advice for short weekend trip

[almommyof2]

Hello all! I am a lurker and have not posted but once. My family and I have been on 3 disney vacations in the past 2 years. We never seem to have good luck with lines and so fourth even when we follow touringplans. We were going to stay 4 nights but are doing home renovations so it's just not in the budget. Instead, we are doing a qucik 2 night trip with one FULL day at MK. Rope drop to fireworks at 10 that evening. We want it to be enjoyable and be able to do a lot and see characters. We have 2 children. 5 y DD and 2 y DS. We won't be taking naps and leaving as that has never worked out well for us. Our children just don't nap good in the hotel room. Being that we only have one day at the parks we want to enjoy everything we can. We live about 6 hours away so our plan is arrive early fri evening and get reast. Get up sat morning and do MK all day. We have lunch at CP but not sure if we are going to go. We have dinner at the Plaza. Trying to decided which one to keep and we will do CS for the other meal. Sunday our plan is to sleep in, let DD do BBB at Downtown Disney, eat lunch at RainForest, grab a few treats for the road and I am grabing a few stocking stuffers and heading home. We are going 1st sat in november. Crowd is suppose to be a5. Thank you all for any imput. We are so excited especially since this will be the first trip little man really understands and he is really into mickey. Thank you for any help!!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Hello all! I am a lurker and have not posted but once. My family and I have been on 3 disney vacations in the past 2 years. We never seem to have good luck with lines and so fourth even when we follow touringplans. We were going to stay 4 nights but are doing home renovations so it's just not in the budget. Instead, we are doing a qucik 2 night trip with one FULL day at MK. Rope drop to fireworks at 10 that evening. We want it to be enjoyable and be able to do a lot and see characters. We have 2 children. 5 y DD and 2 y DS. We won't be taking naps and leaving as that has never worked out well for us. Our children just don't nap good in the hotel room. Being that we only have one day at the parks we want to enjoy everything we can. We live about 6 hours away so our plan is arrive early fri evening and get reast. Get up sat morning and do MK all day. We have lunch at CP but not sure if we are going to go. We have dinner at the Plaza. Trying to decided which one to keep and we will do CS for the other meal. Sunday our plan is to sleep in, let DD do BBB at Downtown Disney, eat lunch at RainForest, grab a few treats for the road and I am grabing a few stocking stuffers and heading home. We are going 1st sat in november. Crowd is suppose to be a5. Thank you all for any imput. We are so excited especially since this will be the first trip little man really understands and he is really into mickey. Thank you for any help!!

What kind of tips are you looking for specifically? Maybe if we could get it narrowed down we could help more. Are you using the fastpass system to its fullest? That is the best way to make sure you can ride all the rides you want.

 

[lilpooh108]

Hello all! I am a lurker and have not posted but once. My family and I have been on 3 disney vacations in the past 2 years. We never seem to have good luck with lines and so fourth even when we follow touringplans. We were going to stay 4 nights but are doing home renovations so it's just not in the budget. Instead, we are doing a qucik 2 night trip with one FULL day at MK. Rope drop to fireworks at 10 that evening. We want it to be enjoyable and be able to do a lot and see characters. We have 2 children. 5 y DD and 2 y DS. We won't be taking naps and leaving as that has never worked out well for us. Our children just don't nap good in the hotel room. Being that we only have one day at the parks we want to enjoy everything we can. We live about 6 hours away so our plan is arrive early fri evening and get reast. Get up sat morning and do MK all day. We have lunch at CP but not sure if we are going to go. We have dinner at the Plaza. Trying to decided which one to keep and we will do CS for the other meal. Sunday our plan is to sleep in, let DD do BBB at Downtown Disney, eat lunch at RainForest, grab a few treats for the road and I am grabing a few stocking stuffers and heading home. We are going 1st sat in november. Crowd is suppose to be a5. Thank you all for any imput. We are so excited especially since this will be the first trip little man really understands and he is really into mickey. Thank you for any help!!

We've done 2 weekend trips in the last year (from the West Coast, no less). Here's what I'd recommend, keeping in mind that my DD is not tall enough to go on thrill rides.

