New to WDW (But not Disneyland), Some advice please :)

Hi All

To be honest, not where to start here so I’ll start with a bit about us and then fire some Q’s, hopefully this thread will become a bit of a planning/reference tool over the next few months.

My wife and I are in our early 30’s and we have three kids, Madison 13, Sebastian 7 and Chloe 6 (Will be almost 1 when we travel). We are from Perth, Western Australia, which is the most isolated city in the world We are experienced travellers, have done Australia and Asia region extensively, we spent nearly 4 weeks in California (With a 1 week stay in NYC) in 2013, of that, we spent 5 nights at Paradise Pier Hotel and spent the whole 5 days between DL and CA, our two eldest children had a ball, Sebastian’s favorite ride was TOT (Aged 5 at the time). Last year we went to Hong Kong Disneyland with Sebastian only, spent 3 days there. So we are, as far as Australian’s go, reasonably experienced Disney folk. Given the kids are used to travelling I am confident they'll keep up with what is a fairly packed itinerary.

What I’m finding, is that planning a WDW trip is very different to planning a DL trip. I have FP+ to work out, ADR’s, DVC, on top of that, trying to work out which parks to visit and when, I’ve been doing a lot of research on Touring Plans which has helped.

So enough about us, I’ve got some Q’s

• We are looking to book a Studio Room using rental DVC Points at the Grand Floridian, for the money, is this the best compromise between being close to the park, space in the room and quality of accommodation?

• Our Florida Itinerary is below, I really want to fit in either a Sea World or Lego Land day in there, but it seems to compromise our WDW stay too much, thoughts?

• Is our split of days to each park about right? Animal Kingdom doesn't interest us a lot so we’ve kept that to only one day, What are your thoughts? Anything we should do more or less of?

• We are planning two Adult Only nights (To correspond with the Extended Magic Hours) where we’ll have the kids babysat, Wednesday the 9th of December in Magic Kingdom and Thursday the 10th at Epcot. Which restaurants would you recommend as the two “Must do” premium dining restaurants (For dinner) for these parks?

• I would like to make another one or two ADR”s within our itinerary to have a sit down lunch with the kids rather than counter service type food. What are your recommendations for this?

Planned Itinerary, in Brackets are expected crowds:

Monday 7th December: Early Entry MK (6/10), 2pm to Evening Epcot (2/10)

Tuesday 8th: Rope Drop MK (2/10), Full Day

Wednesday 9th: Rope Drop HS (4/10). Drop kids at hotel approx 3pm, Adults Only MK 4pm-midnight

Thursday 10th: Rope Drop MK (1/10), Drop kids at hotel approx 3pm, Adults Only Epcot 4pm-11.30pm

Friday 11th: Early Entry Animal Kingdom (2/10), Full Day

Saturday 12th: Early Entry HS (4/10), Full Day, Fantasmic! That evening

Sunday 13th: Check out of Grand Floridian, Check Into Hard Rock Universal, spend day at factory outlets shopping and drive to Kennedy Space Centre

Monday 14th: Universal Studios full day (3/10)

Tuesday 15th: Re Visit Universal for any missed or to re do Rides, Then check into Grand Floridian again, MK for the evening.

Wednesday 16th: Rope Drop Epcot, (3/10), Illuminations that night

Thursday 17th: Rope Drop Magic Kingdom (3/10), full day

Friday 18th: Last day in Orlando, possibly half a day at kids choice

Thanks heaps for your help, no doubt i’ll have plenty more once these ones are answered

