Aggressive Plan in 3 1/2 Days?

[Kenmi's Mom]

We have two young children ages 4 and 7, and will be at WDW for 3 1/2 days. We plan to ride the kiddie rides and watch the shows. The following is my plan for each day (just a plan and we realize that we may not be able to do everything). Any suggestions to do things differently? Any assistance is appreciated!

• Day 1 - MK
• 8am (EMH) to 3:30pm (after parade)
• 4pm to 6:30pm - rest at resort
• 7pm - Dinner
• 8:30pm - Fantasmic (if showing) or MK for Spectromagic

• Day - 2
• DHS from 9am to 1pm (shows and a few rides)
• Epcot - Lunch to 9pm

• Day 3
• DHS from 9am to 1pm
• AK from lunch to 4pm (after parade)
• 4pm to 6:30pm - rest at resort
• 7pm - dinner
• 8:30pm - MK for spectromagic or Fantasmic

• Day 4
• AK for Finding Nemo and Lion King show only
• Leave at noon

We live in CA, so we have seen Fantasmic many times and we'll see it again in the future. We'll concentrate on the rides we don't have at Disneyland. Not too worried, if we miss it at WDW. Please let me know if this plan looks good or if you have a better suggestions.
Thanks!

 

[ty93850]

I would say one day at mk. Then the other 2 days morning at dhs on one day and ak on the other day and epcot both evenings eat at epcot both nights then on your last half day let the kids decide what they want to do again and go there. We can get through each park ak and dhs pretty quickly when our kids were small. We like to wonder epcot in the eve and do our eve meals there aswell.

 

[ms*mountaineer]

Depending on where you're staying, a break from 4-6:30 isn't very long. Just getting to and from the hotel will eat up some time out of that. You may find that you just got to the hotel and it's just about time to turn around and head out for dinner. Depends on what you want to do during your break.

 

[duffy]

On day 1, if you eat dinner at 7, you will have no time to get to Fantasmic at 8:30. Unless you're planning on eating your dinner in the theater?

 

[Nikisha421]

does your 4yo still need a mid day nap because maybe that could be a big issue

 

[vicki_c]

Going from rope drop (esp. EMH) to 3:30-4 PM is a very long day at Disney with small kids. I'd break much earlier (after 1st park), then go to the 2nd park later. And as someone else said, the 4-6:30 break is not very long once you factor in transportation time.

Also, for example - you say DHS until 1 PM, then to AK until 4 PM. You need to allow time for leaving the park, getting to the next park (do you have a car - if not, allow 1 hour for park to park transportation to be on the safe side) - so you might not get to AK until 2 PM, then leaving by 4.

I think I would do 2 MK days and 1 DHS day with kids the ages you have.

My only other comment is that getting up for rope drops after doing Fantasmic and/or Spectro later in the evening may not be the best plan when you have small kids (for anyone really)!

 

[housetomouse]

We did a 4 day trip recently and we couldn't have kept that schedule. Our kids are a little older than yours, and are early risers, so we did morning EMH. Our plan was like yours, to leave the park to chill/swim for a while in the afternoon, then go back into another park in the evenings. We tried going back in the evening the first night and it didn't work out. One kid fell asleep in the park, around 8pm So we had to completely adjust our expectations after that. We couldn't count on doing anything at night. We didn't see and do even a fraction of what I wanted to, but we found we couldn't do the early morning and the evening both in a day. Still had fun, though!

Also- I should say I have a low tolerance for my own kids melting down, so I avoid getting us in situations where I know it's coming. So we typically get out before anyone falls apart. Your kids might last longer than mine in this regard!

 

[Disneychix]

I would switch out the 2nd morning at DHS for the morning at AK. I realize you probably want to ride TSM again but AK is better in the morning IMHO. That park gets very hot in the afternoon and there's more chance to see animals in the am usually.

 

[disney minnie]

I would go to DHS one day from opening until after the 3:00 parade and then AK the other morning. You can also go to DTD on one of those afternoons.

We usually take breaks like you have scheduled to swim or shower and refresh ourselves a little. Longer breaks usually tend to lead to long naps and it seemd harder for our family to get going again.

 

[boakl]

if you plan to be there for RD. The three hour time difference might be a killer on your kids. Get out of the parks after lunch while everyone is still having fun. Go back to the resort, swim and then nap heavily all afternoon. You will be in much better shape for the evening and will have banked some sleep for the next early morning. I don't think 2.5 hours will be enough rest time. I'd probably plan on 4-5 hours of travel/swim/rest time.

 

[RMAMom]

I agree with the PPs that it is going to be very hard for you to get up at 6:00 to leave the resort at 7:00 to make an 8:00 rope drop and then go all day and stay in the park late.

My concern about your schedule is that you don't seem to have given yourself traveling time. You are leaving your Resort at 6:30 and dinner at 7:00. If you are driving yourself you need to give yourself 45 minutes to get from place to place. If you are taking Disney transportation you will need to figure 45-60 min for transportation.

 

[MHSweb79]

Also, at AK the show times may not be convenient for seeing both Lion King and Finding Nemo by lunch time. When we were there the first Nemo show was around 11, if I remember correctly. Plus you usually have to factor in a 30 minute wait time before each shows. (They do this at Sea World, too. They seem to schedule the shows to confound the people who want to see all of them. I guess this is to keep you coming back?)
If you have limited time available, you may have to choose between LK and Nemo.
The biggest difference between WDW and Disneyland is the size and scope of each park - things will take you much longer than you can imagine. But you'll have a great time!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

to me it seems you have a lot planned with little kids. id put in more time for resting as they are saying you have to factor in transportation also. and staying on schedule might be a little hard.

