Critique My April 2016 Itinerary Please

[summerw]

Here's my basic plan. We're renting points and staying in a Poly studio April 2-13. We won't have a car. I mostly used easywdw recommendations with a few exceptions to enjoy EMH since we love MK at night, want to do the Disney Jr Dance Party and think really early morning at AK might be nice?.

Please tell me if you think I'm moving around too much (and where I should cut down), if I am using my FPs in the wrong part of the day or if there's anything else I haven't considered. I am also planning on a lunch at the new Jungle Cruise restaurant (provided it's open of course). We live near Disneyland and go a lot, so the pool is just as big of a consideration for DS as any rides.

I'm a little nervous about all the hopping. Although I love the idea and have really enjoyed the few times I left Disneyland around noon and came back for the evening, we didn't do any hopping our last trip since it was early December and the parks weren't open very late. Do you think all the in and out of the parks will wear us out? I definitely want this trip to have some relaxing elements for DH since he works so hard.



3-31 & 4/1 (Thu & Fri)
DS and I only will fly in Thursday and stay at AoA in a LM room and visit with my local family until we move to the Poly on Saturday when DH will join us... Poor DH has to work. :-(


4/2
DS and will move and check into Poly
DH arrives MCO 4:00

6:45 BOG Dinner (DS and I will go for sure. As long as DH isn't delayed, he will join us)
8:15-30 Hopefully Wishes FP area
9 Wishes
stay till park close


4/3
Pool

3:30-park close: AK for a few shows and rides and Rivers of Light if open or will swap for one of my Epcot mornings if it won't be open yet so we go to AK one morning and Epcot this evening

4/4
Water Park

5:30 pm Epcot
6:30 Dinner at San Angel Inn
Illuminmations and a few FPs before and after dinner


4/5
MK with FPs
9am-3:30ish (after parade)

5 Ohana
6:30 Fire and marshmallows
Pool


4/6
8am HS: H&V breakfast
Jedi Training Signups
Whatever we can ride without a FP

3-6:30 break/pool (or whenever we can leave after our Jedi time)

7:00 CRT Dinner
EMH at MK: FPs and rides until park close


4/7
OFF whole day by pool or whatever


4/8
9-12 Epcot without FPs, grab lunch from F&G booths

1-4 Break

4-9? (EMH HS) use FPs, see F!, Disney Jr Dance Party


4/9
OFF to visit with DHs cousins
6:30 Dinner at CA Grill, DS to Lilo's Playhouse


4/10
Epcot
9-1 Future World with FPs

1-4 Break

5-9 F&G booths for dinner, tour World Showcase, do Agent P missions


4/11
8-12 AK EMH no FPs

12-4 Break or Typhoon Lagoon

5-9 Epcot with FPs
6:30 Dinner at Garden Grill


4/12
8am BOG breakfast
9-1 MK with FPs

1-whenever
either whatever park we want more of or waterpark or pool


4/13
11am Kona breakast

Pool or park until DME at 2? (flight at 5)

 

[summerw]

No one wants to tell me how I'm doing it wrong? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[buzzrelly]

I think it looks great I will be there around the same time as you and will be staying at the Poly 4/6-4/11 then going on the Dream 4/11-15 and then 2 nights at BLT 4/15-4/17. As long as you don't book fast passes and ADRs for different parks (my friend did this!), then there really isn't a "wrong" way to do it. I also go by Josh's recommendations and pretty much plan our park days around what he says. For example, we will be at Mk on 4/7, EP on 4/8, DHS on 4/9 and AK on 4/10. Those are all his recommended parks for those days. We tend to stay away from EMH but I see you're going to at least a couple which may work out for you since you seem to have PH and can "hop" away if it gets crazy.

Is there something specific in your plans that you were wondering about? I also don't know how old your DS is so it's hard to comment as to what I would think is appropriate there.

