Any good 5 day itinerary recommendations?

[ggreenwald]

Hi all,

My grandmother is taking my extended family down to WDW in mid September for a 5-night family vacation. There will be 15 of us in total, 10 adults and 5 kids. The kids range from 5 yrs to 8mos. Are we lucky or what?? Should be awesome!

I don't know if it is because people are not paying their own way, but for some reason no one is planning what we're going to do on this trip. Only my wife and I have been looking into things to do while we're there. Our thinking is that we'd really like to have a plan to make the most of our time and really enjoy the experience without the feeling of missing something. Seeing the list of all the things to do is pretty overwhelming. Opportunities like this do not come by very often so we want to make it perfect for everybody.

So, that brings me to my question. Do you guys have any recommendations on what parks/activities/restaurants you would definitely attend if you only had 4 whole days without travel restrictions? We're thinking of trying to fit in the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, the Animal Park, and MGM Studios. Is that too much? Does one park deserve multiple visits? Do others only deserve a half day? It's likely that a few of the evenings we'll head back to Epcot (which is near our hotel - the Beach Club) or the Magic Kingdom for dinner and fireworks.

Better yet, does anyone have ideas for what they would consider to be the perfect itinerary for those 4 days (and even 2 half days on either end)?

Thanks in advance! We'd really appreciate any advice!

 

[melk]

If I were you, I would pick up a good guidebook, the one we like is the Unofficial Guide to WDW. That way you can read up on all the parks, rides, etc, and decide which places would appeal to you most.

You have a pretty large group, so you may want to consider splitting up some of the time. Remember, you can't please all of the people all of the time!!

We're going for a four day trip soon, too. Definitely get the 4day park hopper so you can jump from park to park in the same day. Our itinerary will go something like this:
Day 1: Mgm, dinner at a resort restaurant
Day 2: MK for first half of day, Epcot second half, eat dinner at World Showcase in Epcot
Day 3: AK for half the day, MK for evening, SpectroMagic and Wishes
Day 4: Back to Mk for morning(we have small kids), Epcot for afternoon, and hopefull MGM for Fantasmic at end of day

If you have any specific places you would like to eat, make ps arrangements now.

As for your half days you could go to a water park or shopping at Downtown Disney.

Last tip, study these boards, lol!! I have been to WDW more than a few times, and these boards give the best secrets, tips, etc. that I never even knew about. Have fun planning!!

p.s. You have a great grandmother!! Maybe think of a special dinner or something to thank her...Have Fun!!

 

[bcinohio]

We just got back from WDW on Sunday. We had a great trip. My number one tip is to have a plan. Be willing to do other things that you see but have a plan. WDW is not a place to go and stand on Main Street and open you map and say "What should we do today?" I think all the parks can be covered in one day if you arrive early, use EE if you stay at a Disney resort, and use fastpass when you can.

We did a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort and it is great. Also ate at the Rainforest Cafe at AK and was very good. The way it is decorated is cool! Had lunch at Planet Hoolywood-bad, will not go back.

I hope this helps. Have a great trip!!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

You have to have a plan. My BIL and I are both WDW pros but when we combined our families for the first time, we all just stood there looking at each other!!!

Will you have park passes for the two end days? If not I would start off with a character meal for all, and spend time in the resort pool. I would also end the last 1/2 day with a character breakfast.

For the other days, I would make it clear that everyone does not have to stay together the whole time. I would have a park to start each day in together and go from there. A PS for dinner each night would be great.

I would plan in a lot of time at MK with such young children, but try at least a half day in each of the other parks. Going to epcot at night is great too. A afternoon rest time might be needed for everyone and then rogroup after that.

I would also be clear on rules with the kids, who can discipline who's, how much stuff will they get etc.

Just plan and then be flexable,give and take and have a blast.


Jordan's mom

 

[ggreenwald]

We have the 6 day "Dream Maker" package, which includes the Ultimate Park Hopper for all 6 days of our trip (two days are cut short because of travel). So, we could defintely do the character breakfasts our make a visit to the parks. Great idea for starting the trip off the Disney way.

On that note, we've heard good things about the following places/activities:

- French restaurant in Epcot
- the Coral Reef Restaurant
- the Hoop-de-do musical review
- fireworks show at Epcot, especially if you can get a table at a restaurant on the water.
- Cindarella's Castle character breakfast

Any others that people wouldn't miss?

Thanks so much for all your comments. They are VERY helpful!!

 

[CindyAnn]

Hi Ggreenwald and welcome to the Dis!

- in terms of Epcot - I would recommend somewhere on World Showcase (France if you like) over Coral Reef. There's no way to guarantee a view of the Illuminations show at a sit-down restaurant, so I would recommend making your World Showcase restaurant PS early enough to eat and then stake out a place around the lagoon for Illuminations. A 6:30 or 7:00 PS should give you lots of time to eat and then see the show (it's generally at 9:00 p.m., but you need to double check the time)

- Cinderella's breakfast - A PS is hard to get here, especially for such a large group. If that doesn't work out there are lots of other character meals to choose from - one of our favourites is the breakfast at 1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian.

- Itinerary - I think each of the parks deserves a full day. With two half days on either end I would probably make a repeat visit to MK on the last day. I would either plan to hit early entry (probably hard with a group that size) or even better plan to avoid the early entry park. The one place early entry is really helpful is at Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom.

Have a great time!

 

[TerriBelle]

Here are a few suggestions. We have traveled with a large extended family before and have stayed at BC many times.

1) We usually make at least 1 PS a day that includes the entire group.
2) Fit in time to use SAB! The pool is a lot of fun and Sept can be really hot! It has a great baby pool with a beach area. When my twins were 3 they also loved the baby slide on the back of the pirate ship!
3) We usually split every day into 2 parks. Morning at one, evening at another, break in the middle at the pool.
4) The day that we arrive we schedule a fun dinner. We have done:
Boma at AKL - This was fun because we spent time exploring the resort and watching the animals.
Chef Mickey's @Cont - Great chance to ride the monorail. If you have park tickets you can even ride the monorail back to Epcot after dinner and walk back to the resort.
Cape May @BC -
5) Have a basic plan but be flexible - We usually create a spreadsheet with PS, park hours, AM park, PM park, and cell phone numbers. If one family or group wants to go somewhere else that is fine.

Have fun!