Help with itinerary please

[jaame]

We're going to Disney Oct.6-13. We are arriving in Orlando around 10:00am on the 6th and not leaving until 8:00pm on the 13th. We have our tickets for MNSSHP on the 6th already and we will be going to Sea World on the 8th. Those are the only things set in stone right now.

My parents are joining us from the 6th-11th and they plan on purchasing 4 day hopper passes. At this time we plan on purchasing 5 day hoppers. We are going to be there 6 days but were worried about buying tickets for every day we are there in case we want a down day. We figured if we did want to do something every day we would just buy a ticket for that day, whatever it is we decide to do. We were thinking maybe a waterpark one day.

We would like to do all 4 parks, Disney Quest, at least one character meal (Chef Mickey's is our preferred choice right now. I know it's kind of late to be booking these), and then be able to see all the good firework/laser shows. Also, what about the Beauty and the Beast show or the Lion King one? I've heard those were worth seeing.

Help this first timer plan our trip please?!

 

[MelodyMack]

I would recommend purchasing a planning guide like the Unofficial Guide to WDW or the Passporter. These books break down every park and what rides are available where. When I was planning my first trip I found thee nooks invaluable as there is just so much going on! With the guide books you can easily create your own touring plan based on what you and your parents really want to see.

Also, I highly recommend the Wishes fireworks show at MK and Illuminations at Epcot.

GOOD LUCK!
Mel

 

[wendypooh]

You can also look at allears, or mousesavers........... they have a lot of info on planning. You could also look at tourguidemike.......

I second Wishes and Illuminations...... fantastic!!

We have seen the Lion King show, before it moved to AK, and it was fantastic, I'm sure it's better now!!

We've also done chef mickey's many times, it is a must do for our family....... you'll enjoy it!!! There is so much to do, it's hard to see/do it all in one trip, But, that's why you keep going......... LOL

ALSO -- I'd go ahead and make ADR's now!!!! Hopefully, you'll be able to get what you want.

Good Luck

 

[justplaingoofy]

I don't think you mentioned if you are staying at a Disney Resort. If so, and plan on taking advantage of their early entry/ or later closing to Resort guests, personally I would plan like this.. anyone agree or disagree??

On an early entry get there at earliest time..ex 8am, stay for a couple of hours until the park starts to fill up, then using your "hopper option" hop on over to a park that does not have an early entry or later closing.

If you are staying off property or will not be taking advantage of the additional hours, I would avoid the parks that have early entry/late closing because it seems that they tend to be the busiest.

They just added an early entry day to water parks this past month. We are going in a couple weeks and staying off property, I had our itinerary all planned and I received an email that they added the waterpark on the day we plan on going to Blizzard Beach.. Looks like I'll be doing some rearranging!

 

[jaame]

We are staying offsite, sorry I forgot to mention that.

 

[justplaingoofy]

I would look up on Disneys site what the early entry/late days are and avoid them. If it is important to take a break from the parks than a water park is a good idea. Also, depending if there are children and the ages. If it was my first visit I don't think I would spend the time at a waterpark. And should you decide not to do DisneyQuest you could save money by not purchasing the extra (plusses). I would think for a first timer I would plan on one full day at Animal Kingdom, 1 to 1 1/2 days for MGM, Epcot. and 2 days for Magic Kingdom to see most everything. Someone mentioned picking up a guide book... Absolute must.... I have and love the "Unofficial guide to WDW" it also includes Seaworld, universal, restaurants, etc... They break down the parks to each ride, describe what it is, and each one is rated. That would help you figure out what to do/not to do..

 

[jaame]

I have two boys, ages 9 and 3, that will be with us. I think the 9 year old would love Disney Quest.

I have a couple of the books, I think one of them is the Unofficial Guide to WDW with kids and also WDW for Dummies. I'm still so lost on what to do though.

 

[Skroops]

If you want to dine at specific places, make those reservations right away! Call 407 wdw dine. See what you can get, and then kind of shift your parks around that. If the dining doesn't interest you, then what I like to do is make a general plan of which park(s) and which day and then I include the "do not miss" list for what we are going to do that day. I make that list fairly short so that we can just meander and enjoy the atmosphere. When we get to the park, the first place we head is the information board which has show times so that we won't miss our favorites. The Lion King at AK is definately one we do not miss.
If you have never seen a Cirque de Solei show, I would definately try to catch La Nouba at Downtown Disney.
Even if you do absolutely no planning, you can have a wonderful vacation! Relax and enjoy!

 

[jaame]

Where do I find when all the fireworks/laser shows are happening?

 

[justplaingoofy]

I would check out Disneys website... Under theme parks, then park hours. You can get the posted hours for each park for the month. You can also find out what time parades are, fireworks, extra magic hours, etc.
I don't want to sound vague but they change depending on park hours.
Epcot does have nightly illuminations (fireworks w/laser type show) nightly at 9pm.
Happy planning

 

[jwmccullough]

Where do I find when all the fireworks/laser shows are happening?

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but the fireworks (Wishes/Magic Kingdom) and Laser Shows (Illuminations/ Epcot) are end of day only shows. Both are not to be missed. I would definitely recommend Fastamic at MGM as well. I would try to pair Wishes up with the Spectromagic Parade if at all possible, as it does not run every night. With that information, if tells me where I am going to end my days, so then I work backwards to plan the earlier part of the day. We usually try to split any given day in two. Do a morning somewhere, go back the room and sack out for a bit, then return to another park for dinner, and attraction or two and the end of day spectacular. I have been known to catch 2 end of day programs on the same day: Fantasmic, then caught the boat to EPCOT for Illuminations.
Another suggestion: save Disneyquest for any potential rainy or ill weather day as it is all indoors.

We will be down there about the same time (October 4->13). Have a great time!

Jess

 

[Goofy4]

I have commercial time while watching the Colts (hopefully) beat Baltimore, here's some thoughts:

Thu Oct 6 - MK/MNSSHP
Fri Oct 7 - Epcot/Illuminations
Sat Oct 8 - Seaworld
Sun Oct 9 - AK (check show times)
Chef Mickey's character dinner
Mon Oct 10 - Disney Studios / Fantasmic
Tue Oct 11 - DQ / DTD
Wed Oct 12 - AM: Waterpark. PM:MK/Spectro

I refered to http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm for selecting the days. This most likely avoided EMH days, which might be a good thing considering you're already doing MNSSHP.

HTH... Check my work