Follow Touring Plan or Just Relax

[misseskb]

Hello. We will have our first trip to Disney in October. My little one will be turning 3 a week after we return from the trip. When I booked the trip, I honestly did not realize the importance of making dining reservations as soon as the 180 day mark hit for us. We have the free dining promotion. A lot of the planning of what to do is a bit overwhelming so I was just going to follow the plans listed on the touring plan site. My question is, should I focus on meeting the dining reservations we made, or following the plan?

As a side note, last year we went on a non-disney cruise. We stayed at Pop Century the night before departure and went to Chef Mickey. My little one lit up when she saw those characters. Based on that, I think she will be excited about the character greetings. We have never been on a ride with her so I am not sure if she will love the few she can go on due to her height (and want to ride over and over again) or hate them.

We arrive on a Wed night and depart Monday morning. We have tickets to MNSSHP and the Park Hopper.

The reservations we have are as follows:

Same Day - Ohana 8:55am and Coral Reef 12:10pm
Same Day - Hollywood and Vine 9:50 and 50s Primetime 12:25pm
Crystal Palace 4:45pm
Same Day - Ohana 8:35am Tusker House 12:55pm

I think we can use 2 table credits toward a signature dining experience since we arrive late on the first night. If this is correct, where should we try to use it? Thanks...all over the place.

 

[Spunky946]

I would not keep those times. That is way too much food and time in restaurants. I would do breakfast and dinners if you are going to do two a day.

 

[heath92681]

I agree. We were in Hollywood & Vine for probably an hour and a half. You'll be walking out of there and straight to 50s, and you probably won't be hungry yet!

 

[Lilliputian]

That's a lot of restaurants with a lot of sitting and waiting. I do like buffets or family style meals (and especially ones that combine characters) for that age, but not too many. Counter service restaurants and snacks can be a lot more beneficial with young children.

I wouldn't do any dining plan. It's a lot easier to change your plans as needed if you aren't going to lose money by not eating a big meal.

She will like rides. Virtually every child does. I would make rides your priority. Specifically, I'd make riding the rides with a plan so that you avoid long lines the main focus. You'll be able to relax if you're following a plan that gives you a lot of fun things to do without waiting in lines and waiting in restaurants most of the time.

 

[scrapquitler]

No way would my family want to sit thru that much time in restaurants while at the parks.

You mention the 'few' rides she will be able to go on. I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised....there are relatively few rides with height restrictions at Walt Disney World, and many 3 year olds are tall enough to ride many of the ones that do have restrictions...There are only SIX rides among the four parks that have a height restriction above 40". Here's a list: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...nontheme/experience/preschool/heightChart.pdf

 

[mjkacmom]

I agree with the others - with those breakfasts, you won't be hungry until dinner. Skip the dining LAN, or make new ADR's. Your child will be able to ride most of the rides.

 

[mandis77]

I'm assuming you the the Deluxe plan, because that's a whole lot of ADRs!

I've done two trips with small kids and we just stuck to one TS meal every day. It's a LOT of food and you will not be hungry for hours. We mostly did character meals for all our TS meals - the kids loved it and then you don't have to wait in line at a meet & greet. Bet on at least 90 minutes for those. Then we did a counter service meal whenever we were hungry wherever we were at the time.

There are plenty of rides your child will be able to do - she will have a blast! You'll be making your FP reservations in a month or so and you can build a touring plan around those (and ADRs if you chose to keep them). But really, try to be flexible. I had our first trip planned down to the minute and I ended up throwing them all away halfway through the first day.

 

[misseskb]

I'm assuming you the the Deluxe plan, because that's a whole lot of ADRs!

I've done two trips with small kids and we just stuck to one TS meal every day. It's a LOT of food and you will not be hungry for hours. We mostly did character meals for all our TS meals - the kids loved it and then you don't have to wait in line at a meet & greet. Bet on at least 90 minutes for those. Then we did a counter service meal whenever we were hungry wherever we were at the time.

There are plenty of rides your child will be able to do - she will have a blast! You'll be making your FP reservations in a month or so and you can build a touring plan around those (and ADRs if you chose to keep them). But really, try to be flexible. I had our first trip planned down to the minute and I ended up throwing them all away halfway through the first day.

Thanks so much for the response. I think I may have written in a confusing way, but I made multiple table service reservations because I didn't know which one we would do. So no we are going to do one sit down meal per day. I was thinking they should be character meals because I like you said, she can see characters without having to see them in the park in a line.

