperate the next day. Plus my parents will be there with us just for Monday and Tuesday morning and I'd like for them to get to see the kids in MK for at least a little while.

Did you already buy your tickets for the halloween party?

Yes, we're also doing the dessert party.

[lala]

Adding, I'm asking b/c this is what we did and it worked really well:

We saved MNSSHP for our last night. We didn't go to a park that day. Had a big breakfast at the hotel, relaxed & the pool, everyone napped, etc. Got to the MK at 4pm and every was awake through the fireworks, some even later than that. Our flight was later in the day, so we could sleep in and relax in the AM before check out. We swam at the pool after lunch before we left.

[curbsideprophet]

When do you plan to use the fifth day? It seems like you only have 4 park days planned.

[lala]

rubysapphire - I am sure plenty of kids like Fantasmic, I just don't really like it so we rarely go. The new stuff at AK is more appealing to me. I've never eating at H&V, but it also doesn't appeal. It's all preference.

RE: the fast passes - you could use them at HS in the AM for toy story mania or yes save them all for AK. Not sure what is best there.

RE: MNSSHP - so are you doing the dessert party a different night or you mean at the party?

[pinkpeony6210]

May 10, 2016 12:36:38 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

When do you plan to use the fifth day? It seems like you only have 4 park days planned.

I think she had her 5th day on the morning of the halloween party. 

[rubysapphire]

The dessert party is a separate ticket, but part of the Halloween Party.

You're correct, we do kind of have an extra day of park tickets. I figured we are so close to MK that either on our arrival day or our rest day we could walk over just to use fast passes. It's also kind of my back up in case I have trouble getting FPs for the frozen stuff for Epcot, we can head over there on our rest day just for lunch and a couple of fast passes.

[rubysapphire]

I feel like I could have shortened this post lol. Basically, for a first timer would you spend an entire day at AK and skip HS or split the day between the two?

[ribollita]

May 10, 2016 13:28:09 GMT -5 rubysapphire said:

I feel like I could have shortened this post lol. Basically, for a first timer would you spend an entire day at AK and skip HS or split the day between the two?

Are either of your kids really into Disney JR or Star Wars? If not, skip HS.

I love AK. It's really beautiful and you can ride almost everything together.

[curbsideprophet]

HS was a half day for us. We spent an entire day at AK

[Mrs.Syntax]

My kids were 2.5 and 5 years old when we went last year, and the only thing they really liked at HS was the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, which is now closed. We never made it to AK so I can't speak for that, but I think HS is one you can skip (unless like someone else mentioned, you're huge Star Wars fans or something).