1. At rope drop, grab a fastpass for the princesses (next to the entrance).
2. Go to Fantasyland and by the time you get there, you'll probably be able to grab another fastpass. We usually get the Pooh ride fastpass, and the past 2 trips the Pooh ride fastpasses comes out with the Philharmagic fastpass.
3. Wait and ride Peter Pan.
4. Ride Pooh
5. Do Philharmagic
6. Mom and kids get in line for pics with Pooh/Piglet/Tigger near the Pooh ride
7. Dad runs and gets another fastpass. We usually grab one from Jungle Cruise and while we're waiting, we ride Aladdin.
8. Eat Dolewhip nearby.
9. Ride POTC
10. Ride Jungle Cruise
11. Get another fastpass (maybe Splash, maybe Buzzlightyear).
12. Have lunch
13. Ride your fastpass ride
14. Repeat strategy for the rest of the day.

You get the picture....and at the end of the day you can take princess pictures on your way out after the fireworks. Mickey will not have a line late at night, so your DS can get in a son with Mickey as well. We tend to squeeze alot in during the day this way. One time we did all that and took a 2 hour nap too, returning at night and did more.

I would skip Crystal Palace because it's a long lunch and if you're rushing, it's probably not worth the $$$.

Also, if you're really into chraracters and you're just driving home after DTD anyway, maybe save the money for BBB/Rainforest Cafe and put it towards a non-park character meal before you leave. Ohana is one of the cheaper character meals for breakfast and your DS is free so you're really paying just for 3 people. Mickey in a Hawaiian shirt is super cute. Plus the view of the Castle in the morning makes it all the more Disney. It might take the stress out of your MK day if you know that you'll be doing some characters (cheaper than at Crystal Palace).

Good luck!

 

[almommyof2]

Wow! Thank you for your suggestions. We are prob going to skip CP.....what counter service do you like? Ohana may be a good idea and then we can do BBB and Rainforest on our way out. I am not dead set on RainForest but hubs is as he has never done it. Do you guys do Thunder Railroad? My daughter likes that along with Splash but those are the only "thrill" rides we do or rides we do little man can't. Do you take time to take in main street? We want to do a lot but enjoy our time as we always seem rushed but we have only spent 6 hours at one time there and I don't think our plans worked with the crowds. Praying for lots of disney magic and fun! As we are remodeling the house we may not be able to do this again till year after next.

 

[gules]

No kids, but I am the family planner and logistician! XD

If I have this right, you are doing 3 days/2 nights at Disney, with one full 8-hr day set aside just for MK. Your only MUST DOs are BBB, Rainforest Cafe, and one character meal.

So on Friday I think that resting sounds great. You might want to go around to the other resorts to start getting the feeling of magic going without having to spend any extra ticket money! It might also help your kids start to get adjusted to being there (although it depends on your kids!).

I definitely recommend Ohana for breakfast. You can get Lilo and Stitch (my fave!) with Hawaiian Mickey and Pluto at least (the others change sometimes). They also give you a lei to wear for the rest of the day! The food is amazing and my husband and I had so much fun! It's family style, so you'll be all fueled up for MK. I do have to say that as with any character dining, if you get there after the characters have passed your table, you could be waiting for up to an hour before they can come around again. This happened to us, but we got to see the parade go around the restaurant twice, so we didn't mind!

Of course, another advantage is that you'll be in a good place to monorail in to MK. Definitely use the Fastpasses, as PP said. You and Dad can alternate running to grab the next round. I'd say only FP the rides you really HAVE to go on and kind of wing some of the rest. That's just me, though, since I hate running back and forth as it makes me feel hurried/pressured.

If you're a Disney Visa holder, also remember that you can get free character photos during certain times of day, although the characters are always the main cast who you might have already seen.

As a general strategy I use, get one of the maps ordered off the site (or print one) and plan out a route so you know about what order you'll be arriving at certain rides. That should help you plan out which fastpasses to get in a rough order (unless you need to get a high demand one).

For Sun, make sure to plan on a few hours at BBB just in case. Rainforest can be very fun, but if I were you I would also consider T-Rex. I've never been but I know some people like it better, and I think they are run by the same company? If treats and stocking stuffers need to be a surprise, the waiting line at lunch can be a good time for Mom or Dad to sneak out and grab some things too. In my experience, you'll have to wait for some time even if you get ADRs at Rainforest. While the inside is still fun to look at, you might as well use the time!

