Will be in DWR Feb.15-23/09 (I know that is peak time) Party of 4 (two kids 11/4). I have plotted out our dinner reservations each night (to be honest...not much fun, lots to think about.)

I have made our reservations (5 pm each day) at the park that has extra hours. Our kids are young so the 'plan' is not being out to late and getting an early start - extra hrs.

Wondering if planning stay in the parks each day that are the extra hours is a bad idea?
Is hoping to a different park for diner each day a 'better' idea or just a lot of 'hopping'.
thanks.

Are you going to the park that has Extra Magic Hours and eating at 5 there, without care as to if it's morning Extra Magic Hours or evening Extra Magic Hours? Morning or Evening makes a difference in the way crowds behave.

With 5 pm meals, I'm assuming you're not planning on taking an afternoon break? I'd worry about a 4 year old getting up for rope drop (am EMH or not) and going strong until 5 without getting too cranky and seeing a potential meltdown, even if they aren't regularly napping any more.

At a minimum, if you're not going to take advantage of them, I'd avoid the pm EMH park. (You can see if it's an AM or PM EMH day by clicking on the link in the calendar that says "Extra Magic Hours" and it will bring you to a page that identifies the 'type' as well as lists the attractions that are scheduled to be open.)

If you are dining at 5pm and not really trying to take advantage of the evening extra hours, that will be fine.

For our family of 4 (2 adults/2 kids 4years apart) we never went back to the room for rests because our kids would sleep anywhere. (Many pictures of DD#2 asleep at the dinner table or on a ride when she was under 4 years :))

Took me a few trips to convince my family but the morning extra magic hours are the way to go. You get so much more done in that 1 hour than you will in the whole three hours of evening extra magic hours.

Another option is after your 5pm dinner if the 11 y/o and one adult are still raring to go, they can stay for the evening extra magic hours and the other adult and 4y/o head back for some sleep.

I don't think you necessarily need to hop to a differnent park just for dinner if the first park is having extra magic hours. you already have your ADR's and can just relax in the resturant and judge the crowd when you are done dinner and decide then if you want to stay in the park or call it a night at that time.

Huge thanks for your replies.
I total miss read the calenders when I first reviewed them. I assumed that an extra hr park was both for the am and pm on the same day (rookie mistake)

I also realized I mis-typed my youngest age, she is 7 not 4.
Back to my original question...Our plan was trying not to park hop much, capitalize on early admissions...(keeping in mind that I'm vacationing with three "women" each morning.) and coordinating that with our dinner reservations.
Our dinner itinerary was booked with the above wrong assume....therefore would you suggest any adjustment to our plan below?
Big thanks.

Feb 16 (Extra a.m-AK p.m-MGM) = reservation at MGM Sci-Fi
Feb 17 (Extra a.m-Epcot p.m-none) = reservation at Epcot Tokyo Rest.
Feb 18 (Extra a.m-none p.m-AK) = reservation at AK Tusker House
Feb 19 (Extra a.m-MK p.m-none) = reservation at Hoop Dee Do
Feb 20 (Extra a.m-none p.m-Epcot) = reservation at Epcot Cyrstal Reef
Feb 21 (Extra a.m-MGM p.m-none = reservation at MGM 50's Prime T.
Feb 22 (Extra a.m-none p.m-MK) = reservation at MK Liberty Tree

With a 7 year old (vs 4 year old) I think your plan should be ok. Play it by ear what to do after dinner. You've got a mix of am and pm EMHs you're dealing with, so you should be fine. Personally, I think the morning EMH at the MK are 'the best value' so just try to hit that and even if you stay 'late' at AK, you shouldn't be out too late to get to it.

Wondering if planning stay in the parks each day that are the extra hours is a bad idea?

I don't think your dinner plans will be much affected by the morning EMH. But I do think the middle of the day can be pretty crowded at the park that has the morning EMH. Conversely, the park that has evening EMH will see larger crowds building up over the late afternoon and into the evening. Long standing park storming logic states that if you do take advantage of morning EMH (which as my friend Drince says really ROCKS in the MK!), leave that park around noon-ish when it starts getting crowded and go back to your hotel for a swim or a nap. And then you can either return to that park for the rest of the day or park hop (if you have the park hopping option on your tickets) to another park that will be open later. I tend to spend several evenings each trip in Epcot, so this plan works extremely well for me.

Would it be advised to make a dinner reservation at a park that is not an extra hr (morning or night). Then spend the morning when possible at the early entrance park and then hop to a dinner reservation at a park that is not extra evenings. Our kids are young so don't want to be out to late.

... or does park hopping cut into alot of time? (We are staying at Pop C.)

One last question...have you ever visited thr parks during the week of President's day/week. I understand it is really busy, just wonder your thoughts on how busy?

thanks.

That sounds like a great plan, Hedzup. If you plan on hopping in the late morning/early afternoon when the early entry park gets crowded, you'll do fine. Depending on the park, you can usually get from front gate to front gate in about 1/2 an hour.