First let me say WELCOME to the board! (Unfortunately I have no fancy glitter emoticons to insert here!). You have definitely been blessed to travel so extensively! My advice is starting with your children's lunches/ADRs. MK has Crystal Palace, which IMHO is a great character meal for younger children and those of us who are young at heart! ,(or just love A.A. Milne). The venue is beautiful, they serve a really nice buffet, and there is plenty of character interaction with Pooh and his gang. Another thought (especially since you're staying right on the monorail) is an early Chef Mickey's bkfst at Contemporary. The fab 5 are in attendance and the energy and fun is amazing. Afterwards you just walk 5 minutes to MK. GF is a beautiful resort and will be decorated for Christmas during your visit. GF also has a dinner character buffet with the evil step sisters that is loads of fun! All this advice is said with your children in mind!
As for signature restaurants for you and your wife, EPCOT has amazing choices. Truly depends in the cuisine you're looking for. DH and I have had incredible meals at Le Cellier and Les Chef de France. Completely different cuisines, but both serve remarkably good food. I've said enough, I'm going to pass the baton to people far more expert than I on your touring plans! Enjoy and sparkle on!

Thank you for the dining suggestions, jumping on to check them out now

I like your plans....maybe be prepared to not need the entire day at AK (especially with a crowd level of 2). You may could have a restful afternoon, hop to another resort that evening, or even visit Downtown Disney. Connecticut made good ADR suggestions that I agree with. You could also consider a Be our Guest lunch on one of your MK days. The kids would love it and we think the food is delicious! Ohana is another suggestion for a family ADR either breakfast or dinner. As for your Epcot night, I agree with Chefs De France or Le Cellier. If you don't mind a more boisterous experience, Biergarten is awesome. We also like San Angel and Tutto Italia. So many choices. For your MK evening, what about one of the resort restaurants close by like California Grill, Whispering Canyon, Artist Point, Citricos, or Narcoossee's?

threeboyzdad said:

I like your plans....maybe be prepared to not need the entire day at AK (especially with a crowd level of 2). You may could have a restful afternoon, hop to another resort that evening, or even visit Downtown Disney. Connecticut made good ADR suggestions that I agree with. You could also consider a Be our Guest lunch on one of your MK days. The kids would love it and we think the food is delicious! Ohana is another suggestion for a family ADR either breakfast or dinner. As for your Epcot night, I agree with Chefs De France or Le Cellier. If you don't mind a more boisterous experience, Biergarten is awesome. We also like San Angel and Tutto Italia. So many choices. For your MK evening, what about one of the resort restaurants close by like California Grill, Whispering Canyon, Artist Point, Citricos, or Narcoossee's?

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What he said about AK! Lol. BTW when I posted about the evil step sisters at GF, I forgot to mention that they are at 1900 Park Faire... My bad ;-)

Welcome to Dis!! Looks like you've done a fair amount of research. Love Touring Plans. Their plans & crowd calendar are great. Their book WDW Unofficial Guide is very good also.
Other good web sites are Allears.net, mousesavers.com and Easy Disney.

We stayed at GF past 2 Augusts, not DVC. Love it. I think DVC studio has 1 queen, 1 sofa pull out & a Murphy bed. The regular GF rooms have 2 queen beds & daybed. Since I haven't seen the DVC studio, I'm not sure which is larger or gives more room.

I have to disagree with poster, I could spend all day at AK! Between the attractions & shows it's easy to do. The theming at this park and attention to detail is amazing.

Universal is amazing. Last August we did Universal first for 3 days, stayed at Portofino. Then we transferred to GF. Personally I think it's easier to tack it on either at beginning or end of trip. Less back & forth, packing/unpacking. I'd ditch Space Centre & outlet in favor of another Universal Day.
I think you will need min. 2 full days at Universal. With both Harry Potter areas plus everything else. Def get the park to park pass. Otherwise you won't be able to ride the train.
Great source of Universal information is The Orlando Informer web site. They also have a touring plan!

Fav TS at GF are Citricos & Narcoosses. The Flying Fish at Boardwalk is good. And Yachtsmen Steakhouse at Yacht Club. I hear the new Italian restaurant Tratorio? Is very good. At Boardwalk too.