All in all, I think it looks like you've got everything covered. No worries

 

[summerw]

I think it looks great I will be there around the same time as you and will be staying at the Poly 4/6-4/11 then going on the Dream 4/11-15 and then 2 nights at BLT 4/15-4/17. As long as you don't book fast passes and ADRs for different parks (my friend did this!), then there really isn't a "wrong" way to do it. I also go by Josh's recommendations and pretty much plan our park days around what he says. For example, we will be at Mk on 4/7, EP on 4/8, DHS on 4/9 and AK on 4/10. Those are all his recommended parks for those days. We tend to stay away from EMH but I see you're going to at least a couple which may work out for you since you seem to have PH and can "hop" away if it gets crazy.

Is there something specific in your plans that you were wondering about? I also don't know how old your DS is so it's hard to comment as to what I would think is appropriate there.

All in all, I think it looks like you've got everything covered. No worries

Thanks for the input. That's funny we'll be at the same resort at the same time and at least Epcot on the same day! DS is 6, will be almost 7 in April. And yes, we're definitely hopping from any park that we're going to EMH. I wasn't worried about anything specific, but since ADR making is coming soon, I didn't want to make them then figure out I'd done something dumb. I love Disney planning, but there's just so much to think about 6 months in advance and all the construction is killing me! Rivers of Light, Jungle Cruise restaurant, Oasis pool at the Poly, Frozen ride… so many things that will be finished right around that time. Exciting though!

 

[Sytrace]

It looks like you will have a fantastic trip! I personally LOVE park hopping as much as possible. And resort/pool days are so much fun too.

 

[summerw]

It looks like you will have a fantastic trip! I personally LOVE park hopping as much as possible. And resort/pool days are so much fun too.

Thanks!!

 

[buzzrelly]

Thanks for the input. That's funny we'll be at the same resort at the same time and at least Epcot on the same day! DS is 6, will be almost 7 in April. And yes, we're definitely hopping from any park that we're going to EMH. I wasn't worried about anything specific, but since ADR making is coming soon, I didn't want to make them then figure out I'd done something dumb. I love Disney planning, but there's just so much to think about 6 months in advance and all the construction is killing me! Rivers of Light, Jungle Cruise restaurant, Oasis pool at the Poly, Frozen ride… so many things that will be finished right around that time. Exciting though!

I'm trying not to get my hopes up for the Frozen ride, or Rivers of Light being open for us. If they do, I will be beyond thrilled!

Your son will love that Agent P adventure. My kids still like it and they are 14 and 12. Don't forget to check out Sorcerers of the MK also. DS actually LOVED that last time! We ended up having to buy a binder for all his cards. He had such a blast!

Also, just FYI…there's a rumor that Jedi Training will be closing for a bit. I'm not even sure if it's true, and if so, for how long. I hope your son won't be too disappointed if he doesn't get to do that.

 

[plutoloversmom]

I never listen to the site recommended parks. Usually everyone that is an over-planner reads the sites and books the same parks. Instead of being a green day,or a 2 level day, or whatever the site says; the park in question now becomes overly full.

 

[summerw]

I'm trying not to get my hopes up for the Frozen ride, or Rivers of Light being open for us. If they do, I will be beyond thrilled!

Your son will love that Agent P adventure. My kids still like it and they are 14 and 12. Don't forget to check out Sorcerers of the MK also. DS actually LOVED that last time! We ended up having to buy a binder for all his cards. He had such a blast!

Also, just FYI…there's a rumor that Jedi Training will be closing for a bit. I'm not even sure if it's true, and if so, for how long. I hope your son won't be too disappointed if he doesn't get to do that.

I'm trying to not get my hopes up either, but I'm not sure how successful I'm being. I'd really love to see Rivers of Light. I can imagine the Frozen ride being on par with Little Mermaid (nice, but nothing I'd be sad to miss). I love World of Color at Disneyland though so RoL sounds amazing to me.

Jedi Training closure is official now I hear (http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...r-as-jedi-training---trials-of-the-temple.htm). Hopefully since it's closing October 4, they'll have plenty of time to get it back up since it's mainly just a villain change. Hopefully be the optimal word. DS and I go to Disneyland a lot and we could always do it there, but DH doesn't have a pass right now and I was hoping he'd get to see him do it for the first time too.

