Alright, who wants to create a touring plan for me? Anyone??

[ChattyAshley]

Let me start by announcing that I am BRAND NEW to this whole thing (as in I created a login approximately 4 minutes ago). I have spent many hours today jumping from website to blog to forum to website and I feel more confused and frustrated now than I did this morning. So here's my plea; help me, Dis Geniuses, I grovel at your wise & experienced feet. Please forgive me in advance for my general lack of know-how.

Here's some quick info:
Husband and I are ditching the kiddos to celebrate our 10th anniversary (wooot!) by heading to WDW. We've been to DL many times but this will be our first WDW experience. We're spending five full days in the parks, Friday May 2 through Tuesday May 6. No park hopping; Friday through Monday each day will be spent entirely in each of the four parks, leaving Tuesday for us to revisit our favorite. Not finalized yet, but we're most likely staying at one of the Port Orleans resorts and doing the Quick Dine meal plan. Since we're young and energetic and won't have kids to worry about, we plan to spend the maximum amount of time allowed each day at each park (from opening to closing, BOOM baby!!)

So, who wants to plan it all out for me?? From what I've read thus far, y'all make it seem like having a plan is an absolute necessity, but I'm convinced I could research eight hours a day for the next month and still not have a freaking clue of what I'm doing!

Which park on which day? What to Fastpass at each park? Where to eat? What to ride/see/do when? All advice, ideas and commentary are welcome!

 

[ChattyAshley]

Point of Clarification: We'll be arriving at our hotel on Thursday night (May 1) and checking out Wednesday morning (May 7). Which literally gives us five full park days (Friday through Tuesday) to work with.

 

[kitayama]

Hehe, planning my own trip is causing me a headache
Disneyland is so much easier, isn't it...

 

[ChattyAshley]

Hehe, planning my own trip is causing me a headache
Disneyland is so much easier, isn't it...

Preach on, friend!!
Disneyland trip = 3 days, park hoppers, boom. Done. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Disney World trip = pulling my hair out!

 

[Viva Las Disney]

Step one is picking days:

http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/05-may-2014-crowd-calendar/

Looking at EasyWDW's recommendations (and double checking them against TouringPlans recommendations to make sure there isn't conflicting information) I'd do:

Friday May 2nd - Magic Kingdom
Saturday May 3rd - Animal Kingdom
Sunday May 4th - Hollywood Studios
Monday May 5th - Epcot

Step two is deciding if you want to eat at any table service restaurants and seeing what's still available for Advanced Dining Reservations...

http://allears.net/dining/

 

[ChattyAshley]

Step one is picking days:


Looking at EasyWDW's recommendations (and double checking them against TouringPlans recommendations to make sure there isn't conflicting information) I'd do:

Friday May 2nd - Magic Kingdom
Saturday May 3rd - Animal Kingdom
Sunday May 4th - Hollywood Studios
Monday May 5th - Epcot

Step two is deciding if you want to eat at any table service restaurants and seeing what's still available for Advanced Dining Reservations...





Thanks for your input!!

We'll most likely stick to Quick Service only, so no need for table service reservations.

I've been looking around on EasyWDW... do you think it's better to avoid parks on their extra magic hour days? The extra hour or two isn't worth the extra crowds?

 

[Viva Las Disney]

To plan days my first step is writing down shows and parades with set times I need to plan around and then making my ADR's since I'll also have to work around those set times also. For the first 2 days of your trip...

On Friday the Magic Kingdom is open from 9am-10pm and has 3 events to plan around:

3pm - Festival of Fantasy Parade
9pm - Main Street Electrical Parade
10pm - Wishes

Current dinner ADR's available that would fit around those set times are Liberty Tree Tavern at 6:35pm, The Plaza at 7:30pm, or Tony's Town Square at 7:50pm. If it were me I'd snatch the Liberty Tree Tavern at 6:35, I was surprised how much I liked their "Thanksgiving Dinner".

On Saturday Animal Kingdom is open from 9am -7pm and only has 1 event to plan around: Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade at 3:45pm.