Unfortunately, with your dates, unless you have already booked your DVC rental, you are not going to get a studio that sleeps five, let alone a studio at the GFV. GFV is a very small DVC resort and the studios get booked up as soon as members who own there can book them (11 months out). Plus you just happened to pick one of the most popular times for DVC members (early Dec). You might need to rethink your plan and book a moderate that sleeps five if you are looking to save money or pay cash through Disney for a GFV studio (if there are any available for your dates - what you see on the Disney Reservation Center website for cash is not what is available for DVC points). You really needed a DVC member who owns at GFV at least twelve months out in your pocket so they could be on the phone or online exactly at 11 month when booking began out to book that stay.

blaqjaq said:

Hi All

To be honest, not where to start here so I’ll start with a bit about us and then fire some Q’s, hopefully this thread will become a bit of a planning/reference tool over the next few months.

My wife and I are in our early 30’s and we have three kids, Madison 13, Sebastian 7 and Chloe 6 (Will be almost 1 when we travel). We are from Perth, Western Australia, which is the most isolated city in the world We are experienced travellers, have done Australia and Asia region extensively, we spent nearly 4 weeks in California (With a 1 week stay in NYC) in 2013, of that, we spent 5 nights at Paradise Pier Hotel and spent the whole 5 days between DL and CA, our two eldest children had a ball, Sebastian’s favorite ride was TOT (Aged 5 at the time). Last year we went to Hong Kong Disneyland with Sebastian only, spent 3 days there. So we are, as far as Australian’s go, reasonably experienced Disney folk. Given the kids are used to travelling I am confident they'll keep up with what is a fairly packed itinerary.

What I’m finding, is that planning a WDW trip is very different to planning a DL trip. I have FP+ to work out, ADR’s, DVC, on top of that, trying to work out which parks to visit and when, I’ve been doing a lot of research on Touring Plans which has helped.

So enough about us, I’ve got some Q’s

• We are looking to book a Studio Room using rental DVC Points at the Grand Floridian, for the money, is this the best compromise between being close to the park, space in the room and quality of accommodation?

• Our Florida Itinerary is below, I really want to fit in either a Sea World or Lego Land day in there, but it seems to compromise our WDW stay too much, thoughts?

• Is our split of days to each park about right? Animal Kingdom doesn't interest us a lot so we’ve kept that to only one day, What are your thoughts? Anything we should do more or less of?

• We are planning two Adult Only nights (To correspond with the Extended Magic Hours) where we’ll have the kids babysat, Wednesday the 9th of December in Magic Kingdom and Thursday the 10th at Epcot. Which restaurants would you recommend as the two “Must do” premium dining restaurants (For dinner) for these parks?

• I would like to make another one or two ADR”s within our itinerary to have a sit down lunch with the kids rather than counter service type food. What are your recommendations for this?

Planned Itinerary, in Brackets are expected crowds:

Monday 7th December: Early Entry MK (6/10), 2pm to Evening Epcot (2/10)

Tuesday 8th: Rope Drop MK (2/10), Full Day

Wednesday 9th: Rope Drop HS (4/10). Drop kids at hotel approx 3pm, Adults Only MK 4pm-midnight

Thursday 10th: Rope Drop MK (1/10), Drop kids at hotel approx 3pm, Adults Only Epcot 4pm-11.30pm

Friday 11th: Early Entry Animal Kingdom (2/10), Full Day

Saturday 12th: Early Entry HS (4/10), Full Day, Fantasmic! That evening

Sunday 13th: Check out of Grand Floridian, Check Into Hard Rock Universal, spend day at factory outlets shopping and drive to Kennedy Space Centre

Monday 14th: Universal Studios full day (3/10)

Tuesday 15th: Re Visit Universal for any missed or to re do Rides, Then check into Grand Floridian again, MK for the evening.

