Critique my august plans!

[Tibuli]

Hello...

My family and I are going the last week in august( I know it will be hot but as a person who works in the school system I don't have much choice.) It will be me, my husband, my kids( 7 ds and 5 dd). I have to get my Adrs this weekend so was trying to figure out a very general plan.

Saturday-we will arrive in Orlando by 930 am. Planning to go to Epcot at some point and akershus for 530 dinner.

Sunday-magic kingdom with crystal palace for a late breakfast.

Monday- animal kingdom with tusker house dinner and rivers of light at 530.

Tuesday-hollywood studios Hollywood and vine fastasmic dinner package at 530

Wednesday-magic kingdom with cinderellas royal table( thinking lunch but whenever I can get)

Thursday-Epcot- first day of food and wine festival. Thinking this would be a better day to visit then Friday or Saturday

Friday-open day but 1900 park faire at 7 and looking at fireworks

Sat- flight out at 7, thinking magic kingdom or whatever we want to do, maybe bog at 11 ish

Thanks and let me know any ides!!

Julie

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Hello...

My family and I are going the last week in august( I know it will be hot but as a person who works in the school system I don't have much choice.) It will be me, my husband, my kids( 7 ds and 5 dd). I have to get my Adrs this weekend so was trying to figure out a very general plan.

Saturday-we will arrive in Orlando by 930 am. Planning to go to Epcot at some point and akershus for 530 dinner. should be fine. Unlikely you'll be delayed so much, you'll have to pay the no show fee.

Sunday-magic kingdom with crystal palace for a late breakfast. How late is breakfast? You don't want to miss the best time for touring with short rope drop lines

Monday- animal kingdom with tusker house dinner and rivers of light at 530. I assume you want the RoL dining package? It's not yet available to book, so I'd keep an eye out for it. Unknown what the latest ADR package time at Tusker will be.

Tuesday-hollywood studios Hollywood and vine fastasmic dinner package at 530 Latest Fantasmic package dinner ADR at H&V is at 5:00.

Wednesday-magic kingdom with cinderellas royal table( thinking lunch but whenever I can get). If you are staying on site, you should be able to get almost whatever time you want, as this will be 180+4 days out. At least within 15 minutes of your choice, so have an ideal time in mind.

Thursday-Epcot- first day of food and wine festival. Thinking this would be a better day to visit then Friday or Saturday Never been to food and wine, so can't help you here

Friday-open day but 1900 park faire at 7 and looking at fireworks Sounds good

Sat- flight out at 7, thinking magic kingdom or whatever we want to do, maybe bog at 11 ish Sounds good.

Thanks and let me know any ides!!

Julie

comments in bold.

Book your ADRs in the order of hardest to get/easiest to get, not necessarily in date order. You can check availability for a few days in Aug now (that are within 180 days) to get an idea of what may be hard to get, and book those first.

 

[mkh531]

I'm planning an August trip as well. Looks like you are keeping things fairly open which is a good idea since you never know when the heat will wipe all of you out. Make plans each day to get out of the heat/rest/swim. When my kids were that age we did morning at the parks, then lunch either in the park or back at hotel, then swim/rest, then back to the parks for more dinner/rides. And, just like you, we only did one restaurant reservation per day--that way you have a plan but can be flexible within it. Enjoy!

 

[mshanson3121]

Hello...

My family and I are going the last week in august( I know it will be hot but as a person who works in the school system I don't have much choice.) It will be me, my husband, my kids( 7 ds and 5 dd). I have to get my Adrs this weekend so was trying to figure out a very general plan.

Saturday-we will arrive in Orlando by 930 am. Planning to go to Epcot at some point and akershus for 530 dinner.

Sunday-magic kingdom with crystal palace for a late breakfast.

Monday- animal kingdom with tusker house dinner and rivers of light at 530.

Tuesday-hollywood studios Hollywood and vine fastasmic dinner package at 530

Wednesday-magic kingdom with cinderellas royal table( thinking lunch but whenever I can get)

Thursday-Epcot- first day of food and wine festival. Thinking this would be a better day to visit then Friday or Saturday

Friday-open day but 1900 park faire at 7 and looking at fireworks

Sat- flight out at 7, thinking magic kingdom or whatever we want to do, maybe bog at 11 ish

Thanks and let me know any ides!!

Julie

Honestly? I think you're all going to be exhausted. You have no days off, you're traveling during the hottest time (which is very draining). You guys are going to need to plan more down time - if you want to be in the park every single day, then you are going to need to take afternoon breaks. Hot, overtired children = cranky children = not a really fun trip.