 

[Kenmi's Mom]

Thanks, everyone for your suggestions! I really appreciate it...

Fortunately, it's just a plan and we'll play it by ear when we arrive. I, too, want to avoid any meltdowns as much as possible!

 

[Kenmi's Mom]

I would say one day at mk. Then the other 2 days morning at dhs on one day and ak on the other day and epcot both evenings eat at epcot both nights then on your last half day let the kids decide what they want to do again and go there. We can get through each park ak and dhs pretty quickly when our kids were small. We like to wonder epcot in the eve and do our eve meals there aswell.

How was Epcot in the evening? I was hoping to take pictures at the different countries, and my children want to do the Kim Possible thing. Also, we'd have to leave AK at 4pm, since I was hoping to watch the parade at AK. Your thoughts?

 

[Kenmi's Mom]

I would switch out the 2nd morning at DHS for the morning at AK. I realize you probably want to ride TSM again but AK is better in the morning IMHO. That park gets very hot in the afternoon and there's more chance to see animals in the am usually.

Once on TSM is fine for us. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to see all the shows in one day. I think we were planning on going on two rides, and they wanted to watch HSM3 and Beauty and the Beast and the Voyage of the Mermaid (?). If we can do all that in one morning, we are good.

 

[housetomouse]

How was Epcot in the evening?

I thought Epcot was really crowded at night. We came in through the WS entrance and walked to the middle/FW area, and we were dodging at least 3 different marching bands and a lot of guests trying to get there. I was thinking we could just hop on the boat from WS to cross quickly, but there wasn't a boat running. Maybe I was wrong in thinking there was a boat, or if there normally was, it wasn't going b/c they were preparing for Illuminations. In any case, we thought it was pretty mobbed at night (week before Easter, though).

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Once on TSM is fine for us. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to see all the shows in one day. I think we were planning on going on two rides, and they wanted to watch HSM3 and Beauty and the Beast and the Voyage of the Mermaid (?). If we can do all that in one morning, we are good.

you were planning on going on two rides. kids have minds of there own. i would just play it by ear. have fun. dont stress if you dont see everything. just more of the reason to come back

 

[ktlm]

Having been to both DL and WDW in the last year, if you have not been to WDW I think the one thing you are not considering is the travel time. At DL, it is quick and easy to hop from park to park, you walk out of one and pretty much directly into the entrance of the other. Plus, the parks are smaller and you can get from one end to the other really quickly. At WDW, if you have a specific restaurant or destination at a park in mind, it can take up to an hour to get from one park to the spot you want to be in the other park. I don't know where you are staying, but it can also take quite a bit of time to get to and from particular resorts to certain parks. I'm guessing you have daughters judging from your DHS list. I don't know how into the characters they are, but in regard to your question about Epcot at night, there are a ton of Princesses hanging out in World Showcase in the afternoons (Jasmine, Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty) and the lines are not usually that long to see them. They are not there at night. Also, the World Showcase area at Epcot does get more crowded at night because due to all the great restaurants a lot of people go there for dinner. As far as breaks, it completely depends on your kids. Mine has fewer meltdowns at WDW than at home and even though she is only three can stay in the parks from pretty much open to close unless she gets horribly hot. She also is not a rester. She wants to go and do constantly. You can do TSM, Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, in one morning- I know because we did 2 weeks ago. We got fast passes for TSM, saw Mermaid before they kicked in, rode TSM and then went to Beauty and the Beast. I don't think you can do both Lion King and Nemo at AK and leave by noon because of the show start times. Lion King is a great show- I wouldn't miss that one.

 

[Kenmi's Mom]

Having been to both DL and WDW in the last year, if you have not been to WDW I think the one thing you are not considering is the travel time. At DL, it is quick and easy to hop from park to park, you walk out of one and pretty much directly into the entrance of the other. Plus, the parks are smaller and you can get from one end to the other really quickly. At WDW, if you have a specific restaurant or destination at a park in mind, it can take up to an hour to get from one park to the spot you want to be in the other park. I don't know where you are staying, but it can also take quite a bit of time to get to and from particular resorts to certain parks. I'm guessing you have daughters judging from your DHS list. I don't know how into the characters they are, but in regard to your question about Epcot at night, there are a ton of Princesses hanging out in World Showcase in the afternoons (Jasmine, Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty) and the lines are not usually that long to see them. They are not there at night. Also, the World Showcase area at Epcot does get more crowded at night because due to all the great restaurants a lot of people go there for dinner. As far as breaks, it completely depends on your kids. Mine has fewer meltdowns at WDW than at home and even though she is only three can stay in the parks from pretty much open to close unless she gets horribly hot. She also is not a rester. She wants to go and do constantly. You can do TSM, Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, in one morning- I know because we did 2 weeks ago. We got fast passes for TSM, saw Mermaid before they kicked in, rode TSM and then went to Beauty and the Beast. I don't think you can do both Lion King and Nemo at AK and leave by noon because of the show start times. Lion King is a great show- I wouldn't miss that one.

Thanks.. I appreciate your response and suggestions!