Wednesday 16th: Rope Drop Epcot, (3/10), Illuminations that night

Thursday 17th: Rope Drop Magic Kingdom (3/10), full day

Friday 18th: Last day in Orlando, possibly half a day at kids choice

Thanks heaps for your help, no doubt i’ll have plenty more once these ones are answered

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The GF is an awesome resort! Getting a studio on points rental at VGF is, unfortunately, not likely for your dates (unless you already have them booked?). You may have to be flexible if you want to use DVC rental for your stay and look at other properties or different dates. My DS and DIL own at the VGF and had some difficulty getting their dates when they booked just after the 11 month window for a similar time period. (after by only one or two days, I believe)

If you aren't able to get DVC in the MK area, You could opt for staying in a resort room such as the WL or CR garden wing. With the youngest not yet one year old you still qualify for rooms with max occupancy of 4. A WL bunk bed room might be a good choice. You get a queen bed for Mom and Dad and a set of bunk beds for the two oldest. You can get a pack n play or crib for the one year old. This resort is stunningly beautiful. The lobby is amazing and the dining is very good. You have a boat or 5 min bus ride to the MK. The only issue with the WL at the moment is the possibility of nearby construction during your stay. That could pose a problem if you plan on returning to your resort for naps for the little one mid day.

The CR is very convenient to the MK especially for people that have a stroller. Currently, the monorail has occasional issues. It is nice to be able to walk to the MK. The CR is the only resort that has walking access to the MK. BLT is the DVC property at the CR, if you are interested in trying to rent points here. The tower has amazing views of either the MK area or Bay Lake. If it is in the budget, e loved staying in the tower. OTOH, the Garden wing rooms are just as large and comfortable but a significantly lower price tag. It is often the lowest priced room on the monorail line. The biggest issue that most people have with the CR is that they are not enticed by the theming. I get it. I didn't want to stay here at first either. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed staying here when I finally did so. The views over the MK area from the tower were simply breathtaking! LOVED watching wishes in our PJ's with the grand daughters on our balcony!

While it is very nice with children to stay in the MK area, it isn't essential to an awesome stay. If you aren't able to get a DVC at this point and aren't into booking a resort room, then staying elsewhere on property isn't a big problem at all.

Personally, I prefer to stay in the resorts to DVC. I like the housekeeping, the ability to change resorts or dates or even cancel if something comes up and I like being able to pay in instalments or upon arrival (except for a one night deposit, which is refundable until 5 days prior to arrival). I like having real beds for everyone. DVC studios have one queen bed, a pull out sofa and a pull down twin bed. Finally, I find that storage space is limited at a DVC studio. I like having a dresser with drawers to put my stuff away. Finally, I prefer having the space in my bedroom, rather than in multiple bathrooms. we find one bathroom has always been adequate for our family when travelling. YMMV however.


If you are going to Universal, etc as well as WDW I would do as a PP suggested and stay there either before or after the time in WDW. If you really want to split your time in WDW, I would definitely stay in a different resort rather than returning to the same one for a second stay. It is so much fun staying at the different resorts in WDW and different areas have their own advantages so it is very nice to try at least 2 resorts when visiting. We go multiple times per year, but we still stay in at least 2 resorts per visit. In Nov, for example, we are staying in POR, GF and the Dolphin for our 9 night visit. In Jan, 2016 we are tentatively planning to stay at the Poly and the Swan.

I like the number of days you have allocated for the most part. I would do Universal on Sunday the 13th and eliminate the outlet malls/ space centre. It just seems too busy and I think that you will need two full days at Universal to do it justice. One day at the Animal Kingdom should be fine. Do your research beforehand and know which rides are your must dos and which you are OK with leaving if you run out of time.

Dining options for adults nights out: we tend to find that the restaurants at the nearby resorts are a notch above those in the theme parks. In the MK area are the California Grille (at the CR) or Citricos or Narcoosees (at the GF) There is also Victoria and Albert's at the GF, depending upon budget and how elegant you want to go. If you really want dinner in the MK park, I would try for Be Our Guest or Cinderella's Royal table. the food is pretty good at BOG and the venue is stunning. CRT is special because you are dining in Cinderella's Castle but the food is not that great.
In the Epcot area, there is the Flying Fish or Trattoria al Forno at the BWI which are both excellent. Shula's Steakhouse is also quite good at the Dolphin and Il Mulino is a good choice at the Swan (Italian). If you really want to eat in World Showcase, we like Mexico for the atmosphere (but not the food) and the Rose and Crown for the view of Illuminations (again mediocre food). Note if you go to the R&C for the view, you may or may not get a table with a view of the fireworks. If you don't get one of the lakeside tales, just ask the server and she will show you to an are where you will be able to see the show very well. DH and I did this on our last visit and we were very pleased with the view. Moving was not an issue at all.


