1st time help PLEASE-need critiqued

[RLGNC]

Number one rule no matter what other advice you take from this thread.

Everyone likes to vacation differently. If you get there and realize your not having fun (which is not the same as thinking you should be having fun) if you stressed and tired etc. Stop take a breath and re-evaluate. If that means you spend less time in the parks and spend a day by the pool so be it. If that means you cancel some of your dinner plans becuase you realize you rather have that time to play and just grab quick food thats good too.

The biggest trick those that have gone many times learn isn't something that can be taught to a newbie... its learning how WE like to vacation. Once you know how you want to vacation your trips will be much easier to plan

I love this. Especially the part about "thinking you should be having fun."

 

[Nancyg56]

First, You know your DD best, so you know what both of you would enjoy. I am staying out of the touring portion of the discussion. Others are much better at that than I am. All I ever tell people is that thye need to remember they are on vacation and enjoy whatever they are doing wherever they are doing it, and to refuse to worry about the "one that got away".

Personally, with a 10 year old, I would eliminate shopping at the outlets and Downtown Disney /Disney Springs.

MK is the star of the show and I would dedicate more time to that park. I wouldn't even go to Seaworld, but that's just my personal taste. Nothing takes away from my Disney time.

Regardless, have a great time!

I would skip Sea World completely. I like it but you really are on a short trip for the first one, and I think that you may be trying to accomplish too much. I also would skip shopping in DS unless you find that you are done whatever park you are in and are looking for something to do. There is a lot to do in the parks and I worry that even with the party you are missing a lot of the MK.

 

[mrzrich]

Outlet stores are not what they used to be. The offer very few "bargains". It is pretty much a glorified mall.

Disney Springs while a nice experience can also be skipped if you are having fun at the parks or find you need some relaxation time at the resort or pool. Most items for sale at Disney Springs can be found in the parks.

A fun unique shopping experience can be found in Epcots World Showcase. Combining shopping with park time.

 

[Aliceacc]

In the past 4 trips, we've done Disney Springs once. It was pleasant, but for us not worth the time we could spend in the parks.

 

[Geoff_M]

You will be going during a cooler time of the year, which will help with your daughter's stamina, but in reading your proposed schedule I think you'd likely benefit from some down time in the middle of the week. Consider giving your kid some time to sleep in, enjoy the pool at the resort, etc. The rule of thumb we try to stick to (even with teenagers) is: Two full park days, and then one day to recover and rest and have some low-key fun... and then back at it for a couple more days.

This sounds like it's your first trip to WDW as a parent (forgive the assumption if wrong), and what you're proposing is very typical for a first time week-long WDW stay with kids. We did the same thing... "We must do as much as we can! We will get the most for our vacation dollars!" While it was a great trip, we realized that the grind really wore on our three kids as the days went by. After that we started building breaks into the plans.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

Tuesday-breakfast at Cape May & then over to SeaWorld and then the outlet stores for souvenir for family stuck behind in Illinois

I'd change this to a parks day.

I went with DD when she was 10 - - a two - week dream trip, our third time to the World. I mention these details because only then did we take time away from the parks to go to Wizarding/Harry Potter, Blizzard Beach, and Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[geenerbell]

My advice would be to cut down on the driving and consolidate your touring so you can actually see and experience more!

Sunday - I like your plan!
Monday - Sounds good!
Tuesday - You have a lot of character meals with the same characters. Since you are doing Tusker House later in the week, I would cancel Cape May. And unless your daughter REALLY wants to go to Seaworld, I would skip this, too. Add another WDW park day! If you do decide to keep SeaWorld, I would still cancel Cape May and just eat at SeaWorld. Driving from POP to BC and then to SeaWorld is a time-kill.
Wednesday - Ditch Chef Mickey's for the reason above. If you really want a character breakfast this morning, go to Garden Grill so you are already in EP for your WS touring. I would not go to DS. EP WS at night is magical and I would stay for Illuminations.
Thursday - This looks fine! Other suggestion is doing DHS on Tuesday (if you skip SeaWorld) and just do MK all day plus MNSSHP. It will really cut down on travel time.
Friday - Sounds good
Saturday - Sounds good!

I really like all these suggestions. I would maximize time in the parks, especially MK as much as possible. Don't fret because it's just you and your daughter. You will love feeling like a kid again! Seeing it all through your child's eyes is amazing.

 

[GillianP1301]

I think you have a really great plan in place already. There are a few minor changes that I would make, just based on my own preference, so take them for what it's worth.

For very first trip, I would want to do MK on arrival day, but for that to work with your plan, you would probably need to get rid of the Disney Springs time and make a full day at EP for both Future World and World Showcase. That may or may not be worth it to you just to get MK a day earlier.

Chef Mickey is not great, IMO. Characters are fun, but the food is one of the worst buffets on propety, IMO. I would definitely do Garden Grill at Epcot, since you plan to be there that day anyway.

If you can add a ticket for Saturday, then I would go for it. With 1 full day + MNSSHP at MK, you could probably definitely find more to do at MK for a half day before you head back home.

 

[Baklava]

I've never been to Disney and never posted on here, so please tell me if I'm doing this all wrong...

Taking my 10 yo daughter by myself to WDW in October. I know we can't do everything, but will you please tell me if we're missing anything big or if anything is too much/too busy? Thank you!

