Advice on adr plans please - first time visitor

[Emer O'Sullivan]

hi all, one month away from adr date and working on my plans. Heading for 9 nights in November (9-18) with DH, DD5 & DS3. Were staying in the yacht club, and will have park hopper tickets. We land at 7pm on the Friday night (and will be dealing with a 5 hour time difference and 2 small kids!), so no plans for arrival day. So, day 1 (Friday) - MK, considering BOG for lunch, head back to resort after lunch possibly Beaches &Cream or Cape May for dinner (maybe walk over to HS to see Fantasia), Day 2 - AK with Flame Tree BBQ and Tiffins ROL package, Day 3 - MK (my birthday), California grill for dinner (get babysitter), lunch?, Day 4 - resort for the morning Epcot for DH and i in the evening - last night of F&W (hopefully snack and drink around the world, and watch illuminations), Day 5 - water park and HDDR.
This is where I star getting confused. Day 6 - HS and DS (T-Rex) for dinner, Day 7 - resort for the morning, Afternoon MK - BBB & CRT for early dinner (MVMCP is on, but hopefully we can decide on the day, possibly too late for the kids), Day 8 - last night, RD EP with Akerhus breakfast, or water park again (think they'll be a big hit) and dinner at O'hana. Day 9 - what to do with the morning? Flight not til eveningand we can walk to HS or EP.Would like to fit Bon Voyage breakfast in somewhere as DD big Ariel fan.
All thoughts/comments much appreciated.

 

[Cinderella94]

Welcome to the DIS!

We stay at the Beach Club and love to do Cape May character breakfast on our checkout day. I would recommend that, or the Bon Voyage breakfast as you mentioned. Bell Services will hold your luggage for you after you've checked out.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The last night of F&W is pretty bananas for crowd, so be prepped for that. If the kids are coming, they will be miserable.

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

Thanks. Might skip F&W then or get a babysitter that evening. Had a feeling the last night would be mad. Is it a must do? Didn't want to get a babysitter any earlier than that as the kids will be dealing with jet lag.

Any thoughts on the rest of my plans? Think I've covered a lot with out being too busy. Am I mad to miss rope drop in favour of easy morning and park in the afternoon?

 

[sbrost13]

Your meals look good.

Only you can judge if rope drop will work for your family. My family works best earlier in the day, so we LOVE rope drop and AM EMH, then we slow it down after lunch. Then again, we're all used to waking up early. It's definitely not for everyone.

One thing I wanted to mention is the water parks. While I love them, if I was staying at Yacht Club and had access to Stormalong Bay, I don't think I'd do more than 1 water park day. Just my .02.

Looks like a great itinerary!

 

[caliope]

First trips are so exciting!

One suggestion I'd make is that you have day 3 at MK and then back to CR later for dinner at California Grill, sans kids. That's multiple bus rides from YC to MK. Personally, I'd put the CG ADR on a day when I hadn't already been to MK. You mentioned it's your birthday so perhaps switch the parks around? Or just understand the transportation situation so you can factor that in.

Happy planning! There's no "right" or "wrong" plan, just what works for your family.

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

Thanks. We're dealing with a 5 hour time difference (7am will be noon for us) so hopefully rope drop will be easy, but conscious of not tiring them out to much. Will have a double stroller though. Will be aiming for RD most mornings, and back to the resort for the afternoon.

I agree about stormalong bay. Think they'll love it there. And much easier.

For the CG ADR we might treat ourselves to uber!

 

[Best Aunt]

Will you have the dining plan? If not, you probably want to check out the menu prices. Also consider how your kids do at table service restaurants if the service is slow. I'm just thinking that you might want to balance quick service and table service; quick service gives you speed and flexibility as well as lower costs.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Ha, our trip will overlap with yours slightly -- we are traveling Nov. 1-12 this year. I think F&W is fun and certainly worth doing, though I don't know that it is a "must do." You are going to be literally a 5 minute walk from Epcot, so maybe just walk over 1 afternoon and tour the booths for a while and grab a snack/drink or two? Seems like you have some flexibility on day 1 so instead of going to Hollywood Studios just head over to Epcot late afternoon and hang out for a while. I'd go early though - I suspect Epcot/F&W is going to be packed that entire weekend -- last weekend of F&W and Friday Nov. 10 is Veteran's Day, so schools may be out that day.

I'd definitely take Uber to Contemporary for California Grill - a $10 trip and for me a lot more relaxing than waiting on a bus, riding to MK and then walking over to Contemporary.

We usually play it by ear a bit on our last day. We'lleither RD whichever park has EMH that morning, which will probably be Animal Kingdom for you, or we'll RD whichever park has the rides we want to do one last time -- last trip it was Hollywood Studios because we wanted to ride Toy Story and Tower of Terror. Then we'll head back to the resort around noon, grab swim gear, check out, and hit Storm Along Bay for the afternoon before catching MDE around 4-5. You could do something similar - walk over to DHS for 9 a.m. rope drop and ride a few rides and try to make a late breakfast reservation (10:45ish) at Trattoria, then back to the resort for the pool after.

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

We have the dining plan, and kids are pretty used to restaurants. So not too worried about that. Though I know you never can tell on the day. Was hoping I've picked a good mix of themed, quality and character meals.

Finding researching QS much harder to research, and not sure how long you have to q or how tired the kids will be in the afternoon.

@GeorgiaHoo i agree. Will organise fastpasses for every day and can always drop/change if necessary.
Sounds like the perfect final day. Crowd predictions are low so fingers crossed for the trip