Kids table service restaurants depends upon what the children like. We found 1900 Park fare excellent for dinner. The character interaction with Cinderellas' step mother and step sisters was a hoot! If princesses are a high point than Cinderella's Royal Table in the MK or Akershus in Epcot are good bets. The Crystal Palace has a good buffet with Winnie the Pooh characters OR the CR has Chef Mickey's with Mickey Mouse and friends.

Good luck making plans!!!

I'd do either Universal first or Disney first, not have Universal in the middle portion of your trip. It's to take a lot of time to check-out, transfer, check-in, etc. Also, I'd plan some down time to enjoy whichever resort you decide on. It appears you're planning to be in the theme parks all day without any breaks. After spending several days standing in lines, taking the transportation back and forth from the resort to the parks, you and your family will be quite tired.

If the DVC option does not work out, the Port Orleans Riverside Resort has rooms that will accommodate a family of five.

Edit: Another thought - you may want to visit Walt Disney World first. The rates at the Disney resorts will change from value to peak season on 12/11. There will be a significant increase in hotel rates starting on 12/11/15.

Wow thanks so much, so much great advice

I didn't realise we had to book so far out using DVC Points, I'll use one of the brokers to see what is available, if nothing then our fall back position is the first part at Contemporary (And hope for an upgrade to MK view on arrival) and then Port Orleans (Riverside or French) for a few nights at the end.

Reason we have put Universal in the middle is to give us a bit of a break out of Disney and then so we can really savour the last part of the Disney component of our trip. When we did California, at Day 5 we were a little "Over it" but after a day or two really wanted to go back, so much so that we cut Vegas a day short and came back for one last day. I also wasn't going to rent a car for the full time, just for the two days in between to give us some time to do some shopping/universal etc. I'm now thinking of adding a day on, so we arrive in time for Rope Drop on the 6th, and then use the Saturday, Sunday and Monday to do 2 days at universal and a day of shopping. I'll probably pull out Cape Canaveral and use that third day in between for shopping and a drive to Miami.

I'll jump online tonight and start making our ADR"s, I realise I may not get some of the best restaurants at peak times, but will get some backup bookings and then remain persistent with re checking, hopefully getting our preferred restaurant/time between now and December. I still have no idea where to book tho so i'll use some of these suggestions as a starting point

Babsy:

You mentioned with booking a resort room instead of using DVC, you can pay the booking off in Instalments. How is this done? I thought you were required to pay the full amount up front

You can make payments to a package or room only booking online. A room only reservation requires a deposit equal to the first night of the vacation - the rest is due at check-in if not paid off before hand. With a package the deposit is $200 with the balance due either 45 or 30 days before arrival (used to be 45 but the new 2016 rules it's 30 days which has been applied to new 2015 bookings from what I've seen) as I previously said either reservation can have payments applied either online or over the phone. A DVC rental usually has the full payment due immediately or 50% upfront and 50% later.

blaqjaq said:

When we did California, at Day 5 we were a little "Over it" but after a day or two really wanted to go back, so much so that we cut Vegas a day short and came back for one last day.

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DisneyLAND is a different animal than World. I grew up there....I can do about 3-4 days before I start going stir crazy, especially in slower times where you can get on everything twice without blinking (rarer now, but still doable). You are going to be really surprised at the immersion of WDW... it's going to feel odd leaving in the middle. Think of things this way... DLR is in the middle of city, full of other things that look interesting. WDW *IS* the city.

I'd move the Universal trip to the beginning or end, if possible.

Great, that adds a positive to going through the resort rather than DVC

I've made reservations for one of our "Date nights" on the night we are in MK for California Grill - if we end up staying at the contemporary it'll be handy because we can check on the children at the same time as dinner.