My issue is, because we couldn't get early breakfast reservations, should I scrap the ones I have and try to get to the parks when they open as touring plans suggest? I feel like I got reservations so late that we would be missing out on park time and eating a late breakfast. Should I try for lunch character meals? Is 1-2 per trip sufficient? I am all over the place because there are so many options. Thanks.

 

[misseskb]

Thanks so much for the response. I think I may have written in a confusing way, but I made multiple table service reservations because I didn't know which one we would do. So no we are going to do one sit down meal per day. I was thinking they should be character meals because I like you said, she can see characters without having to see them in the park in a line.

My issue is, because we couldn't get early breakfast reservations, should I scrap the ones I have and try to get to the parks when they open as touring plans suggest? I feel like I got reservations so late that we would be missing out on park time and eating a late breakfast. Should I try for lunch character meals? Is 1-2 per trip sufficient? I am all over the place because there are so many options. Thanks.

And I forgot to add that on arrival night, we get in at midnight. The next day we go to the halloween party (if it makes any difference).

 

[Accident]

Is your family used to up with the sun and asleep long after the sun sets and repeating that several days or a week at a time? Ignoring the running around to meet that schedule, that's rough just from how little sleep you'll be getting after 10 miles of walking for the day. I'd commit to which time you really want to eat and if your not getting your moneys worth for your meal plan, call up and change your reservation for one that fits your schedule and where you could find food reservations. breakfast at a quick serve/hotel is in my opinion the lowest cost meal at disney if you drop to the lower meal plan with 2 meals included

 

[andiraye]

Every group has their preferences but my bias is to get to the parks for rope drop and ride the most popular rides while the park is still empty. Which is largely what the touring plans do, but with greater accuracy. So personally I would skip the breakfasts and keep the lunches.

Agreed with all the PP who said that breakfast and lunch are too much in general.

The only exception is the day you have MNSSHP. That day you could do a late-ish breakfast at a restaurant outside a park, hang by the pool, and then go to the MK at 4.

 

[Thing 1]

There is so much to think about, it can get overwhelming. What I would do is take out a piece of paper and divide it into columns, one for each day. Look at EMHs and decide what park you want to start at each day. If your little one will be up at 6:00 no matter what, you might want to consider doing AM EMH. If not, avoid that park. Think about naps, will she nap in the stroller, need a hotel break? Avoid TS meals around the time you think she might be sleep. Factor in you FP times. Its a toss up when to book them with a little one, but plan well and try to use them well. We avoid any meals the first two hours of park opening as that is the least busy time in the park. There are only a very few rides she will not be able to go on. Most rides are family rides and any size can ride. A few more are 40 inches which she might make and only a handful are over 40 inches. Do you have the tickets for the party already? That would be a skip for us with a toddler. The night starts at 7:00, though you can get in at 4:00, but most toddlers can not make it late enough to make the party ticket worth the cost. Parties are fun but we skipped till kids were early elementary. I would do some hard core studying and look at each ride in each park and see what will work for your family. There are things in every park for a toddler. My skip park for a toddler would be HS but low and behold it was my youngest FAVORITE park at that age so it is a true toss up. Most kids love Epcot. With a hopper you can do one park for the bulk of the say and return to another at night. Our boys enjoyed Epcot more in more frequent, smaller blocks of time. We have done all the above mentioned meal and enjoyed them all. CM are great and fun and we have done them just about all, but over a long time frame. They are busy and our boys never really are very well there, so like to mix it up a bit with some slower quieter sit down meal. I think you mentioned signature and we do take kids to signatures as well. You might want to be assure that your little one is a fairly good dinner and be willing to leave if she becomes loud and we its nice to eat at an earlier time with a toddler with you. Plan well and have fun!

 

[mandis77]

And I forgot to add that on arrival night, we get in at midnight. The next day we go to the halloween party (if it makes any difference).

Okay, I understand now. This is what I would do: I would keep the last 'Ohana breakfast ADR because that is my favorite character bfast (that and Akershaus in EPCOT). The rest of the early ADR's I would cancel.

Character lunches might be tricky because if your LO naps she might be really starting to get cranky. Our kids napped in strollers so we never took resort breaks in the middle of the day, but by 4-5pm we were definitely ready for a break from the crowds and heat. We really liked Crystal Palace so I could keep that too. I like to have one non-character TS meal during the trip. I would use your extra credit and do a signature meal. We like Brown Derby at DHS.

You can keep checking the ADR website and keep tweaking. As your date gets closer people start moving things around. Check every day. Also you can follow dining threads here to see when people are cancelling ADR's then you can go snatch them up.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

you are going to spend more time eating good than enjoying the parks. My limit is 1 TS every other day. Any more than that and I feel like we spend too.much time dining