EDIT: For CS meals in MK I definitely recommend Pinnochio Village Haus (you can watch and wave to the people at Small World). My best friend loves the Lunching Pad (Tomorrowland) because of the variety. One of the best places to watch the fireworks for me has been very close to Philharmagic (there is a fairly clear space nearby, between that ride and an eating place I can't recall right now).

 

[almommyof2]

No kids, but I am the family planner and logistician! XD

If I have this right, you are doing 3 days/2 nights at Disney, with one full 8-hr day set aside just for MK. Your only MUST DOs are BBB, Rainforest Cafe, and one character meal.

So on Friday I think that resting sounds great. You might want to go around to the other resorts to start getting the feeling of magic going without having to spend any extra ticket money! It might also help your kids start to get adjusted to being there (although it depends on your kids!).

I definitely recommend Ohana for breakfast. You can get Lilo and Stitch (my fave!) with Hawaiian Mickey and Pluto at least (the others change sometimes). They also give you a lei to wear for the rest of the day! The food is amazing and my husband and I had so much fun! It's family style, so you'll be all fueled up for MK. I do have to say that as with any character dining, if you get there after the characters have passed your table, you could be waiting for up to an hour before they can come around again. This happened to us, but we got to see the parade go around the restaurant twice, so we didn't mind!

Of course, another advantage is that you'll be in a good place to monorail in to MK. Definitely use the Fastpasses, as PP said. You and Dad can alternate running to grab the next round. I'd say only FP the rides you really HAVE to go on and kind of wing some of the rest. That's just me, though, since I hate running back and forth as it makes me feel hurried/pressured.

If you're a Disney Visa holder, also remember that you can get free character photos during certain times of day, although the characters are always the main cast who you might have already seen.

As a general strategy I use, get one of the maps ordered off the site (or print one) and plan out a route so you know about what order you'll be arriving at certain rides. That should help you plan out which fastpasses to get in a rough order (unless you need to get a high demand one).

For Sun, make sure to plan on a few hours at BBB just in case. Rainforest can be very fun, but if I were you I would also consider T-Rex. I've never been but I know some people like it better, and I think they are run by the same company? If treats and stocking stuffers need to be a surprise, the waiting line at lunch can be a good time for Mom or Dad to sneak out and grab some things too. In my experience, you'll have to wait for some time even if you get ADRs at Rainforest. While the inside is still fun to look at, you might as well use the time!

EDIT: For CS meals in MK I definitely recommend Pinnochio Village Haus (you can watch and wave to the people at Small World). My best friend loves the Lunching Pad (Tomorrowland) because of the variety. One of the best places to watch the fireworks for me has been very close to Philharmagic (there is a fairly clear space nearby, between that ride and an eating place I can't recall right now).

Well I am thinking of eatting on the way to MK on saturday so we can make rope drop b/c we plan to stay there untill fireworks at 10 that evening unless we get super tired after dinner and we will head to hotel and watch them but we really dont want to as the kids have never seen electrical parade and they are excited about it....what do you think of doing Rainforest when we arrive on Fri (cause hubby really wants to go there for some reason) and then What counter service would you do in MK? We are going to have dinner at the Plaza. Sunday we have 'Ohana reservations at 1015 as we plan on sleeping in a little and then BBB at 1140....I figure while we are wating at BBB I can grab the stocking stuffers I want....what do you think? Thank you for your help!

 

[jjsmom]

The plan for the rides posted by lilpooh108 sounds good. For such a short trip, I agree that CP would cost too much time. If it were me, I'd plan an early CS lunch at Pecos Bills around 11:00 am. I like the proximity of PB's to Fantasyland and Adventureland.

Do Rainforest on Sunday. Plan your Friday meals closer to your resort. Give the kids time to unwind from the 6 hr. car ride.

Try to make your way back to Main St. after the must-do rides are done. I think there will be time to take it in and it's a good break from the kids who will be overwhelmed with the activity of the morning.

Good luck! Your trip sounds like SOOOO much fun!!