There is a lot of choice for the Epcot evening tho, I was thinking of Kimonos but it seems to be a distance from Epcot so would maybe rather eat inside the park instead. What are your thoughts on Spice Road Table?

With the Itinerary, we've added on another day at the start so it now looks like this:

Planned Itinerary, in Brackets are expected crowds:

Sunday 6th December: Rope Drop MK (2/10), Afternoon to HS until late (EMH)

Monday 7th December: Early Entry MK (6/10), 2pm to Evening Epcot (2/10)

Tuesday 8th: Rope Drop MK (2/10), Full Day

Wednesday 9th: Rope Drop HS (4/10). Drop kids at hotel approx 3pm, Adults Only MK 4pm-midnight

Thursday 10th: Rope Drop MK (1/10), Drop kids at hotel approx 3pm, Adults Only Epcot 4pm-11.30pm

Friday 11th: Early Entry Animal Kingdom (2/10), Full Day

Saturday 12th: Check into Universal Hotel (Hard Rock), spend day shopping and sightseeing

Sunday 13th: Universal Studios full day (3/10)

Monday 14th: Universal Studios full day (3/10)

Tuesday 15th: Check into WDW again (Possibly Port Orleans, TBA), Spend afternoon and evening at MK.

Wednesday 16th: Rope Drop Epcot, (3/10), Illuminations that night

Thursday 17th: Rope Drop Magic Kingdom (3/10), full day

Friday 18th: Last day in Orlando, possibly half a day at kids choice

This website may help with deciding on dining options. It has most of the menu's of the WDW restaurants: http://allears.net/dining/menu

You'll be visiting WDW during the holiday period so another dining option will be the Candlelight Processional dining packages at Epcot. Each night there will be three performances at the American Adventure amphitheater which will include a celebrity narrator, orchestra, and a selection of Christmas music. This package includes either a lunch or dinner reservation at an Epcot table service restaurant and preferred seating at one of the the Candlelight Processional performances. I don't think the packages are available yet for booking but that should be coming soon.

Kimonos is located at the WDW Swan Resort which is an easy walk from Epcot. Epcot has a back door entrance between United Kingdom and France (International Gateway). At most it would be a 15 minute walk from the International Gateway to the Swan.

You'll be able to make your fastpass+ reservations 60 days prior to your arrival date beginning at twelve midnight EST. Because you are splitting your stay with Universal in the middle, you'll need to make a 2nd set of fastpass+ reservation 60 days prior to your 2nd check-in date.

I still think your schedule may be a tad unrealistic. I see you have planned to do EMH at one park in the evening and then doing EMH at another park the next morning and then doing another park the next day at rope drop. I'm not so sure you'll be able to pull this off.

You can book the GF Studio through DRC, but it isn't available for your dates. None of the DVC villas are available at GFV for your dates. You might still be able to book a Polynesian Studio for your dates for about $475 per night plus tax. But you probably should act quickly.

blaqjaq said:

Our Florida Itinerary is below, I really want to fit in either a Sea World or Lego Land day in there, but it seems to compromise our WDW stay too much, thoughts?

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With WDW and Universal, you're stretching things to make one or both of those other places fit in. Worth knowing that Legoland is over an hour away (just like in California).

Deb & Bill said:

Unfortunately, with your dates, unless you have already booked your DVC rental, you are not going to get a studio that sleeps five, let alone a studio at the GFV. GFV is a very small DVC resort and the studios get booked up as soon as members who own there can book them (11 months out). Plus you just happened to pick one of the most popular times for DVC members (early Dec). You might need to rethink your plan and book a moderate that sleeps five if you are looking to save money or pay cash through Disney for a GFV studio (if there are any available for your dates - what you see on the Disney Reservation Center website for cash is not what is available for DVC points). You really needed a DVC member who owns at GFV at least twelve months out in your pocket so they could be on the phone or online exactly at 11 month when booking began out to book that stay.

