Are we doing too much...

Simplyy_em

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 10, 2016
Messages
34
Hello everyone!:tigger:
My boyfriend and I will be going to wdw in September! :jumping1:As this will be our first time we are trying to squeeze in as much as possible but I was curios to see if any wdw vets think it's to much... So please feel free to rate my itinerary!(:
Dates:13th-19th
Staying at All Star movies with deluxe dining plan:banana:
We will be doing online check in
Tuesday:Arrival @ 8:30am then magical express to the hotel.
Drop off our stuff and head straight to Typhoon Lagoon. Dinner @8:30 at Ohana.
Wednesday: Epcot day
Kona breakfast: 7:30
Chefs lunch: 12:30(we'll be splitting a plate)
Le Cellier dinner: 7:30
Thursday: Universal Studios day. We plan on getting the park hopper with the express pass option.
Breakfast at Boma(7:30)
Dinner at Artist pointe(9:30)
Friday: Hollywood Studios
Lunch at Sci-fi(12)
Dinner at Yatchman(6pm)
Saturday:Animal Kingdom
Tusker house (9:30)
Sanaa (6:00)
Sunday MK day/MNSSHP night
Crystal Palace (8am)
BOG dinner (4pm)
Monday: MK day #2
Lunch at CRT at 2:55pm
Flights leave at 10pm
If you read this all, I applaud you and thank you so much for your help!:thanks:
 
Will you return to the parks on Friday and Saturday after dinner?
If yes, and you use your HS day to sleep in, I think it should be doable. There aren't many rest moments in your plan, but the heat might force you to slow down. I don't mind many table services, it also helps to slow down and take a break.

If you don't go back to Animal Kingdom after Sanaa, I would see if you could switch it to Jiko and make it a special night.
 

Will you return to the parks on Friday and Saturday after dinner?
If yes, and you use your HS day to sleep in, I think it should be doable. There aren't many rest moments in your plan, but the heat might force you to slow down. I don't mind many table services, it also helps to slow down and take a break.

If you don't go back to Animal Kingdom after Sanaa, I would see if you could switch it to Jiko and make it a special night.
We won't be going back to the parks after those two dinners. I figured we might need the extra sleep
I've heard amazing things about Jiko but the menu just isn't intriguing to me :(
 
In my opinion.... It's too much for me anyway..... Seems like you would have to rush everyday to get to all of your ADR's not really enjoying the parks. Especially for a first timer I would want to spend as much time in the parks to see what I could and go on whatever rides I could. But you should do what you think you and your boyfriend might enjoy because everyone is different, what I may like you might not. We are also going in September it's my fav time to go since it's my wedding anniversary and Disney is my happy place. Hope you have an amazing time!
 
Our first trip was pretty packed,and we had a great time. Tired, yes. Sore from all the walking, yes. But I wouldn't have traded it for anything because we thought it was our only time to go. We will take it a little easier this next trip. It looks like your first day will be pretty relaxing, and the HS and AK days will be a lot less walking than the other parks. I love that you are ending your trip with CRT. What a score! Enjoy each moment and take lots and lots of pics.

ETA: As first timers, the dining was a huge part of the trip. DH and I have said we could just do resort and dining someday when DD is off on her own. Because we were going to spend some time in restaurants each day, I made a list of our must-do rides and focused on those. We did everything we wanted to and then some even though we had a lot of great meals. I will say we were thoroughly stuffed to the point of misery at Epcot, though. We ate at Akershus for breakfast. Lunch at Tangierine. Dinner at Chefs de France. All three are wonderful and have ginormous proportions. I won't do that to us again. That was the only day that happened, though.
 
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The day when I have 3 adrs might be to much...

Maybe drop Kona and have a nice brunch/early lunch instead of splitting a plate at 12:30? We loved the food at Chefs, but the portions were not huge and it would be worth getting two things and sharing.
 
We won't be going back to the parks after those two dinners. I figured we might need the extra sleep
I've heard amazing things about Jiko but the menu just isn't intriguing to me :(

I would give Jiko a chance, :P but that's me. I only see now that you have the deluxe dining plan. With 3 tables services a day, and not using them fully, wouldn't it be an option to switch to the regular dining plan and drop Kona and some others?
 
You are young and have no small children so I think your schedule is totally doable. It sounds like a great trip for a young couple. I know my husband and I would have had a simular sch 20 years ago.

I might drop that early Kona breakfast though just I case you want to sleep in a little after a late night.

Your Boma breakfast is also kina early, why not try an early lunch at the Studios instead?

Remember if you aren't driving you need to be at your bus stop one hour before those reservation times, that means already waiting or your bus at 6:30am
 
Do you have the deluxe dinning... Or is food are big priority for you?

If not I would go with only a dinner each night and maybe a breakfast here or there (1 or 2 at most). Eating takes a while sometimes plus that's a lot of food with all those ADRs.

Also on your US day I wouldn't do a breakfast at a sit down. Traffic can be crazy I would want to make sure I'm ready to leave when I want too to get the most out of my day at US.

