Arriving Sunday afternoon 4/25, which park? and how does my itinerary look?

[Momster]

We will be driving from Ohio on 4/24 as far as we can in one day, stay overnight somewhere, then hopefully arriving at our first resort POFQ around noon on 4/25. We have the UPH through Sat May 1 and plan to visit all 4 main parks plus one or two of the water parks, and DQ during our stay (we know we won't see everything, just our personal choices).

Cast is me and DH (40ish), DS 9 1/2 and DD 7.

1, After we arrive and get checked in, where should we head for afternoon? We have read the books and are trying to avoid the most busy days and the EMH days. How about MGM or AK and do whatever we can get FPs for that we are interested in? I have made a PS for 5pm at the AKL Rainforest Cafe that day.

2. How does this itinerary look for the week? I'm still working on the touring plan for each park.

Sun 4/25: Arrive POFQ, visit MGM or AKL? PS at 5pm at Rainforest Cafe, AKL

Mon 4/26: MGM. PS at 1240pm at Sci Fi Drive In.

Tue 4/27: AK and maybe water park? DTD in eve? No PS yet.

Wed 4/28: 14th Wedding anniversary. MK. No PS yet. (check out of POFQ in am and check in to AKL.)

Thu 4/29: Epcot. PS at 1230pm at Teppanyaki.

Fri 4/30: PS at Chef Mickeys at 7am (all I could get for the week!). Open for whatever. No PS yet.

Sat 5/1: 1/2 day somewhere (not water park) before leaving to drive back to Ohio (Sat and Sun).

We plan to arrive early at parks, tour, eat lunch there or at resort, head back to resort and swim/rest, then head back to parks for late afternoon/evening. We do want to see all of the evening firework type shows and SpectroMagic. Don't care about daytime parades. The kids are mostly interested in the big thrill type rides, a few shows and then whatever we have time for.

Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[kilee]

If you already have a PS at AKL-- then why not head there for the first day. Don't forget the water parks can get busy by mid-morning. So it's best to arrive either first thing in the a.m. or midafternoon (depending on the hours for that day).

If you have time I'd try to catch 1 or 2 of the night time shows (unless you have seen them before). Some people under-rate them!! They aren't like your local 4th of July fireworks. I know many people who cross them off their lists then can't believe they did that once they see them. Just a thought.

 

[Momster]

Thanks kilee. We DO want to see Wishes, Illuminations, Fantasmic, etc. I guess it would make sense to go to AKL on Sunday since we have PS there that day. Then if we aren't tired, maybe head to DQ or MGM later.

According to the WDW official site, there will be SpectroMagic and Wishes at 8:30pm/9:30pm that first night so maybe we will try to make it there after dinner.

This will be the first visit to any of the parks for my kids and DH has only seen Epcot with me in 1994 for one day. Besides Epcot, I've only seen the MK and that was years ago, so it will all pretty much be new for us.

Anybody else have advice?

 

[disneyINalabama]

why not get PS for Hoop De Doo? I'm going may 12 with my husband(31) and parents for a conference. i was 12 the last time i visited WDW and remember what a riot this dinner show was! It is fairly pricey, but beer, sangria, other alcohol bev. and dinner is included. If your budget allows, try it out!

 

[GoofysPrincess]

Sounds like you're going to have so much fun! My guess is you'll want to go back to MK on Friday. You might want to make PS's for the Crystal Palace either Wednesday or Friday. It has a Character (Pooh...) buffet and it doesn't look like you have any other Pooh meals so far. Unless (gasp!) your kids aren't Pooh fans... If you're okay with just seeing the parades once, you can skip them the second day and ride the rides when everyone else is watching the parade! Or, you could do MK just for the morning on Friday and do a water park in the afternoon if your kids like those...

On your first day, if you decide not to do MK after dinner, you might stop by the Boardwalk. They usually have some performers out and about that will appeal to the kids and the timing should work out about right.

If you decide to do Hoop-dee-doo (which is great), seems like Tuesday would be your best night. Or, if it's offered that night, you might think about Mickey's Backyard BBQ, which our 6/8 yo's just loved.

If you're staying in Epcot late enough on Thursday to see Illuminations and if you want another sit-down dinner, you should probably make another PS. Everyone rushes the restaurants around dinner time so they can get out in time to get a seat for Illuminations.

Saturday morning I would leave open and just go back and ride your favorite rides from one of the parks. Surprisingly, my kids often pick MGM -- they like ToT, RnRC, and Star Wars a lot.

Have a great trip!

 

[Momster]

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't think HDDR is our cup of tea, the kids weren't interested when they saw it on the planning video and DH and I weren't either, even though I'm sure it's good. And the CP breakfast is out too, the kids have outgrown Pooh and friends (shocking I know, LOL) so I don't think we will do that.

Thinking about making another PS somewhere in or close to the MK on Wed since that is our anniversary but not sure where. We are not really gourmet diners - some restaurant's menus look too fancy for us. Willing to go moderately expensive but not too much.

Any other ideas anyone concerning our plans?