Check my trip plans please!

[Melanie98]

We leave for our first ever Disney trip in 13 days! YIPPEEE!!!! It is going to be a family style honeymoon. We just got married last weekend and we have a three year old and a five year old (both boys).

I have learned so much here about planning our trip, so I am hoping you guys can answer some last minute questions and give me pointers about things I don't know to ask.

Here's some details about our trip:
We will arrive in Orlando on June 17th at 9:55, and we are renting a car at the airport for our entire stay. We will be staying at All-Star Movies (until the 20th) with the DxDP and have regular passes with no hopper. We are planning to go straight to Hollywood Studios after checking in at the hotel.
We have our first ADR at Play N' Dine at 1:30.
Questions so far-
Is it possible to have our luggage ride to the hotel on the Magical Express if we are renting a car? I am thinking that this would save time at the airport??? Are we going to be overly rushed to make it to the 1:30 ADR if we land at 9:55 and still have to go to the hotel? Should we make another ADR for that day or just grab something in the park for dinner that evening? I already tried to get the Fantasmic dinner, but no luck. We have enough dining credits that we could even do Brown Derby. Would that be worth it?

June 18th we are going to Animal Kingdom for EMH and have an ADR at 10:15 for Donald's Safari Breakfast (but we are planning to grab a snack before going into the park that day to hold us until 10:15). We are planning to eat at a CS restaurant in the park later during the day. Then head back to the room to rest and clean up before dinner (I'm thinking around 4:30 after the jungle parade). For dinner we have an ADR at 7:50 at Chef Mickey's.
More questions-
Do you think we should skip the parade in order to give the kids a little more time to rest? Do you think we could squeeze in the photo shoot at the Grand Floridian before the dinner ADR? Can we park at Grand Floridian or Contemporary and just take the monorail between the two if we do the photo shoot and then dinner?

June 19th we are going to Magic Kingdom for EMH and have and ADR at Crystal Palace at 10:25. We are planning to go back to the room to rest around 12:30 then try to make it back by 3:00 for the Dreams Come True Parade. We'll probable grab a small bite to eat before coming back to the park. We have a 4:20 ADR at CRT and assume we'll use some of our snack credits in the park that evening after such an early dinner.
Suggestions?

June 20th we are heading to the port for a short cruise to the Bahamas on Royal Caribbean. We have an ADR at 8:10 at Poly for the Best Friends Breakfast prior to leaving.
Questions-
How long will it take us to get from WDW to the port? Should we plan to do anything else this day or head straight to the port after breakfast?

We will be on the cruise until the morning of June 23rd. We will return to Orlando on the 23rd and stay at Regal Sun (DTD) for the rest of our trip. On the 23rd we have a slight scheduling conflict. We have an ADR in Epcot at 11:30 for the Storybook Princess Lunch (which I feel certain we can make because we are going to carry our bags on and off the cruise ship so that we can be in the first group to depart on the cruise). However, my DH has reservations for the Petty Driving Experience at 1:00. So, we are thinking he may have to leave us at Epcot and then we can meet him at the Driving Experience. After the Driving Experience we are planning to spend the rest of the day at Epcot. We will eat CS for dinner
Questions-
I will keep trying to get a later ADR for Storybook, but if I am not able to should I just cancel it all together? Will there be any way to take a bus or something to the Driving Experience from Epcot (directly or indirectly)?

For the last two days of our trip we have not scheduled anything. We figured we'd try to leave it open so we can go back to the parks that we feel we didn't have enough time in. We are also going to squeeze in some time to shop at Downtown Disney. Since we won't have the Dining Plan for the last few days of our trip we are planning to eat mostly counter service meals or meals outside the park.

Other misc. questions-
Can we use the Planet Hollywood coupon that comes with out Magic Your Way Package a few days AFTER we are no longer staying on Disney property?
Has anyone ever used Visa giftcards in the parks? We have lots of those from the wedding showers.

Please tell me that it is not possible to spoil your kids too much on a vacation like this...I have been shopping and planning for this for way too long. I think I have hit every sale at the Disney Store (and everywhere else for that matter) over the past few months. I have planned "suprise" gifts from Mickey for each day of our trip, and I have bought them T-shirts and movies from each of the characters that we will meet during our ADRs. I still haven't decided if I should ship the gifts to the resort or just pack them and bring them with us. We are flying on SWA so we are still allowed two bags per person.

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jana928]

1. I don't think that it is possible to just send your luggage.
2. You might be pushing it. I think that you will probably end up going straight to lunch as soon as you make it to the park. However, this might not be a bad thing. You will be really hungry by that time.
3.I wouldn't make an ADR for that day just in case the boys are so worn out from travelling that you need to leave the park. What we usually do is go get food at Rosies and eat it while we are waiting for Fantasmic to start.
4. I think that you are going to have to choose between the parade and the photo shoot. The kids won't have enough energy for both. Which is more important?
5. You can park at the Contemporary free of charge and then take the monorail over to the Grand. Just let them know that you are having dinner there. If you want to park at the Grand, the closer parking is $10. There is further parking that is free. Or, you can park at the Wedding Pavillion for free.
6. You should ask the monorail CM if you can ride up front. The kids will get their co-pilot license. If energy is getting low, you can also go to the Main Street Cinema at the front of the park. It is right next to Tony's and there is a gift shop in the front. Go all the way to the back and they play Mickey shorts all day. It is nice and quiet.
7. Which port?
8. Head straight to the port after breakfast. You never know what could go wrong.
9. There is a way for you to get to the Driving Experience. Take the monorail back to the TTC. At the TTC kennel, there is a courtesy shuttle to the driving experience. I think that you should keep your reservation and just have your husband leave early. There is some boring stuff at the beginning of the experience and the kids will get bored. It will be more fun for them a little later.
10. If the Visa cards are the ones that are like debit cards, then yes, I have used them. There is no problem.
11. The PH voucher has to be redeemed on or before checkout day of your resort.

Hope this helps!!!