So:

Saturday: this day is great
Sunday: What time is the breakfast? A late breakfast really interferes with the afternoon break plan, and you'll lose valuable time in the park. If you want to do an afternoon break, then I would try and do an 8:00 am breakfast or lunch instead. Otherwise, you could do this, but I would plan on being out of the park early afternoon to rest, since your next two nights are late ones.
Monday: this is fine just plan on taking an afternoon break.
Tuesday: same as above
Wednesday: I would sleep in and have a leisurely resort morning since your kids have now had two late nights back to back. Head into MK perhaps around 11, do some rides, have a later lunch around 1:00, then head out to enjoy some shorter lines while everyone else is watching the parade, and stay until early evening. You'll be in the park for the afternoon shower, but if you don't mind getting wet, it makes for shorter lines
Thursday: Sounds good, just again, plan on an afternoon break. Epcot was by far the hottest park in our experience, especially the World Showcase - it's a lot of walking on concrete with little shade. I would save the World Showcase for the evening, take in Illuminations and focus on Future World in the morning.
Friday: I would rope drop MK, take an afternoon break then head back in for your dinner and fireworks.
Saturday: I would sleep in, pack etc... head in for your BOG dinner, enjoy some rides, watch the parade and then leave for your flight home.

 

[gap2368]

for food and wine nomily the weekends are busiest with local going so I would say Thursday would be good time to go but with it being the first day you may see a lot of local going after work so it may get busy around 5ish

I love going during food and wine

 

[monorailsilver]

I would plan your Friday plans of no park somewhere in the middle of your trip.

I love going in August but the heat can be brutal and add that to kids who may be tired/cranky makes you just want to cry (I have kids so I know the feeling). And I am not sure what time you leave on your arrival day but I know we don't sleep in my house, my kids are all up well before the time they need to be up, teeth brushed, dressed and have their breakfast in the to go bag with a drink so we are all tired! I can't start a Disney vacation tired, lol! But if you aren't planning on staying at the park til close, then I guess it's doable.

We are at the park as early as we can (we eat breakfast in our room while getting ready) and leave after we eat lunch for a nap. Next trip kids will be a little older so we may get to enjoy the pool, well DH and I will take turns napping while they swim!

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

You know your family's tolerance for heat/activities. Many families can go all week with out a down day. Many can't.

Personally, we never leave the park for a break. We think it takes way too much time. Instead, we take a long lunch break in the AC. Even if it is quick service, we just relax at the table after we finish before heading out. The end result is that, for us, quick service and table service meals end up taking about the same length of time.

You can also use indoor shows as rest periods. For example, you can get in the Nemo theater a half hour (at least, it was the last time we went a few years ago) before show time. That is a half hour show, so you have a full hour in AC to rest. At MK, Mickey's Philharmagic will give you about a half hour of rest in AC time, also.

 

[Tibuli]

Thanks for the input!! We will definitely take a break or leave early most days. We went 2 years ago at this time so we kinda know what to expect. Maybe I will switch a night show day with the Friday....something to think about!

 

[Ava]

We'll be there the same week, but Sun-Sun. My kids will be 4 & 8 and we're staying at Bay Lake Tower. My plans so far are:

Sun: Arrive MCO at 12:45, get lunch at the airport before Magical Express. Dinner at 1900 Park Fare around 6. Maybe watch fireworks from the hotel.

Mon: Late arrival at Epcot. No ADRs. WS late morning/early afternoon, FW in evening. Not staying for Illuminations.

Tues: Rope Drop MK. Lunch at BOG. See the parade & then just stay until we're done. (Park closes at 7.)

Wed: AK day. Possible ADR at Tusker House with ROL package. Further plans pending park hours, show time, and FP situation for Pandora rides.

Thurs: DHS. Rope drop if DD8 wants to do Jedi Training, if she doesn't care I'll plan for a later arrival. Lunch at Sci-Fi. Not sure about night show, will decide the day of based on moods.

Fri: Epcot. Hopefully will get FP for FEA for this day. Check out F&W booths. No ADRs or Illuminations.

Sat: MK. If hours end up being the same as last year, it will be an 8am open. Rope drop, then late breakfast (10:45ish) at Crystal Palace. Afternoon break. Dinner at The Wave, then back to MK for last rides and fireworks. Stay until we drop since it's our last night! (Last year MK was open until 1am on this day, lol.)

Sun: No park. Late breakfast at Ohana after check out. After breakfast we'll just look around the Poly, ride the monorail or boat, maybe stop & look around the GF if we have extra time. Flight is at 5:20pm, so I'm figuring ME pick up between 2-2:30pm.

I'm not specifically planning an afternoon break on any day except the Sat. We've been in August before and took a break everyday for younger DD's nap, but most days the pool ended up being closed because of rain. So we just had a grumpy, bored older DD. This time I'm going to try some later arrivals so we don't need to get up so early, taking a long lunch somewhere in A/C, and seeing indoor shows as our "break." That way if it's raining we'll still be able to do things. I'm also not planning for all the night shows, so we may end up leaving the parks earlier most nights.