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YES.

crazy4wdw said:

I'd do either Universal first or Disney first, not have Universal in the middle portion of your trip.

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Same here, but for different reasons. After getting the perks of staying onsite at Universal we HATED going back to WDW and it's sad FP. FP+ is no better, when compared to Universal's onsite unlimited Express Pass. We end at Universal now. It's just too hard to go back to FP.

blaqjaq said:

Saturday 12th: Check into Universal Hotel (Hard Rock), spend day shopping and sightseeing

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Why are you not spending the day at Uni? Or are you shopping and sightseeing *before* checking in? I get that people from overseas seem to like the shopping in outlet areas, but realize that you could check in early and get all the benefits of staying onsite there on that day.

Thanks for all the advice, based on your recommendations we have changed the itinerary somewhat

I will explore the DVC Rental next week with one of the Brokers but have made an RO booking at AoA for a Cars Themed Family Suite as our fall back position.

We have now added another few days to allow for a bit more rest and also allow us to do Universal for two days prior to our trip to WDW

We arrive into Orlando late on Friday the 4th of December, will hire a car and head straight to Universal and check into the Hard Rock. Have a bit of a sleep in on the 5th of December to get over some jet lag and then head for a drive into Miami and then to the outlets, stop and get some food/drink supplies for our trip and have a reasonably early night. Then the fun begins:

6th: Full day @ Universal (It's a Sunday but Touring Plans say it'll only be a 2/10 for crowd?)
7th: Full day @ Universal
8th: Check in at WDW, Head to MK and spend full day there (2/10)
9th: AM: HS (4/10), 3PM: get kids baby sat and have a date night at MK until 12am, Dinner at California Grill
10th: AM: MK (1/10(, 3pm: Get kids baby sat and have a date night at Epcot until 11.30pm
11th: Full day Animal Kingdom (2/10)
12th: AM: EE Hollywood Studios (4/10), Late Afternoon: Epcot (4/10)
13th: AM: MK. PM: Downtown Disney and/or visit other hotels, maybe leave the older kids to relax at the hotel
14th: AM: EE MK (8/10 ouch!), PM: Epcot (4/10)
15th: Full day at MK (2/10)
16th: Full day at Epcot (3/10)
17th: Full day at MK


What are your thoughts on this? Flow better? We will take some rests in the afternoons between park hopping most likely, depending on crowds.

A few more questions if I can:

1) I'm struggling to find availability on ADR for any Fantasmic! or Illuminations priority seating restaurant's for any of the nights on my stay. I've left it 30 days late... is there any recommendations for strategy on how to get a booking? And what restaurants are more likely to become available? Or, given it is not super busy (2's and 3's most days), would I be safe enough to just plan to get there a little early and not worry about a dining package to view the shows?

I was pretty happy to be able to secure a reservation for California Grill on the 9th for dinner (Tho it's an early 5.35pm booking) and Chef Mickey's for the 5 of us for breakfast on Saturday the 12th (Tho again, not ideal at 7am as we will miss the EE at Hollywood Studios).

I've also booked the Dining Room at Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe for one of the evenings.


2) Should I return my hire car at WDW when we arrive? or hang onto it during our stay at WDW? Let's assume we keep our current booking at AoA. Some benefits would be we can leave WDW for a cheaper lunch or dinner some days and my wife could take our youngest shopping if she is tired of theme parks while I spend time with the older kids in the parks. I assume that given it's not super busy when we are there, that Disney Transport won't be too busy? What are your thoughts? Waste of money or useful?

3) Wrong section but i'm sure you may be able to help, I'm thinking of adding a day at Seaworld on at the end so it'll be the 18th. It'll take a day out of my Washington itinerary, but our 7 and 13 year old would probably like Seaworld... But at that point, we will have been at theme parks for 12 days straight. Shall we do it? Or leave it for a future trip? In 2013 I skipped universal in California and regretted it (We did Universal Singapore last year and i've been kicking myself ever since for skipping California Universal)