Sunday-arrive at POP around 1:00-head to Epcot for Future World - including Coral Reef at 6:00 & FP Soaring afterwards (7:30?)
Monday-CRT at 7:55 and BOG at 2:20. Haven't decided FP yet, but thinking we could head to 7D after the PPO breakfast and the wait shouldn't be too bad...
Tuesday-breakfast at Cape May & then over to SeaWorld and then the outlet stores for souvenir for family stuck behind in Illinois.
Wednesday-Breakfast at Chef Mickey then head to Epcot for WS (FP for FEA & snack there for lunch too) then head to Disney Springs for Design a Tee, dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express, etc..
Thursday-RD TSM at HS then Great Movie Ride then the Mermaid show then lunch at 11:15 at 50's followed by Tot & RnR (not interested in Muppets or Star Wars) & probably done by 2:30-3:00 so back to POP before MNSSHP.
Friday-AK-RD Dinosaur, FP later for Kilimanjaro, EE, & Lion King) Late lunch at Tusker (NOT BBQ fans, so no Flame Tree for us)
Saturday-breakfast at 1900 PF & head home

I can tell you what *I* would change, but that's going to be largely personal preferences.

Sunday- I would drop Coral Reef. We were soooo disappointed. We would recommend Rose and Crown for a sit down or you can get the excellent fish and chips outside for a more casual and less time consuming meal. We like table service for a break, but with only a half day that day we'd go counter service. There is LOTS of good looking food in Epcot.

Monday- Good, assuming the park isn't opening at 8. Watch for that, they shift opening times often.

Tuesday- One of our favorite breakfasts! We would not go to Seaworld, we'd do another park day. If you're set on Seaworld, come back in time for Disney Springs that day. If not, I'd put AK here and then DS after.

Wednesday- Chef Mickey gets hit or miss reviews. I haven't been but the scuttlebutt isn't encouraging. If you're going to Epcot anyway, Garden Grill was SO MUCH fun! We did a PPO and it was awesome. Doing DS the day before leaves you a full day to really do Epcot properly.

Thursday- My guys won't do 50's which is sad for me. Enjoy! But if you do AK on Tuesday, you could spend this whole day at MK and shift DHS to Friday because I really think it deserves a full day. The Frozen show was more fun for us than the LM show, you might want to throw that in the mix.

Friday- This is a good plan for an AK day, although we were underwhelmed by our TH breakfast. Maybe lunch is better. Also, do not miss the safari. It was one of my magical moments. Rhino right next to me. Super awesome.

 

[Roxyfire]

One concern to me is the Halloween Party and RD the next day. Now I've never been to one, and I don't know you or your daughter so take this one with a grain of salt. I know for us, we are going to the party on Oct 4th and planning a morning by the pool the next day. I'll be crabby, and my son will be bouncing off the walls but also crabby as well. I also feel like it might be beneficial to make sea world the beginning or end of your trip. I would personally pick up the souvenirs as you leave saturday as well, but I don't really know the lay of the land so it might be out of your way. That way, if you forgot anyone or didn't see anything great at your resort or on property you could grab something there.

 

[crystalsmom1021]

Went two years ago in October with an 8 yo girl who wasn't into Princesses .
We spent an entire day in Animal Kingdom taking it all in and we LOVED it. Did not ride Kali River.
CRT at 8:00 then BOG at 2:20 both great experiences once in a lifetime to do.
Garden Grill in Epcot was awesome. Chip/Dale and Mickey are great . And you are not running between parks
Can you move your chef Mickeys to Tuesday and then may be souvenir shop and rest up a bit
If you can hang all day in Epcot after breakfast I hear the FireWorks are the best in the parks
Honestly I would not recommend trying for a 2/3 day at HS and then trying to take in the MNSSHP till after Midnight
It is still very HOT in October and you will be tired and worn out as stated you can enter the Parks at 4:00 with a MNSSHP ticket
Have some Breakfast maybe take a swim L
LOVED TUSKER HOUSE !!!!!
Did dinner at 1900 Park Fair and it was one of the Best Meet and Greets at WDW the characters were awesome we didnt do breakfast so I am not sure how that will go

OVER ALL. Dont push yourself. Try to get things together in the parks so you are running back and forth and remember to BREATH
This info would have been GOLD before my trip .
Sending Pixiedust your Way

 

[crystalsmom1021]

Went two years ago in October with an 8 yo girl who wasn't into Princesses .
We spent an entire day in Animal Kingdom taking it all in and we LOVED it. Did not ride Kali River.
CRT at 8:00 then BOG at 2:20 both great experiences once in a lifetime to do.
Garden Grill in Epcot was awesome. Chip/Dale and Mickey are great . And you are not running between parks
Can you move your chef Mickeys to Tuesday and then may be souvenir shop and rest up a bit
If you can hang all day in Epcot after breakfast I hear the FireWorks are the best in the parks
Honestly I would not recommend trying for a 2/3 day at HS and then trying to take in the MNSSHP till after Midnight
It is still very HOT in October and you will be tired and worn out as stated you can enter the Parks at 4:00 with a MNSSHP ticket
Have some Breakfast maybe take a swim L
LOVED TUSKER HOUSE !!!!!
Did dinner at 1900 Park Fair and it was one of the Best Meet and Greets at WDW the characters were awesome we didnt do breakfast so I am not sure how that will go

OVER ALL. Dont push yourself. Try to get things together in the parks so you are running back and forth and remember to BREATH
This info would have been GOLD before my trip .
Sending Pixiedust your Way[/QUOT
ON Sunday Garden Grill has a good dinner as well with the characters also try and catch the fireworks since you are there at Epcot. Also on the rd..if you finish the party you will be after1 gettin in bed. You might want to get some sleep. If you decide against sea world maybe move your RD at US to Tuesday. Any way I hope you have a magical vacation