And I think I'm looking forward to the Agent P adventures as much as DS would. We'll definitely try SoMK too, but I want to be sure we ride the rides there first or I might not be able to tear DS away.

So excited for all of it! Have a great trip too!!

I never listen to the site recommended parks. Usually everyone that is an over-planner reads the sites and books the same parks. Instead of being a green day,or a 2 level day, or whatever the site says; the park in question now becomes overly full.

I'm definitely looking forward to hopping so I can compare. How do you plan your days? What kind of schedule do you have for your upcoming trip? Thank for the input!

 

[summerw]

It looks like you will have a fantastic trip! I personally LOVE park hopping as much as possible. And resort/pool days are so much fun too.

Thanks! Does whoever you bring along on your trips love hopping too? I'm worried there will be whining about going back and forth. I'm hoping as long as they get pool time with it, I can head it off.

 

[plutoloversmom]

We haven't really made any plans yet. We go to WDW about 2 times a year, because we are DVC owners. So we usually make FP+ for the rides that the kids can't stand to miss. And try a different restaurant every time we go. Kids all time favorite is Via Napoli in EPCOT. Other than that we just chill and take in our surroundings. After all it is Disney! My all time favorite place.
The kids love rides that usually have no real wait times with helps. Favorites are Star Tours, Mickeys Philharmagic, Mission Space, Ellen'so Energy adventure, and The Land. Of coarse my youngest loves The Carousel of Progress. Don't know why.
So planning in our house is easy. Fp+ are usually saved for all of the Mountains, 7DMT, TSMM, soaring, Test Track, EE, Kali. If we don't make them it is ok. We will stand in line. Most of the lines are fairly awesome to go through. If all else fails we go swimming.

 

[summerw]

We haven't really made any plans yet. We go to WDW about 2 times a year, because we are DVC owners. So we usually make FP+ for the rides that the kids can't stand to miss. And try a different restaurant every time we go. Kids all time favorite is Via Napoli in EPCOT. Other than that we just chill and take in our surroundings. After all it is Disney! My all time favorite place.
The kids love rides that usually have no real wait times with helps. Favorites are Star Tours, Mickeys Philharmagic, Mission Space, Ellen'so Energy adventure, and The Land. Of coarse my youngest loves The Carousel of Progress. Don't know why.
So planning in our house is easy. Fp+ are usually saved for all of the Mountains, 7DMT, TSMM, soaring, Test Track, EE, Kali. If we don't make them it is ok. We will stand in line. Most of the lines are fairly awesome to go through. If all else fails we go swimming.

We go to Disneyland all the time and that's definitely how we tour. If it's too hot or too crowded or we're just not into it, we'll come back. Since our last trip to wdw will be almost 3.5 years between, I want to plan but not get worked up if we change it all.

I was kind of on the fence about Via Napoli. How did you find the volume level? I don't love really loud places. In fact, our favorite meal was in the West Wing at BOG just because it was such a nice, dark and quiet, change of pace from the park. We felt totally relaxed after that meal and had our favorite night of the trip after that (MK til 1 which seems unlikely with how they're doing park hours lately, ugh).

I love that your kids love Ellen's and CoP. I was debating forcing DS6 on them since I know they require a little more attention span, which he lacks. DH has ADD so it's not surprising.

 

[MrInfinity]

You have so many days! That's going to be awesome...

I don't care for a whole day pool. I'd sooner split the previous day (HS/MK) into 2 half-days and get your fast passes at both with a half-day for the pool on both days.

And then Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, and Epcot in one day would be too much for our tastes.

Other than that, sounds like you've got the basics of a great plan going. We also like to hit EMH, and don't put much if any weight on the crowd calendars.

 

[summerw]

You have so many days! That's going to be awesome...

I don't care for a whole day pool. I'd sooner split the previous day (HS/MK) into 2 half-days and get your fast passes at both with a half-day for the pool on both days.