Also all those early mornings might take its toll. Disney is a lot of walking and it's going to be HOT in September. A breakfast ADR every morning doesn't allow you a morning to "sleep" in (by this I mean getting to your ADR before rope drop at the same time they can possibly delay you getting to the parks and that 9am (1st hour of opening) is the golden hour to get the most done at a park.

That is just my opinion. Hope you have a gray trip.
 
Replying based off of personal experience.
My husband and I went to wdw in january of 2014. We did the deluxe dining plan. We hated it. Don't get me wrong, we had some of the best meals but it got to the point that we dreaded our next ADR and all I wanted to do was sleep.
But an appetizer, entree, and dessert is just way too much at one sitting. We realized that when we go out at home, we enjoy splitting an appetizer and not ordering dessert at all, we much prefer eating dessert a few hours later. So evaluate your current eating styles, and if it mimics the deluxe dining plan, I'd say go for it! But if not, you might be miserable.
Also, you have to account for all the money you have to dish out for tips. We were paying minimum of $40 in just tips at each signature.
Lastly, if you do stick to your current plan, I'll warn you that a early morning breakfast at kona might not be necessary because of such a late meal at ohana.

ETA: that trip was the first major vacation I took with my husband. We learned so much during it. We have an upcoming disney trip in october and we are going without the dining plan. Planning has been less stressful. We are going to eat less, save more, and do more fun park stuff.
 
Maybe drop Kona and have a nice brunch/early lunch instead of splitting a plate at 12:30? We loved the food at Chefs, but the portions were not huge and it would be worth getting two things and sharing.

We must have had a generous kitchen staff when we ate at Chefs. We found the portions to be way too much. I knew we were in trouble when the soup came out. I'm used to tiny cups of soup from our local restaurants and felt like Chefs gave us each a mini tureen. But, it was some of the best food of our trip, so I would go back. I would just try to be really hungry so I could enjoy it. DH will be bummed if he doesn't have big portions when we go back!

SimplyEm, If you are celebrating a bday or anniversary, be sure to wear a pin. Chefs de France is very generous with pixie dust for special occasions. I don't know if a first time pin is treated the same. We were there for our 20th anniversary and wore that pin instead.
 
I think overall your plans look good! Eating has always been a big part of our Disney trips so even though it's your first visit, I think keeping most of your ADR's is ok. Plus it'll be hot in Sept. and whenever you can get into A/C is a good thing in my book and you'll most likely appreciate it. However you may want to rethink some of the early breakfasts. Not so much because of the sleeping in thing, but because being in the parks early is good for touring, especially when it's hot. And doing Boma on your Universal day will most likely NOT get you to US prior to park opening. I see you want to do both parks, and you only have one day, so you may want to consider grabbing something to eat in the car and having an earlier lunch there. We ate at 2 good restaurants there, one in US and one in IOA. I can't remember the names now :rolleyes: but can look them up. I do hate to tell you to rethink Boma breakfast because it's delicious! As for your Epcot day with 3 ADR's, we usually don't do more than 2 TS in a day but have done 3 on occasion in the past. It's a lot of food (and we love eating!). But if you want to keep them, try it and judge for yourselves. If you're planning on getting to Epcot early you could always just get something at Sunshine Seasons or over at Les Halles bakery in France which has awesome stuff. Then keep Le Chefs and Le Cellier.
 
I do agree with the advice you are getting regarding Universal. We did a Universal day, too, and traffic was heavy that morning. Lines into the park were even worse. We scheduled no Disney meals that day and still wished we had had a couple of more hours of park time. We skipped breakfast, ate lunch at Three Broomsticks, and had dinner on Idrive before heading back to AKL.
 
It is too many reservations for me. I don't want to be tied to a time like that and sit in that many restaurants.
 
This looked a lot like our schedule last September, with larger breakfast TS and dinner TS which was fine for the most part. The only thing I would give up from our last trip was Universal, it was just too much. And we didn't do HS at all, but thats just a thing we don't care for. One of my worries looking at your schedule is Sunday, its a very long day at the end of your vacation.
 
I don't know where you're from, but are you used to the kind of heat florida has in the summer? I find that I'm barely hungry when I'm in that kind of heat all day, so I would personally struggle with some of your days. As for the breakfast ADRs, are you morning people? Are you in the Eastern or Central time zone? If the answer to both of those is yes, I think they're fine. If the answer to either one is no, I might re-think it.

Ultimately you have to decide how you want to spend your time between the parks and restaurants.
 
The day when I have 3 adrs might be to much...

I do agree with you there. Other than that day though, this is very similar to what my husband and I did on our trip, just the two of us, a couple years back. I know some people think it's too much food or takes too much park time away, but we enjoyed the break. As for it being too much, that wasn't the case with us. At home I normally could only eat one big meal in a day, but we were doing so much running around while in Disney that a couple larger meals didn't bother me.

The other thing I would consider cutting are your ADRs on your Universal day. I personally would just grab something for breakfast at your resort on the way out and eat at Universal. Not only are there several restaurants in the parks themselves, but you've got City Walk too which has a bunch of places. Then you wouldn't have to worry about rushing back from the parks to dinner.
 














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