Current dinner ADR's available after that are:

Rainforest Cafe at 6:45, 7, or 7:15pm
Tusker House: 5:20 & 5:35pm
Yak and Yeti: 5:15, 5:30, & 6:15pm

I've heard good reviews of Tusker house but I ate at Yak and Yeti and loved it, I'd snatch up the 5:15 ADR and then enjoy an empty park for the last 45 minutes of the night riding Expedition Everest over and over. This would also be a good night to check out a couple of the deluxe resorts or downtown Disney since it's an early night.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

Just noticed your last post about only doing quick service, that makes planning much easier. Rather than planning around set time events and food you just have to worry about set time events like parades and shows.

EasyWDW always recommends avoiding extra magic hours because so many people flock to the parks that have them. The theory is you'll get more hours in the parks with extra magic hours but you'll wait in longer lines so you don't actually get to ride more, the extra time is just spent waiting in longer lines.

 

[ChattyAshley]

Just noticed your last post about only doing quick service, that makes planning much easier. Rather than planning around set time events and food you just have to worry about set time events like parades and shows.

EasyWDW always recommends avoiding extra magic hours because so many people flock to the parks that have them. The theory is you'll get more hours in the parks with extra magic hours but you'll wait in longer lines so you don't actually get to ride more, the extra time is just spent waiting in longer lines.

Yes, not having to deal with dinner reservations keeps it easier. We don't really care about food as much, we're all about rides and shows!

So which rides/shows are MUST DOs in each park? I also need to further research this whole new FP+ thing too, I know I could set them up now but does that mean I do it on the computer now and then when I get to the parks I find a kiosk and print them out? Not sure how it all works.

I figured that about avoiding extra magic hours. It seems so tempting to be able to stay in MK until 1am, but not if we've spent hours and hours in line for rides all day long.

THANK YOU!! So helpful!

 

[margaret07013]

here is where the fun starts: have you thought about MK crowds due to opening of the new ride on 2nd?

 

[agavegirl1]

Use these to get a general idea of what you need to do first, what to FP+ etc. The color coded maps are great!
http://www.easywdw.com/category/cheat-sheets/

 

[Granny Grunt]

I always find that nighttime extra magic hours are not crowded. Even with the little one in tow, I always find Kate tour at WDW to be maximum benefit, esp. MK late extra magic hours. I didn't check your dates to see what was available, but we rocked late EMH with a 3yo in tow in February & basically rode everything with little to now waits. I used the thread on this site for FP+ priorities. I think it was MesaBoy?, huge help.

 

[ChattyAshley]

here is where the fun starts: have you thought about MK crowds due to opening of the new ride on 2nd?

I was wondering about that. On Easy WDW it shows Friday, May 2 as the only day recommended (Sat, Sun & Mon are all shown in RED on the calendar), but I don't know if they're taking into consideration the new ride. Do you think that will make MK crazy-busy on that day?

 

[agavegirl1]

Here is MesaBoy's thread on Everything You Need to Know about MM+ and FP+ But Were Afraid To Ask http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3143281

 

[minnie mum]

I was wondering about that. On Easy WDW it shows Friday, May 2 as the only day recommended (Sat, Sun & Mon are all shown in RED on the calendar), but I don't know if they're taking into consideration the new ride. Do you think that will make MK crazy-busy on that day?

There's more to Josh's calendar than just the info on said calendar. You really need to look at the month in detail- read his recommendations and explanations for each day. It helps make sense of why he's recommending x, y, or z park. Then, if you decide to go to a less recommended or not recommended park, you'll be making an informed decision.

I'll also recommend that you make use of the cheat sheets to plan out your park days. Having even a basic plan of which rides to do first can really help to maximize your touring efficiency. You could also use touringplans.com for this, but it requires a paid subscription and IMO has become too complicated.

We've used easywdw for the last several visits and have found them reliable and very helpful. Plus, reading Josh's blog is a hoot.

 

[SpringSprite]

Since we're young and energetic and won't have kids to worry about, we plan to spend the maximum amount of time allowed each day at each park (from opening to closing, BOOM baby!!)

The only "from my own experience" advice that I can impart, because I'm a newb at planning myself, is this...Hubs and I went for a quick 2 day trip when we were 31 and 32, no kids, very fit, and had just honeymooned where we were doing activities all day (hiking, snorkeling, sightseeing, etc) 2 days of non-stop WDW and I was WIPED out at the end of day 2. I would add a pool afternoon in the middle of your trip. I have never been so tired in my life!