And then Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, and Epcot in one day would be too much for our tastes.

Other than that, sounds like you've got the basics of a great plan going. We also like to hit EMH, and don't put much if any weight on the crowd calendars.

Thanks! A lot of the pool/ waterpark time is at the request of DH and DS. I personally agree with you. I know we'll check out the lighting ceremony and marshmallow roast and see what other activities they have that day. And I agree on the Typhoon Lagoon day. I put that in there for them, but I doubt they'll end up wanting to do it. If they do, I'm debating just having some alone time with a chair, air conditioning and a drink.

Do you hop if you do EMH? Thanks!!

 

[MrInfinity]

Thanks! A lot of the pool/ waterpark time is at the request of DH and DS. I personally agree with you. I know we'll check out the lighting ceremony and marshmallow roast and see what other activities they have that day. And I agree on the Typhoon Lagoon day. I put that in there for them, but I doubt they'll end up wanting to do it. If they do, I'm debating just having some alone time with a chair, air conditioning and a drink.

Do you hop if you do EMH? Thanks!!

No, we've never hopped. Even after a morning EMH. I actually think these days are not that bad on crowds, despite what the crowd calendars will say. I say this because almost every off-siter is better off avoiding these days since they get no rope-drop time.

Also we go with little kids, so we'll tend to do open till around 6pm and then leave the parks for the day. If we were to hop we'd only be getting 4 hours in each park. That's barely enough time to use your Fast Passes and have lunch.

 

[plutoloversmom]

We go to Disneyland all the time and that's definitely how we tour. If it's too hot or too crowded or we're just not into it, we'll come back. Since our last trip to wdw will be almost 3.5 years between, I want to plan but not get worked up if we change it all.

I was kind of on the fence about Via Napoli. How did you find the volume level? I don't love really loud places. In fact, our favorite meal was in the West Wing at BOG just because it was such a nice, dark and quiet, change of pace from the park. We felt totally relaxed after that meal and had our favorite night of the trip after that (MK til 1 which seems unlikely with how they're doing park hours lately, ugh).

I love that your kids love Ellen's and CoP. I was debating forcing DS6 on them since I know they require a little more attention span, which he lacks. DH has ADD so it's not surprising

One day we were at the park and it was so hot. So we decided to watch the CoP, she fell in love with the family and the dog. She is 9 now and still loves it. She will randomly start singing the sing. "There'should a great big beautiful tomorrow." These are the small clues that she gives me to let me know it's time for a return trip.
Ifor you can sit in the veranda spot at Via Napoli it's not bad with noise and asee a bonus you can people watch and look at the surroundings of Italy. If you go inside, it is a little noisy, but the pizza ovens are fun to look at and out the windows are beautiful orange trees. My kids just love Italian food.
I love to try and keep most of my trips open. Isn't it more fun to just relax and let Disney just happen?

 

[mchelle77]

My only comment is your 4/3 day (AK from 330pm-close) If they close at 5pm, that's kind of a hassle for 90 minutes of park time (my opinion)

 

[summerw]

No, we've never hopped. Even after a morning EMH. I actually think these days are not that bad on crowds, despite what the crowd calendars will say. I say this because almost every off-siter is better off avoiding these days since they get no rope-drop time.

Also we go with little kids, so we'll tend to do open till around 6pm and then leave the parks for the day. If we were to hop we'd only be getting 4 hours in each park. That's barely enough time to use your Fast Passes and have lunch.

Hmmm, interesting. I'm definitely interested in checking that out when we hop. Part of me thinks that halfway thru the trip, I'll chuck all the hopping and just stay in one park.

The verandah sounds nice. Hopefully it will be cool enough to enjoy it.

My only comment is your 4/3 day (AK from 330pm-close) If they close at 5pm, that's kind of a hassle for 90 minutes of park time (my opinion)

For sure. If they don't announce Rivers of Light and a later close, I'll be switching it with an Epcot morning. Thanks!